Modernising The Game
I can imagine Old Big ‘Ead now. “Clapperboards? Are you ******* mental?! What the heck is wrong with your hands you lazy sods!”
The way that football has changed over the years is simply astounding. The introduction of goal music, entrance music and even devices such as clapperboards have revolutionised our game, but, is it right?
Come on, do you really need them? Yes, the entrance music can be heavily linked to the club’s tradition, but goal music? Clapperboards? Are you serious?!
Now, I may be old fashioned, but I think I know a thing or two about our beautiful game. Pardon me if I am mistaken, but I was of the opinion that football was about 22 men (or women) chasing one ball around a pitch. Not music, not fancy gizmos, it is about the game.
I mean, what is so wrong with your voices and hands that you need music and pieces of card to create a decent atmosphere? Yes, a clapperboard is a nice gimmick, but they are purely a product to desperately try and save atmospheres all around the nation.
I’ll tell you why these changes have come about. T.V. Television has changed football. Television has made football into a product which is sold to billions around the world.
Fans have been changed too. They treat the football on show as a product and if they are not pleased, they boo. The atmosphere dies and these so called ‘inventions’ are brought in by owners to try and save what is left of the atmosphere.
Clapperboards? Nice.
Goal music? Okay…
Do either have a place in our game? Not a chance in hell.
Redefining the game
Ladies and gentlemen, we are witnessing a shift in the way our game is being played. There is a new chapter in the handbook, a new lesson to be learnt. Strike partnerships, as we know them, are changing. We are entering a new era, and this era is being brought into effect by the top teams around the globe. Long gone are the days of Yorke and Cole, Sheringham and Klinsmann, SAS, Fowler and Owen or even Bergkamp and Henry. Now is the time of the second striker, the front three and the man in the hole!
Before I continue, I feel it necessary to ask, who is the best front pairing in the world? Rooney and Tevez? Adebayor and Van Persie? Drogba and Anelka? Gerrard and Torres? Adriano and Ibrahimovic? Raul and Higuain? Kaka and Pato? The stats point us in a wholly different direction – Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi. When they play together, they always score. They have scored 44 goals this season between them when they have started together. That is simply astounding.
The days of the strikers who hunt in pairs are numbered. Long gone are the days of the connection between the likes of Yorke and Cole. Yorke and Cole were practically on another level. Their connection was absolutely mind-blowing. They always knew where the other one was and it was a joy to watch. However, now is the time for the likes of Gerrard, primarily a midfielder, and Torres to shine. Now is the time for one man to sit behind the main striker, or two men in the Barcelona’s case, or five in the curious case of Man United!
Whilst previously, one relied on their strikers to get the majority of the goals, but now the things have changed. Now we want goals from all over the park. Cristiano Ronaldo has scored around 20 goals this season from the right wing, but apparently he is having a poor season!
In the modern day game, there is a much greater focus on movement and creativity. Very few sides still rely on the classic two up top. Bayern Munich and Inter still persist with the classic set-up, and to a lesser extent so do AC Milan, but that’s about it. Real Madrid sometimes go for a front two but that can change.
It seems that now is a time for ingenuity, tactics and a new approach. The king is dead, long live the king.
It’s like something straight out of Roy of the Rovers
You couldn’t write the script. Last Tuesday, he was an unknown to the majority of the footballing world outside Old Trafford, but now he’s scored a hat-trick in the reserves before scoring a sumptuous 93rd minute winner on his debut (against the Villa of all people!). And a star is born. Remember the name. Federico Macheda.
Say a Prayer…
Kev did an article, but I wanted to comment. Heartbreaking. And I don’t even support Southampton!
That is how one fan summarised the demise of the Saints. This is an ordeal which is likely to end in administration, a points deduction, and a place in League 1.
They have gone a long, long way since the 2004-2005 season (which ended in their relegation from the Premier League) but crucially, they have gone the wrong way.
Recently, I warned fellow fans that now would be the time that we see football feel the credit crunch. Football has enjoyed its boom time, and now it will feel the crunch. Watch this space, and say a little prayer that the Saints will continue to march on.
Good on You Lads
Last week, I commended Luton and their long suffering fans, and on Sunday they enjoyed their day in the sun. (Once again I appreciate that Kev did an article on Luton, but I wanted to comment too).
Yes, it was only the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, but it meant that a hell of a lot to those from Luton. They took 40,000 to Wembley. For the team who are bottom of the Football League, that is simply extraordinary. Let’s hope that those 40,000 stick with their team even if they are relegated, as they bid to put two fingers up to those inside Soho Square.
By akvbcfc
I understand what you are saying re clapperboards, however isn’t it just the modern equivalent of the old wooden rattle?
Having said that I hated the rattle even since catching one on the bonce v Millwall in 72 aged 11!
Good point Keith. There will be a whole bunch of people saying, what is he on about! Ha ha.
I’m with Keith on this one, the clapperboards really are just the modern eqiuivalent of those old wooden rattles I’ve seen unearthed on Time Team along with other finds from the 12th Century.
But seriously, they really do make an impact. They’re lightweight and simple to use, each clap with one of those makes the same sound as (I estimate) around 3 people clapping so when you’ve got 20,000 using them the players on the pitch feel like there’s a crowd of 60,000!
Roughly, of course.
But they really do lift the atmosphere, an almost full St. Andrews felt like it was overflowing on Monday, and the clapperboards contributed in no small part!