"Shit hanging on a stick" (1 Viewer)

[Franco]

Jorge Valdano accuses Liverpool and Chelsea of playing football that resembles "shit hanging on a stick".

He makes an interesting point about Benitez and Mourinho's failings as players leading to a mistrust of the pro's skills and ability to express them. Bit of a Dunphy style rant.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2074386,00.html

English teams are robbing game of skill, says Valdano



[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif] Sid Lowe in Madrid
Tuesday May 8, 2007
The Guardian

[/FONT] The former Real Madrid coach and World Cup winner Jorge Valdano has attacked Rafael Benítez and Jose Mourinho, insisting that they are ushering in a bleak future for football and likening the Champions League semi-final between Liverpool and Chelsea to "a shit hanging from a stick".The Argentinian, who scored in the 1986 World Cup final and has a respected reputation as a football intellectual, claimed that Mourinho and Benítez mistrust talent because of their own failure to make it as players and said their approach is bad news for the game.

Article continues

Writing in Spain's best-selling newspaper, Marca, Valdano insisted: "Football is made up of subjective feeling, of suggestion - and, in that, Anfield is unbeatable. Put a shit hanging from a stick in the middle of this passionate, crazy stadium and there are people who will tell you it's a work of art. It's not: it's a shit hanging from a stick.

"Chelsea and Liverpool are the clearest, most exaggerated example of the way football is going: very intense, very collective, very tactical, very physical, and very direct," he added. "But, a short pass? Noooo. A feint? Noooo. A change of pace? Noooo. A one-two? A nutmeg? A backheel? Don't be ridiculous. None of that. The extreme control and seriousness with which both teams played the semi-final neutralised any creative licence, any moments of exquisite skill.


"If Didier Drogba was the best player in the first match it was purely because he was the one who ran the fastest, jumped the highest and crashed into people the hardest. Such extreme intensity wipes away talent, even leaving a player of Joe Cole's class disoriented. If football is going the way Chelsea and Liverpool are taking it, we had better be ready to wave goodbye to any expression of the cleverness and talent we have enjoyed for a century."


Valdano explained why Benítez and Mourinho were to blame for the demise of flair and creativity. "The lives of Mourinho and Benítez have crossed in a world that is ever more scrutinised and exposed by the media, which is why they look at each other with such distrust," he wrote, "but they have two things in common: a previously denied, hitherto unsatisfied hunger for glory, and a desire to have everything under control.


"Both of those things stem from one key factor: neither Mourinho nor Benítez made it as a player. That has made them channel all their vanity into coaching. Those who did not have the talent to make it as players do not believe in the talent of players, they do not believe in the ability to improvise in order to win football matches. In short, Benítez and Mourinho are exactly the kind of coaches that Benítez and Mourinho would have needed to have made it as players."

 

[Unicron]

I think it's bollocks. Wenger never made it as a player and Arsenal play great football.

 

[Janer]

Read that today John and it did have me laughing.....

 

[Hector Grey]

great players don't make great managers, with some exceptions. but it's all about pragmatism. this is clearly the football people want to see. jose and rafa play conservativly because neither wants to fail, due to the massive amount of money involved. more money that ever before being pumped into the game because more people than ever before are watching it. bigger stadia, more matches on tv. it's clearly what the people want to see, right?

valdano...pffft. i woulda won the world cup that year with diego next to me.

 

[Janer]

While I support the team that along with maybe Barca plays the sexiest football when we had George Graham in charge I didn't mind that either as long as we were winning.

 

[trev]

no mind that bitter auld real madrid bollox...just cos rafa and jose keep turning his
shite club down.

 

[Franco]

I saw more football in the last twenty minutes of Real V Sevilla at the weekend than i did in both legs of Chelsea V Pool.

For the same reason that's why i'll be rooting for Milan in the final.

I don't expect people who support a team to turn their heels on 'em just because they play conservatively, and especially when their manager is successful.

Just don't expect people who wanna watch good football to be excited.

 

[Hector Grey]

I saw more football in the last twenty minutes of Real V Sevilla at the weekend than i did in both legs of Chelsea V Pool.

For the same reason that's why i'll be rooting for Milan in the final.

I don't expect people who support a team to turn their heels on 'em just because they play conservatively, and especially when their manager is successful.

Just don't expect people who wanna watch good football to be excited.

here's the thing. people can say what they want about the semi final, i was on the edge of me seat shouting at the sreen for 120 minutes, as i'm sure every pool and chelsea fan was. for us, it was exhileratin. and we got the final to look forward too. i'm sure rafa was the same, and like him, i couldn't give a moneky fuck what jorge valdano or any other number of pricks say about football. it's all objective. the beautiful game is the exception that proves the rule. i've seen milan play a miliion times myself, and they're not always that free flowing football machine that we saw agaisnt united. the previous game against bayern for example... or who can forrget the final of 2003? anyone see that game? most defensive match of all time.

personally i don't give a fuck, but it's long been the remit of fans of other teams to dismiss liverpools style cos it ain't pretty football. except during the roy evans era. that was pretty pass and move football. yes i recall well the european cup final of 95... liverpool weren't in it.

 

[Franco]

I'm not saying i didn't enjoy the chelsea v pool games.

Both were tension filled affairs, and there were very good players on show, putting in some deadly performances - essien, masch, terry, kuyt, chech, carragher etc.

I admire lots of things about both teams, and i don't pretend that Milan are some flawless outfit who play amazing football.

And that's what great about the game. Teams have different styles, coaches have different approaches. But if everyone played the game like Mourinho and Benitez advocated, then it wouldn't be much fun. Then again if everyone played it like Real when Valdano was chief executive, it'd be like a five-a-side.

 

[Hector Grey]

I'm not saying i didn't enjoy the chelsea v pool games.

Both were tension filled affairs, and there were very good players on show, putting in some deadly performances - essien, masch, terry, kuyt, chech, carragher etc.

I admire lots of things about both teams, and i don't pretend that Milan are some flawless outfit who play amazing football.

And that's what great about the game. Teams have different styles, coaches have different approaches. But if everyone played the game like Mourinho and Benitez advocated, then it wouldn't be much fun. Then again if everyone played it like Real when Valdano was chief executive, it'd be like a five-a-side.

right, but you're rooting for milan..right? cos real and seville was a better game?

frankly i don't care, i'm just bored with people making some kinda of analogy to broadway musicals here. this isn't entertainment...

 

[Franco]

yeah, i'm rooting for Milan because i prefer their approach to the game.

i agree that it's not entertainment when you support a team involved; it's different.

but if you take off the red specs Hec, you'll see there's more to football than cheering on your team.

 

[oh shit]

ironic that milan practically patented the idea of teams defending as a unit. remember the early nineties when johnny eyetie was the dog's bollix and everyone wanted to follow platt to sampdoria to learn how to play 'tactical' football and eat pasta all day.
if gerogie gillette shells out for eto'o and alves this summer we'll see who's laughing.
oh yes.

 

[oh shit]

everyone thinks he has the prettiest wife at home

 

[shitepipe]

unfortunately i think the problem is not only are liverpool not pretty to watch, they're not very good either. hence i'll be supporting milan...

 

[Hector Grey]

yeah, i'm rooting for Milan because i prefer their approach to the game.

i agree that it's not entertainment when you support a team involved; it's different.

but if you take off the red specs Hec, you'll see there's more to football than cheering on your team.

yes, but i can't very take of my red spex with the pool in the final and all that, can i? don't be funking with my parade, nark.

 

[Janer]

I'll be up for Liverpool.
Italians are flash fucks.