What's Happening To '"The Beautiful Game"?

Last night, we saw two teams (Brazil and Columbia) who showed that they could play some open, wonderful, exhilarating, stuff.

But there was also another side to the game - not helped at all by the referee's lax attitude - and that was the sheer lack of concern by several players for the physical safety of their opponents. Appendages flew in from all angles with most being ignored by the referee and we now learn that Naymar (one of the few that has demonstrated real skill in the World Cup finals) has a broken vertebrae resulting from another, careless, challenge. 

And it exemplified how little the players knew about the rules of the game when James Rodriguez complained that he had been whistled-up for a foul but that he had used his shoulder. The trouble was that his shoulder had been applied to someone's chest. Do players' not know that the 'shoulder' rule applies to shoulder to shoulder contact? But he is not the only one not to understand this - many flout this rule and do not get disciplined for it. Pushing is rife.

For some years now it has made me boggle that players get away with so many fouls in the penalty area - particular when corner kicks are taken. Shirtpulling and pushing in these situations and in open play is rife and yet referees are tricked too easily. And many referees and their assistants seem to ignore their occurrence, particularly within the penalty area.

Last night's game could have been a a really great game. But it was so badly tainted by the rash challenges and referee myopia.

Added to the case concerning Suarez, I wonder what the likes of Pele think about what's going on? Sir Stan Matthews and Tom Finney would have been appalled.

On The Matter of the Midfield

After the frankly many terrible displays during the 2011-2013 period and their continuation into 2013-14, manager Paul Lambert finally conceded that the team lacked quality in midfield. Specifically that Villa were missing a 'number 10' of the Cowans/Merson mould, so we can say that it's been a very long time indeed since we had a 'general' that could ping a few balls about to good effect, and to make us believe that football is not just about huff and puff.

The 1990s saw a trickle of fine players come and go but in the midfield area (after Cowans and Platt had departed) there was no further playmaker of great note until the veteran Paul Merson arrived in late 1998, despite the earlier contribution of Richardson then Townsend and then Draper.

And since Paul Merson left in the early 2000s, there has been no-one able to replace him in that particular role of his, as an inspirational playmaker. With the absence of high midfield quality since 2003, Villa's style has depended considerably more on speed and effort. During O'Neill's time in office, the presence of Barry, Young, Petrov and Milner had glossed over the need for a specific inspirational player. Indeed, they have become harder to come by, and a young one would cost a fortune.

So, in the arrival of Joe Cole we have a possibility that causes me to equate with the arrival of Peter Broadbent in the Autumn of 1966. Like Broadbent, Joe Cole is a player that has probably seen his best days and has suffered injury, and though he was never a 'general' in the sense that Woosnam, Broadbent Cowans or Merson were, my mind does boggle to think that Cole may just have that matured skill of being able to 'sit and ping' searching balls to his Benteke-led strike-force, exploiting their strengths and pace. It's quite a thought; I pray that's what transpires. Former midfielder Paul Lambert may have had that vision when he signed Cole.

But the cynic in me will of course say 'Well, what if Cole gets injured for some time. We're then back to square one, aren't we?'. And that cynic may well have a point. And, also, 'where is the player that will help stem the opponents' ability to break through?'

We have a potentially interesting season coming up. Let's hope the cynic will be shown just how wrong he is. As another Lambert (Wellington's divisional commander, General Lambert) said to my 40th of Foot ancestor at Waterloo: 'Go for it young man; go and ping those balls of yours and send 'em scurrying back to whence they came!'

Can Youth Get Its Fling?

Aston Villa. As John Gregory famously and proudly said, there’s a symmetry in those two 5-letter words. The club’s name once stood as the finest, the Rolls-Royce (another two words of 5 letters!) of what was best in football. Aston Villa was once the most famous football club in the world and until 1982 it stood a good chance of re-claiming that status as it’s lead as the nation’s biggest winner of domestic trophies had only just been overtaken by Liverpool. And Villa had just become only the fourth English club to win the European Cup.

The restoration of Aston Villa to anything near top status will today require a club owner with a combination of sound business skills, a real affinity with football and a substantial amount of money. And, probably, his acceptance that he’s not going to make personal profit out of his investment. Running a football club today is not like the situation in Fred Rinder’s day, but it does require leadership of the kind that Rinder possessed. Restoration of the club cannot be expected to take place overnight, and the FFR situation rather points (in my opinion) to the need for Villa to re-build mainly from grass roots. The club does have a good infrastructure for youth development, though it requires a greater throughput of Premier League talent. We have had too many players come through who promised much in their early years but then fell away.

We’ve not done badly in the last 15 years or so in producing Barry, Hendrie, Vassell, Davis, Ridgewell, Craig Gardner, Cahill, Clark, Bannan, Albrighton, Baker and Gabby (apart from two, all were still Premier League players last season, and most have been ‘capped’), but there have been too many examples of youngsters falling away. I distinctly recall bright prospect Luke Moore having a purple patch in season 2005-06 by scoring 5 goals in 3 matches, then being rested and then managing to lose his way under Martin O’Neill. Well, as Cahill was also ‘let go’ by O’Neill perhaps we can identify where the problem of youth progression lay in those days.

But building from youth was the way that the club, under Rinder, re-built itself after 1900 when Villa’s old stars retired. And when a young player didn’t come through to fill a particular spot, then the club went out and bought the needed player. And there was always a careful blend of young and experienced players. It was a commonsense approach that worked. And it can work again. Someone has to develop new players as future stars, so why not Aston Villa?

So, in watching Jack Grealish we can wonder! we can wonder whether this phenomenon will break through and establish a new trend – a trend of Villa youth truly succeeding in the Premier League rather than being ‘nearlies’. Will he, Samir Carruthers and Gary Gardner be afforded the opportunity to strut their stuff?

I would say that all three of these young players (and others?) are ready to embark on the Premier League stage, but with one proviso. And that is that the club invests in a capable and experienced midfielder (or two) who can help to bring on these three, in the old Villa tradition.

In fact it was heart-warming for me to read in Billy Walker’s autobiography (Soccer In The Blood) his eagerness to give credit to old players and great stalwarts like Frank Barson and Clem Stephenson (who later led Huddersfield to three championships) for his on-the-field training as a young player. What a better way to learn your trade – from the masters. And Billy, in turn, brought on the young Eric Houghton. In fact, that was the way that Villa always used to go about things in that the older players coached the youngsters. This fact was told by Howard ‘Prince of Full-backs’ Spencer. There was no need for specialist team managers and coaches, they said. And, since Villa succeeded without them, they probably had a point.

But that was then. Football is now a humungous operation that almost undoubtedly does require a team manager and coaching staff. But I say that tradition has proved that on the field a player or two is needed to lead the youngsters as well. But will Villa’s manager play ball? And who should he get to play the part?