Listening to the radio the other day I took objection to the comments of the expert “analyst” or so they are called…basically the guy who is in to support the commentator by chipping in every 5 minutes or so.  This is how the dialogue went;

“What do you think about Tottenham this season?  Have they got enough to maintain a title challenge or do they need to strengthen in the window” asked the commentator

“I think Tottenham have a good team and could challenge for the top 2 positions in the league.  If they could just add 2 or 3 players in the transfer window they would go close” stated the analyst competently.

“Interesting, where do you think they need to strengthen?  What sort of player do they need? ” Replied the commentator amiably.

Gareth Bale is leading Tottenham's assault on the Premier League

Cue completely flustered man desperately trying to bullshit his way out of the corner he put himself in.  ”Well um, um they definitely need a striker, probably a midfielder and another defender” He didn’t know because his response was a token and standard response to the question posed, “do you think Tottenham need to strengthen in January?”  I mean honestly this is an “expert” talking and what he serves up is another example of the parasitic cliche;  The parasitic cliche lives inside a lot of pundits and feeds of the non specific, repetitive and mundane feedback we hear on a weekly basis… and just when you think they can’t get lack any more incision and acuity out comes the cliche, evident in this case by the old “they need to strengthen in the window” line.  the analyst said they needed to strengthen because he felt it was the right thing to say, he didn’t really believe it or for that matter seem to really know whether they did or they didn’t.

It is true Tottenham have had an excellent season; they are exciting to watch, play with purpose, drive and pace that gets all football fans out of their seats.  ”I’d pay to watch Tottenham play” quoted David Moyes in the build up to their premier league game this week.  However their success has stemmed in my opinion from several things.  Firstly they have a good blend of youth and experience with an average age of their starting squad being 27 – One of the higher in the league, the players could be considered to be in their prime.  Certainly this seems true of Bale, Modric, Parker and several of the back 4.  They have used only 20 players (from starting) this season – the fewest in the premier league, indicating they have, by and large, kept key squad members fit and have been able to play something like their strongest team on a regular basis.  Couple an exciting and talented squad with limited injuries (I know all teams get injuries but star players like Bale have been largely injury free) and a manager willing to ‘have-a-go’ then you have a chance to be consistent and that is what Tottenham have done this season and what is pushing them up the pecking order – consistency.

Consistency comes from playing a similar team each week, the ability to remain constant and therefore replicate successful techniques and responses in new situations and different scenarios.  The players in turn gain confidence and motivation from this success, want and are able to to replicate it more frequently and therefore carry their confidence into their next performance.  My point is that the last thing you need is a £25 million player turning up on your doorstep with a forehead tattoo saying “the gaffa has to play his new signing”.  Similarly the thought of adding 2 or 3 players to an already tight unit half way through the season runs the risk of doing more harm than good; unsettling players, hampering the confidence of players and deflating a group, high on their own success thus far.  It is my contention that the window is far more profitable for teams who need an impact or a boost, a team for example who might be hovering around relegation, as opposed to a top four side who are looking to strengthen for maybe the title run in or a push for Europe.

Needless to say if the switch is made a reality, the player in question can often feel an even weightier expectation, especially if a large price tag carries them aloft into their new club amidst cries of him becoming the new club’s newest legend or indeed saviour.  You only have to look at the biggest exponent of the January flop; Fernando Torres.  The weight of the price tag seems to have pushed his already out of sorts form into further disarray.  I saw him play for Liverpool in the flesh and he was awesome, an admirable specimen who was stockier and more powerful than I expected and had the movement to disorientate the best defenders in the world, ask Nemanja Vidic.  However his arrival at Chelsea for whatever reason has not worked.  But he isn’t alone, strikers with big price tags are a big no no in the January ‘sales’.

