A Football Report

By John Ray, follow on Twitter.

“Les Elephants”, the footballers of the Ivory Coast, help captivate and enthrall a nation while playing against Madagascar: large outdoor television flicker and the metropolis of Abidjan rustles. Arouna Kone (PSV) crosses to Salomon Kalou (Chelsea) at the edge of the area; the supporters swell in deliverance as he belts the ball into the Malagasy net. There are chants and dances to the djembe drum in the stands and in Abidjan; life in the country is good. A month later the stadium is empty, except for a smattering of people around the halfway line. ASEC Mimosas, the Ivory Coast’s most successful team, are playing a match, but no one seems to care. Ivorian international football has always had the capacity to unite and excite the nation, but interest in domestic football has gradually shrunk to null as the push for Europe has consumed the clubs. ASEC and its academy provide a perfect example of the effects (good and bad) of what is, for the lack of a better term, player commoditization.

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By Max Grieve

In Bilbao, Real Madrid won the title for the first time in four years, whilst at the Camp Nou Lionel Messi equalled, then surpassed, the record for the most goals scored in a European season. The Spanish newspapers would have you believe that only one or the other of these happened, of course.

“El Mejor!” Marca’s front page screams the following morning – “The Best”. Mourinho is thrown into the air, one finger raised, and images of a euphoric Ronaldo are splashed below the headlines. In Barcelona, El Mundo Deportivo pays tribute to “Torpedo Messi”, and the little Argentine is seen lifting the ball over Carlos Kameni to score his third – Barcelona’s fourth – to scratch Gerd Müller’s name from the 39-year-old record.

Below the singing Xabi Alonso, below the elated Iker Casillas, below the hoards dancing in the Plaza de Cibeles, a box the same size as the neighbouring advertisement for the new Subaru XV acknowledges that Barcelona have played. Even then, the image accompanying the scoreline is one of a rueful Guardiola. In the smallest type imaginable for the front page of a national newspaper, Marca make a note of Messi’s historic hattrick.

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“It is not normal to sell an image of perfection, because at the end of the day nobody is perfect.” - José. May 6, 2012.

You won’t know why I said it. Lots of people think they know me - that they have the measure of me. None of them do, they say it is something in my character, the impulse that drives me - then two weeks later it will be that I’m such a devious planner and that it’s all mind games. You can’t get your stories straight because it really doesn’t have anything to do with me, this perception of yours. It has everything to do with what you want, and what you need.

Is it some sort of surprise that these things come out of me? You all want football to be a narrative, a story with all the component parts. You want characters: some to cheer and others to shout down. It was the television that did this - the same place you could watch The Lone Ranger became the same place your football lives. Therefore, all the plotlines have to be easy for you, so I make them easy: you’re either with me or against me.

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By Max Grieve

Six years ago in Bari, the directors watched on as Juventus celebrated their 29th Scudetto. Celebrations moved from beneath the stadium to the team bus, which Luciano Moggi boarded in tears. The players too, though they appeared to hide it well, must have known what was to come. Transcripts of recorded telephone conversations between Moggi and several Italian football officials had come to surface, and he realised that, in time, everything would come crashing down.

It did. Juventus were stripped of their previous two Serie A titles, and were unceremoniously thrown out of the league. Calciopoli had broken; Ibrahimovic, Thuram and Cannavaro moved on. Internazionale began a period of complete dominance, winning four of the following leagues (having been awarded the 2006 title). Deducted nine points at the beginning of their season in the dark of the second division, Juventus were unlikely to return to Serie A until 2008 at the earliest. Given the mess that the league was in, it seemed inconceivable that Italy could win the World Cup in Berlin during the summer.

It is a history that Juventus are determined to forget, and the contrast between scenes in Trieste at the weekend, and those at the Romeo Neri in Rimini some six years earlier as they began to atone for their crime, should serve as a reminder of how far they had fallen, and how high they have risen. They took to the field against Cagliari in a game with no grey area. Win, and they would take the race for the Scudetto to the final week. Lose, and they flirted with the threat of a lurking Milan. A draw would have a similar outcome. As always with Juventus, it was either black, or white.

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By Mohamed Moallim

Jim Collins, in “Good to Great”, wrote the secret of long-term corporate success lies in cultivating a distinctive set of values. For all the talk of diversity and globalisation, this usually means promoting from within and putting down deep local roots. Boris Groysberg, Harvard Business School, affirms companies are too obsessed with hiring stars rather than developing teams.

Both theorists have an ally in Frank de Boer. The difference is that he’s not concerned with Wall Street but the future of AFC Ajax. In essence the former left-back’s vision, to make the Dutch giants top of the food chain again, is the one perpetuated by Johan Cruyff, who championed De Boer to succeed Martin Jol. The legendary number 14 distinctive management model has been proven a success at FC Barcelona. De Boer is hopeful Ajax can enjoy similar riches. “Whether his vision can lead to a utopia in these times remains to be seen.”

After months of upheaval, the Amsterdam club are now restructuring around Cruyff’s philosophy with him in a new role overseeing the transition. Despite his departure from the board he still pulls the strings. With a historic back-to-back Eredivisie won, all eyes focus on the next phase: making an impact in Europe.

Europe is once again the final frontier. A club rich in tradition, decorated with success on the continent, knows the reality is different from years gone by. To once again conquer they will require luck and in the words of De Boer, “sheer belief”. As well as accelerating the individual development of his players. Their ‘daring’ brand of possession-based football, reminiscent of the period between 1986 and 1997 should hold them in good stead. But they will need to be braver, compact as well as clinical. It might not get them far but it’s a start. A presence in the latter stages of European competition is the first objective of a long-term goal.

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By Max Grieve

Pep Guardiola’s first league match, away at Numancia, was confusing in its lessons. Barcelona boasted 70 per cent of the possession, and had 26 shots – two of which smacked against the woodwork – but lost; Mario Martínez Rubio, simply Mario, scoring in Eric Abidal’s absence at the far post. 

“We played badly,” admitted Guardiola. “We were undisciplined and people were not doing their jobs. You have to open the pitch when the opposition plays with 10 behind the ball and we did not do that. We did not attack well. It was our own fault, but we can correct the errors.”

A reaction to an unfortunate performance, not to take anything from Numanica, the Catalan media were up in arms – they usually are, such is their fanaticism. Johan Cruyff, in his column for El Periódico, was more patient. “I don’t know which game you saw, but I saw one of the best Barça performances in years. Football-wise, Barça were of the best. Positionally excellent, moving the ball with speed and precision, and pressing well. You draw your conclusions but, to me, this season looks very, and I mean very, good.” 

Superlatives fail. Barcelona won the league, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League. The latter was breath-taking: deprived of Dani Alves due to the UEFA rules that threaten this year’s final, Puyol was indomitable at right-back, Xavi masterful in the midfield, and Messi supreme in attack. Alex Ferguson’s face was drained of its characteristic purple hue, and Pep Guardiola lifted the European Cup. At the beginning of the next season, Barcelona collected the UEFA Super Cup, the Club World Cup, and the Supercopa de España. In little over a year, Guardiola had won everything there was to be had in Spanish and European football. That he stayed for a further three seasons is testament to his will to succeed, and should serve as a lesson to those who feel wronged by his leaving.

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