Will FIFA Ban The Cheats? Spain Lift The Spirits
Jun 21st, 2010 by 'holic
I don’t mind admitting that some of the events of the last couple of days have threatened to turn me further away from international football than ever. The antics of some of the best rewarded sportsmen on the planet have put an ominous cloud over what should have been a celebration of the world game in South Africa.
The French, apparently at the insistence of a select band led by Patrice Evra, refuse to train. The obnoxious John Terry appears to attempt to provoke some equally despicable rebellion against the England manager. These privileged pillocks probably don’t care that they are alienating the nations that are desperate to cheer them on to some sort of success. Should both fall this week there will be no tears shed here.
On the pitch the players behaviour is equally reprehensible. For a nation that gave wonderfully controlled football to the world it is painful to see how unbalanced some of Brazil’s current crop become in a slight breeze. Lucio needs some helium injected into the vast space between his ears. Nice line in handball by Fabiano too, although I suspect there isn’t a player in the tournament who would not have attempted to take advantage of the referee’s incompetence in similar fashion.
But we are used to seeing diving, and gaining of unfair advantage week in and week out in all of the major leagues. No country, and no continent, is innocent of the desire to grab a slice of the ever-increasing financial rewards that accrue to the most devious. This is not a witch-hunt against ‘foreigners’.
What made me particularly sick to the stomach, yesterday, and again today, was the disgusting play-acting that saw two professionals sent-off. The two incidents were appallingly similar. The supposed victim collapsing in a heap holding his face while his team mates surrounded the referee and the supposed aggressor.
When FIFA allowed Rivaldo to escape a similar disgusting offence in 2002 with a small fine and a slap on the wrist, they failed in their duty. I hope they do not fail the football world this time. These cowards should be banned, and not just for a match or two.
Just when you think the game is going to hell in a handcart, along come Spain, offensive in the right way. The blatant tapping-up antics of their only two clubs, and indeed their top players, is another cause of my increasing blood pressure, but the national side is a joy to watch when they get their fluid passing game going.
At half-time it was a mystery that they were only a goal up against Honduras. The introduction of Cesc on the hour was an added bonus as they cruised to victory. They are facing an interesting last group match against Chile, when anything less than victory could take the favourites, and several ‘holic pounds, out of the equation. Please God, no!
The Injuries Go On
Mention of the Swiss game this afternoon reminds me that a year ago we would have been looking forward to seeing them represented by a central defensive pairing of Senderos and Djourou. Big Phil didn’t get the chance to be one of our multitude of injured players in the season just ended, but took less than a game to get crocked in this tournament. Djourou didn’t recover from his knee operation in time to book his seat on the plane to South Africa.
An interesting debate has been bubbling on the drinks in the last few days about the extent and nature of our injuries. I do think we were extremely unfortunate to lose so many of our key players, practically the spine of the side in the closing weeks of the season.
Being of an age that recalls the double being won with just sixteen players in an era when the game was much more physical than it is today, I have to believe that so many injuries are partly a result of the conditioning of the super athletes of today. Players are scientifically wound up to an optimum level, and are therefore that much closer to physically ‘snapping’.
I’m looking forward to the drinks that follow here, as I believe Trev, a sports physio as well as a ‘holic, will share his thoughts on the issue.
A Shameless Bit Of Begging
You will doubtless have seen that I am now carrying advertising for the new away kit. This is not pay-per-click advertising, but I do make a small commission on any sales through the site which goes towards the ‘holic running costs. If you were planning to pre-order the yellow shirt online it would be appreciated here if you could do so through ‘holic.
Thanks all.
74 Responses to “Will FIFA Ban The Cheats? Spain Lift The Spirits”
Totally agree that the play-acting is nauseating and very widespread.Referees have a very hard job faced with such dishonesty.The loathsome Ronaldo has infected the rest of football with his sickness.
Also agree about the injurues we suffer although Arsenal’s fitness coaches and physios need to be carefully examined(just like the goalkeeping coach)
Amongst all the speculation about new signings it would be good to have some fresh blood in the coaching staff.We’ve fallen well short when face to face with the big clubs and Wenger appears naive tactically. Promote steve Bould or bring in some new thinking with seaman back as goalkeeping coach.
well said holic, will go back and read the article now
shit
I’ll just copy my post from the last piece.
