Here in England, there is a football culture. It is driven by the weather, by the players and particularly by the fans. We the fans value certain things. We value effort, we value strength, we value athletic ability, we value the willingness to run through brick walls and never give in and we value bravery. To an extent, that governs the type of player that our country produces. Players with an abundance of these qualities will always be popular, whereas the thinkers, the intelligent runners, those who practice their ball skills and are less diligent about their fitness are accused of laziness and abusing their talent. That is how we are and if anything the Scots are the same with an added ingrained chip on their shoulders. In fairness, the same is true about most of northern Europe. It is driven by the winter weather that softens pitches and makes running a more practical proposition. The players who have historically done best in our country have been brought up under the same conditions, and of course there are always exceptions. Those from the low-countries and Germany know our culture and respond best to it. They know the type of play that the fans love, and because it is part of their own culture they do not have anything to learn. In the south of Europe, they have different traditions. In Italy and Spain, they have a culture of defence, and their football reflects their basic need to keep clean sheets, to win with just one goal. It is not the game that most northern Europeans would chose to watch because it relies on systems, on being clever enough to read the opposition’s intentions and to run less and play in the mind. Our natural desire for goal mouth action, for excitement and for goals does not fit with their desire to save energy, sit deep and play on the break. There is a need to be clinical when the rare chances come and more accurate finishing compensates for reduced goal mouth action and fewer attempts on goal. Sad to say, Portuguese football seems to me to be the poor relation of Italy. In essence, the idea is the same, but the technical ability of the players is often at a lower level. Of course, Portugal had its African colonies as did we, and many of Portugal’s best were imports from those colonies. They have influenced how the game is played there, but there is still that emphasis on defence and that reluctance to commit players forward. You can see it with Mourinho. He is a great tactician and a superb motivator, but his first move is always a defensive one, and for my money Manchester United are a less attractive watch than they were as a result. The players often seem to be caught between two stools, between their northern European instincts and the information and tactics given to them by their southern European coach. It often restricts them. It places doubts in their minds. It prevents them from doing what comes natural to them. At Barnsley, we now have a team who learned their football in southern Europe, in a different culture with a different way of playing. Yes, they are going to represent a new experience for our younger players. They will learn new ways of playing, new ways of thinking and new tactical nuances. But what of the established pros. What of a club culture grounded in the north of England? What of the fans. Could it all be just too big a culture shift, when all that is required is that we get enough points on the board to stave off relegation? I can see the attraction for the club. In southern Europe the coaches do not buy the players. The culture that the club is trying to operate is how most southern European clubs operate. With a Portuguese coaching team, there are no on-going battles to fight, no concerns about the limits of personal responsibility. The culture new coaching team matches that of the club, and that would have been a hard sell to some on our shortlist. But was it the easy way out? I do not know the answer to the questions that I have posed, but I do know that changing from a Barnsley British culture to one born of southern Europe is a hell of a risk, given the mess we find ourselves in. Can the new guys get their ideas over to the players and can the players assimilate those ideas into their game, which in almost all cases was made in northern Europe. Who knows? I raise these points for discussion. They are merely ideas and I do not want to be caught up in an argument about presenting opinions as facts. I find it an interesting topic and I am just putting it out there.
Jose Morais has twice held a managerial position in Germany and has assisted Jose Mourinho in Italy with Inter, Spain with Real Madrid and at Chelsea on two occasions. Dimas played at Juventus and at Marseille, both at the highest level of the game in the mid to late 90s. The physical coach whose name escapes me was employed at Sheffield Wednesday. Forgive me, RR, but why wouldn’t the aforementioned be able to get their ideas across? You’re also omitting to mention that we are now blessed with players such as Cavaré, Thiam, Knassmüllner, Pinillos etc who themselves haven’t played at this level. They’re hardly coming in from Mars to coach the 1970s Leeds side.
I'm not sure that I agree about the Italian and Spanish footballing culture being the same. I'm by no means an expert on either but from what I have seen I don't think the parallels are as pronounced as you have claimed.
