There’s nothing better than an International break in the season is there? Well not quite as I am sure the majority of football supporters in our country hate the international break, as they are more concerned with their own club than the country.
One thing that cannot be beat during this time of the season though is the overdrive that the press goes into. At this time of the season you get to see just how much hype there is in our nation and the majority of the time there is very little basis for it and the foundations of the hype come back to the Premiership and its Murdoch induced spin doctors who have forced so much rubbish into the public’s minds that most of them have now taken in the force fed garbage that they have been fed.
A broadsheet is normally a place where you will find a more reasoned approach to things but I was shocked to read an article claiming that this “golden generation” of players has got nothing following it through and that’s part of the reason why we have been so poor this season and in the World Cup in 2006 also. It claimed that managers have no option but to choose the same players and that we have to make sure that this generation are not allowed to become disillusioned and sink into a rut of patchy form.
Yes everyone it is official. The Premiership is the breeding ground for all greatness and the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Owen, Ferdinand, and Terry etc must be worshipped to the heavens if our country is to succeed.
It is a shame that the majority of our country seems to have forgotten what the essence of football is all about – teamwork.
You can pick the eleven best individuals in the country and put them into a starting eleven and field them against the second best eleven individuals in the country and it is not a simple forgone conclusion that the first choice players will win the game. It is far from that because those second best eleven might end up forging better partnerships in decisive areas of the pitch. It’s stating the obvious but there are some very handsomely paid people who appear to have no knowledge of this. The World Cup is talked of as the biggest showcase of football on earth and the winners last year, Italy, showed exactly my point. They seemed to have learnt that the glory players such as Totti & Del Piero had no divine right to play, and instead made players such as Luca Toni the focus of the side and it paid off.
Roy Keane has been quoted in various circles during the last week with regard to how Ireland appear to have an obsession with certain players and this is preventing anyone else from developing to further competition and it’s certainly a principle that applies to England as well.
In fact the last week has just further emphasised what a potentially great manager we have in place at Sunderland Football Club. It’s great to see a manager who thinks about the game more than just “4-4-2 we’re playing so who’s my best eleven to fit into that”, a manager who will also stick to principles and be prepared to overlook the selection of players if they have shown that off the field they are not prepared and still be confident of getting the result.
At least the International break is over and we’re back to the real football action of The Championship (it will be a shame in some way to leave this league IF we manage to achieve promotion) now as we can watch real football with real passion from players that really want to prove themselves without the hype machine of the likes of Sky Sports and the Sun since they all but ignore our division.
Away to Cardiff we go…