Reflecting on brilliance, low key preparation and a get well soon.
The greatest team ever? There is no doubt that Spain are the outstanding team of the modern era. The graceful dismantling of Italy leaves no doubt over the current status of this remarkable football team. The statistical bombardment we received during Euro 2012 became tiresome. However, one unmistakable piece of data is that Spain have achieved something no European nation has done before in winning three consecutive tournaments.
A recurring point of discussion throughout the tournament was Vincente del Bosque’s decision to pick his team without a recognised forward. Surprising though it was, it hardy merited the incredulous responses it generated. Several years ago Carlos Alberto Parreira predicted that in the future football teams would be deployed without strikers. His words resulted in raised eyebrows. It suggested a dull defensive future where rigid shape would exceed invention. In reality, if Spain’s dazzling display of kaleidoscopic movement is a template, we may have a lot to look forward to. And Parreira’s words will be proved to be prophetic.
The participation of Team GB in the Olympic football tournament finally arrived…. and left. For Britain it’s been a phenomenally successful Olympic Games. For all the achievements of the British sporting fraternity nothing has united the nation as the football did….. when GB were knocked out on penalties the Welsh Scottish and Northern Irish learned how it feels to be English! The whole air surrounding British participation was laced with negativity. After several years of discussing whether it undermines the individual status of the home nations, it was eventually decided to field a team. Again, after much discussion and media speculation Stuart Pearce was appointed head coach and hurriedly assembled a team. Did anything arise from GB’s involvement that would encourage the populace to demand involvement in future Olmpic football tournaments? Probably not. London hosting meant clubs were preared to allow players to miss a significant part of pre-season, it’s hard to imagine them being so compliant in the future. Combine that with the political implications of a GB team. Could it lead to FIFA demanding a united Britain team? In short there would be too many obstacles and not a great deal to gain. So that’s the end of that.
As far as Stoke City are concerned this could be the most low key build up to a football season ever. The signing of Michael Kightly has livened things up slightly but it’s hard to remember a pre season so devoid of activity. Peter Coates has made public his understandable instruction that to bring players in we must reduce the wage bill. For too long we have had players clogging up the squad who are clearly not going to take part in league matches. We are approaching our fifth consecutive season in the top flight. To put it bluntly, it’s time to cut out the deadwood.
One thing that is clear is that if we start the coming season as we finished the last one we could find ourselves in serious trouble. In 2012 we have only won four league games. Throughout last season the quality of our play deteriorated. Our attacking play constantly lacked any fluidity and we rarely played well for an entire 90 minutes. Any team with a competent defence can handle our forward play. A series of balls hit long, usually to Peter Crouch, who may or may not flick a header onto a teammate. The teammate in question is double marked and stifled. Our midfield rarely pushes forward quickly enough to effectively support the attack so within seconds the ball comes straight back at us and we are under pressure again. We aren’t creative enough we aren’t positive enough. We’ll always be eternally grateful to Tony Pulis for taking us to the Premier League and keeping us here but things have got to change. In 2012/13 can we have a Stoke City with a precise cohesive attacking plan that approaching games with a fresh philosophy please? This road has become dark. A brighter route is required or we could pay the ultimate heavy price.
It was alarming to hear that Robert Huth is in hospital with suspected meningitis. We have to hope he makes a full recovery and is back to playing as soon as possible. Good luck Rob.