Also a player can never be offside when behind the ball - that would solve your corner problem and any other issues from balls crossed into the box from near the goal line - or did I misunderstad your idea? I like the indirect free kicks for throwins idea
Not missed the point, just going in a slightly different direction. Wouldn't the awarding of extra points for goals encourage more creative thinking? Rather than stay solid and look to just score enough to win teams would have reason to come out to attack.
Of course individuality is important in any sport to get to the top. The difference between a good player and a great player is the ability to do things unexpected and it's been shown time and time again that individuals can work in a team, they become an integral part of it. In league 1 however you are not likely to see many of these players but due to the big difference in the ability of teams which is not so different in the Premier, then with just a good set of players as we have, then we should be able to succeed without the analysis you suggest. LJ seems to have taken this philosophy too far for league 1, his priority should be first to get promotion or at least entertain while doing his experiments off camera.
Not sure I really agree that football isn't entertaining anymore. Granted, if you watch England and Barnsley only, I can only agree with you! But Premier League football is entertaining in my view, with more skill, flair and energy on view than there was in the 70s. When MOD shows 'Goal of the Season' from the 70s, some of those goals wouldn't make it into 'Goal of the Month' these days. What is gone is not the flair and entertainment, but the romanticism, the muddy pitches, the playboy characters, etc. - today everyone knows what to eat, scientific principles are applied, money is everywhere and somehow it all leaves a bad taste in the mouth to those who remember what it used to be like. Plus of course we see every goal of every game in every league, we get information overload, and well, a bit bored of it. When you only saw the highlights of a couple of games a week, rarely a live game, and you might hang on for 30 seconds of footage of Barnsley on Calendar or something, then what we did see, we enjoyed more because of the anticipation. It's a bit the same in every sport. With technology every sport is analysed in a (pseudo?) scientific way, and everything seems to be overthought, but I still think there are some tremendously entertaining games and individual football players, just they don't quite feel as entertaining as they used to, probably because I am old. But I hear the young lads next door gathering round the tv watching Chelsea on Sky Sports and going mental with excitement...
Characters is the big thing missing in modern football. I can't think of a player who gives an interesting interview. Look at Twitter accounts, there's only Joey Barton not scared to give an opinion, everyone's like media trained robots.
Can't really offer much, mainly because I don't believe football's less entertaining. I give you the German mauling of Brazil last summer as just one example. But as in all walks of life, the past often seems better than the present. It's not a new phenomenon. I love football, not as much as I did when I was younger, but that's because I was younger, not because of the entertainment factor. It's the money within the game that I despise. I do though agree with you regards the dying breed that is the individual, the flair player. You only have to rewind to last season with Hourihane. No matter how many goals he was responsible for, a lot of folk kept referring to his lack of application etc. Year before that, it was Paddy McCourt. We've had it with others too over the years. Everyone is expected to put a shift in now. Their magic, that moment of genius, it's less prevalent, especially at our level because players are seemingly taught not to be so individual. Case in point - Crowley getting stick in LJ's post-match interview on Saturday, for not working back enough.
This post seems to boil down to a grumble that Brazil didn't win the World Cup! Brazil's supposedly brilliant players did not perform. So they kept getting hammered. How they create an example to be cited for anything beyond their ineptitude I do not follow. And to suggest that invididual brilliance these days is lost and counts for nothing when compared to a well oiled team is if not wrong then simplistic to a fault. To further suggest that a golden age has passed when skill was all, and now it is not, is wrong too. And while we're at it, BFC were promoted to the highest reaches on the back of a fantastic team and team ethic, not by virtue of the efforts of any Glavinesque hero. Redfearn did do his bit though. Teamwork can be entertaining. There are many brilliant footballers around. Do you think Messi thrives because he sticks to a system? When he hasn't got the ball he practically just hangs around till his team have got it back. That can't be deliberately in the game plan. So....if we were top of the league with everyone busting a gut and runing about robotically then there would be no complaints. Especially from you, given that you slag Crowley off quite regularly. We had Paddy McCourt for a while and he was wonderful some of the time. And wasn't for most of the time. Football was never once what you seem to think it was. And bring back Chopper Harris
The problem is the game has changed to accommodate footballers with zero ability. While managers, pundits and fans continue to lord the "tidy" player and see pointless passing as quality football, the game will continue down this route. When you hear people raving about Jordan Henderson you know the game is in trouble.
That is true. But that's them describing incorrectly the attributes of such as Henderson. Then again every team does need its tidy players. Just turn the volume down.