This is an answer to Matt when I said that the reason for our injuries is our possession and short passing game that irritate opponents and Barca/Spain have the same issues.
I know for a fact Barca has a lot of injuries cause here in Israel we get live coverage of every league in the world almost so obviously when I have nothing to do I watch Barca and not some boring talkshow
There was a time that all of their 4 defenders were injured simultaneously.
Almost every player in their squad was injured during the course of the season and missed some matches.
I actually think that this year we didn’t win the championship (as opposed to other years) because of the positions we were injured in.
We had an injury to RVP and Nic simultaneously so we had to play AA up front Vs. Chelsea (both times) and Man Utd.
We had to play without Cesc at Old Trafford.
We had to play without our 2 starting center halves and our playmaker for the last month.
So basically it’s not quantity but quality (even though it was quantity this year), I don’t care we have 20398309 injuries next year as long as it’s not to key members of our squad or at least we have enough depth.
For instance instead of playing AA or Eduardo up front Vs. Chelsea we can play Chamakh if RVP gets injured.
People come down on this team for the way we played against Chelsea and Utd but people tend to forget we had ton of possession and both teams narrowed the field forcing us to go to the flanks and cross but we didn’t have Bendtner we had the 5?4 AA!!!
Let’s see them when we’re in full strength.
We are the best team in the EPL, and we’ll prove it this year (unless Almunia stays and decides to replicate his Birmingham performance).
Holic, are you serious?
Spain were awful.
Heh!
But it’s good shit, v!
They were in red, Snir 😉
If they were in form in front of goal they would have got eight or nine tonight. The way they approach the game is a lesson to nearly all of the others.
Holic,
I actually think that Portugal and Chile are a lesson. They’re a lot more energetic. Spain played on Neutral.
Chile were the ones who weren’t concetrating in front of goal cause they played great in both matches.
Spain is playing with some sort of a patronizing approach as if the group stage is just a waste of time for them.
I’ll confess I only heard the Chile game on the radio, and watched the highlights when I got in. They owe a great deal to being up against ten men as a result of their blatant cheating. Most observers say they played well, but the manner of the victory was unsavoury.
Fantastic post ‘Holic. I had little time for international football before the WC even kicked off. But after seeing the antics of the last few days i highly doubt I will watch much more after its over.
Aside from the theatrics the standard of football has been poor and the entertainment on offer has been far too little with the defensive approach having taken over.
A word on Spain though. Although they play attractive football i cant stand them. This summers blatant tapping up of Cesc by Barca and their players that surround him in the Spanish squad is nothing short of disgraceful. Sergio Busquets is another joke of a player. Talented he may be but he is a bitch on the pitch, falling all around the place at the merest of touches and getting the opposition players booked. I hadn’t realised how bad he was at it until Barcas visit to the Emirates.
I watched the Chile game. “blatant cheating” where was that? I didn’t see any blatant cheating… Maybe the dive at the end? he would have been tripped if he didn’t go to ground so early. The fact is i watch Spain play, and sergio busquets and villa were crying on the ground half the time.
I also find it hard nowadays to defend the beautiful game if football from my fellow Americans who bash the many “pussies” the game has. compared to the youth game here, the professional level has much more of this diving and faking injuries. the cycle will not stop unless we stamp it out of the game.
Great post `Holic.
I seem to remember that every world cup, at least in the early stages, generates its share of controversies with its lot of calls for video assistance. As much as cheats are irritating and unfair I find it hard to blame the mistakes on the refs because after all a Saudi ref at bests deals with Sunday league games on a weekly basis and probably never has to deal with professional cheaters like Busquets or the Ivorian dude who got Kaka sent off. The guy is under a lot of pressure and is focusing on the ball, there’s now way he can see what’s happening somewhere else and take the right decision. Unfortunately it looks like the 4th ref is doing the same so it doesn’t make any difference. At least it shows that FIFA is trying to improve. But imho until FIFA/UEFA decide to punish the cheats after the games based on video evidence there will be nothing to prevent players from trying. And succeeding.
Was undecided about whether to get the yellow shirt, but that’s sealed it!
Funny how Fabiano’s handball hasn’t led to calls for the game to be replayed, accusations that nike and Platini are at the centre of some conspiracy or that Fabiano’s career is now worthless because of one handball. Wonderful when people allow the media to hand pick their morals for them isn’t it?
