New England Manager (Part 2)

I notice that the FA has decided to offer the England job to Luiz Felipe Scolari, an experienced international manager, rather than an Englishman or even an Irishman. Perhaps they read my recent post on the subject. It is more likely, however, that David Dein made them see sense.

What all the English candidates lack is international experience at the highest level. If any of these club managers want to be seriously considered for the England job in the future, they should leave their cosy little world and prove their worth at a top continental club.

Middlesbrough vs. Steaua Bucharest

Last night's match was truly unbelievable.

Middlesbrough go 0-3 down on aggregate and find themselves needing to score four times in 60 minutes, having failed to score in the previous 120 minutes of play. They get one back after 33 minutes, and Mark Viduka pulls another goal back after the half-time interval. It's one-way traffic now, and Middlesbrough eventually score again to make it 3-3 on aggregate, but they are still losing on the away goals rule. With time running out, substitute Massimo Maccarone scores a last-minute winner and the stadium explodes.

How likely is that? The most amazing thing is that Middlesbrough did exactly the same against Basle in the previous round, only 21 days before. Destiny?

Villareal vs. Arsenal

Arsenal scraped through to the Champions League final last night after a very poor display. Their usual passing game was almost non-existent; they resorted instead to hoofing the ball upfield, which just gave Villareal the chance to launch another attack. It wasn't until the 91st minute that Arsenal had a serious shot, on or off target. They will have to play much better than that to beat Barcelona or Milan in the final.

I didn't like all the blatant pushing and holding in the Villareal penalty area whenever a corner was being taken. This problem will only get worse unless and until referees start to give out yellow cards or penalties against the offenders. This is one example where having more than one referee would be a great help, as one referee could keep an eye out for off-the-ball incidents.

I also noticed that the Russian officials didn't flag for off-side until the player concerned actually touched the ball, even when that player was clearly going for the ball or drawing defenders. I know that this follows the current FIFA guidlines on the interpretation of the off-side law, but it just leads to crazy situations. This is going to be a big problem in the World Cup.

New England Manager

The media frenzy surrounding the selection of a new England Manager seems to be endless. The consensus seems to be that he should be English, with various up-and-coming English club managers being tipped.

Surely, the most important thing is to get the best person for the job. Managing a national team is not the same as managing a club, and the teams you have to play are also quite different from the teams you meet every week in the league. Why then did the FA not take a serious look at some experienced international managers?

Guus Hiddink was the obvious first choice, but the FA didn't make a serious approach and now he's gone to Russia. His record as a national coach is outstanding - there is even a stadium in Korea named after him! I am certain that Russia will now do better than England in Euro 2008, whoever lands the England job.

Anyway, I thought it was illegal to discriminate against job candidates based on their ethnic origin or nationality (provided they are allowed to work in the UK) so this doesn't set a good example. The best English England managers in recent times were Sir Bobby Robson and Terry Venables, both of whom managed continental clubs successfully before taking the England job. What we don't need is another Graham Taylor or Kevin Keegan.

Of the candidates still in the frame, Steve McClaren has the most relevant experience. However, if he gets it, I don't see him lasting very long.

Arsenal vs. Villareal

Another solid Arsenal display in Europe last night was disappointing only because we did not score more goals. Villareal can complain about a possible penalty, but Thierry Henry's first half strike should not have been flagged off-side. Apart from a couple of long-range free kicks, Villareal did not produce any real chances. Arsenal, on the other hand, had several opportunities to shoot from the edge of the box but never managed to test their 'keeper. Something to work on in training, Mr. Wenger.

I was interested in the press reports from the Villareal camp after the match. They complained about the possible penalty, of course, but mostly about the Austrian referee, Konrad Plautz. I think the referee had a pretty good game. Personally, I would have liked him to book at least two Villareal players for feigning injury. Several of their players were carried off on stretchers, but somehow they all managed to recover as soon as they left the field.

Fernando Roig, the club president of Villareal, was quoted as saying, "Everyone could see that the referee made some bad decisions. Not only did he not award us the penalty when José Mari was fouled, but he never showed them a single yellow card."

What an odd thing to say. Could it have been because none of the Arsenal players did anything to merit a caution? The Villareal players certainly did; the rugby tackle on Thierry Henry was outrageous. Let's hope we don't have a Latin referee in the second leg.

Blackburn vs. Liverpool

The main talking point from this match at the weekend was the only goal of the game, scored for Liverpool by Robbie Fowler. In the build-up to the goal, the ball was played forward towards Djibril Cissé, who was several yards off-side. Cissé stuck out a leg in an attempt to control the ball but, quickly realising that he was off-side, let the ball run to Fernando Morientes. The Blackburn defence froze as Morientes coolly passed for Fowler to side-foot the ball into an open goal.

Most commentators and pundits agreed that off-side should have been given against Cissé because he was very near the ball and made an attempt to play it. They generally blamed either the assistant referee or the current interpretation of the off-side law. As usual, none of them worked out the real reason why off-side was not given.

According to FIFA's current edict on how to interpret the off-side law, Cissé was definitely not off-side. To be "active" (according to FIFA) a player must either touch the ball or challenge/obstruct/unsight a player from the other team. Cissé did none of these things. The fact that FIFA's interpretation is completely unworkable quickly led to referees adopting a slightly broader interpretation of what being "active" means. English officials generally flag for off-side as soon as a player in an off-side position makes any attempt to go for the ball.

However, the real reason why off-side was not given in this case was because it is the assistant referee who must decide if a player is both in an off-side position and active. The first part is usually easy, but deciding if a player is active from the far touch-line is often much more difficult. From where he was, the assistant referee couldn't see how close the ball was to Cissé and probably didn't even see his leg movement. All he saw was Cissé standing still and raising his arms to indicate that he wasn't doing anything.

