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Barnsley: I owe the Tykes so much - Anderson
Born in Sao Paulo in Brazil before learning his trade in Uruguay and Spain, it was at Barnsley that Anderson Silva de França became accustomed to English life amidst the "beautiful game".
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Now fully settled in Yorkshire, the midfielder wants to pay his club back with a surge up the Championship table.
Anderson actually headed to the UK to sign for Everton in 2005 after bursting onto the scene in Spain where he thrived during his loan spell with La Liga club Racing Santander – the Brazilian still contracted to Uruguayan outfit Nacional Montevideo.
Everton signed the midfielder, but the Toffees were hit by news that Anderson did not possess an EU passport, the 6ft 1in star subsequently loaned back to Spanish side Malaga to rack up enough games in order for that to change.
After months of jetting from country to country, Anderson at last signed for Everton in January 2007 but the move failed to take off and the player was loaned out to Barnsley, initially, in August 2007.
Finally, the South American began experiencing first-team football on English soil – the Tykes signing him permanently five months later – and it was only once moving to Oakwell that Anderson began to adapt to his radical lifestyle change.
Now settled with his family in a Leeds apartment and thriving on the English way of life, the 27-year-old is now eyeing big things on the pitch as a fully-established Red.
"Barnsley helped me to settle here," Anderson told Yorkshire Sport. "now I think it is time for us to achieve.
"we should certainly be able to achieve safety in the Championship and go much higher.
"I think everybody needs to know that Barnsley is very good at the moment. the team are playing very well now.
"We know we can go higher because over the last few games we have been comfortable. We have played well and got good results.
"The team is coming together well and we can win the games coming up."
Those next games are at Plymouth and Blackpool with home clashes against Scunthorpe and Newcastle leading into the Christmas period.
And confidence at Oakwell is high following the transformation in fortunes under new boss Mark Robins.
It was under former manager Simon Davey that Anderson learned his trade in England but Barnsley's Brazilian has been highly impressed with the new man in the hot seat and with his backroom team.
Anderson also feels that the Tykes team as a whole deserve a big pat on the back for turning things around.
"The manager is very good," said Anderson. "He has taken on the challenge and done well.
"But it's not just the manager, it's all the staff and the players and I am very happy with the way things are going."
That Anderson can now be interviewed is testament to the speed at which he has adapted to the English game, two and a half years on from signing for Barnsley.
He admits that there were times when the language barrier or culture shift got the better of him, but, all in all, life in England is
suiting him just fine.
"It is my job," he said. "It is something new, the life and the food, but I have lived here now for two years and my life is now in England.
"I hope I will stay in England for many more years."
On his home life, Anderson said: "I live in an apartment with my family in Leeds. Family is important and they are happy in Leeds."
Anderson looks likely to come up against his "home-town" club next season, Leeds United are marching on at the top of League One and looking cast- iron certainties for a return to the Championship.
And now, given the change-around under Robins, Anderson is confident that the Tykes will not be going the other way.
Onwards and upwards is the theme under Robins and Barnsley's quickly- settling Brazilian has no intention of playing anywhere other than at Oakwell.
"I am enjoying myself at Barnsley and I would like to see my contract through," he said.
"After that we will see but I enjoy being at Barnsley and I would want to stay as I am very confident that we can win games.
"It is all going well here."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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