@Chicago Gunner: If I remember well FIFA in the past has prevented all the refs who have made controversial decisions in the group stages from refereing in the knock-out stages so refereing will get better. Even if with 15 knock-out games to play there will be statically a couple with dubious decisions like in the top european leagues every week.
@Stu: Busquets is certainly building up his reputation nicely… In agreement with your view on Spain, I find myself hoping for their downfall now even if I was s string admirer of them at the Euro.
@ERK214: the blatant cheating was the theatric fall of the Chilean player that resulted in the totally unjustified red card.
Ah, Little Dutch. A proper writer!
I think you are allowed to handle against some teams, but not others, LD. Although I have fewer qualms with that than getting fellow pros sent off and suspended.
Human nature says everybody will seek an advantage to score. I don’t recall anybody admitting it at the time. The sight of the ref having a bit of a laugh with him wasn’t too helpful though!
Busquets is talented???? Are you serious??? He’s useless. He’s worse than Denilson.
The only thing he knows how to do is to pass a 5 meter pass to Xavi and dive.
If he would have been born in anywhere else and not in Catalunya and didn’t have his dad as a GK coach he would never even get a first 11 no matter where that may be.
His dad is Barca’s GK coach, he is awful, he is the worst player among the players playing in the top teams at the top levels.
The last thing he is is talented, maybe he’s talented in diving.
Now my favourite Arsenal blog.
holic, i found the post interesting and i wish to question u on 1 or 2 points in your article.
first point is when the R,O,I, were turfed out by the henry handball you stated in your blog after the incident that all footballers are cheats and id like to know why at this given time are you wageing a one man crusade to clean up the game?
second point is this, has it anything got to do with barcelona making improper advances towards fabregas?
As I have said earlier v, I accept that players everywhere seek to gain an advantage. It happens everywhere, in every game.
There are things that do not happen with that regularity though, because they were once considered too despicable, and they involve players getting their fellow-players sent off by deliberately feigning injury.
What made these last two cases so reprehensible in my eyes is the fact that the whole side decided to surround everybody involved pushing and shoving and making a scene which conned the referee into giving the ultimate punishment.
It is the act of cowards, in my book, but I am prepared to hear any alternative views.
Watched the spain match tonight and although they passed the ball about nicely and missed a hatful of chances i am half hoping they dont win against Chile and Swizterland get a win against Honduras – will that mean they re out? – i hope so!
That might shut some of their aggrogant mouths – Xavi, pique, etc have blatantly tapped up Cesc this summer – i read that pique had said how much he would like torres to come to b-arse-a aswell!
FFS when will FIFA take action against this shower of TWATS?
Optimistically looking forward to Wednesday – Will the “new Gooner ” – joe Cole – get a place on the pitch — Remember 1990 – two draws to start their too! One world class player can make all the difference – time for Rooney to step up i think.
Will the shirts be the same price as Arsenal.com
Looks like the Barca tools are starting to get it now:
“Whether or not Spain go any further in the World Cup doesn’t affect the situation,” he (Barcelona director general Joan Oliver) said. “It’s not a question of us making another move. The question is whether or not Arsenal modify their position.”
Yes kevnal, the ad takes you to Arsenal.com
I sense I am alone in separating Spain, and their wonderful football, from the despicable Catalan cunts 😉
I think you will find as well that the top European clubs have some sort of agreement in place that prevents them from officially reporting each other for breaches such as ‘tapping up’.
They like to leave FIFA and UEFA with the impression that they are a united band of partners who would strike out alone if interfered with too much.
Hence why we won’t report Barca, but will still hope that one of the organising bodies grows some testicles.
I thought Honduras were awful tonight and Spain should have won by 5 goals. Villa should have got at least a yellow card for that spiteful poke in the face but the Honduras player was too inexperienced, or too honest to do a Busquets. Thought it was a pretty boring match. Goal difference could still be important for Spain with Chile on 6 points.
I actually think that we don’t report Barca’s tapping up because we do it too, I assume AW talked to Chamakh last summer when he was still under contract and told him he would approach him and get him on a free.
Koscielny also admitted AW talked to him, it might have been with Lorient’s consent but it’s still tapping up and you get the feeling that Arsenal “doesn’t want to wake the lions” so not reporting will be wiser.
