Category — Football

Jürgen Klinsmann’s football philosophy is meeting a severe test with the United States national team. There is a fatal flaw in his player pool he doesn’t seem to grasp. Klinsmann does not have enough players of international calibre to manage a match against solid opponents. They cannot both attack and defend in a seamless manner. I wonder how he will sort this out. His predecessors opted for a more conservative approach—to desperately defend and then counterattack with speed and purpose. This is not Klinsmann’s way. He believes in his own version of “total” football, but he doesn’t have the players to implement his vision. They are fun to watch, but will always lose to superior teams—and the fact is that most teams are superior to the United States and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. For the sake of United States soccer, I hope he succeeds, but the challenge is more difficult than he could possibly have imagined.

Jürgen Klinsmann, his face alight with emotion, during the playing of the national anthem before his first game in charge of the national team. He looks like he spends his mornings running on the beach. Someone said he’s thinking of changing his name to George. God, what a man. Will he be able to change the composition and style of the national team as he did in Germany? You would imagine he could, but I suspect this is a much more difficult challenge. Looks like he’s up for it, though.

Ali Krieger, the American right back, plays for Frankfurt and after four years in Germany is now fluent in German. What did she have tattooed on her left forearm? Why, “Liebe,” of course.

“For me, then and now, the question is, ‘What is success? It isn’t only about winning, but playing in a certain way.’”

—Kevin Keegan

It’s obvious to anyone who follows football that Sir Alex, in his hubris, has finally caused Man U to implode. You can’t blame this on the American owners or the players. It is Ferguson himself who must accept responsibility for continuing with a roster and staff who were not up to competing with Arsenal or a resurgent Chelsea and Liverpool. That he managed to leverage his players this long and this far is a measure of his genius, but it would have been better had he taken a more objective view of the competition.

It’s not a bad way to end things. Let’s hope he does. His antics this year are not unlike those of a mad King Lear blinded by his own sense of self-importance. To me, withdrawing players from the club who sacked his son as manager was the low point and showed how terrifyingly petty he can be.

You are not infallible, Sir Alex. You no longer make purses out of sows’ ears. You’ll be lucky to finish in the top four. Get used to it.

The Guardian interviewed the incomparable Xavi, Spain and Barcelona’s baton-twilling, ball-controlling maestro (yeah, I said Xavi not Messi), and this is what he said about how he plays:

“Think quickly, look for spaces. That’s what I do: look for spaces. All day. I’m always looking. All day, all day. [Xavi starts gesturing as if he is looking around, swinging his head]. Here? No. There? No. People who haven’t played don’t always realise how hard that is. Space, space, space. It’s like being on the PlayStation. I think shit, the defender’s here, play it there. I see the space and pass. That’s what I do.”

He went on to characterize modern English football as a more refined version of the long ball and had this to say about Capello-coached teams. “Some teams can’t or don’t pass the ball. What are you playing for? What’s the point? That’s not football.”

I loved it. Honest and refreshing. It seems Xavi is as good with his mouth as he is with his feet.

Man U would do well to buy Robbie Keane, but, of course, this is never going to happen. Robbie knows how to get the ball to Berbatov in dangerous positions. He would do the same for Rooney. He’s tireless in the role of recessed attacker. Better than Joe Cole. Better even than Rooney in this position. Like all the Irish, however, nothing comes easily for him. He has to prove himself again and again.

It was nice to see how effectively Alex Ferguson organized and inspired his troops to stifle Arsenal in their 1 – 0 victory at home. It was pleasurable because Arsène Wenger makes such a lovely figure when frustrated. Something about being French, I guess. Such faces of anguished disgust. It has been said that when managing in France he once stopped the bus after a loss so that he could get out and throw up.

It was remarkably easy for United. Put Park on Nasri, let Ferdinand and Vidic out jump and outfox Chamakh, clog the passing lanes in the box, and counterattack with Rooney as point man, exploiting the gaps and holes in the Arsenal defense. It was United’s best performance of the year. Odd that few pundits enjoyed it. I found it enthralling—a boxing contest between two evenly matched opponents where one is wilier than the other and prevails through skill and intelligence. But then I’m a fan.

Mexico’s current hero thanking God for a goal.

Watching Bébé (Tiago Manuel Dias Correia) play for United against Wolves was truly a weird sight. Ferguson’s opposite number Mick McCarthy (who sometimes seems like a character from a Samuel Beckett play) [“...one often has a curious feeling that one is not watching a live human being but some kind of dummy: a feeling which suddenly becomes stronger at moments when the light catches the speaker's spectacles and turns them into blank discs which seem to have no eyes behind them...”] would never have put the Portugese on the field. None of his crosses came anywhere near the box. Watching him was surreal—as if he had won a contest (Your Chance to Play with United) and was guaranteed 40 minutes on the pitch. The fact is Bébé could not play for most English second division teams. I’m not sure even Cambridge would take him. No MLS team would have him, except on a developmental squad.

So what gives?

It’s vintage Alex Ferguson, of course, thinking he can transform a raw talent into a Premier League regular. The man is bonkers sometimes. I think he really believes he can create a player through sheer strength of will. Sort of like the Henry Higgins of football. It was embarrassing for the lad, though. You could see it on his face. His stricken expression made me sink into my seat.

Of course, Sir Alex is also the supreme politician. It’s fun watching him support United’s American owners, claiming he doesn’t need new players, that his current group are more than adequate. There’s a place for the old genius in some political appointment in Europe after he retires from football. Ambassador to France? It would be the perfect spot for him. Then he can drink all the claret he wants on the cheap.