Ive watched a fair amount of portuguese football having lived out there for a good few years previously ....In Setubal... the home city of the special one JM...our new coach and his team come highly recommended RR in fact in many quarters our coach was and is said to be the brains behind behind a lot of success that the special one has attained...off subject slightly that same special one who started his career off as a PE instructer in Setubal ( he taught my ex Portuguese sister in law) and who it may surprise you is strongly disliked in his home city....Yes Portugals football league can at times be a little dire apart from the main 3 teams Benfica Porto and Sporting that said it is vastly populated by many nationalities who add to the blend. There's not the same type of money In the game as in other countries and a lot of senior players play in all the major leagues world wide. The National team play some of the most gifted football that at times is very pleasing to the eye, it's fast tempo it's played on the deck no hoof football it promotes skill of the individual whilst providing good team ethics....that said in my opinion ive always felt at times its cried out for an old fashioned english centre forward ..to complement their style. Our head coach knows his onions so to speak and whilst he hasn't got the comfort of bedding in with the time scale and our poor league position that he ought, I for one have every confidence that if the players we have at our disposal buy into his coaching ethics then we are in for exciting times....whist only time will tell I for one think you RR will be happy with tactics and formations that you openly admit you enjoy analysing. .... couple the individual skill the Portuguese mentality and our English centre forward type then we might just have the making of happier times down at Oakwell..... the coaching team that as been assembled is a good blend and for myself speaks volumes for the new owners intentions ....id also expect others joining too but that depends on Barnsley keeping their championship status
Thanks she'd that's a really interesting read. I'm pleased with the appointment. One question left, not wanting to run the guy down but why don't they like him? Is it the moving on thing or while he or was there?
You’re right Mario because they’re not. The football in Spain or La Liga is rather open and sometimes totally devoid of defensive systems it seems and to say that Italian football is defensive is a very old cliche going back to the catenaccio systems of the early 90’s, Zeman is famed in Italy for his high intensity and ultra attacking teams and he’s managed some of the top clubs in Italy. The culture is different due to when our kids play they’re taught to run a lot and have fun and the rest will follow where as in Italy I don’t think they play competitive games until around the age of 10, all the years before that are with Inter team games and drills to work on the technical side of the game controlling the ball and understanding the basics. Didn’t GG himself say on the few paragraphs posted on the official site that Jose wants to play exciting attacking football with lots of goals for us to enjoy being scored for us?
In Spain there are two clubs you may have heard of because they're the biggest clubs there. Last season Barcelona and Real Madrid both scored over 100 goals in the league alone. Barcelona averaged 3 goals a game. Real weren't far behind. Our northern European players at Barnsley haven't scored 3 goals in a single game for nearly 4 months although to be fair to them they have balanced that up a bit by conceding 3 or more in a game quite regularly. I love this. RR presents opinions as facts and then says he doesn't want to be accused of presenting opinions as facts. I bet he doesn't.
Spanish football is much less defensively minded than it is in Italy. Some teams in La Liga play much the same way as we do.
The reason the special one JM is hated in Setubal his home city as far as i could make out is a mixture of his arrogance the fact he claimed the sole Glory when ever his teams have achieved anything ... when it was and always will be down to team work According to ex family members who are involved in the game over there he's like another version of Parkinson never offered to help when Setubal vitoria almost went to the wall even after going on record about purchasing the club and offering to help...chuck in his Porto connections ( think Rangers v Celtic ) in a largely populated Benfica catchment area and there you have a mixture of reasons.....met him once in a social gathering .... I found him to be ok...but then again I'm biased towards the Portuguese people and the way of life... lovely people.( my ex being the exception lol ).. lovely country... lovely culture..infact .my young daughter is half Portuguese being born over there and now resides with her mum in Setubal hope that answers your question Stephen
The way I see it, our Northern European Barnsley British culture wasn't pulling up any trees, so it can only get better! Enjoy it.
Perfect thanks. It's easy to dislike people who get built up, often not justified, with things taken out of context etc.