Holic, Spain play wonderful football that’s right, but I’m terribly disappointed in their play at the WC, I’m used to their play from Euro 2008 :).
Hello Lulu,
Yes, the Villa slap was the drawback tonight, and he should have been booked. He owes the fella who took a full eight seconds to go down.
Lousy acting saved him.
Guys,
From what it seems Koscielny will be joining.
This actually makes the transfer linked section at Arsenal.com not that cynical.
What do you think about that ?
Cause at first we thought the Transfer Linked would be somewhat of a retaliation to the weird media which reported 60 different players up until the 31st of May as Arsenal targets which is obviously ridiculous.
Could there be any truth in that section?
Its difficult to separate Spain and Catalan in the same way I struggle with England and Mr Chelsea. His attempted rebellion is a disgrace a so have his defensive displays.
Chile have played interesting fearless attacking football. Spain might get shown up, as they haven’t lived up to potential. I am really looking forward to game.
Cesc got a little run out today and a massive cheer – I am guessing there were a few gooners in the crowd.
@Snir: That’s my point, we do it and all the top-flight clubs do it. Thinking of it I’m sure `Holic is right on the money about the top clubs having a tacit agreement between themselves. But I can’t remember something so blatant, so concerted and so widespread than the tapping up of Cesc. Even the 3 years of tapping up of Ronaldo by Fake Madrid weren’t half as bad.
@Holic: Barca also plays wonderful football, arguably even more so than Spain. But the team is mostly made of Barca players and each one of them has come forward tapping up Cesc. Can’t see myself getting behind that bunch. I have mixed feelings when Cesc is playing but them fielding a cheater instead doesn’t help.
@Matt – Behrami for the Swiss deserved to go. You can’t raise your arm to a player, its in the laws of the game. He threw his arm back three times in one 10 yard spell vs two Chilean opponents. Maybe soft but thats the kind of stuff I want out of the game. Whether you are rolling around on the ground or getting in cheap shots at your opponent, you are still cheating either way. Plus, the international stage is of a higher standard and thus the BS some Premier league players get away with on a weekly basis in England isn’t tolerated at this level. Look at some of the fouls Behrami got away with against the Arsenal. Then come back and tell me he isn’t both a dirty player but also a cheat. He has a bit of reputation. I’m not all for the hyper sensitive refereeing you do see in some games but the fact the refs are holding these players to a higher stanbdard is excellent.
The red card Behrami got is actually a very typical RVP move when he shields the ball.
That’s not even a foul in my book, it’s just two in a tussle for the ball and for positioning. The guy fell as if Behrami turned around and sucker punched him.
Cheers ‘Holic and ‘holics.
Ok, here’s a look at injuries.
Some interesting exchanges with Snir Geuli and Matt led to a FT interview with Mr Meersseman, head of the famous Milan Lab.
He contends that footballer’s injuries and state of fitness are most greatly influenced by gait issues, and I have suspected this to be the case for quite a while, and for the following reasons.
In 21 years in my own Sports Physio practice I have found the vast majority of chronic conditions (i.e. long-term unresolved issues, as opposed to current or trauma issues) affecting the feet, ankles, calves, knees, thighs, hips, pelvis and lower back, to be accompanied by problems of foot mechanics, most commonly weak or fallen arches.
Weak arches are caused by the stretching of the Plantar Ligament – the prominent line felt along the bottom of the foot when the toes are turned upwards.
This is far more common in sports people as their feet are used and stressed far more than sedantary types.
When this Ligament stretches, it causes the foot to flatten and roll inwards as it strikes down with your stride.
This rolling – HYPER-PRONATION – is transmitted upwards through the tibia (shin-bone), leading to shin-splints, and into the knee, where it damages the cartilages, and weakens the ligaments.
It continues into the thighs and hips, where the resulting muscle imbalances can cause thigh and hamstring problems, postural problems in the pelvis and lower back, and symptoms of sciatica into the legs.
It also causes inflammation of the Achilles tendon,straining of the calf muscles, and joint problems in the feet and ankles.
I have previously mentioned in the “drinks” that I was lucky enough to visit the Training and Medical Centre where we saw virtually every aspect of the place – including the player’s Boot Room.
Knowing how vital the correct balance of the foot is, I was naturally intrigued to see the design of boots for our world stars such as Pires, Henry, Bergkamp and Vieira, as this took place in their era.