The referee had a better view, but he couldn't be sure whether the player was actually off-side. Of course, multiple camera angles and endless slow-motion replays give commentators and pundits a much better view than any official on the field. I laugh when they say, "From this camera angle, it's obvious that the referee got it wrong." It can't be obvious when you need all that technology to prove a point!

What the game needs is an interpretation of the off-side law that is both clear and workable. FIFA's attempts at fiddling with the rules have often had unintended consequences. I foresee further off-side controversy in the World Cup.

World Cup Referees

FIFA has named the 23 referees for the World Cup, to be held in Germany in June. In a sensible move, the assistant referees for each match will be selected from the same country or confederation as the referee. This will improve the understanding between officials and should lead to better decisions.

FIFA also announced that referees have been told to crack down on time-wasting, reckless play, shirt-pulling and diving. This sort of public pressure is bound to lead to poor decisions on the field; some referees will doubtless feel obliged to demonstrate how tough they are instead of using their own good judgement and common sense.

It's a sad indictment of FIFA if it cannot trust 23 hand-picked referees to do their job properly.

Diving

The media here have recently been slagging off Premiership football players who "dive" in order to win a penalty or to have another player sent off. The main justification for their campaign is that diving is unsportsmanlike and should be regarded as cheating. Playing the game fairly is obviously more important than winning. How very English.

In some other countries, players who gain an advantage for their team by fooling the referee are considered to be clever, if they get away with it. They are generally only criticised if the ruse backfires and their team is disadvantaged.

There is also a rather nasty racial undertone to the campaign because the main culprits are seen to be foreigners, with Didier Drogba being singled out for the fiercest criticism. I didn't hear much from the media when Wayne Rooney dived to win a penalty for Manchester United against Arsenal, which ended Arsenal's 49-match unbeaten run.

Commentators and pundits seem to think that the way to stamp out cheating is to promote fair play and to shame the perpetrators. This may have a limited effect in the Premiership, but it won't help English teams when they play in Europe and it doesn't address the fundamental problem.

Some years ago, the people who run the Beautiful Game decided to crack down on another undesirable tactic - the professional foul. They did so by decreeing that any foul committed by the last defender or goalkeeper that prevented a goalscoring opportunity should be punished with a red card (in addition to the normal sanction: a free kick or penalty). This has certainly had the intended effect: professional fouls are no longer the problem they once were.

However, this change also had some undesirable consequences. The most obvious is that the balance of power has shifted in favour of the attacking players. It should be no surprise to anyone, therefore, that smart forwards are taking advantage by going down whenever there is the slightest contact or even no contact at all.

It all comes down to gains against risks. Should a defender attempt a last ditch tackle on someone with only the goalkeeper to beat? Probably not, unless he is sure he will take the ball cleanly. Should a forward take a dive in the box when he doesn't think he will score and the referee is 30 yards away? Probably so.

The solution is to make the punishment fit the crime. The first change I would like to see would be to issue a red card only when the last defender commits a foul outside the box to prevent a clear goalscoring opportunity. If it happens inside the box then it should be a yellow card (and a penalty, of course). The second change would be to class all simulation, feigning injury or even just asking for a player to be cautioned as unsportsmanlike behaviour, punishable with a yellow card. I would also like to see asking for or attempting to get a player sent off punishable with a red card.

Finally, I think that there should be some retrospective sanction if the referee doesn't see a particular incident. I am worried about widespread "trials by media" but I would like players to be banned for future matches if they are found to have deceived officials deliberately.

Middlesbrough vs. Basle

This match illustrated exactly why football is the world's favorite spectator sport. Middlesbrough needed to score four times within 60 minutes, when they hadn't managed to score in the previous 120 minutes of play against Basle. The fact they managed to do so ranks alongside Liverpool winning the 2005 Champions League Final as one of the greatest European comebacks of all time.

The emotional high felt by the Middlesbrough and Liverpool fans who were there will stay with them for the rest of their lives. For true football fans, how can anything in life be better than this?

Juventus vs. Arsenal

I watched this match on Sky Sports yesterday. I don't have Sky Sports at home, so I went to my local. It's more interesting when other people are making astute comments like, "You're a f*****g w****r, you bloody Italian git!" (directed at Pavel Nedved, who is Czech).

I thought the game was interesting enough, if you follow Arsenal, but what got me thinking was the performance of the referee, Herbert Fandel. I should point out that I think the referee had a very good game. He ignored some of the play-acting (on both sides) and generally made the right decisions. He also correctly dismissed Nedved for two bad tackles.

What I didn't like was the way he booked José Antonio Reyes for "time-wasting". He had obviously decided before the match that he wasn't going to stand for any gamesmanship, so he flashed a yellow card as soon as Reyes waited more than six seconds to take a corner. In league matches, it is quite normal to wait up to 15 seconds before taking a corner, to allow the other players to take their positions. I agree that time-wasting should be punished, but that shouldn't mean you have to play the game in "hurry up" mode.

The problem is that there is no consistency: it is left entirely to the referee's discretion. Unsurprisingly, different referees from different countries are interpreting the Laws of the Game in different ways. There should be some guidance from FIFA so that players know what is expected of them. Too many referees in European matches seem to have a need to show how tough they are with some flamboyant gesture; good referees don't have to demonstrate anything except sound decision-making.

Cock and Bull

Welcome to my blog on football (soccer) and other less important stuff. I have often thought that football commentators and "pundits" talk a load of rubbish. Many true football fans may share my frustration. This is my chance to express my considered views and see if other agree with them.

This blog is not intended to be a platform for insults or tirades; I simply wish to expose nonsense and twaddle that detract from the Beautiful Game, and to float ideas that might actually improve it.