As we reach the climax of South Africa World Cup 2010, it is time to reflect and look back at the past three weeks. Has the World Cup lived up to the hype and excitement that prevailed the tournament or has it been an anti climax where all that will be remembered is the incessant noise of the vuvuzelas, players not playing to there full potential and the humiliation England suffered against Germany.
I am sad to say this but i cannot think of a game this World Cup and think wow that was an epic game i really enjoyed it and the first week of football was to put it bluntly terrible. The rainbow nation had sucked all the colour from the game making it look very pale and ill. Excitement was non-existent and too many teams were scared of failure opting instead to play conservatively with very little risk involved which might have been expected. Negative football was certainly on show with very little for fans to shout about. Uruguay V France being a prime example a 0-0 boring draw there were many others games similar to this.
Perhaps tactics can explain this. It seems that the traditional 4-4-2 is going out the game with more clubs and countries now adopting a more versatile 4-2-3-1 , with two holding midfielders and three attacking midfielders and a lone striker. This stifles the opposition as it is very difficult to find space in midfield however with only playing a lone striker it also tends to hamper the teams going forward.If the service is not good to the striker goals are going to be hard to come by.
Teams are also better organised than they were before. Coaches are far more tactically aware. They say there are no easy games at international level in football now and this is because where players lack skill or talent they more than make up for being better organised and working as a solid unit. Look no further than when Brazil played North Korea - everyone was expecting Brazil to win by a landslide margin however due to the work rate and organisation of North Korean team they narrowly won 2-1.
When coaches know they are coming up against a really good player they basically take that man out of the equation. Lionel Messi for Argentina technically gifted and lightning pace - he had the run of the pitch against Nigeria as he found space wherever he was, but against Greece , they just man marked him out of the game and he failed to make much of an impact.
Perhaps it is fair to say that modern day football has been affected by this development when looking back at some classic world cup games - there was more emphasis on skill rather than tactics. The World Cup 1970 final Brazil V Italy - the Carlos Alberto goal where nearly every Brazilian touches the ball in the lead up to the goal was fantastic to watch. But Italy just let them play there is no tight marking and plenty of space, there is nobody following the Brazilian runs. In today's game that just is not the case despite the movement being world class that goal would just not happen today.
Another difference is the modern footballer is now pretty much an athlete, he has to be extremely fit, strong and have a fair amount of pace. The playing field has been levelled by this which again explains why games have been very tight.Fitness is crucial if you cannot run for 90mins at that level you have not got a prayer. The physical aspect of the game was not as important as it is now. Lifestyle is also something that has dramatically changed George Best known for his antics off and on the pitch but the question must be asked could he have been able to live the lifestyle he did back then in today's modern game? The Brazilian Socrates a quality midfielder but again the lifestyle he led - smoked 50 a day and was an alcoholic - makes me wonder would he have been able to do that if he played now.
The combination of tactics and physical fitness has given the lesser teams more of a chance added to this the notion of fear of failing has reduced the 'beautiful game' to a rather cagey affair. Players are scared to make a mistake because of what is at stake. The philosophy of 'we will score more than you' has been eradicated and being hard to beat is very much resonant which has resulted in football becoming less exciting and more like chess with strategy and tactics playing a pivotal role. Teams cancelling each other out resulting in a stale mate- i just hope the final does not go this way but if most of the games are anything to go by it certainly will.
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