It’s football Jim but not as we know it*

* This is the editor’s headline and will only make sense if you recall the original series of Star Trek.  If not, you might care to think of this piece under the title “THE EVOLVING GAME – an article partially based on Jason Burt’s essay in The Telegraph” which is how the author describes it.

Either way it is by Don McMahon

Our beautiful game is 150 years old this year and is virtually unrecognisable from the original competition played in Victorian times. This is a phenomena which every football fan and player recognizes and appreciates, and mostly accepts as an inevitable part of the  evolving game.

There are, however, certain changes and developments which seem more difficult to accommodate in the average supporter’s universe. These unwelcome or unacceptable changes, as well as those that are unheralded but have a significant impact on the game in the long run, are still part of the evolutionary process and their impact can be significantly more disruptive to both supporters and clubs worldwide.

Let’s take a look at some of the more unconventional and possibly unwelcome developments and trends that have happened over the last few decades:

a) The rise of the big spenders in World football

There were always big spenders in professional football, and believe it or not Arsenal in the 30’s held the record for a transfer at £14,000 sterling which in today’s market would be the equivalent of £14,000,000 sterling, more or less.

However this pales in comparison to Real and City’s profligacy, who between them have spent near €1,000,000,000 in their ceaseless quest for a trophy or two. Such free-spending has forced the usually laconic European governing body Uefa to try and control this unrestricted financial doping through legislation and regulations. The jury is still out on whether this can succeed but current predictions are that it won’t make a dent in such free-for-all spending.

b) The rise of the ¨pseudo¨ megastar in League Football

Gareth Bale’s flight to Real at the end of the summer transfer window highlighted an already aggravated hyper-inflation of certain players after they had a good season or two. The examples are endless: Nasri, Carroll, Torres, Anelka, Eto, Schevenko, Kaka, Ibrahimovic, etc. while these men are skilled and proven stars, they proved themselves to be over-rated and certainly far too expensive for the end product.

This phenomena is also aggravated by the media tendency to label a relatively young and untested talent as the ¨next _______¨ because he is showing some signs of actually being a decent Footballer.  This puts excessive pressure on these budding stars and encourages rather unfortunate expectations from the supporters.

c) The rise of the ¨modern¨ tactical formation which few can understand or follow.

The claims that the conventional striker is soon to be doomed to history are superfluous at best and highly speculative at worst. Mr.Burt’s article pointed out that  WHU tried out this approach against Tottenham using a 4-6-0 formation but that their victory was anything but a tactical one.

Arsène Wenger also noticed this result but, imho, correctly recognized that the traditional winger/centre-forward partnership has morphed into a more complex and technically demanding game of keeping the ball on the pitch and finding pockets to play into and eventually score.  Some call this a continental style but to me it is simply the inevitable evolution towards what Spain is already enjoying, less direct but highly skilled one-touch passing and more deliberate, patient build-up of play.

d) The focus on money in the Game

Money, like fresh meat, attracts carnivores and other feral creatures who feast on the ¨easy¨ manner in which it can be garnered. This leads to significant abuses such as rapacious agents draining funds that could be used to promote the game at all levels, poorer Clubs being ¨obliged to sell off their best players in order to survive, avariciousness from the governing bodies like FIFA and EUFA and of course the ultimate plague associated with cash, corruption and crime.

The inflationary spiral that started in the 80’s and has only become more severe each season since, shows no sign of abating. Money, according to many is in football’s case, the root of all football evil.

e) The failure of some nations to develop or protect their youth talent

The origins of the Beautiful Game are at the amateur level and these players represent about 90% of players worldwide.

I can speak from direct experience in North America in saying that there is a desperate shortage of trained and competent coaches/managers and an equally significant lack of proper and planned youth development. This was shown by my country’s very poor showing over the last few years in the Concacaf tournament.

In the UK, we see constant complaints about the lack of English players in the EPL, and how the professional leagues rely on imported talent to sustain the game. Conversely, we hear the French, German and Spanish youth development strategies heralded and admired by pundits and ex-professionals.  There is NO doubt that Britain is lagging behind other nations in their overall strategy for coaching and player development, but this isn’t just a British phenomenon. As well, certain countries permit what amounts to ¨sports slavery¨ by unscrupulous agents and middle-men and this is a terrible tragedy for football as a whole.

f) The failure of officials and authorities to stay ahead of the Game

As a retired professional referee, I know how much faster and more demanding the game has become since I retired in 1989.  When I started in 1968, players were smaller and the game was slower and generally easier to officiate because there was still respect for authority.

Watching our current crop of officials, and comparing them at the local professional level and the world standards of FIFA officials, it is apparent that these men (and women) need additional help in all areas of preparations (both physical and mental), stricter standards and training in being consistent and fair, more transparent and constructive assessments, and much better technology which already exists in other sports.

The number of occurrences of egregious errors and incompetent match management are disturbing at both the amateur and professional level. Walter and his team’s excellent work in analysing the PGMOL’s performances sheds a rather worrisome light on just how inconsistent (and worse) these officials can be. We should be demanding that the men and women in the middle be of a superior standard and preparedness compared to the players and managers but we seem to be settling for second-best, which leads, all too often, to some very disconcerting fiascos.

Football is the world’s largest spectator sport and more nations belong to FIFA than the UN. The upcoming World Cup will be the most watched TV event in the history of this medium.

Football is growing worldwide, especially in the women’s game and is now the 2nd biggest amateur sport in the US behind baseball.  Once Asia and Africa begin to promote the game more aggressively and efficiently, the Beautiful Game will be truly representative of that wonderful sports ideal: a universal pastime enjoyed universally. The above concerns, in my view, represent momentary hiccups on the road to this vision but they must be addressed assertively and confidently in order to discipline the Beautiful Game and conserve its original values and basic worldwide appeal.

• It’s football Jim but not as we know it*
• The in(ter)-jury(nationals) games from Fifa: boring as usual
• Arsenal on (red) alert looking to outbid… blah blah blah
• The most unbiased ref in the PL 2012/13
• Untold Non-league: Robins run out of town in the cup
• Stillness and Speed. The old boys want to return to Arsenal.