Let
us now praise great men. Indeed, congratulations to Spain, European Champions
yet again. Always you hear before the start of a tournament that the reigning
champions will go into the competition to try and successfully defend their
title. Only very few teams in the history of football have done this, and last
night, Spain added their name to this illustrious elite.
Now
that the Euros is over, it’s time to mull over a few bits and pieces here and
there especially for the tactic-obsessed like I am. What does Spain’s victory
mean to European football and by extension, world football as a whole? Are they
far ahead of the rest, or has the gap actually been bridged a bit? And what
does it mean for the likes of Germany and Holland who were touted to have come
to within touching distance of La
Furia Roja or The Red Fury as Spain’s affectionately known? What about
Italy, the beaten finalists? Italian football’s pride may have been firmly
restored, but what do we make of their disastrous capitulation in the final? Is
this the end of the famed catenaccio or
will that humbling thrashing necessitate it’s return? Let’s set the record
straight now, shall we?
In
the just concluded tournament Spain has been vilified and widely condemned for
their constant renditions of the ‘boring’ version of tiki taka football. You know, it’s funny how in the past boring
football was always the defensive one, but now thanks to Vicente Del Bosque and
his men, possession football has trumped defensive football in the boredom
stakes. When I first heard the accusations of Spain being boring, it puzzled
me. Then I watched their quarter final clash with France, and yes, I fell asleep
on the couch at half time only to wake up when Xabi Alonso was dispatching that
last minute penalty. Granted, the couch at home is that soft and cosy, but
really that incident opened my eyes to the fact that the adored Spain style had
become stale and boring. I always maintain, as my philosophy, that the right
way to play the game of football is by passing the ball around among team-mates
swiftly and in a forward direction then finishing by scoring at the best
position where it is easy to. It seems that Spain had evolved their game into
one of packing the midfield, passing the ball in a cycle, stifling the
opponents attack, boring the opponent’s defence to death then nicking in that
one goal to win the match.
At
this point, even morals are called into question. How can a formula which in
all fairness espouses the fundamental aspects of the game, possession and
teamwork, be labeled as boring? It just doesn’t sound right, does it? What’s
more, the formula has brought them success yet again. So do we say it is now
wrong to win? Isn’t the game (and tournaments the world over) all about
winning? Spain are not off the hook either in this question of morals (and the
lack of it). Let’s be honest here, we all know that in a team’s line up, there
always has to be at least one striker/forward. I mean, some (and I dare say,
most) of us were attracted to the game in the first place by deadly finishers
who demystified the sublime art of guiding the ball past the goalkeeper (and
defenders too), past the goal line (yes, it’s becoming a burning issue) and
into the net. Personally I can point out Brazil’s Ronaldo, PippoInzaghi,
Giovanni Elber, JurggenKlinsmann, Thierry Henry, Gianfranco Zola as having
sucked me into and sustained my interest in football. Then Spain out of sheer
audacity (arrogance, maybe) comes up with a 4-6-0 formation. That is 4
defenders, 6 (yes, six) midfielders and absolutely zero (ok, well, not quite
‘absolutely’) strikers who then go on to safely deliver the Henri Delauney’s
trophy back to King Juan Carlos I! In essence Del Bosque has just successfully
shown than you don’t need strikers to win games and trophies. I hear voices in
my head murmuring stuff like ‘oh hell no! Who the hell does he think he is!’
Seriously though, is this right? Do we ‘kill’ the Torreses, Llorentes, Pedros
and Negredos of this world? On a personal level, I vehemently oppose this new
paradigm shift, in the name of the gods of football that I believe in. Then
again, to be honest, I’m in love with the 4-6-0! It works, it gives results!
Maybe I should take some time off to make up my mind on the morality and
practicality of this quagmire.
All
said and done, the Spanish have raised the bar and set the standard to which
every football side in the world, both amateur and professional, both junior
and senior, both male and female, must aspire to match and even emulate. It is
even plain ridiculous that a country like England, which invented the game
itself, still goes into competitions with a rigid, uninspiring and
weather-beaten 4-4-2. Then you hear English commentators say before every match
‘the midfield battle will decide who wins this match’ yet they have no
midfield, just a bunch of four players playing in midfield. By the way this
declaration I’ve just made is serious, very serious. Coaches and managers will
have to change their methods, their way of thinking, their training and
basically how they do things. From safety first, to gung-ho attack, to dogged
defending, to consummate finishing, to even parking the ‘bus’, all these will
have to be coalesced into one efficient system just like the Spaniards have
done. And it’s simple really, just get the ball, possess it and enjoy yourself,
the goal(s) and the win will just come. It is the ultimate football tactic and
it is quite a shame it has taken all this long for people to realize this. Oh
wait, probably they haven’t. Once again, let us internalize this: when you have
the ball and keep it, then you can do anything with it, and even better, the
opponent cannot do anything.
It
is worth mentioning that Germany and not Italy, is the closest team to Spain,
yet still so far from them. The talent is there, the technique is there and
even the finishers are there. What is lacking is that confidence and patience
to possess the ball for outrageously long periods of the match while
maintaining their concentration to ridiculously high levels. The German Machine
will get there, all factors staying constant, but for now we sing and dance to
the tune of the Spanish guitar as we watch in awe and amazement the masters
from Catalonia, Madrid, Basque, Andalucia dance the tango in the way only they
know how to. We also remember to make a mental note to search and beg for this orchestra’s choreography notes after the show has
stopped.
