Page 98 - Soccer360 Issue 106

LAST WORD
ADYING
ART
WHILE EVERYONE LOVES A 4-3 THRILLER, SUSY CAMPANALE ISN’T SURE A PARADE OF SHOCKING DEFENDING IS A SUSTAINABLE LEVEL FOR A TOP SPORT.
Maldini and Giorgio Chiellini coming from? Even goalkeepers are chosen now for their ability to play out from the back more than shot-stopping capabilities.
I don’t know if there are other sports where incompetence is hailed for its entertainment
ABOVE (MAIN):
Chelsea 4-3 Manchester United was both exhilarating and embarrassing
ABOVE:
The art of defending personified
by Ballon d’Or winner Fabio Cannavaro is disappearing
In the last issue, I pointed out that the rush to get more and more fixtures packed into the global footballing schedule would lead to burnout and the focus was on quantity rather
than quality. That is still on my mind, especially after watching some truly shocking defensive performances
over the past few months. Italians used to say that defending was an art form, but they were called negative and boring because of it. Maybe so, but I’m not so sure that the ‘herding cats’ energy of games such as Chelsea’s
4-3 win over Manchester United in April
is necessarily an improvement. Was it entertaining? Absolutely, but in much the same way that watching two drunk clowns falling over while trying to punch each other is entertaining. I wouldn’t call it a top-level sporting achievement.
The game is getting faster and faster, it’s more about energy and physicality now than skill, but there has to be a balance in there. It was a little galling to hear the commentator declare “some of that defending was just criminal” and moments later call it “the very best of the Premier League.” What a sad indictment of what is meant to be the best division in the world. Maybe that is why
all the English clubs except for Aston Villa crashed out of the European competitions before the semi-final stage?
Real Madrid certainly brought some of
Carlo Ancelotti’s knowledge of defending
to ensure they took the sting out of Manchester City’s endless waves of attacks in their Champions League quarter-final second leg, having been burned in the first 3-3 meeting at the Bernabeu. Some of the Liverpool defending in the Europa League with Atalanta was simply astounding, entire acres of empty pitch around the striker allowed to go clear through the centre again
and again. These are schoolboy errors, not the kind you’re meant to see at this level of the sport.
Italy used to churn out the world’s greatest defenders, but even here the art is being lost so that coaches can focus on whoever can jump the highest on set plays or muscle the opposition off the ball. You’d think
that the clampdown of referees on tough tackling would encourage centre-backs to be more precise in their interceptions, to get there without needing to make contact with the opponent at all. Maybe it will take a few years for that to trickle through, or the skills taught at the schoolboy level are simply disappearing for generations to come. Where are the next Fabio Cannavaro, Paolo
value in quite the same way as football. Would a baseball fan be glad to see his
side win a game because an opponent literally just dropped the ball? Do basketball supporters enjoy someone repeatedly bouncing it off the rim? Is anyone going to cheer for a sprinter who trips over his own feet?
I’m not sure I would rather watch a 4-3 parade of ineptitude than a tight game decided by some moments of genuine skill. It’s amusing on occasion, of course, but do we really want that to become the norm? It feels like those ahead of the 1994 World Cup in the United States who suggested making the goals bigger to ensure higher scorelines got their wish to make it a more appealing sport to neutrals, but it’s to the detriment of the game.
Success should be about combining a prolific attack with a strong defence. Just look at Bayer Leverkusen ending the Bayern Munich dominance of the Bundesliga. They scored an average number of goals for
the top four, but conceded far fewer than their rivals for the title. Inter controlled
Serie A from start to finish with a rock-solid defence and more clean sheets than any other side. It didn’t stop them also being
the top scorers and even to have their back three pushing forward constantly to attack, famously one moment when Alessandro Bastoni assisted Yann Bisseck from open play to score against Bologna at the end of a long passing move.
I get the feeling at Euro 2024 we will see the return of defence as the key to success, because when so many teams are struggling to do even the basics, inevitably those
who can defend will take full advantage
of the situation. It might not be the most entertaining side that wins, but it will be the most clinical that punishes unacceptable incompetence. And that is what sport ought to be – may the best team win.
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