GIMME A BREAK
With the year-end reviews going on we’re being exposed again to a round of sanctimonious twaddle about Thierry Henry’s goal that eliminated the Republic of Ireland from the World Cup. I ought not to be but I am astounded by the number of current and ex-pros who parrot the line that Henry was “cheating” and “cheating has to be eliminated from the game” and such. Even after Roy Keane, to my mind, definitively pricked this particularly stupid balloon the commentaries continue unabated.

Football is a game not a morality play as much as the ruling powers and media like to present it as such. This ridiculous posture has been so persistent thast I assume that it's based on market research on the part of the media that the great majority of fans accept this kind of rubbish. The posture of sports establishments (not just football) is a broader sociological and poliical issue that takes on different colors from country to country and is not susceptible to simple analysis. Franklin Foer's How Soccer Explains the World is a good book on this topic. Ex-pros who make money as pundits are subject to a selection principle that weeds out those who aren't willing to go along with the baloney.

I may be repeating myself here but to my mind it says something of Canada's relatively adult culture that a figure like Don Cherry has remained in the media for so long. For example, his rough equivalent in UK football, Jack Charlton was effectively blackballed from punditry after his famous "I've a little black book" remark (i.e. acknowledging that he actively sought to even the score with players he thought were dirty).

The Barca Bandwagon

As usual the pundits are going over the top in praise of Barca after their deserving 2-0 win over Man U. A fairly mediocre game, not as good as last year's final. Man U were poor. I don't think I've ever seen Rooney so "off" and it was an off-day for Giggs. It happens. Messi and Ronaldo were disappointing, Messi's unexpected and brilliant header notwithstanding. Iniesta and Xavi were workmanlike, not genii.
No surprise but I'm going to contrast Messi and Ronaldo with the late Georgie. In George's only European Cup final he tormented Benfica defenders into crass fouls and scored the crucial goal: a thing of real genius. Nothing remotely like that from Messi or Ronaldo. Messi's header actually only serves to counterpoint how he fails in comparison to Best. Messi hardly ever scores headers. Best - not much taller - was, in addition to his other talents - a magnificent header of the ball. He could leap, he was fearless and he had great technique.
I've said elsewhere how much I admire Messi and think that he, not Ronaldo, is the most exciting player on the current scene. But he did not impress me on wednesday.
On Eto'o's goal - by the way, Eto'o's recovery from his injury is a great joy to me, a truly exceptional striker - everyone is fingering the wrong guys. Yes, Vidic was turned by Eto'o, but credit Eto'o for that, not damn Vidic: the true villain was Evra who was (at this level, grossly) out of position (Vidic was covering). Van der Sar is faulted for getting an arm on the ball but not stopping it: again, credit Eto'o - he wrong-footed van der Sar by flicking it quickly with the outside of his foot, the instantaneous reaction of a great striker. In the 2nd half vds saved MU's butt.

Beckham ties Moore
Beckham's 108th cap has led to predictable comparisons. Most have been pretty sensible. Both are absolute credits to Englsh football. Beckham is among the best to have pulled on a jersey with the three lions. Moore was simply the best defensive player to have played the game. Like Finney, he has not been given his due.
Perfection is not a human attribute. Yet I cannot imagine a way in which Moore's tackling technique could be improved. (I'm not claiming every tackle was perfect, just (!) his technique.) His stand-up tackles were things of beauty. Further, beyond technique there was his uncanny reading of the game that led him dispossess forwards at just the right moment and in such a way as to leave him immediately in possession and ready to start an attack. To make this paean worse, he also had a signature slide tackle that I have not seen reproduced. He would slide, come up on one knee as he prepared to take the ball with the other foot, complete the dispossession, clean as a whistle, and then come up to standing, moving forward, again instantly transposing defense to attack.
So yes, let's salute Becks and pull for him to break Moore's record but reflect for a moment on Moore's unsurpassed defensive greatness.