Expecting to see the ultimate in customised support, what did I find in the boots ?
Answer – ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
They were as light and flimsy as they could possibly be, with not a sign of support in sight.
Not even for Robert Pires – a man who walked and ran with all the signs of being totally flat-footed.
So, what then is special about Arsenal that makes OUR injury situation so bad.?
I believe, 3 factors – YOUTH, SPEED and POSSESSION.
YOUTH.
Connective tissue in muscles, tendons and ligaments, does not “harden” and mature until the age of about 21.
Many of Arsenal’s players are playing at younger ages in higher, tougher and faster levels of football than they would be at other clubs.
By the age of 21, some of our youngsters have played for 3 years or more at the top level, with all the resultant wear and tear.
SPEED and POSSESSION.
Arsene Wenger is well known for demanding pace from his players.
They are also expected to keep the ball at their feet in a pass-and- move style of play. This demands more running with and without the ball, and invites more challenges at the level of player’s legs.
These challenges at speed result in more tear, strain and twist injuries.
Twisting of the pelvis in this way, again leads to muscle tightening all around the pelvis and lower back.
Mr Meersseman claims that in trying to treat these conditions, all clubs other than Milan “go back to the medical model”.
By this I presume he means treatment / surgery to the specific area only, rather than a holistic balancing of the body ( which I have always worked to achieve myself, as i was trained by a tutor from the National Centre for Sports Injuries in holistic manipulative techniques, rather than the “hospital type” Chartered Physiotherapists).
Arsene Wenger may be aware of all of this already, as he is of most things – but it could be something to consider.
Trev- I think he meant most teams go to the medical model meaning treating the injury after it occurs. They go for the scientific, biological, genetic model of trying to analyze the data they have on every player thus preventing future injuries (for example banning Seedorf from exercising certain muscles).
I don’t know anything about Sports Physics but I did assume that it’s the possession causing injuries because of opponents being irritated and going hard on our players.
Barca also have the same style of play and have loads of injuries every year.
Trev, do you think there is a way to prevent injuries to injury-prone players such as RVP and Theo? And what do you think of the new GPS system Gazidis was talking about, will it be useful?
no mention of italy’s painful game – launching themselves and throwing them around on the ground, trying to get the New Zealand players sent off, waving imaginary cards.
or is it, because it’s italy – is that just how they are. and is that depressing?
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by . said: […]
The card system needs a radical overhaul. Two minor infractions–a couple of shoves or some 50/50 jostling that breaks for one player rather than the other–can have the same impact as a bone-breaking tackle.
FIFA could stop the cheating, diving, play acting and most importantly the incompetent refereeing decisions.
Yet they refuse to use video replays…. FIFA like to be able to control results – I cannot explain USA’s third goal being disallowed or Klose being sent off for the Germans any other way.
FIFA are a corrupt organisation, and we will see an Afrian nation progress – as this is the will of FIFA.
Spain played a shit team and only scored 2 goals in a billion chances including a missed pk. If not for Villa they might have failed to score again. I don’t get why so many people drone on and on about how good Spain is. I’d bet money on Chile handing them loss #2 next round. If points were given for passing these guys would take the cake tho.
Dare i say it ‘holic. I hope Spain bite the dust. The whole Cesc thing has rubbed me the wrong way. I used to love watching Spain play. Now I hate them all…except for Cesc…while he is still at Arsenal.
Happy birthday to Snail, currently holidaying in the Lake District.
Holic, I have only very recently started to enjoy your blog.As an ex pat, I get to see many of our International footballers down here,and quite frankly some of their behaviour sometimes makes one embarrassed to be English.It may be a minority but they create an image of overpaid louts, which is not appreciated by the locals..I have often wondered about “player power” and the recent events especially in the French and English camp,leads me to believe that at least in England’s case, some of the more senior players could have influenced Capello’s final 23 selection.( i.e. no Theo) With regards to Domenech, he is a one off, and to put it mildly rather strange.
The refereeing standard seems to have lowered after the first week, and one mentions the shirt pulling,which I think was invented by Carracher.
Personally,I enjoyed watching Spain last night, leaving the Barcelona/Fabregas saga to one side, and to me it was like watching Arsenal at their best.The fluidity of movement and passing was a joy to watch, though Torres looked like he had other things on his mind,even though it was blatantly obvious he is not fully fit.
