The Decline in Football

Lord Spencer wrote:But seriously Spencer is fine, or Lord.

Lord is the translation of my name into English from it's native language.

Lord Spencer is a character I created a long time ago. Really liked the name so it stuck.

What's your name, then. 'Less you mind, of course.

Wali (like WALL-E, but with on L, so it becomes WAL-E), which in Arabic can be translated to Lord or Count in English.

Lord Spencer wrote:Wali (like WALL-E, but with on L, so it becomes WAL-E), which in Arabic can be translated to Lord or Count in English.

Wali, huh. A litteral translation, eh. You have a really powerfull name.

As for me. I was originally just Hispano on the old forums but after I cumilated over 5,000 posts I thought I've earn myself a little respect so I put Lord when I registered here.

(I was also Latinus but noone really liked the name so I change it back to Hispano)

I was a lurker before, so I saw you around the old forum, but I did not see the Lord until I registered (every time I saw the smiley, I knew it was you so I automatically imagined the name to be the same).

And Arabic names are sometimes really powerful, espicially in the region
I live in. I have friends whose names translate literally to: Warrior, Falcon, Thunder, Mountain.

Lord Spencer wrote:I was a lurker before, so I saw you around the old forum, but I did not see the Lord until I registered (every time I saw the smiley, I knew it was you so I automatically imagined the name to be the same).

And Arabic names are sometimes really powerful, espicially in the region
I live in. I have friends whose names translate literally to: Warrior, Falcon, Thunder, Mountain.

Yeah, I only put Lord after we moved here.

Looks like you guys have a way with names. If I put my two names together and translate their origins it will be:

"Brave/hardy leader in a flat land between mountains".

Ricardo Navarro.

That name reads like a Hemingway novel.

Yeah it's pretty deep actually.

I'm sure that goes for every name.

You both are SPAMMING!

ACMRox wrote:I have to agree with Spencer on many points, but I must say you and many other posters here are looking only on the negative side of things. Yes, the difference between WC 2010 and 1998 makes you wanna cry when you see the huge drop in quality. But there are bright points. Turkey, in Euro 2008. Uruguay and Ghana in WC 2010. Holland and Spain in 2008. Germany in 2010. There are still bright points for football. There are young gems being found frequently. Ganso, Neymar, El Shaaraawy, and more. Football quality may have dropped in some places, but one has to admit it has risen considerably in other areas. Yes, watching Cruijf and Holland's total football in 1974 was beautiful. But is watching Barcelona destroy other teams with their near perfect passing and movement not? Messi and Barcelona's mesmerizing football is not so far off from world class teams like Cruijf and 1974 Holland and Zico and 1982 Brazil. There is beauty in the beautiful game still.

See the last para of my post. All is not lost, far from it actually.

I'll answer in more detail later, however I would quickly say that the points are relevant to national football, though I don't believe that club football is suffering from the 'capitalist' model in terms of improving a smaller club. A club such as Genoa, who have invested heavily in the market, have reaped few benefits, highlighting the need for a strong and intelligent management of resources on the pitch as more integral to growth. We simply haven't seen a management that has successfully built upon this foundation yet in Italy, unlike in Germany where Dortmund have risen to the top through systematic investment in youth.

Even so, oil money such as in the case of PSG isn't necessarily a bad thing if European competition is increased, though how the league itself reacts can only be seen in the future. A team such as Malaga meanwhile, sullied almost by the tag of an oil team, has actually spent very modest individual sums and are trying to improve steadily, not to splash ungraciously onto the scene. Getafe are attempting to first clear their debt and to build slowly on a platform of clever free transfers in the mean time, also with the likes of Sarabia (and Albertazzi ) before they make the necessary additions to their squad, which may be bigger names, however it's nothing less than what Serie A or any other league has done in the past.

As for the difference between the upper tiers in football? Barcelona may be the best team in the world, however the difference between them and a team such as Atletico Madrid, Napoli or Liverpool is healthy. The mid-table sides are poorer than they should be, however a great deal of mismanagement exists in La Liga has reduced the competitiveness that could exist.

With more courageous coaches and investment in youth, there would be an even healthier separation of talent, however at the moment I see football being in a lull in Italy more than a trend. A policy which ensures that U21 internationals must feature on the pitch at all times would go a long way to addressing concerns for the future.

Some of the talent has taken a dive for the worst, however it may be fixed. I sympathise with the sentiments expressed, however I don't view all of these as widespread concerns. Could things continue to decline? It is a distinct possibility, however I'd need at least another five or ten years to see the effects of current measures being put into place, as well as the endeavours of Milan and Inter to trust place greater emphasis on their youth academies, as Barcelona have done, to test the sincerity of these efforts.