In today's evening standard - not sure if anyone else has read it. http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/int...i-will-i-want-to-help-my-country-8682907.html Some good points raised, but I particularly enjoyed this line: “We are suspicious of the creative technical player, calling him a luxury. For me, those who give the ball away are the luxury players.” Now I think i's a bit of a contradiction, because creative players aren't necessarily good at retaining the ball, but that's not to say he doesn't have a valid point in part and that the focus on technique should be towards retaining possession - I have definitely always thought of "luxury" players as the Hoolahans of this world, but maybe the definition should be changed. I personally think that the Barcelona style of football is slowly losing it's dominance, but Bayern's football also relies on very technical players good at retaining possession, if not quite to the extent of interminable backwards and sideways passing.
I wish someone would write an article about me when I said exactly the same thing last week or whenever it was. Nooooooooo, I just get accused of moaning!!!!
Just remind me when you were England manager? And you definitely haven't ever come up with anything as glorious as the luxury player line, I'm afraid. Plus, Hoddle is a moaner too.
I certainly didn't word it as eloquently, but the meaning was exact. As for the England job, I was offered it but thought it beneath me.
The big problem with football in this country can be summed up with one word 'entertainment', most fans unfortunately think it's their right to be entertained every game like they are watching a classic cup final, you can even look at the comment which always crops up when there is a lack of atmosphere at grounds 'I'll sing or shout when players entertain me and give me a reason to'. They want to see players with flair who can dribble the ball past four defenders or dynamic powerful players ploughing through defenders at a high speed to score, to be honest with you I find that quite sad,once again it nurtures the same old type of player we have seen for decades athletic, powerful, quick, good work rate and sometimes they'll have a bit of flair too, but most the time they fail at the technical side of the game like passing. As a nation we need to get back to the basics.
As a club we need to get back to the basics, its not just everybody else's problem. Anyway, I've been banging on about this for 2 years now and quite frankly I'm as bored of the subject as everyone else. Very few give a **** how we play as long as we win.
Which, in a roundabout way, is part of the point - the best way to ensure a win is to restrict the other team's possession. A luxury player should therefore be Johnson... Luxury because his retention and passing is not great, but useful because he can boss a game defensively. That's not the way it is currently seen - we are talking about how to make a team more successful and changing this ethos is it. It's not about getting players who can pass the ball sideways necessarily (that is a style), it's about getting players who can keep the ball, whichever way they pass it.
