Kevin Whitcher
Monday 25th June 5.30pm (London)
Ok, so the week in Russia is over, and it’s about time I posted a bit of fresh content on this here website. With all the will in the world, I haven’t had time to do too much outside of watching the games since my return on Thursday evening, due to the danger of being kicked off my allotment – which has fallen into partial disarray due to workload in recent months, meaning some punishing hours under the sun trying to get my plot into some kind of shape. I’ve enjoyed listening to some of the BBC World Cup podcasts while doing it. I’ve yet to get on to the pleasure of listening again to the excellent Frank Skinner and David Baddiel podcasts from 2006 and 2010, which I managed to find online, but that pleasure is to come.
So anyhow, I got back home on Thursday evening, just in time for the kick off between Argentina and Croatia, and have been watching the games since. I won’t go into any kind of in depth analysis about what I’ve seen, except to say that, when all is said and done, the tournament doesn’t start in earnest until the knockout rounds. This is all jostling for position and the only thing that the group stages establish is a separation of wheat from obvious chaff, such as England in 2014!
So just a few thoughts…
Argentina v Croatia. I’ll always remember Rene Higuita, the Colombian goalkeeper and the original sweeper keeper, decades before Manuel Neuer, describing his decisive error against Cameroon at Italia 90 as “a mistake as big as a house”. This quote came back to me upon watching Willy Caballero gift Croatia their opening goal. To think, this clown was in goal when City steamrollered Arsenal in the League Cup Final at Wembley. The World Cup being what it is though, Messi and company could still squeeze into the last 16. In all honesty, I don’t foresee great improvement though. The manager seems to have lost the players and there is no defence to speak of. They reached the final last time round, but this looks like a team without much of an identity, in decline.
Germany v Sweden. Fast forward to Saturday, and here’s the thing. I no longer watch big sides at the finals and wish them to lose. I’m over that. As a youngster, I enjoyed seeing particular teams suffer for all kinds of odd reasons (such as my brother supporting them, or their elimination increasing England’s chances), but I am now of a view that the most exciting games are those played by the best players. So give me the big boys in the last four and I’ll look forward to better games than, say Germany v South Korea and Brazil v Turkey in the 2002 semi-finals. So on that basis, I wasn’t down on Germany. I was fascinated to hear Lothar Matthaus talk about Mesut Ozil’s after the game against Mexico as follows: "For a year or two, Ozil has played at a level that does not justify the free ticket of Jogi Low. If things go well then Ozil plays well too. If things are going badly, he won't perform well. What displeases me is his body language is negative. There is no heart, no joy, no passion.” It was reassuring to learn that this was not just a perception held by Arsenal fans. A fellow former Germain international, Mario Basler, weighed in with the opinion that, “Ozil’s body language is like that of a dead frog”. I think Arsenal fans can resonate with that one. Ozil needs to up his game. It was significant that as Germany sought a winner against Sweden, the dropped Ozil was not introduced from the bench. I doubt he will start another game for his country in these finals. It was also an eye opener that generally it was the more established stars that were dropped along with Ozil for the second match, particularly Khedira and Hummels.
Anyway, faced with the prospect of watching the frankly dull Swedes in the knockout stages or the Germans, in 2018, I’ll take the latter every time. And you have to take your hat off to Tony Kroos, the new leader of the team, for that free kick. Talk about performing under pressure. It was a moment, and even if you hate Germany, you have to acknowledge the brilliance of the strike. Given the circumstances, and the degree of difficulty, it even pipped Ronaldo’s equaliser against Spain. This is the stuff World Cup memories are made of, and there seem to be plenty in this tournament already.
England v Panama. How we enjoyed this one. There are three kinds of reaction to this one if you are English.
1. Don’t get your hopes up, it won’t last.
2. Great victory, one to savour.
3. We’re going to win the World Cup!
In my childhood days, I was a 3. Experience turned me into more of a 1. But these days, with a limited number of World Cups to enjoy before I shuffle off this mortal coil, I’ve transitioned into a 2.
England’s last two World Cups began with two disappointing draws (USA and Algeria in 2010) and two defeats (Italy and Uruguay in 2014). Now I certainly do not place my reliance on England doing well in any major tournament to enjoy it, but even so, it is a pleasure to see them win in entertaining or dramatic fashion and that is what they have done so far in Russia. It is interesting to see that the consequence of the absurd amount of holding England players by Tunisia at corners has evidently changed the VAR policy with a view to looking out for this. Hence a penalty to England for this very offence against Panama, and another against Argentina v Nigeria. Referees can blow up against this with confidence backed by VAR, and there is no point in attackers feigning it because VAR will spot this too, with a possible yellow card. So gradually, an element of cheating and gamesmanship will be removed from the game, which can only be a good thing. However, the system needs honing, as the Portugal v Iran game demonstrated. More on that later.