I've always loved football with a passion, played every day after school on the field until it got dark, played Saturday and Sunday in the pub leagues until it was time to pack in. I watched every game on TV and never missed match of the day. I now can't get through a game on TV without nodding off and that's not due to age it's down to what this thread is about. A lot of good points raised, the following people clichés and sayings are a big part of what's wrong. In no particular order Hunt in packs, condense the pitch, Tony pulis, Sam allardice , analyse each game, sports science, Mr reliable, don't lose, financial implications, mercenaries, journey men, safety first, rigid formation, media coverage, sack the manager, financial uneven playing field, TV money, playing a weakened team, loyalty, James Milner, not giving youth a chance, signing a proven player and so on but i still love football and the super reds Sent from my Hudl HT7S3 using Tapatalk
My criticism of Crowley (and McCourt before him) is based upon the framework that has been set by the modern game, a framework dominated by work ethic. Within that framework Crowley's game has its faults, faults that I recognise, whilst at the same time recognising his youth and inexperience. That does not mean to say that I do not recognise that if the playing criteria of the modern game were different, he might offer more than he currently does. If I wanted to complain that Brazil had not won the last World Cup, I can assure you that I would not have waited a year and a half to do so. Brazil is an example, an example that is drawn because of their past which in my lifetime included the likes of Garincha, Pele, Jarzinho and hundreds of other individuals who were able to win games through their individual brilliance. Taking Pele as a particular example, he played the game during a period when the tackling was often barbaric, and yet he shone in spite of it. But would he shine as brightly in todays environment of systems, tactics, coaching and team work. We shall never know for certain, but quite frankly, I doubt it, because the coaches would find a way to neutralise his impact and dull his spirit and his manager would require him to track back or play on the wing in order to fit into the way that the team plays or his team strategy. It is individual brilliance that ignites the spark in all of us, to raise us from our seats. Those who were lucky enough to see the team that Alan Clarke constructed rarely talk about the team. They talk about the contribution of the individuals within the team, of Glavin, of Banks and of Aylott who scored most of the goals. Those who saw Danny Wilson's team rarely talk about the team, but once again remember the goals of Redfearn and Hendry and that magical moment when Clint made our day. Once again, there is no doubt that the basic system used by Alan Clarke (4-4-2) would not do well again modern systems and team work. It is also certain that Ronnie Glavin who not be as effective going forward if he was if he was called upon to use that energy in the cause of getting back into a defensive formation when the ball was lost. Equally the system used by Danny Wilson (5-3-2) was consigned to the dustbin once it proved so ineffective against 4-5-1, but all this is not what my original point was all about, and in order to understand that, I do not have to look at the players who occupy my past. What the original post was all about is the lack of real excitement in the modern game worldwide. You say that the modern game has players who are technically good, and of that there is little doubt. The issue is whether their creativity is stifled by the modern systems and team work, and ultimately by the offside law designed 100 years ago when the game was still naïve and the coaches were still struggling to bring some rationality to it. It is about whether the demise of the individual in the game makes it a more or less interesting game to watch. Ultimately, it is about chances, shots on goal and goal mouth incident and apart from the Everton game, surely you can see these are all reducing as the years go by, even in the matches played by the top clubs. It is about after the after match conversations about chances, saves and goals rather than how dull and boring it all was. You are probably right that there is less incentive to look for a problem if your team is winning. Winning games is the best antidote there is to boredom. But it did not stop me saying on here that I hated every second of the Mark Robins reign, even though the team had its highest finish of the last Championship era. I do not think that I am being any less than true to myself by raising this topic. It interests me, and I had hoped that it would interest others.
In answer to your five questions, unequivocally "yes" Re Crowley, I would watch him every day of the week if I could. If he was playing park football I would go out of my way to watch him. He us a true talent. However, the team is far greater then the individual. It's the managers responsibility to ensure that no one individual thinks he is greater than the team, otherwise we have no game. Glavin knew he played for a team within which he was able to express himself. Like Bale for Wales. Crowley is better than Glavin. Crowley will be an England regular. Despite the fact that it's not the key to his game, he needs to learn how to track back more effectively and he will. He needs to watch and learn from his Arsenal team mate Sanchez.....probably the hardest working forward in the Premier League. However the individuality he expresses should be cherished and encouraged and not coached out of him. Whilst ever we have this unique talent we should make the best use of it / him.
Crowley is better than glavin, o m g , no one is, was, were ,never , noway better than king Ronnie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJHL-yJ9tio
Crowley better than Glavin? The kids played a couple of games in division 3 and scored once in his whole career. Perhaps a little early to even compare him to someone who scored over a 100 goals at a higher level. Just because he plays for Arsenal doesn't make him automatically great. He's a young inexperienced lad learning the game. I like him he's a great kid to watch but let's not build him up to fail. Systems are great when operated by players skilled enough to operate them. When you try them out at League 1 level they often become a morass of mediocrity because the players simply don't have the footballing intelligence or talent to operate them. Aguero can operate as a lone forward because he has the natural ability to master all aspects of the game. Conor Wilkinson can't. The 4-5-1 argument at league 1 level above all is a little flawed given that it wasn't operated by any of the promoted clubs last season
I don't get the Brazil comment, that team had no flair apart from Neymar. Could understand if it was said about Spain or the Argies
Your criticism of Crowley has not hitherto been simply couched in terms of the modern game. It has rather been your opinion of his performance. You seek to bemoan the fading of an illusory golden age of beautiful football, yet are happy to slate the only man in our team capable of easily beating a man, seemingly for his lack of positional sense or understanding of the tactics you describe as ruining the game. We have heard less of his “individual brilliance” than his lack of formational abilities. I admit that I do not understand much beyond basic formations. But I do know that I have spent many a year at Oakwell watching often sub standard unexciting drab over physical less than skilful football. The urge to repeat the process goes beyond a desire to see either neat brilliant or even winning football. Ritual best describes it. But it is certainly not at a low ebb at Oakwell at present. Despite it being semi turgid. What everyone does have these days is wall to wall football on their telly. To compare and contrast with their own team. But perhaps more pertinently to your own posts on this thread, they have so much football that it now has become tedious to them. We used to look forward to actually seeing a game. Now it's “what's on tonight?” Familiarity breeds contempt. in addition to the 21st century demand for instant success. Finally, I know a current player who played under Ronnie Moore not so long ago. Ronnie's tactics involved telling em to kick it into what now appears to be “bomb alley”, pressing up and taking it from there. Poor Flat Earth Ronnie in a scientific football world............