A book I can highly recommend – Moneyball, is a fantastically astute look into the statistics associated with baseball and their implementation during the draft selection process that exists in US sport.  There are several players that, statistically, you should never invest your money in e.g. High School Pitchers who’s record, statistically is far worse than College pitchers.  However the word of mouth and subjective approach from scouts ensured that High School pitchers are often more fashionable for the ‘potential’ they possess.  Billy Beane (head coach of the Oakland A’s) would argue that he would prefer someone with proven form at a higher level (i.e. a college pitcher).  He would cheer every time a high school pitcher was drafted leaving his 1st choice draft picks (usually college players) left to be swept up by him and his statistical outlook.  In January, strikers are often bought for overinflated prices and brought in as ‘the answer’.  However I suspect there is someone out there cheering as loud as Billy Beane every time Roman Abramovich opens his Torres directed , new year chequebook.

I’m sure that same person could be heard laughing when;

-  Middlesborough signed Alfonso Alves for nearly £13 million in 2008.  His 10 goals in 48 appearances ensured Middlesborough were rightly relegated for their rashness and condemned Alves to a life of huge wages and cuban cigars in Qatari football.  At least someone benefitted!?

- Jose Antonio Reyes singed for £10 million by Arsenal.  Reyes was brought up in a caravan, dribbling around garden gnomes to learn his trade.  When he got his big move to England’s capital he was more concerned about a severe lack of understanding of English than producing on the pitch.  He found the words “score” and “goals” particularly difficult to comprehend.

-  Andy Carroll took the total of overpriced strikers moving last January to £85 million pounds.  In fairness it is probable a lot of pressure to think that despite your poor attitude off the field, anti social behaviour orders, burnt out cars and social and domestic issues you are valued at the same price as clean water for an African shanty town for the rest of their life.  To be fair he does remind me of a camel, maybe he would be of use in Africa after all.  £35 million is an investment Liverpool are still waiting on a return for.

- Georgios Samaras broke all of Manchester City supporters hearts by signing for them for £6 million in 2006.  His 8 goals in 53 matches screams SPL and thats where he ended up.

-  Real Madrid goal machine Fernando Morientes pitched up at Anfield in 2005 to deposit 8 goals in 41 games at a return of just under £1 million per goal.

-  Supersub and everyones favourite “did he really play for England” Michael Rickets and his £3.5 million move to Middlesborough.  Predictably 3 goals in 32 games saw him narrowly miss out on Euro 2004.

- Gianfranco Zola stumped up £9 million on Savio Nsreko.  Cue some very unhappy hammers as brescia’s loss was West Ham’s well loss as well.  10 games 0 goals and swift return flight to Florence to ply his trade in Seria B.

In fairness it isn’t just strikers, disasters such as Jean Alain Boumsong further epitomise the panic buying nature of January.  £8 million for a defender proven…in the SPL.  Who would have thought Graeme Souness, now an expert analyst on Sky Sports, would have the tactical nous and guile to pair him up with Titus Bramble…I can hear Billy Beane now, laughing his socks off.

Christophe Dugarry seems perplexed at the Premier League's panic buys

Ultimately it is clearly a time of caution but there have been some real success stories of the January transfer window since its introduction;

- Henrik Larson’s move to Man Utd was just the ignition Fergie needed in his squad and the Swede helped United achieve another premier league title.

- Christophe Duggarry gave Birmingham City a huge lift in 2003 and his 5 goals were memorable in keeping them in the premier league.

- Mikael Arteta, Ashley Young and Javier Masherano are other examples of players signed to have a big impact on clubs that aren’t quite at their peak.  You only have to look at the signing of Daniel Sturridge for Bolton last season, his goals were season defining and how they have missed him this year.  Sturridge along with Larson and Dugarry are illustrations of how January can be of use.  An inspiration not a flagship.  Mascherano, Arteta and Young portray a more circumspect approach of signing talented young players with huge potential for relatively little money compared to Torres and Carroll and allowing them time to blood in without the media hype of the ‘the £30 million saviour’ arriving.  It is in my opinion these type of players that is what the January window is used for, however every year some managers never learn.

Last January there was £225 million spent in the window on ‘squad strengthening’!!  And in my opinion for every Dugarry there seems to be a plethora of Torres’.   I will always allow myself a rye chuckle when the cash is splashed in large sums by clubs in January, even if football’s expert analyst and his parasitic cliche feels they definitely needed to ‘strengthen their squad in the window‘.

