I will probably do another blog on this subject, but here are some of my immediate thoughts. I shall break them into Good and Bad sections, and I think Bad may be the more heavily populated!
The Good
Diego Forlan
Being chosen as Player of the World Cup might well be the first time in history FIFA have got something anywhere approaching correct in recent years. And for this they should be congratulated. Forlan has been making Ferguson's decision to cast him aside look very silly in Spain ever since he went there. However, due to the incredibly insular attitude this nations media have he has rarely been given the credit he deserves. He has been Pichichi (Top Scorer) in Spain 2 of the last 3 years, and doesn't play for Real Madrid or Barcelona. He has been the key man in getting Uruguay to the Semi-Finals playing in more of a playmaker role for his country. This hasn't stopped him banging in 5 goals and tying for 2nd spot in the Golden Boot though. A fantastic player, and this award will hopefully see him stop being referred to as 'ex-Man Utd flop' Diego Forlan!
Sergio Ramos
I think this man has been superb in this tournament. He wont get that much credit because he's 'just' a right-back, but he has been immense. Whilst Spain won the tournament I think outside of David Villa and perhaps Iker Casillas you would struggle to say anyone stood out. For me Ramos did just that with his non-stop energy on the right hand side. He could often be seen making a tackle in his own half, then giving the ball to Xavi, before popping up at the other end to make a run into the box before passing or crossing to the forwards. One of Roy Hodgson's first tasks at Liverpool should be to show Glen Johnson that this is how to be an attacking full-back whilst still actually defending!
Cracking Goals
Before the match last night on BBC they showed a run down of the best goals, and there have been some belters! Once the players got the hang of the ball they were letting fly from everywhere. Van Bronckhorst's howlitzer for Holland against Uruguay was a fine example of this. It was like an exocet missile heading for the top corner! Maicon's beauty against North Korea from almost the byline was another beauty. The fact that some pundits were questioning whether he meant it should see them being ushered out of the door for showing such poor knowledge in my opinion. He has form for it, having done it for Inter on more than one occasion in the last couple of seasons.
Germany
One team that did try to attack was the Germans. Scoring 4 goals three times was a breath of fresh air in this often boring tournament and they should be commended for trying to beat the opposition rather than just trying not to lose. Whilst they are a counter-attacking team, they were relentless once they got their noses in front. As Australia, England and Argentina will testify. The decision to have Bastia Schweinsteiger as a defensive midfielder was key in this. Whilst most teams had 1, or even 2, destroyers Germany had an ex-winger who was comfortable joining in in attack. With Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira also impressive alongside him they weren't going to sit back or kick people as most other teams seemed content too. Themselves and Argentina were probably the 2 most attractive sides in the tournament and did their best to make it exciting.
The Bad
Cheating
The amount of cheating that now goes on has reached ridiculous levels and is beginning to actually turn me off some games. Even the final was tainted for me by the fact that Iniesta had been throwing himself about, waving imaginary cards around, getting Heitinga sent off and just generally being a horrible, pasty little man! This World Cup has showed that something needs to be done to stop all of this before people start watching a mor emanly sport like say synchronised swimming!? This is a huge bugbear of mine anyway and this tournament has just fuelled my rage. Grown men throwing themselves at the floor then rolling round clutching body parts because someone has breathed on them is not what football is about. I'm not sure what the answer is, but I have seen some interesting ideas floated. I would definitely introduce a straight yellow card for anyone that waves an imaginary one trying to get a fellow player booked. I would look at retrospective punishments for diving, although I do relaise this may mean the end of Arjen Robben's career. I realise this would be harder to implement as there needs to be a line drawn as to how much you can realistically review, but players need to know that they will be punished. If you roll round the floor like someone has just broken your leg then you should have to receive a minimum of 5 minutes with a physio checking you haven't. Whilst some of these are obviously in jest, the sentiment is not.
The Makelele Role
This is another of my pet hates and seems to be very en vogue at the moment. Under Jose Mourinho Makelele was hyped up beyond belief for what I see as little more than being a nuisance and passing the ball under 5 yards. This has led to most managers now thinking that what their team needs is a player in this role. You only have to look at Michael Essien or Bastian Schweinsteiger to see that a defensive midfielder can offer so much more. This World Cup has seen truly dreadful players like Busquets, Mascherano, Van Bommel all basically fouling people to break up play, but doing it where they are unlikely to be booked. Germany did well on the back of Shweinsteiger being able to start attacks from that position and this should be the future blueprint. I'm all for players being disciplined, but this is a step too far. When you are asking a player to stop the opposition playing by any means necessary and actively discouraging any actual football being played then something has gone awry in my opinion.
England
Dreadful. Horrendous. Embarrassing. These words go some way to describe the 'performances' put in by the national team. The only positive thing that should come out of this is a realsiation of where England actually rank in the grand scheme of things. To have qualified 2nd from the weakest group in the World Cup is bad enough, to then be made to wear a dress and cry by Germany is just dreadful. Whilst England definitely didn't perform at their very best, it should also now be realised that barring Ashley Cole none of these players are truly world class. My definition of this is 'would they get in a squad of 23 if picking a world team?'. I can only see Cashley in that squad. No before people start banging on about Rooney, most would pick 5 or 6 attackers in that squad. I would take Villa, Drogba, Messi, Ronaldo and Iniesta before Rooney without thinking. This leaves him battling with players like Forlan, Ozil and Tevez for the final spot. For all the hype surrounding Rooney I don' think he's any better than someone like Tevez. In fact I'd have them as very similar. They are both nowhere near as technically able as players like Messi and Ronaldo, but will put the effort in to compensate for this. See the amount of passes that bounce off Rooney's shins for further evidence. I'm not saying he's poor, far from it, just that to Lord him as an equal of Messi is nothing short of a lie.
Englands TV Pundits
Of all the things that were bad at this World Cup I would say that by some distance the worst was listening to these people's 'expert' views and analysis. The only man who talked any sense or gave any insight was Clarence Seedorf and you could often see his mirth at being surrounded by such buffoons. ITV were undoubtebly the worst, as usual. Edgar Davids was the Winston Bogarde of their outfit, content to just sit there and pick up his wages. Andy Townsend is surely clinging t his job by the fingernails. He offers nothing more than platitudes about how 'the boy done good' and his ignorance of foreign players is surely a sackable offence. If your job is to give analysis of teams at the World Cup how can you do no research and then laugh at their funny names!? I'd expect to be sacked if I was that bad at my job. Hansen looks like he gave up caring long ago, which is a shame because he can be good. Lineker's autcue jokes aren't even so bad they're funny, they're just crap. And Shearer. Jesus wept. He is either offering no view at all or when he rarely does he's wrong! It's insulting to have these morons talking to us about football. Just because they played the game doesn't mean they understand the finer points of it. It's probably why they aren't managers! Get some journalists in, people who are paid to offer views and analysis and won't be as afraid to upset their mates in the game as this pathetic lot. Oh, one final thing. Never, ever, let Harry Redknapp, any Redknapp for that matter on TV again. Him shamelessly advertising himself for the England job was shameful and he should be called up on it. Awful man.
No comments:
Post a Comment