It is customary that when an event goes against the expected, the “TROLLS” see their chance to come out from under their rock & grab the limelight that they so dearly miss. SPAIN lost yesterday 1-0 against Switzerland in their opening Group H game that went against all prognostics & created the first “shock-wave” of this FIFA World Cup 2010.
Firstly, congratulations to Switzerland who followed their studied game plan: defend with 9 - 10 players & await the chance to counter-attack to try their luck. That is what occurred, 4 counter-attacks & the winning goal, while Spain arrival 25 times & hit the cross-bar but lost.That’s Football; Soccer for our American, South African, and Australasian readers; it is the very nature of this wonderful game that has the World totally focused & absorbed.
As expected, when things go well everyone pats your back but when something goes wrong, the jealous, the bitter & the forgotten are the first to put on their steel tipped boots to kick you in the balls with an ironic: “I told you so”.Yes, the Spanish National Football Team yesterday went in:
1. Perhaps over-confident. The Coach should have done more psychology.
2. With a midfielder (Xabi – Busquets) that could have been less. Conservative perhaps?
3. Without a “killer”-“winning” mentality
4. Didn’t manage the game & the times. They were out smarted by "old fox" Hitzfeld
5. Should have played with two forwards
6. The substitutions were late & bad. Why not put in tall Llorente if you put in Navas as a winger to cross the ball into the square.
The list could be endless; it is a simple labour with hindsight, something that only the immortal gods have over the rest of us mortals.
Yesterday, one of these apparent Gods, ex-Spanish National Selector & Coach Luis Aragones, was the first to crawl out of his hole to give his Troll like comments & analysis. The European Nations Cup 2008 winning Coach gave his democratically given opinions which were in line with the above but with venom that only dangerous “animals” store to defend themselves from attack, but this animal attacks when motivated.The man did us a favour that we are all grateful & he goes into history for it. It was Luis Aragones who decided & publicly announced before the Euro 2008 competition that he would leave the Spanish National Team. He then later retracted on his decision when he won the Euro 2008 Championship, but the Spanish Football Federation had already found a substitute to put in his place, Vicente Del Bosque, it was simply too late for Mr. Aragones.
Yesterday with Al Jazeera Luis Aragones said (along with other criticism)... "El problema viene de lejos, no es de ayer..." ("The problem comes from afar, not from yesterday…”). Of course he is correct & comes from afar, it comes from the built-up bitterness & anger of watching someone else sit were you decided to leave prematurely. It comes from the jealousy from sitting in a commentary box & not being able to walk the grass of the field. It comes from a man who has a historical record of being verbally violent, disrespectful with fellow professionals, uneducated & unethical.
The man, like the rest of us, has a democratic right to make opinions, he in fact could be very much correct with his words, for his knowledge of Football is not questioned. But the timing, the forms & the thought-out manner are not called for, not at this moment when the Spanish National Team & his peer Coach Del Bosque needs support & confidence for the difficult road ahead.
Trolls are trolls, & like Luis Aragones, many have come out of the sewerage system to voice their after match opinions. No one said the World Cup would be a simple affair, the beauty of Sport is that the “under-dogs” do & can win, & in the end of the day it is only a Sport, emotional & passionate as Football is , but only a game.
From here I send my best desires & best wishes to the Spanish National Football Team. I am confidence the Spanish World Cup Team will bounce back, I don’t know how far they will get in the tournament , but their style & class is not in doubt & not questioned. What happens is that there are 31 excellent teams all thinking the same: to win the 2010 World Cup. Tweet
3 comments:
AMEN!
A bit harsh on Luis, no? He is just trying to give the team a good kick in the ass from afar. ;P
Opportunistic. Bad timing & not the right moment. You need to read the CV of this character to see his "twisted mind"
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