I find football so frustrating; The diving, the VAR, the FA. However, it always sucks me back in. After Liverpool finally secured an English Championship for the first time in 30 years, playing some blistering football along the way, my love for all things football was at an all time high.
Then something happened, and I’m not sure what. I don’t think it was just one thing, more a combination of factors, but the Liverpool Championship triggered something. Jurgen Klopp had led me on an emotional journey, but as the late famed tennis player Arthur Ashe once said, “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.”
I had arrived at my much anticipated destination, but I was instantly restless. My frustration with all things football started to spiral out of control. The whining from Manchester United, Manchester City & Everton fans felt louder and more annoying, the injuries to Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomez & Joel Matip pulled the carpet from beneath the feet and affected the midfield & the defence as Henderson & Fabinho both spent prolonged periods covering at centre back, and VAR was proving to be a shambles of Conservative party Covid-19 proportions.
I watched barely any games, struggled through the matches I did see, and gradually felt my passion for the beautiful game slip away like Matt Hancock’s grasp on his dignity. My frustration with players conduct on the pitch was at an all time high; Diving to con the referee into giving free kicks and penalties, chasing the referee if a decision didn’t go their way, and the powers that be do nothing to address the situation.
I don’t understand why the FA, Uefa, Fifa et al don’t follow the lead of Rugby Union and mic-up the referee so everyone can hear what is going on. Having watched an amazing Exeter vs Harlequins Premiership final yesterday, I was again struck by how much more enjoyable the game is as a result of being able to hear the officials communicate with each other and the players. Every decision reviewed by the officials becomes easy to understand because you’ve heard the referee explain what he’s looking for, as opposed to football’s VAR where most of the time you haven’t got a clue why everyone is stood around waiting for the referee to do something, anything, just do something!
Another hugely positive effect of mic’d-up officials is the exposure to grown men treating the official with the required respect. Rugby players are polite when they speak to a rugby official, and I can remember it being that way years ago when we played rugby at school, way before mic’d-up officials. Your team-mates would pull you up if you spoke out of turn, and if the Sports Teacher heard any such chatter you were subbed off immediately. Scenes of five or six footballers chasing referees around the pitch are deemed perfectly acceptable, but it isn’t. If you did it in the street you’d end up getting arrested.
If football referees were mic’d-up you’d instantly see an improvement in player conduct, because there would be consequences. It’s difficult to learn from your mistakes if there are no consequences. Young fans, impressionable kids, would be horrified to hear some of the things shouted at a referee on a football pitch. Parents would quickly put an end to football viewing if their kids were exposed to this. Even if the FA did nothing as a result of players being overheard on the mic shouting obscenities, the odd derogatory remark, or even racial slurs, the fall out on social media alone would be catastrophic for a players career. Loss of endorsements, clubs reluctant to sign players with character flaws, it wouldn’t take long before players at the top level started to improve their behaviour.
And once the players at the top start making changes, the culture transcends down to all levels. Kids and Sunday morning pub league players chase referees and behave abhorrently because they see their ‘heroes’ behave as such in front of a Worldwide audience, and they believe it to be acceptable as a result. It makes me cringe when I see a referee constantly backing away from irate players as they harass him whilst he’s trying to conduct a VAR decision.
Let us hear what the referee and players are saying, and if it’s not appropriate the players can deal with the inevitable fall out, let them learn from their mistakes. It’s such an easy fix, and so frustrating as to why football doesn’t embrace the technology. We want a better product, start making life easier and more enjoyable for officials. It’s beyond me as to why anyone wants to referee 22 hungover buffons on a Sunday morning as they shout abuse and generally take out their life frustrations on the man in black.
I digress….
Then Euro 2020/2021 came along. I’ve not watched an England match since the loss to Croatia during World Cup 2018. My frustrations with England & the FA started long before this game, as soon as they appointed Roy Hodgson. After getting their fingers burned with Hoddle, Eriksson & Capello, I’d imagine they thought Hodgson was a safe bet. Admittedly, he was never caught with his trousers down or made questionable comments about reincarnation, but what he did do was ruin the England football team for four years. He’d tried to destroy my love for Liverpool during 2010/2011, but luckily John W. Henry saw the iceberg looming and appointed a new Head Coach. England had no such luck.
I still have nightmares about the loss to Italy at Euro 2012. Images of Andrea Pirlo passing England to death as Wayne Rooney & Steven Gerrard chase long ball after long ball, it felt like death by 1000 cuts. Elimination after two games of World Cup 2014 & humiliation at the hands of Iceland at Euro 2016 were to follow. I’m embarrassed to admit I cheered when we lost to Iceland, I saw it as short term pain, long term gain. Hodgson had to go.
Hodgson was clearly good at making average teams well organised and difficult to beat, but his reign with Liverpool & England showed he couldn’t get the best out of elite level players, he just couldn’t do it. He’s probably a very nice man, but nice doesn’t win you major tournaments. Nor does bypassing your most talented players with 50 yard missiles from your centre backs, and expecting them to chase second balls after they’ve just won the ball back for you. It quickly gets tiring, physically and mentally.
After the FA again fell foul of scandal, courtesy of Sam Allardyce, they panicked and went full into full Hodgson mode; Enter Gareth Southgate. Again, comes across as a very nice man and would make an excellent Head Boy, but I’m not sure what he’s done to warrant being England Head Coach. Apart from one very underwhelming spell at Middlesborough resulting in relegation, he then took four years away from the game before being appointed as England Under 21 Coach during the Hodgson era….??? I’m sure he’s great at accompanying parents around the facilities, but his CV does not warrant an England Head Coach role.
Southgate has been credited with improving the atmosphere inside & around the England camp, relations between players and the media are on the up, and he hasn’t been caught having an affair, but he does need to deliver on the pitch. Whilst he was praised for reaching the World Cup semi final in 2018, I am inclined to suggest he wasted the best chance we’ll have of winning a World Cup in my lifetime. The draw opened up perfectly for him, but his questionable tactics couldn’t get us beyond Croatia.
He seems intent on building a team around Raheem Sterling, who is a very talented player, but he’s no Lionel Messi or Diego Maradona. If we are going to build a team around anyone (and I don’t think we should), it should be our one World class player, Harry Kane.
Southgate has been very clever with introducing a lot of young players into the team, the promise of future success always buys you time and favour, but I still don’t know what is his best formation or team. It’s good to have a plan A, B & C, but they have to be viable options. England are unbeaten in this tournament and are yet to concede a goal, but they’ve only scored two. The Italians have been winning tournaments this way for years, and Southgate knows way more about football than I ever will, so I’m really hoping I’m wrong. One thing is certain, I’m rediscovering my love for the beautiful game.