Football Focus

[atila the gooner]

I see Gerrard has now jumped on the "everything foreign is bad for the English game" band wagon according to the story of on the back page of Metro this morning. I've always admired Stevie g as a player, but Steve let someone else do the thinking. It is clear Stevie g wouldn't know an original thought if it sat up, licked his face and pissed up his leg. I'm getting very tired of this lame excuse being trotted out day in day out. Strange that Stevie G has chosen this present moment to pipe up, a few days before England could find themselves out of contention for euro 2008. Coincidence, or England preparing excuses just in case?? Either way, it has become tiresome.

Moving on......................................

[Ladygooner]

Perhaps the men would have other things to whinge about if they played for the women's England team. Apparently they were only paid ?40 per day whilst in Shanghai for the World Cup!

[atila the gooner]

Having watched the rugby world cup recently, I've come to the conclusion the most football players are pussies. Compared to the punishment taken and given out by rugby players, footballers seem to play dead after the slightest and most innocuos challenge. I thought football was a contact sport?

[Jah Lush]

Football is a game for gentlemen played by thugs and rugby is a game for thugs played by gentlemen.

[atila the gooner]

Heard that one before Jah, but it looks like football is in danger of being completely sanitised with all forms of physical contact being disallowed and frowned upon. Sad day. :(

[Jah Lush]

I agree Atila. You won't see rugby players writhing around like they've been shot. They get up and get on with it.

This play-acting is perhaps the negative side of the foreign influence, diving and the like. It never used to be like this.

You must remember the FA Cup final of 1970, Leeds Utd v Chelsea and the replay that followed. Now that was man's stuff. They practically kicked each other off the park but did they writhe around like a bunch sissies, did they f**k, they got up and got stuck in again whilst still trying to play football.

You had real hardmen in those days with proper names. Norman "Bites yer legs" Hunter and "Chopper" Harris. Every team had one. We had Dave Mackay and you had Peter Storey.

The only player I see these days who I've got a lot of time for is the England captain John Terry. Gets stuck in, can play a bit, great leadership qualities, scores goals and who often plays whilst carrying an injury but I must admit his constant moaning at referees isn't so admirable.

[atila the gooner]

The problem is Jah, that both Gerrard and Terry do a fair amount of ref baiting, so it's hard to know which one of the two should wear the captains armband for England. If Campbell was still up to it, I'd give it to him. But I fear his days are in the past. The man was a rolls royce, top of the range player for Spurs and the Arse.

[Ladygooner]

Whenever Diaby comes on the fans always sing "he knocked John Terry out" - Carling Cup Final 2007!

[Jah Lush]

I think Diaby would refute that. "He ran into my boot ref, honest". In French accent obviously.

[citizenED]

The reason why I sing the praises of the current Arsenal team is precisely because they have proved you can get round the idea that you have to be a "real man" to play football. They understand that the key act in football is the pass. Move the ball quickly away from your opponent and you don't have to worry about some heavyweight bruiser chopping you down. I hate the fact that in this country we have promoted the hard men over the artistes. On a previous post Atila suggested that it was the reason the national side has not got anywhere. I agree.

I knew a young lad recently who was a magician with the ball - skills you would pay to see. He was at Crystal Palace for a while as a schoolboy. Then he was released. Why? He was "too small" Sums it up.

[Jah Lush]

I wasn't really condoning the hardman thing Citizen. I'm all for the beautiful game, that's what it's all about and why I admire Arsenal's play so much. It was the going down like a dying swan (see Didier Drogba) that I'm opposed too.

George Best was considered too small when he first started out and was a genius, certainly one of the all-time greats. I was a Palace junior myself for a short while and played for south London and trained at Spurs too when I was a boy but once I discovered sex & drugs & rock n'roll it was all over for me.

[citizenED]

Drogbaesque melodramatics aside, perhaps if referees interpreted the rules properly for a couple of seasons and stopped defenders from kicking chunks out of skilful players there would be less need for those players to "simulate". I actually don't mind a bit of simulation when it means that after an hour of fouling an oik gets his marching orders.

[atila the gooner]

On my previous message regarding the fact that Gerrard has jumped on the "foreign = bad for the premiership" bandwagon, I've just seen the back page of todays Times, " Gerrard supports quota system as England search for excuses" , what more needs to be said. It sums it up perfectly.

[atila the gooner]

It is great to see the game of football played well, but strong physical challenges, as long as they are within the laws of game, are part of the game. I think the English game has become very one dimensional in that the physical aspect is what kids are taught at grass roots ( the cry of "get stuck in" rings around every junior footballing fixture I've attended with my son during the past 10 to 12 years) and is seen to be the quality what divides a good player from a bad one. No wonder we have so many average English players. A balance has to be struck starting at very early age or I fear the trend will continue.

