This and That: Knockout Drama and a quick Shaw adendum

Back again for another quick column of musings during this festival of football we know as the World Cup.

Well, those were two interesting knock out games yesterday weren’t they? Brazil just sneaked by an impressive and swashbuckling Chile while Colombia coolly and calmly despatched a mentally weakened Uruguayan side. What do any of these results tell us though, if anything at all?

Well, first off it suggests that I was perhaps a little too hasty when I suggested that Brazil had finally taken this World Cup by the scruff of the neck. Indeed they made very hard work of defeating Chile, needing the lottery of penalties to finally finish them off.

That being said, Chile have shown themselves to be excellent value in this tournament. They had difficulty at times against both Australia and Holland, but they showed in this match that they are a very handy side and can consider themselves a tad unlucky that they didn’t advance.

The overall winners in that contest, cliché though this may sound, were the people who watched it. It was a fabulous contest, fought with the intensity of a Derby between two very decent sides. I’m undecided on whether Brazil will advance onward to win the tournament at this point. Supposedly their biggest advantage is that they are the host nation, but I’m really starting to think that this has actually gone over to the point of being a hindrance now.

The anticipation of the crowd has almost become like a weight around the Brazilian players necks. Towards the end of the match the crowd were a bag of nerves and I really got the impression that it was transferring those nerves onto the Brazilian players. The atmosphere for the game yesterday wasn’t of a rabid home crowd thirsting for victory and pushing the home team over the line but rather a desperate crowd fearful of defeat that put the home side under undue pressure. It will be interesting to see how Brazil deal with this in the Quarter Finals.

As for Colombia Vs Uruguay, it almost ended up being somewhat of a non-event in comparison to the pulsating bout that preceded it. Uruguay fulfilled all of my worries by really just melting under the pressure of the contest and looking lost without Luis Suarez to provide the necessary x-factor to get them rolling.

Uruguay looked emotionally frazzled and physically second best to a Colombian side who have looked excellent during this tournament. You could make realistic argument that they could now go all the way and win the cup. James Rodriguez’s goal in the first half was an absolutely wicked strike from outside the box that fizzed under the crossbar past the despairing Uruguayan keeper. It was a goal worthy to win the World Cup, but Colombia will have to settle with it being one of the two goals that booked them a place in the Quarter Finals.

Uruguay will be forced to return home and reflect on a World Cup that might have been. Had Suarez kept his cool and not done what he did, could they have advanced past this Colombian side? To a man, the Colombians appeared to be the better side, but indeed so did Italy in all honesty, and yet Uruguay advanced. Suarez’s ability to galvanise his countrymen was sorely missed in this outing and thus sadly we will not get the re-match of the unofficial 1950 “Final”.

No Maracanazo repeat for Brazil to worry about this time. Pity actually. It would have been an excellent examination of whether Brazil truly had the chops to win this World Cup if they’d had to do battle with the Uruguayans and face those demons from 64 years ago. It would have proved to be a fascinating contest for the neutral also. Oh well, no point crying over spilt Quarter Final I suppose.

 

United "SHAW UP" Their Ranks

We end today by briefly looking at Manchester United’s purchase of Luke Shaw. The Red Devils have paid over 30 Million smackers to bring Shaw on board, a fee which I am gladly going to declare as being ludicrous. This is no comment on Shaw himself, who is a talented young player that United will no doubt benefit from, but more a comment on just how ridiculous transfer fees have gotten in the modern game.

 I’m old enough to remember when Alan Shearer, then one of the best strikers in Europe, was snapped up by Newcastle for 15 Million. This was after he’d scored over 100 goals in the Premier League for Blackburn and had been a key part in bringing the Premier League trophy to Ewood Park. At the time pundits were decrying how extravagant the fee was, and this was for one of the best players in the league. Shaw, though talented and with a lot of potential, is nowhere near as advanced in his role as Shearer was in his and yet he’s gone for double the amount.

I shudder to think how much Shearer would go for these days. I suppose what grates the most is that as transfer fees continue to rise, it will only contribute to the greed within the football industry and make it harder for the less moneyed clubs to compete. And indeed, eventually it will get to the point where ticket prices will rise just so clubs can stay competitive. And on that depressing note, we’ll end this article

Cheerful sod aren’t I?

This and That: Best and Worst Moments of the World Cup Group Stages

Best Moment of the Group Stages

This genuinely is a tough question as this World Cup has had potentially the most exciting opening round since probably Spain in 1982, which had Brazil smashing people to smithereens, mad upsets in the form of Algeria beating Germany, big games between name teams, such as England’s 3-1 win over the French and also a smattering of controversy, such as the “Non-Aggression Pact” between Germany and Austria that saw the aforementioned Algerians getting turfed out in the cruellest of ways.