Someone who is not that in tune with football asked me today, not in a nasty way, why this player Gary Speed was getting so much media exposure?  There was no malice in the question and she indeed commented on how extremely sad the situation was however my response was immediate and unequivocal; ‘he was just one of those players who ways a bit of a legend, the sort of player most fans and managers would have happily had in their team’.  He wasn’t a Rooney or a Gazza but there wouldn’t be many managers who would have swapped him.

677 appearances, 103 goals for his 5 clubs to accompany his 85 National caps and 7 Welsh goals.  An MBE to match a glowing start in management for his beloved national team.  Enviably good looking, revered as a legend by all who knew him and those that didn’t.  I have never once cheered his name for club or country but when his name rang out at Swansea on Sunday there was a lump in my throat. Read More…

Episode 6 of the Sports Leviathan ‘things to do in football before you die’ is up on the Headers and Volleys website.  Click the link to read the first 6 entries

As I expand my entries on my own bucket list – Things to do in football before you die, let me know what entries you would like on yours.  Click on the link and join the debate.

The second installment of things to do in football before you die is up on the Headers and Volleys website. Check it out.

Sports Leviathan has collaborated with the team behind the excellent Headers and Volleys website to create a ‘Football Bucket List’ .  Click on the link to read SL’s first installment of things to do in football before you die.

Mata and Silva leading the premiership's Spanish revolution

The conjecture that England aren’t currently good enough to win a major championship is primarily borne out of Spain’s recent emergence as the new purveyors of Total Football.  Technical, quick, sharp and clinical, Spain’s approach in fact the ‘Spanish approach’, to football has reborn and renergised the notion that football can be a beautiful game.  My observations in this assessment, in short, aren’t based on any startling statistics that Spain have devoted more money and resources into coaching and talent identification and development.  In fact I would hazard a guess that in England far more money is spent on attempting to develop the English national team than it is in Spain.

The beautiful game is synonymous of countries with flair.  Brazil, Holland, and now Spain have all ticked the numerous boxes to be considered a great footballing side.  In the last two decades Italy with players like Baggio, Del Piero and Totti could be considered to enter that bracket.  So too could France; Zidane Henry and Ribery to name a few examples. Both these sides have won world cups and whilst neither would be considered beautiful in their approach nor could be classed in Spain’s current fluent bracket, their robust style was intertwined with players who a) performed on the big stage and b) could create a moment of genius.  Maradonna and the Argentinian sides of ’86 and ’90 fall into this catergory too.  The Dutch team that were a Robben one on one away from glory had an abundance of Van der playmakers and the German side that ripped England apart, did so with guile and Ozil orchestarated class.  Even England’s bogey side Portugal had Ronaldo and Deco et al.

The point is there is more than one way to skin the Jules Rimet cat however a player or players of creative flair and even genius are often the heartbeat of their success.   Think back through England’s catalogue of misery…The names that spring to mind are obviously Gazza probably Beardsley and maybe more recently Rooney.  My contention is that the absence of personnel coupled with an overinflated opinion of the impact the English players have in their club’s successes is a major contributing factor to our lack of even a sniff of major honours since 1990 and beyond.  Put in simple terms; this season Juan Mata and David Silva have been two of the most impressive players in the premiership, certainly the most technically gifted, and they can’t get in their national teams, such is the strength in quality of Spain’s first eleven, how are England placed to combat this.  My argument is they are at least 10 years too late and counting.