[Jah Lush]

Exactly, learning skills and tricks should be of the utmost importance. At the same time you've got to know how look after yourself and knowing how to evade a tackle with alertness and skill with a dummy here or a shimmy there is what it's all about.

The art of dribbling seems to have gone out of the game. Apart from the likes of Ronaldo, Lennon and Wright-Phillips how often do you see old fashioned wing play whereby the attacker takes on defenders before crossing or scoring? Not much. Kids should be learning the basic skills, control and touch, passing and movement. What Arsenal do now started out in life as what the great Spurs teams of the 50s and early 60s were doing except it was called push and run in those days and of course there is the element of Dutch total football thrown in as well.

[atila the gooner]

Amen to that Jah, it's what I've been telling my sons since they started to kick a ball, and I'm glad to say that, at least for my eldest son, it has worked because he is half decent player that can run with the ball, cross it with either foot, dribble, tackle, head the ball, pass and knows when to pass and when to hold onto the ball. He ain't the worlds greatest, but I'm proud that the concept of "the beautiful game" is not alien to him.

[Jah Lush]

Good man. No wonder you're proud of him. He sounds like a fine player in the making. The importance of playing with both feet cannot be understated. When I was a lad I'd practice with my other foot constantly to get it as good as the other one. Sometimes going through whole training sessions just to familarise the left foot with the ball to get it to be able to do the things that came naturally with my right.

[atila the gooner]

Jah, do you think that this clamour to blame all the ills of English football on foriegn imports is just a ruse to deflect the spotlight away from the possibility that England may not qualify for Euro 2008?

[Keef]

I remember Alan Hansen saying the best advise he could give to a kid was when you first start kicking a ball against a wall, make sure you kick it just as many times with your weaker foot, and force yourself to be 2 footed.

I agree with the praise for Terry before, but one thing about him that really annoyed me was when he was interviewed a couple of months ago, and they talked about the time he was arrested for hitting the bouncer or whatever.

His response was along the lines of

My dad always taught me to stick up for myself, he shoved me so I smacked him, and I'd do the same again tomorrow.

Good to see you learn from your mistakes, and such a lovely role model for the kids. Tw@t!

Good player though.

As for the ?40 a day the woment were paid, that's an absolute disgrace! They were there 2 months trying for their country, and apparently some of them are still doing overtime to make up the wages they lost in that time. Nice to see we're so greatful to our national teams! Bloody disgrace!

[atila the gooner]

Glad you're back Keef, Terry was, is, and always will be a caveman. It is why he is so at home with CSKA Fulham.>:D

[Jah Lush]

Hmmm...well there is a certain element of that no doubt about it but I also think that some teams have too many foreign players in their side and perhaps there should be a cap of some sort as to how many foreign players you can field in your side in a match. This has been discussed in Italy as well for quite some time now and FIFA have been looking into it too. Then again there are certain laws of employment and movement in the European Union to take into account as well and such a thing is illegal.

Having said that I think you pointed out very well in an earlier post that if you can't learn from the example that is set by great players like Bergkamp and Zola etc, not just about skills but diet and how to conduct yourself on and off the pitch as well then there isn't much hope for us is there.

There are too many British players like Anton "you staring at my watch mate" Ferdinand who looked a good prospect when he started out but as soon as he starts earning a few bob and starts hanging around crappy nightclubs and acting flash with a 60 grand watch on his arm and driving around in a Baby Bentley think they've made it.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Don't know how apocryphal this is but I remember a story about Stanley Matthews. Back in the day when it were t'leather football, his dad apparently soaked the ball, made him remove his right boot and gave him the choice which foot he kicked it with!

[atila the gooner]

Peckhamgatecrasher Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Don't know how apocryphal this is but I remember a

> story about Stanley Matthews. Back in the day when

> it were t'leather football, his dad apparently

> soaked the ball, made him remove his right boot

> and gave him the choice which foot he kicked it

> with!

Jesus, was the man a sadist??????

[Jah Lush]

Keef Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I remember Alan Hansen saying the best advice he

> could give to a kid was when you first start

> kicking a ball against a wall, make sure you kick

> it just as many times with your weaker foot, and

> force yourself to be 2 footed.

That's good advice. It's exactly what I did when I was a young lad wanting to be a footballer.

[atila the gooner]

Will Steve Bruce be daft enough to take the Wigan job???? A thankless and impossible task methinks!!