For this World Cup, I’ll have to go with Holland’s 5-1 demolition of Spain, because it genuinely one of the most bizarre games of football I’ve seen in quite some time. Up until Robin Van Persie diving like a salmon to score his incredible header, Spain were not only in the match but were probably favoured to win.

I expected this match would involve Spain grabbing a 1-0 lead and then passing the Dutch to death until the final whistle. How wrong I was.

Holland were imperious in the second half and completely dismantled the World Champions with seeming ease. Spain, so long so invincible, so long unbeatable, just absolutely wilted under the pressure of The Dutch onslaught. They had no answer to Holland’s pulsating and direct attacking.

One of the most amazing World Cup results of my lifetime. Simply extraordinary.

Spain will be back, of that I have no doubt, with a younger and hungrier team in 4 years. I don’t expect this sort of result, or indeed the one against Chile, to befall them again. But for once, just once, it was nice to see them get leathered and their antiseptic and dull football given a tonking by the very style it was designed to stifle. Love it



Most Disappointing Moment

I’ll have to go with Cameroon for this one. They had their regularly scheduled “Pre World Cup Meltdown™” and crashed out in the Group stages after an absolute walloping from Croatia in only their second group game. A game which ended with two of their players scuffling on the pitch before the final whistle.

I’m not really disappointed about the meltdown, as I think this was the sixth successive World Cup where the Cameroonians have done this and I assure you it won’t be the last, but more so that when they took to the field they were so abjectly poor.

I do think we sometimes expect a little too much of Cameroon. I think it’s because they were so magnificent in Italia 90’ and we all secretly hope at the start of every World Cup that a Cameroonian side will come along that can replicate that amazing achievement. It should be pointed out that Cameroon were in absolute disarray before that tournament as well and their 1st choice goalkeeper got dropped before the opening game for critiquing the manager and the general ineptitude of the Cameroonian FA’s preparations.

But despite that, they provided us with unforgettable moments which will forever be held in World Cup folklore. That incredible 1-0 win over Argentina, Roger Milla making Rene Higuita look like an absolute plum and of course playing England off the park only to narrowly lose to a Gary Lineker penalty.

Maybe this is why I’m so disappointed? That Cameroonian team were an inspiration to a generation of young supporters and players alike. Gigi Buffon wanted to become a goalkeeper after seeing the teams exploits. By comparison, this Cameroon side were an absolute joke and a genuine disgrace. Disappointment might not be a strong enough word.

This and That World Cup: England out, Aussie’s proud, Suarez bites a lad and Brazil finally show up to their own party

England out, Aussie’s proud, Suarez bites a lad and Brazil finally show up to their own party


So yeah, England are out of the World Cup. Sadly they went out with a whimper as opposed to a bang. However, may I please present a dissenting opinion to the consensus here? In fact, I’d like to present a couple of them.

Firstly, I feel placing the blame on the defence is a bit rum considering that they were hopelessly exposed by the players in front of them. If Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka played for a Sky 6 team, the level of complaints lodged against them would be nowhere near as vast as they have been. Now, I must declare an interest here. I am an Evertonian but even I would hold my hands up if I felt Baines and Jags had stunk the joint up, but they really didn’t.

At the end of the day, Wayne Rooney is not a left sided mid fielder. He’s a striker who refuses to actually play as a striker. If someone with some defensive nous had actually been in front of Baines giving him the protection he required, England wouldn’t have been so exposed on that side of the pitch.

As for Jags, well I suppose he is guilty of not having psychic powers to predict that Steven Gerrard would make a colossal fudge up to let Suarez clean through, but I’m not really going to hold that against him. Plus, Jagielka made that line saving header against the Italians and was probably England’s best defender in that contest.

Secondly, I dispute that this has been England’s worst World Cup performance. What actually happened in this World Cup? England went out there against two decent sides, did their level best and lost by an odd goal in each circumstance. I would argue that England did a bang average job and little else.

In 2010 in South Africa, England were abysmal and only got through thanks to a fine bit of luck against Slovenia and some last gasp defending. They were promptly routed by Germany in the knock outs. I’d happily argue that England did vastly worse in South Africa than they did in Brazil. England get back on a plane to come home but they so secure in the knowledge that they had a go. If England had been lucky enough to be drawn in place of France, Belgium or Argentina in their respective groups, I think they would have made the knock outs. As it was, they got a tough group and were forced to play their opening game in the Amazon Rainforest.