Paul Hayward of the Guradian concurs that Mata and Silva are among the most exciting talents in the premiership, tweeting “Mata, Modric, Silva and Aguero (plus Wilshere) could make this the year of the little wizard – good news for small, skillful English boys.  He is right, it is exciting however if parents, teachers and coaches can’t get the self obsessed indulgence of winning out of their psyche we will continue to breed players that can’t cut it technically at the top level.  In schools the obsession of some teachers to play a winning style as oppose to a developmental one is an easy trap to fall into. The quick 11 year old who is almost six foot is ideal!  Pump the long balls and get him to chase.  He scores 5 a game and the school are all conquering, until they turn 15 or 16 when the rest have caught up physically.  Curtis is no longer the best player and is let go by the local club because his reliable attributes of strength speed and power are possessed by 90% of the talented youngsters in the academy.  Had he focussed more on his technical development in year 7 things may have been different.  When I played county football the selection programmes relied upon physical size, length of throw and speed.  Everything else seemed inconsequential.  Mind you, in a half an hour trial what else can they look for?  We hear that in Holland and Spain they play small sided games and the focus isn’t on winning but development. I’m sure this is true  and it is the mindset that is key.  The mentality of “winning is everything” is not just prevalent it is overpowering in England which causes regression not progression in our nations game.

Parents are worse than teachers and coaches and carry more responsibility in my opinion.  Their influence on their offspring is critical in their development both physically and mentally.  It is the mental side which is all important; instilling values that will ensure a drive or desire to achieve. Quite frankly the attitude and behaviour of some parents at football matches is infantile at best and an embarrassment to their children.  Role models start at home and the it isn’t the responsibility of premiership footballers to be the moral compass of a teenager.

We have to be careful what we wish for as Chelsea showed at Old Trafford on Sunday;  a free flowing, technically sound and open style that was great to watch, but yielded a resounding beating against the best side in the country.  There has to be a balance and on the weekend when Arsenal again fielded a side with no English players in it, it is my belief that just because our domestic clubs are successful, what good does that do the national team.  How influential are the English players in their club’s success?  The first picture a lot of people will get is of Steven Gerrard heroically leading Liverpool to many memorable European nights.  Gerrard is without doubt a crucial cog in Liverpool’s wheel as Lampard has been for Chelsea.  But remember this article focuses on depth;  The Silva and Mata paradigm.

Below is a list of statistics (courtesy of www.statbunker.com) that illustrates England’s inability to establish strength in depth into European and ultimately world football.  The stats show the amount of players that have played in the Champions league from respective world countries.

2011/12 – England 10th ( 34 behind Brazil)

2010/11 – England 8th (46 behind Brazil)

2006/07  - 7th (49 behind Brazil)

2000/01 – 7th (1 behind Brazil)

In the past 10 seasons England has never been in the top 5 most represented countries in the Champions League.  France, Spain, Italy and Brazil are in almost every top 5 and regularly have 40 more players than England competing at Club football’s elite level. It is therefore no surprise that excluding Greece all the major tournaments since 1998 have been won by these 4 nations.  10 years ago Brazil had just one more player involved in the champions league than England.  Since then England have only improved on this figure by 3 players (maxing at 43 in 02/03).  England have always had big clubs, paid good wages and this may ironically be the reason for a lack of English talent (too many foreigners), however it seems inexcusable that we have plateaued for 10 years whilst the likes of Brazil have doubled the amount of players performing in the Champions League.  England, their FA and the Premier League have been lying asleep in their beds of money for too long and it is going to be a long road to redress the balance.

This season Barcelona are again the pacesetters destroying Osasuna 8-0 at the weekend.  Manchester United as I have commented on previous posts look set to try and combat them in a more open way this year illustrated by their destruction of Arsenal. Barring Rooney and possibly Young neither side possesses any English attacking threats.  Chelsea have Mata, Drogba, Torres, Meireles, Lukaku and Anelka with only Lampard and Sturridge flying the flag for England and Man City have no English influence bar Adam Johnson’s bench warming as Aguero, Dzeko and Silva take top billing.  It is in my opinion a crucial time for English clubs and the FA regarding the national team and its longevity.  There are lots of youngsters with potential, but regularly they are shipped off on loan and never seen again, never getting a go at the highest level to prove themselves.  More Englishman should be brave, like Joe Cole, and take a wage cut to play Champions League football in a different country and I commend Cole for this.  He has put his England ambitions first.  Josh Mceachran looked a great talent for Chelsea and now he doesn’t make the squad.  The list of good English players on loan is too long and clubs should take more responsibility for the national teams development.  But then again with only 5 English managers in the premier league why would they!

SL