Club before country for so many of our players, no pride anymore in representing our country, and being mostly overpaid prima donnas,it comes as no surprise.
Toast … Sir .. You make a very interesting point about the ‘super athlete’ its very interesting really as i haven’t heard anybody else come up with that argument. I believe our players are better trained than most Premier league outfits due to Arsenes modernized training methods, its quite evident we’ve been rolling over teams after the 80th minute more than any others. So Id say its that coupled with the technical football which apparently provokes violence against our troops. I was myself a loong time ago an elite athlete sprinter and i was amazed at how far behind footballers were when it came to using scientific training methods. Sprinters and other athletes are required to be close to 100% and actually better than that as were always looking to improve on previous results.. you could never get away with boozing prior to an important event. And we were constantly injured wich isnt that strange when you keep pushing your body to the maximum so i definitely think that’s a factor almost as important as referees not protecting us from Neanderthal tackling and pundits and walruses inciting violence against our lads.
@Trev: thanks for a very interesting post. With all these soft-tissue injuries we’ve had over the past few seasons, there must be something fundamentally wrong.
Hobgoblin on tap for me, Mr Barman.
‘FIFA are a corrupt organisation, and we will see an Afrian nation progress – as this is the will of FIFA.’
So presumably all the poor results so far for African teams is the will of FIFA. Evidently they can’t be very good at game fixing. Honestly, you don’t have to like FIFA (hell, nobody likes FIFA!) but the conspiracy guff that gets spouted really is rubbish.
Fabiano,s hand ball against Ivory Coast wasn,t a case of hand to ball rather ball to hand but what about the French referees failure to issue two red cards to Ivorian players ,one for a crude leg breaking attempt on Elano,the other another cude leg breaking attempt on Maicon plus the threatening behaviour of Tiene with his fingering in Elano,s face before the crude tackle and many more .
How in God’s wonderful earth is YaYa Toure worth 27m and WTF do Sheikh City think they are going to do with Barry, De Jong, Vieira and Kompany. That is/will be 5 players who more or less play in similar ways/roles. Maybe I’m just plain fucking stupid and missing something here. You know, like wood for trees or something and I will go “Doh!” “of course!” Come on Matt, Snir, ‘Hols anyone help us out, there is a logical explanation to this?
Because ultimately, based on that ludicrous valuation, I am currently worth at least 5m!
holic, yes indeed good shit can happen, france are on the way out of the world cup, what a spineless, gutless, leaderless bunch they are and whats really hard to believe is 7 of the south african team ply their trade in the south african league.
the number of arsenal players representing france amounts to four, can you blame fabregas for wanting out?
evra offered to replay the irish game on his play station, that arrogant toe rag got whats coming to him at the world cup and domenech has refused to shake hands with the south african manager
F.I.F.A. have a lot to answer for, and sepp blatter when you put your hand out for it you will get lots of it, when you invite assholes to the party dont expect it to go without incident
Evra said that? That’s pretty funny actually, my estimation of him has gone up slightly.
‘the number of arsenal players representing france amounts to four, can you blame fabregas for wanting out?’
Yeah our French players are so evil, it’s driving Fabregas away!
First of all the referees’ shocking decisions go on.
A penalty kick for France wasn’t given, there was a foul on Diaby during the goal, and in no world that is a red card.
@1974 – It’s just supply and demand. Teams want Toure and City can pay 28 Million without even noticing. Seriously, those 28 Million are just like 50 pounds for anybody else.
It’s actually doing us good service cause that way Barca will understand there is no way in the world that Cesc is worth only a Million more than Toure.
Snir – I like the Cesc slant. I can see how 1 whole Yaya equals Cesc’s little pinky. It does give us a bit of leverage. But they (Sheikh City) really are absolute fucking morons. The sooner Uefa and FIFA sort out “financial doping” the better. They will have no squad unity. All these highly paid prima donnas viying for just 10 places as keeper is a Given ( groan..sorry)
@Eastside Gooner: I watched the incident again and I see your point regarding Berahmi. I think a yellow was warranted but a red was too harsh imho even if he had been warned earlier in the game. The chilean player makes the most out of it but I agree it wasn’t totally cheat.