Yes, England need to drop some of the old guard and give youth a chance. And yes, Roy Hodgson perhaps isn’t the most adventurous or charismatic manager on offer. But, it should be pointed out that England have only lost 2 competitive games in 90 minutes under Hodgson. Personally, I’m not too bothered with him getting another chance. I’ll reserve judgment until the winter/spring on him.


G’Day Credibility

In comparison, Australia get on a plane to go home but they can do it with their heads held high. They were the designated “Easy Three Pointer” in what some were, wrongly, calling the Group of Death. In the end they did lose 3 games but I can assure you the act of winning for Chile and Holland was far from easy.

Australia played tirelessly and really went for it. They didn’t show up just to make the numbers. They showed up with designs of causing an upset, and goodness gracious did they almost do it against Holland. They were supremely unlucky to wind up losing 3-2 in a pulsating contest. Australia may go out of this World Cup without a victory to their name but they do so with their honour most firmly intact.


Luis from Montevideo Hall

Oh Dear. Luis Suarez. I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe he has the wrong temperament to be a professional footballer. I get the same impression from Joey Barton actually. It just seems like playing football just brings out the worse parts of their character. Off the pitch, Suarez seems like a relatively calm and amiable fellow, but when he gets on that pitch he becomes a right little monster.

In comparison, Barton comes across as quite verbose and reflective off the pitch, but when he gets on it he becomes a whirling dervish of absolute anarchy (Have that as a twitter sub-headline if you want Joey, no extra charge!)

Suarez once again is in the news for possibly biting someone. This would be the third time he’s done it and he’s looking at a quite sizeable ban if it is proven. I should stress in the interest of fairness that nothing actually HAS been proven yet, but it doesn’t look good.

I’m still trying to work out why Suarez did this, if in fact he did, as it doesn’t look like the opposing Italian player had actually done anything to him prior to chow-down time. He DID elbow him, but that was after he’d been bitten. At least when Zinedene Zidane head-butted the tiramisu out of Marco Materazzi, it was a result of the Italian insulting him. Though it doesn’t condone what Zidane did, it does at least explain it. There was an action and then a consequent reaction that all fit into an understandable narrative strand.

Suarez just seemed to bite Giorgio Chiellinifor the Craic. In his post-match interview, he didn’t seem to suggest that Chiellini had insulted him. He did say correctly that Chiellini elbowed him, but this was a result of Suarez biting him. Suarez really did appear to be the aggressor in this situation and I can’t for the life of me think why. I don’t know what motivated him to do it.

With Maradonna punching a ball into a goal you can at least understand his motivation. His punching of the ball into the net was to put his team 1-0 up in the contest. It made sense, it had logic to it, and it was something you could understand whether you agreed with it or not. Once the game was over you knew why he’d done it. With Suarez I just don’t know why he did this other than him having some sort of an issue. There was no actual tactical advantage gained at that particular point from biting Chiellini. There was no reason to do it.

A defender crocking a player when he’s the last man makes sense. A player elbowing another to get to a header first makes sense. A player diving to win a penalty makes sense. All of these things are abhorrent and not in the spirit of the game, but you can at least UNDERSTAND why someone would do them. They are being done so that an advantage can be gained. Nibbling someone on the shoulder serves no purpose on the football pitch. It’s something you more associate with a steamy love scene in a movie rather than a sporting contest.

Maybe this is why such fascination abounds Suarez in this situation? We just don’t understand.


Brazil finally realises there’s a World Cup on

Better late than never eh? Brazil, the World Cup hosts, finally decided to show up on Monday, and boy did they ever. Poor Cameroon, a team in disarray, worried the hosts with an early goal but soon succumbed to the overwhelming pressure of a partisan crowd and the skilful styling’s of “Boy Wonder” Neymar.

Even Fred, the only Brazilian striker to work at a mil in Widnes on his days off, got on the score sheet as Brazil rampaged to a 4-1 victory. Does this now make Brazil the favourites for the tournament? I’d certainly have them in the running but it may also still be too soon to say. I would still say Argentina would be the overall favourites, with Germany and Brazil behind them, while Holland, France and Colombia stand on the periphery after promising first round performances.

Uruguay were a team I expected to do well, but that now depends on whether Suarez is banned or not. Without Suarez, Uruguay look lost but with him in the side they seem like a genuine threat. Even when Suarez doesn’t score, his merely being there galvanises the team. He is a talisman for them in every sense of the word. Without him, I fear Uruguay will crash out ignominiously to the Colombians in the knock out stages. Should he indeed play, they might have a chance to advance onward.

