Style over Substance?

January 5, 2010 by KevB8ll · 2 Comments
Filed under: Articles by Dale Moon, General Football 

Here is Dale’s latest article.

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The world of football has been blessed with immense talent in recent years, from the days of Zidane’s ingeniousness, Ronaldinho’s trickery and Messi’s balance and grace. Couple this with the likes of Christiano Ronaldo, Torres, Kaka, Gerrard, Iniesta, the list goes on! The La Liga and Premiership has emerged as the two titanic platforms in which the beautiful game has very much lived up to its name. However, a question remains. With all the flamboyant skill, talent and ability in the Spanish and English leagues, are fans starting to prefer style over substance? Arsenal and Barcelona are two prime examples. Pep Guardiola and Arsene Wenger, the new young maverick and the established wise Frenchman. Both have created, managed and developed teams whose style has been labelled as the purest form of football. Skills, technique, grace and elegance on a football pitch has produced a spectacle which very few can match. Those who have witnessed the Catalan giants in the amphitheatre of Camp Nou will have experienced something magical. Something which only the Gunners at the Emirates stadium can replicate and the rest of us envisage. Passages of play that result in turning to the equally astounded person next to you, usually your dad or mate, and laugh at how good it was.

Equally as impressive are Real Madrid and Manchester United who have won more domestic titles than their exuberant counterparts in Barcelona and Arsenal. Both Madrid and United play magnificent football at times but do not quite reach the fluidity and entertaining spectacle which you can get at Arsenal or Barcelona. That said, they win trophies. 31 of the past 50 La Liga titles has gone to the Galactico’s with Manchester United and Liverpool tied at the top of the domestic winners list in England on 18 each. Therefore in a metropolitan megacity such as London and Barcelona, is it simply sexier to play stylish football at the expense of silverware?

Football in England has become the quickest and most athletic, travelling at a pace which tests the eyesight of the crowd at times! Players 6 foot and taller are not a rare sight in the English Top Flight, testing the physical attributes of all those who dare to participate in the most unforgiving of leagues. Spain however have adopted a more technical style of play with pin point passing, fluid movement and lightening speed all properties of successful teams. The elegance, chic and sophistication of the Spanish League are admired worldwide with more of a Latino South American samba influence. Regardless of the country, winning the biggest domestic trophy is regarded by most as the major achievement. The champion’s league is and always has been a prestigious competition but the continuity and consistency that the domestic league demands pitches it above the European tournament format that the Champions League offers. Therefore, it is surely a question of entertainment over achievement. Does a typical señor crave to see his beloved Barcelona lift the La Liga title with a string of gritty and ugly victorious games or will he sacrifice the domestic silverware to see week after week the classy and majestic performances that are currently in full flow at Barcelona?

However here is where out romance between the pie and paella depart. England’s Premier League is much more physically demanding with hard hitting challenges and powerful athletes competing for possession of the ball. This has shown that having all the technique and skill is not enough to top the table in such an environment. Spain however, is more suited to the more cultivated and artistic player, meaning teams can be entertaining and successful. Barcelona has shown that the style in which they play does not have to be compromised in order to win domestic and European competitions. Arsenal on the other hand will have to re-evaluate their stance on style and substance? Are they content with having the label of the most beautiful footballing team in the country but not winning any silverware? Or will we see a change in Arsene Wenger’s approach to the physical 38 fixtures in the most athletic league in the world in order to see his team lift a domestic trophy for the first time since 2004?

Style over substance, a matter of countries, leagues and the product of a multi million pound entertainment business known as “The Beautiful Game”

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Penny For Your Thoughts?

July 3, 2009 by KevB8ll · 2 Comments
Filed under: Articles by akvbcfc, General Football 

Here is akvbcfc’s latest article.

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The Merry-Go-Round Begins…

Kaka to Madrid. Done.

Ronaldo to Madrid. Done.

Those two monumental transfers seem to be only the tip of the iceberg as the influx of money into English and Italian football has set pulses racing. United have cash to spend. AC Milan, a team who never spend big, have money to spend. Then, of course, there are also teams such as Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Inter and Barcelona who have excess cash burning holes in the owners’ very large pockets. Oh, and there is the small matter of Real Madrid.

It seems that this summer will be the summer when we see transfer fees explode from top to bottom. The steady rise in fees paid for players has been absolutely obliterated during the close season after a couple of big, big money moves.

This has set the wheels in motion and an extraordinary process is set to unfold where Europe’s top clubs battle for the signatures of the very best that this world has to offer. Karim Benzema. David Villa. David Silva. Samuel Eto’o. Xabi Alonso. Didier Drogba.

Let the games begin.

It seemed that United had made the first move, when it was reported that they had agreed a £35 million transfer fee for the Frenchman. However, Real Madrid have trumped their English rivals (again), as they have agreed a £30 million fee for the striker.

With Benzema off the table, the scramble for players will intensify yet further, with fewer and fewer clubs looking to sell their top players. The likes of Manchester United and Barcelona will be desperately searching for new talent due to the transfers that have already taken place; United have lost (a lot) of ground on their rivals by selling Ronaldo to Madrid, and the return of The Galacticos Era to Madrid has put Barca at a disadvantage in the transfer market and on the field of play.

Exactly which players will be on the move is debatable, but what can be said for sure is that things are going to get interesting. Watch this space.

Beaten, but not Humiliated

Yes, the England Under-21 lost out to Germany in the Euro Under-21 Championship final on Monday. However, the side and their manager, should not be written off. Pearce has worked wonders with the side, turning them into a well-drilled, efficient and determined side. It is my honest opinion that losing this final will be the making of this side. If they had won, then the pressure of a nation would have shifted onto the new Golden Generation, thus making prospects of success at forthcoming tournaments seem as bleak as ever.

Team spirit will raise yet further by this latest setback, and the team will bounce back. Again. A new generation will come and fly the flag that has so elegantly soared in recent times. These were Pearce’s boys. These are our boys.

 A Return to The Way It Was

The BBC will show 10 live Championship games during the 2009/2010 season, as football reverts back to the old ways of showing live football on free-to-air television. Personally, I think that it is an absolutely fantastic idea. Many football fans nowadays are blinkered by Premier League football and the coverage that it receives from media outlets across the world. For many fans, the Championship and the lower leagues are unimportant, and that view is one that should be changed as soon as possible.

Highlights of the lower leagues can be found on ITV at times that are inconvenient to the masses, so that doesn’t help. However, with the deal in place that the BBC shall show 10 live games during the season; this should enable a larger number of fans to gain access to one of the most exciting leagues in the world.

Summer Time Fun

Can you feel it? This is it. This is the time when fans implore their club to sign new talent, but at the end of the day, they don’t really care about us. This is the time of year when managers have tough decisions to make. They will wanna’ be starting somethin’, holding on to some players for dear life, and telling others to beat it. Don’t bet against Spurs coming back to Berbatov, desperately pleading I want you back.

The game has moved on, and signing a player is not as easy as ABC. With foreign players and agents approaching clubs all the time, you don’t know your Ben from your Billy Jean.

For years, United fans have praised Ronaldo for the way that he makes them feel, but his promises that he’d be there did not prove true has he has gone off to Madrid. Perez snuck up on English football and stole its brightest star like a smooth criminal. Ronaldo’s stay at United was a thriller…He rocked our world…But United fans will hope that the old adage that there ain’t no sunshine when he’s gone is false.

As he looks at the man in the mirror, Sir Alex will know that he has a job on his hands. He needs new blood. Be they black or white, young or old.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson – the King of Pop.

By akvbcfc Please visit my website for more of my views on the beautiful game.

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