@Snir: No one (including in France) is complaining about the ref this time 😉
cha,the french players are so bad thats the reason cesc wants out, as for evra and playstations there best left to kids to play with and his comments about men against boys he should be reminded that keano is no longer at old trafford so he should chose his words carefully
@ Trev
You must have qualified just before me! I’m sure that like me you have been driven mad by the “fix them when they are broken” approach that the clubs generally use.
I’d like to say I was surprised about your experience in the visit to the training ground, but unfortunately it sounds pretty standard!
I think JP Meerseman was referring to this when he says “traditional medical approach”. Like all good health professionals he looks at his patients globally – all the Milan players have state of the art orthodontic corrections to avoid referred strain from poor jaw movement having an injurious effect on their spine and neuro musculo-skeletal systems.
He looks at the FUNCTION of the body. His results speak for themselves. I’ve been to a number of his lectures and know some of his colleagues. The knowledge he has is mind numbing / inspiring!
The other approach is just to inject painkillers etc to relieve the symptoms…. but pain isn’t caused by a deficiency of anti-inflammatory pills in the body! This isn’t health care, it’s sick care.
@ holic. There’s a few good Catalans, I promise you!
So obvisiously nothings happening in Transfer land so sky sports rehash a month old story in order to make a headline!!
“But while Redknapp wants Cole at White Hart Lane, he thinks the Red Devils may have already won the race to sign him.
“I’ve got a feeling that it might have been done (for Cole to join United),” he said”
Fuck me i thought twitchy said this last month – is his tourettes kicking in?
There’s a few good Catalans, I promise you!
I know that Catalan. Most in fact.
Sadly not the crooked bastards running CF Barcelona 🙁
Oh no – they’re just a band of smug ego maniacs! I’m finding myself ever more bending towards slyly supporting Espanyol…. just to provoke, you understand.
Thanks Trev (@32). If nothing else I will bear all that in mind as I pounding the streets.
I may have imagined it – but I thought I read that one of the measures they took with Theo while he was out this year was that he had his teeth adjusted because they thought that their miss alignment was contributing to his injuries. Did I dream that?
The other point that I should make about Meerseman and the Milan Lab is that all the protocols are in place. If another club wanted to reproduce the success at Milan I am sure he could franchise it out.
The problem is that too many old boys would be put out, or that the clubs are scared of thinking a little outside the box. The first thing that Meerseman did on his first day in charge was to sack all of the doctors!
Catalan, didn’t realise you were qualified too. Good to know there are at least two of us thinking holistically about this anyway.
Meersseman actually says in the FT interview that he doesn’t want other clubs to know the secrets of Milan Lab, ‘cos then they’ll all be doing it and Milan lose their advantage.
It’s hard to imagine that a man like Wenger has not made himself aware of these things, but what suggests to me that there are problems of unresolved misalignments in our players, is not only that we get so many injuries, but that our soft-tissue injuries take so much longer to heal than everyone else’s.
It may be, in some cases, that the real original diagnoses are not made public, but do you remember, for instance, the Gallas thigh injury incurred by taking an extra shot at the end of training. That kept him out for 14 weeks!!!
Snir, you wondered what we could do to prevent injuries.
Ensuring foot mechanics and all joint alignments are correct would reduce stress throughout the muscular system. That would be a help.
However, if there is anything in my idea that our players are subjected to tougher, faster levels of football at a younger age than most others, and are suffering strain injuries to immature connective tissue as a result, it is hard to see what options we have. That is, other than to change our style of play, or, keep the same style but play it with older, more physically mature players.
@Trev & Catalan: My qualification does not extend beyong having to deal with flat feet so I am very thankful for your very informative comments.
Just wanted to point out that I make sure the shoes and boots I buy have no arch support in them so I can fit my custom corrective soles in them. I bet Bobby and Paddy (with his 2 legs of different length) do the same thing. Although perhaps nowadays professional football players are expected to have their boots entirely customized for them including the inner sole?
I wish we would make a super offer to Meersseman. That would excite me 10 time more than Joe Cole!
There are a some worrying bits in your comments though in the sense that even if the situation is acknowledged by Arsene and Ivan as proved by the purchase of the GPS-assisted gait-monitoring system, it will take a long time before the global holictic approach takes over the strictly medical one.
In short we shouldn’t count on being less hit by injuries next season (aside from maybe less bad luck with fractures). Arsenal better get those 2 CBs then…
Trev
Like Meerssemann, I’m a Chiro – 20 years in London, now run away to Barcelona!