And back to Suarez we go. I’ll freely admit that I thought this World Cup would be to Suarez what 1986 was to Maradonna or what 1962 would be to Garrincha. It would be HIS World Cup. Now sadly it probably will be, but for all the wrong reasons.

England crash out and must now rebuild. It’s a shame that the legacy left by England in this tournament, a tournament that may be the greatest World Cup ever, is that they went out early. But I’m not ashamed. They went out due to no lack of effort. At the end of the day, they just didn’t have what it took. It’s disappointing but it’s not insulting or shameful.

In some ways, I wish we’d gone down in glorious defeat like The Australians instead of just plain old defeat. But what can you do eh? We’ll just have to focus on Euro 2016 (Should we be lucky enough to qualify)

Four Sides Vs Six Sides: Passing The Buck

Everyone is doing a TNA/Impact Wrestling column at the moment it seems. So here’s mine


What seems to have sparked the debate this time is that TNA are considering bringing back their famed Six Sided Wrestling Ring. However, the debate has got rolling less for them considering the change and more for HOW they've considered broaching the subject.


This is because TNA are leaving it up to their fan base to decide which ring they use. They are allowing people who have no direct contact with the in-ring machinations to actually decide what sort of ring the wrestlers will be competing in. A lot of these people have never even been in a wrestling ring before and now the power is in their hands to make a decision that directly effects the working lives of the wrestlers they watch each week.


Most wrestlers will tell you how important it is to have the right sort of ring when it comes to working on a show. There’s a reason that wrestlers get in the ring before a show starts and have a quick bump around before the customers stream in. Yhey want to know what the ring feels like. They want to know what they can and can’t do.


There’s nothing worse than a bad ring. A ring with no bounce, or indeed too much bounce, makes bumping and feeding difficult. A ring with awful slack ropes makes even the most basic of tasks a chore. The sound system, the entrance way, the dressing room, these are all important when it comes to a show but the most important of all is the ring. A decent ring will make or break a show.


Now, I’m all for wrestling fans being allowed to have a say on matters but this is one area where I feel they are totally unqualified to make an informed and adequate contribution. I’ve never been one for the “you’ve never been in a ring” argument. People like Dave Meltzer or Wade Keller have never been professional wrestlers but then again Roger Ebert and Jonathon Ross have never been in Hollywood Movies either. Just because you haven’t done something doesn’t mean that you can’t research it and develop an informed opinion. However, this is one of the few areas where I honestly think it’s impossible for someone to have a relevant and informed opinion unless they’ve actually wrestled.


I’d like to compare it to football, another one of my favourite pastimes. As a football supporter, we all have opinions over who should play in the team and who is at fault when our teams lose. On more than one occasion I’ve put my two pence in on what tactics the manager has used and what individual players have done on the pitch. However, the last thing I’m going to do is show up at training and tell the coaches and the players what to do because, in all honesty, I wouldn’t have a clue. It’s easy to sit in the stands and critique the team, and as a paying customer I would dare to say that it’s my right, but I have no place in deciding what the squad actually do because I just don’t have the required knowledge in that field.


Wrestling fans pay for a ticket to a show, for a DVD or for a Pay Per View Event and they have every right to say what they think about the quality of that show. Commenting on the matches, the physiques, the storylines and the characters involved are all a privilege that come with the ticket. However, wrestling fans with no wrestling experience have no place in telling the wrestlers what sort of ring they should be wrestling in.


Unless you’ve taken bumps and ran the ropes I really don’t see what you can bring to the Four Sided Vs Six Sided argument besides a purely cosmetic point of view. Essentially, the fans are going to pick whatever ring they think is better looking, because that is all they are really qualified to comment on with any real authority. There’s nothing wrong with fans having an opinion to that regard and their opinions should be taken into account in the eventual decision, but the actual decision itself should be left up to the Road Agents and the wrestlers who are going to have to work in the ring.


There is nothing wrong with the fans being consulted on this matter and being asked “Which ring do you prefer?”, but that is as far as it should go. It is madness to leave it solely up to the fans to decide what wrestling ring a wrestling company uses. That’s like asking customers of an airline what plane they’d rather travel in. Some decisions should only be made in house and this is one of them.


I think it’s great that TNA wants to hear what it’s fans think but they have put too much power in the fans hands with this policy. Fans are entitled to an opinion, but in this case that is as far as it should go. It should merely be an opinion and TNA can then use that opinion to base its final decision. If they really do choose what ring they have based solely on what the fans think, I think it will be a terrible dereliction of their duty to their wrestlers.