Sunday, January 10, 2010

 

Mr. Ten Per Cent Right - another update

Oh dear, he's at it again.

And rarely has even Craig Foster penned such illogical, insulting drivel. The lengths to which the SBS brains trust will go to denigrate the local game, while twisting the facts to exculpate the Dutch brigade, is extraordinary.

Each time a home-based side has played an Asian Cup qualifier the performance has been concerning...

Except when, erm, Graham Arnold was in charge in 2006. But we'll ignore that bit.

Pim Verbeek pointed out that Australia had "lost control of the midfield" late in the first half against Kuwait...

Let's look at the composition of that Socceroo midfield. Luke Wilkshire, Mile Jedinak, Dario Vidosic, Mile Sterjovski, Nick Carle. Of these, one is based in the A-League, and he has been there for little over half a year, after a decade spent in Europe. To use Australia's midfield decline towards the end of the game as evidence of the limited tactical sophistication of A-League coaches is, well, shameless.

An obvious question arises, too: given that Verbeek felt Australia were being overrun in midfield towards the end of the first half, why didn't he do anything to counter this in the second?

Yes, there are problems with the A-League. As usual, Foster is about ten per cent right. But to blame the failings of a Verbeek-led side with several overseas-based players in the line-up on A-League coaches is typically disingenuous...not to mention par for the SBS course.

Comments:
I generally like the SBS line, but I also found this article confusing when I read it yesterday.

I suspect that he was having a go at Heffernon and McKinna, which was teased out a little more in his video review on the sbs site.

I support the SBS agenda of having Australia, through our youth system and domestic league, consistently produce a higher standard of player. The players we produce need to be technically and tactically better.

We might disagree with the methods and processes that SBS throws its weight behind to acheive this end (or get frustrated with their simplistic, muddled and sometimes nasty and unfair way of pushing it), but the goal is right and desirable, and at least stirs up debate.

The challenge is to not allow the issue to be gobbled up by how we feel about the personalities. about the issue.
 
You could talk about Foster all day. You really could.

Also, his thoughts on how the Kuwaitis were hurt more than us by the bad pitch, because they rely on a possession game. I loved how they "possessed" their way to their two goals. In Foster land, bypassing the midfield with long balls to the forwards is bad, so it didn`t happen.

I thought that an early part of "inverting the pyramid" dealt with the SBS crew and others fairly well. Those from countries that play a more direct physical style wish they had better technique, while people from countries with stronger technique wish for stronger more physical, robust players.

Brazil may win the next WC.
If they do, they`ll do it with a direct, workman like approach with a lot of counter-attacking and scoring from set pieces. And the SBS crew will tell us that it was possession football.

Clayton
 
Mike is just particularly upset that the mainly Anglo led revolution of Australian Soccer is being 'white-anted' by the old guard at the wog tv station.

And he is particularly miffed that it is being led by a fellow Anglo!!!

But then, again, I get upset that my fellow ethnic brethren (Greeks)would stop supporting their old NSL teams to jump on the new clubs.

So I understand the ethnic solidarity and the traitors who do not stick with their own.

Savvas Tzionis
 
...Mike is just particularly upset that the mainly Anglo led revolution of Australian Soccer is being 'white-anted' by the old guard at the wog tv station.

And he is particularly miffed that it is being led by a fellow Anglo!!!...

Nice to know my motivation, thanks for pointing that out.

You're only about, well, 100% wrong.
 
It would appear Savvas knows absolutely ZERO about Mikey lol. A number of people would find his assertions absolutely hilarious.
 
loltastic!

So Savvas, you South or Olympic?
 
There is no doubt that SBS, like myself, expected that the new Football Revolution would broaden and improve the technical and cultural aspects of the game.

We both should have known better. The problem for Soccer was that true supporters were beign disenfranchised by the old NSL. However the FFA is determined NOT to encourage fans to come but to 'win converts' and to do this you must dumb down the product.

The difference between SBS and someone like me is that they have a stake in the game so they support the code but continue to try to encourage change away from this anglo-centric (or more precise UK-centric) view of the game.

I am an old Hellas fan who was continually berated by my fellow supoprters for continuously criticing the NSL.

I am a bit like Noam Chomsky who is continuously bagging the USA but has admitted that it is still the best country in the world. The A-League is better than the NSL, but it could have been much more than it is.

As for Mike's criticism of SBS and Craig Foster in particular, my reading of the overall criticism of SBS over the past 5 years is that this criticism has come specifically from those who don't appreciate the criticism of the British way of playing.

So, I simply lumped Mike into that group.

Savvas Tzionis
 
If only the world was black & white lol.
 
So anyone who criticises SBS and Craig Foster doesn't appreciate the criticism the "British" way of playing/coaching (whatever that is)? Interesting. Seems to be a very "you're with us or against" type of mentality.
 
Mike you're on the money.

Fozzie's comments were truly bizarre.

Add in Archie Thompson, Craig Moore, Dean Heffernan and even Simon Colosimo to your list....all of these guys have spent time overseas...

Suggesting that the A-League was to blame for the comeback to 2-2; what is Fozzie on?

A more intelligent analysis would show that the Kuwait side have played many World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers together.

Our team?

Pim hardly took ANY of the players who stared in Canberra just ten months ago.

Fozzie and Little Fozzie..(Scott McIntyre listen to his report on the video of the Nix v Fury game) are always trying to run the local game down.

They've succeeded. After 5 years the only coverage of the game on FTA is on SBS.

When did they ever talk the game up? Always the University of Football has to be critical.

And they think we can't understand the weaknesses of the local game unless they tell us..and tell us every week.

Makes you laugh really.

Interestingly when Mckinna and Foster on a couple of weeks ago, it was all amicable..but no discussion over Fozzie's weekly rants or indeed McKinna's lack of strategy...according to Fozzie.

Bout time someone took Fozzie to task in the studio. Think the football audience deserve some of Fozzie's rants to be discussed...for the good of the debate.

I'd love to take him on:)
 
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