Anyway, it was a hugely creditable performance against Panama, largely because chances were taken, unlike the Tunisia game. There is a theory that finishing second might be desirable because that would mean a passage to the weaker half of the draw, although that pre-supposes that Brazil will finish top of their group, which is by no means guaranteed at the time of writing. If they do not, then England will meet one of Brazil or Germany in the quarter final assuming they make it through to the last eight themselves. And in this competition, anything is possible. One thing in the Panama game that baffled me completely. The team have developed a great free-kick routine. However, was 4-0 up against Panama the time to reveal it? The element of surprise is the key advantage of such routines. Maybe they have some variations up their sleeve, but if not, this would surely have been better saved for a closer game. Nevertheless, it was good to see innovation and imagination in England’s football. It feels like a long time since we have seen that.
Yes, yes, I know it’s only Tunisia and Panama. I get that. But what the hell, this England side has surprised me for the simple reason that they are playing better football than we saw two years ago in the Euros, which culminated in that shocker of a display against Iceland. They were patient against the African side, and eventually came through. With the added bonus of changing the agenda on marking at set pieces which seems to be benefitting them as much as any side. The image of Harry Kane being clattered over the back of the head may have brought pleasure to Gooners, but it has also made him a subject of protection for referees going forward.
Portugal v Iran. When new directives and innovations are introduced at major tournaments, there is normally a game when it is realized things can be taken too far. I recall yellow cards for too many fouls after a Sepp Blatter decision to clamp down on the dark side of the game (which ironically he was the ultimate embodiment of) when Denmark played South Africa in the 1998 finals (the game finished with 19 players), and there being a subsequent unofficial directive to rein the cards in a bit. However, things got more ridiculous when a referee got even more card happy when Portugal beat Holland in Germany 2006, in what became known as the battle of Nuremberg. Four red cards and 16 yellows. Two of the dismissed, Gio van Bronckhorst and Deco sitting next to each other pitchside joking about it before the game had been completed. In time, to allow for such officiating influencing a showpiece final, cards are now wiped clean after the quarter final stages of major competitions. Portugal against Iran will become a similar watershed for VAR. The late penalty wrongly awarded for handball against Portugal meant they finished second rather than first in the group. But critically, there was no “clear and obvious error” in the original non-award of the penalty. And the sensitivity around the mistake influenced a more arguable penalty shout for handball against Argentina’s Marcus Rojo the evening after in the decisive group game against Nigeria (although for me, it was not a deliberate handball so ultimately the correct decision was given there). However, I think the whole VAR process needs a bit of a polish up. What is the point in the referee having another look at a monitor at the side of the pitch? In rugby and cricket, it is the official in front of a bank of monitors who can make the decisions. Sure, the game can stop for 20 seconds or whatever it takes to replay the footage, and critically, this should also be shown on the screens in the stadium so that everyone can see on what evidence the decision is being made.
The other aspect this has highlighted is that we are getting less football (including injury time) as a result. There is no way all the VAR delays are being added on. If anything, it’s an argument for basketball style timing, where the clock simply stops when the ball is dead (and games lasted 60 minutes of actual ball in play as a result). Because if you timed the delays for VAR along with the substitutions, injuries, post-goal celebrations and actual timewasting (feigning injury but not requiring treatment from the trainer), I suspect you would find there would invariably be more time than is added on.
The Premier League have decided against using VAR next season because the system is not tested enough, and yet here we are using it in the biggest competition of them all. Actually, the Premier League are correct, but at least the areas where VAR needs tweaking will be accentuated now as a consequence of their being seen by millions.
So… I started writing this on Monday and it’s now Wednesday as Germany take on South Korea and Mexico face Sweden. Difficult to get your head around the possibility Mexico might get eliminated, although it is highly unlikely. I was pleased that Argentina managed to qualify, if only because they will provide more drama to the tournament than Iceland or Nigeria. They are a footballing soap opera with the amount of disarray and Diego Maradona a kind of Kat Slater that you can always rely will appear every four years. Regarding Diego, goodness knows what he is currently imbibing, but I am not confident he will be around by the time the finals roll into Qatar in four and a half years’ time. The man has certainly lived a life of highs and lows, but the evidence is plain to see on his face, however much plastic surgery he may have undergone. There was a moment during yesterday evening’s match when he looked like he might be paying homage to the possessed girl in ‘The Exorcist’. I shall have to watch that movie again, it’s been too long. Until then, I will settle for France v Argentina at 3pm on Saturday.
