The Same, Oft Repeated Question.....

[jagfaelivi]

The laughable defeat of Hearts by the Maltese "Giants"; Celtic's loss to the cream of Gibralter; Aberdeen's reverse against a pub team...... Yup! It's Scotland in Europe and all its glory again.

 

Allow me to have my tuppence worth then chip in.

 

Pros: 1) we are able to produce good coaches, Stein, Ferguson and regularly since their times we have seen Scottish managers do well in bigger leagues south of the border.

 

2) we seem to understand "systems" as well as other countries do

 

3) our fitness levels are comparable with the best

 

4) we have embraced the more scientific parts required in the modern game like diet, living properly, the mental side etc

 

Cons:

1) individual skills

a) ball control - every week I see guys playing at the top level in Scotland who, in the words, maybe exaggerated, of an old pal of mine "couldnae trap a bag o' cement". This I even see in the overpaid and over praised top divisions south of the border.

 

passing - we are poor at it to the extent we are reluctant to give a pass to a team mate in a tight position because we are aware of our own shortcomings and aware of his - see 1a) above. Some passing on a weekly basis is just awful.

 

c) shooting - week in and week out I turn to somebody sitting next to me and ask "what were we told at primary school?" HIT THE TARGET!!! I watch that thing we do in Scotland where in the warm up the players stand in line and the coach throws the ball up in the air and the player takes a touch then almost invariably blasts the ball over the bar or past the post. Somebody explain to me what they are trying to do. I've watched this closely and , even with an unchallenged shot, the percentage of scoring efforts is pitifully low. And I've even heard folk applaud in a match when a player catches the ball well but it sails over the bar!! Why "reward" mediocrity?

 

I love football but my main game for playing has been golf in a long life. I hit millions of practice shots in all types of weather and improved on very little talent to the extent that I won club championships and played the game to county level. I love that game too and I loved practising. I wonder how many of our young footballers put in the effort on these "technical" skills I have mentioned above? It appears that clubs look for big, strong athletes but what about the basic skills? The Spanish, Germans and Dutch players are not born with touch and cleverness. As Gary Player said in the other sport I mentioned "the more I practice the luckier I get".

 

Or maybe it's just the society we have nowadays where people expect something for nothing? Fame for being loud mouthed and foul; for "starring" on reality TV for five minutes? These are the ambitions of the many.

 

Or am I just a dreamer or a dinosaur?