I’m sure that the club have good individual guys working on the players – like KVC I do remember someone having orthodontic work to reduce soft-tissue strains. But I think that the big advantage at Milan is that everything is in house – so a lot more controlled and organised. Communication is key!
I have worked along with Olympic sports doctors, treating elite athletes, and the whole process of referrals is a bit haphazard. One week they would see a chiro, then switch to an osteo and then a physio, with no real communication between them. Referrals tend to be made on a “who you know” basis. In the interest of fairness I should point out that I have benefited from this too!
If the organisation of care is unpredictable then so will be the results.
If it makes anyone feel any better then I can tell you that it’s not just Arsenal. over here I have connections (again all haphazard) with some of the elite young tennis players. These guys are Junior Wimbledon Champions, but their training routines for injury prevention (core stability etc) are hopeless. I asked the guy in charge about it and the answer was “but this is how it’s always been done”. I offered to help design a routine and system for free but it was vetoed by the club directors as they weren’t sure what a chiropractor did!
In the end the players are mostly left to find their own healthcare professionals, and I suspect that much the same happens in all sports.
By now it should be obvious to anyone that Milan is doing better than most in regard to players injuries and longevity. In a sport where every detail counts like the height and density of grass and with a manager who is known for his attention to every detail, it’s hard to fathom how we’ve let ourselves slip so much behind them. I believe you both when you speak of old-boy mentality but by now it must be pretty hard to defend you would think. The sense of fatality one gets from reading Colin Lewin’s interview is somewhat disheartening in light of your explanations. My expectations for next season have gone down one big notch, we’re back to needing a lot of luck and we all know how that went in the last few seasons.
Cheer up Matt – other than Milan, everyone else has it wrong too!
@ Matt.
Colin Lewin.. an interesting point. I have NO idea about his professional expertise. I am sure he is an excellent physio.
But was the job advertised openly and the best man found for the job? Or did they just give it to Gary Lewin’s brother?
Devil’s advocate only….
good luck england??????????????????????????????????????????/
brill performance by ash and matt, with defoe scoring a cracker,now i do not want to open that can of worms as to whom was the better centeral defender pascal or matt, lets just enjoy the moment
exciteable interview by JERMAIN DEFOE after game, in a very high pitched voice, stating that english players always had self=belief and his goal was for everyone back home
holic, the thought has just crossed my mind that rooneys loss of form ( substituted today ) that this could open the door for crouch and defoe to spesrhead the attack on the english assault on the world cup trophy, and should they be honoured with the freedom of islington if they delivered?
Catalan, is there any hope at all that this new GPS system will be the answer to our injury problems?
One more thing – I’ve always thought that at AFC we tend to rest players more just as precaution cause of our injuries history, what do you think about that ? I’ve seen tons of times that Song/Diaby were ruled out for an injury I’m quite sure at UTD they would have played. Are we being overprotective and rest players too much?
It is being reported that Barca and Valencia agreed for Mata to transfer to Barca. THIS IS GREAT NEWS!!!! It means Iniesta won’t be moving left and will stay in the middle, meaning Cesc won’t have a place in the middle.
Are they starting to get the message and looking for different players 🙂 ?
Snir
The Cesc thing is definitely getting quieter over here, so maybe they are beginning to understand. Now it’s more a case of “He will sign, but maybe that will be some time in the future”…. backing off a little. To be fair, most of the fans are not too bothered either way.
The GPS thing will be very useful, but as always there is never one magic solution. Like I said earlier it’s getting organised protocols together and sticking to them that really works.
As for resting Diaby – not sure it’s possible for him to play any less frequently!
Question is if these protocols would be the right ones to stick to 😉
O.K – Not just Diaby but in general, do you think that we rest players too much after injuries (apart from the Gallas case against Barca)?
Catalan, Colin has been working with the club pretty much since graduating in physiotherapy fifteen years ago, and was very much groomed for the role, so yes, he was the best man for the job.
`Holic: If we’re judging on the injuries this season there could be some doubts whether Colin is the most qualified. No ttrying to scapegoat anyone but the level of injuries we sustain is costing us silverware and Colin’s interview is not reassuring, even less so after reading Catalan’s and Trev’s explanations.
Other than that it looks like the US has a good chance to reach the semi-finals!