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Post by buddha on Mar 4, 2012 12:32:08 GMT 8
My mistress... Arsenal. Up the Gunners!
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Post by buddha on Mar 4, 2012 9:55:57 GMT 8
Nottingham Forest and FC St. Pauli... ...says alot about me: a hopeless romantic, a flamboyant liberal, and not very consistent on the pitch.
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Post by buddha on Mar 1, 2012 15:01:44 GMT 8
Ten tactical points on the Philippines - Malaysia match:
1. Classic tactical battle: 442 vs 433, direct play vs slow build-ups... the stuff of mindgasms. 2. Superb defensive shape and discipline: Philippines defended with two banks of four, quickly retreating into their zones the moment possession was lost. Wolf's defensive role was crucial; he would track down to nip at the heels of the ball carriers to force them into hurried passes while Phil YH stayed up high. Nothing fancy just solid defensive plan and an efficient way of getting the ball forward. Well done, Weiss & staff! Best thing I've seen so far. 3. Angel Guirado's movement changes the shape: I was very surprised to see Angel on the left wing! To his credit (or maybe to the coach's credit), he didn't attempt traditional wingplay by dragging the ball to the byline and peppering the penalty box with crosses. Instead he would cut in towards the center of the pitch to link the midfield and the forward line. Angel's movement created a lopsided/asymmetrical 442 when in possession and a standard 442 when defending without the ball. 4. Midfield battle royale: a 442 going out against a 433 is bound to have troubles in midfield because your two centermids will be outnumbered by your opponents centermids. Coach Weiss solved this problem by having Angel and Wolf dovetail into the midfield turning it into a 4 vs 3 slugfest. If Angel stayed out wide on the wings and tried to play like Caligdong we would have lost the midfield battle. Nice one there, Weiss. 5. Smile for the camera, Luis Guirado: I see how much he grins and enjoys himself on the pitch without sacrificing effort which is a refreshing change from the dourness of Gier and the scowls of Borromeo and Sabio. I like this guy! 6. Lack of movement from the Younghusbands - a tactical ploy?: Given Wolf's fantastic workrate, it would have been logical for Phil YH to be instructed to stay up and provide an attacking outlet instead while Wolf did the dirty work. James YH on the right flank was also very conservative in moving up the pitch. I suppose that this too was a tactical ploy to keep that amazing Malaysian livewire winger from terrorizing our right flank too often. While James was excellent in covering the movement of that Malaysian winger the result was that James wasn't able to push up and contribute to the attack the way he normally does. On the other hand, because James stayed deep it allowed Carli to make overlapping runs on the right which I though would have been a real threat if Carli had a good engine. 7. Ray Jonsson solid on the left: we didn't have much threat on our left flank because Jonsson played his role efficiently and without fuss. His overlapping runs late in the game were brilliant and dangerous to the Malaysians though it came a little bit too late in the match. 8. Lexton Moy: strode through the pitch like Napoleon... didn't give the Malaysians time and space to be cute and he took stick from no one. My man of the match. Take a bow, lad. 9. Stupid fouls: step up De Jong and Bahadoran! Yes, tactical fouling is a way to break up an opponents attack so your own team can get back to its defensive shape but Jason foul was vicious and uncalled for while Misagh's was provocative. I doubt if referees in the Challenge Cup will be this lenient so watch out! 10. Sabio throws up: eat your heart out, Rory Delap. We've got Jason Sabio! But I felt that the way Jason threw himself into his tackles was an accident waiting to happen... and he did. Jason over-committed and the Malaysian striker showed amazing composure. Top class finish.
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Post by buddha on Feb 21, 2012 11:12:15 GMT 8
Brilliant read, c_d! Thanks.
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Post by buddha on Feb 17, 2012 13:06:17 GMT 8
-I don't think anybody has commented on merits of an academic education over a football education. The debate is NOT whether academic learning is better than that of a football academy because that's really beside the point. The debate is on whether the current culture surrounding the Ajax system is producing socially healthy, well-adjusted individuals. Should success at all costs be a risk we should take? See my previous post on page one of this thread. - Let's hear what an Ajax player has to say: "...asked if some of what he learned at Ajax — focus, perseverance, the ability to perform under pressure — might benefit him no matter what he ends up doing. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “We’re training for football, not for anything else.” www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html?pagewanted=7- I haven't read of such comments. The question I'm posing is not about the Ajax system (or the academy system for that matter) but the current CULTURE pervading Ajax's youth football. Nobody is questioning the merits of football academies. We need academies. Again, the argument isn't about the system but about the culture surrounding the system. My earlier posts were a commentary on the article (which is the title of this thread) posted by cjeagle. It was my way of asking if the people reading the article only saw the merits of the Ajax academy rather than the rot and decay of a once beautiful football culture which I believe the article carefully exposes. cjeagle said we've got to be selective... and that is exactly my point. I really just wanted to hear somebody say it so that my faith in you discerning fans would be strengthened.
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Post by buddha on Feb 15, 2012 11:54:40 GMT 8
Ah, Hide. I went through this phase trying to look like him. Didn't work. The guy is just too cool.
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Post by buddha on Feb 15, 2012 11:41:22 GMT 8
Well said, cjeagle. Do understand that I'm not attacking the Ajax system per se but the pervading culture at the youth level of Ajax. While it's true you never did say we should adopt the Ajax system wholesale the overwhelming impression I got from the responses was that it was a good thing. And people just took it in - hook, line, and sinker! The crux of the matter is that people here are missing the forest for the trees. Are we so enamored with a certain system (Ajax) that we are oblivious to its accompanying negative culture? Or do we turn a blind eye to a negative culture in favor of the success it guarantees? I fear it is the latter - success at any cost. True, it makes no sense reinventing the wheel but do we stop to question if the wheel fits? Maybe we don't need a wheel in the first place... maybe what we need are caterpillar tracks/treads instead, like a tank. But enough of idioms. So yes, I concur with your point of view that we need to carefully sift through the various systems and select what is appropriate. I appreciate this dialogue because there's a need for a deeper appreciation of football issues if we are to speed up the development of our own football culture. Cheers, mate!
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Post by buddha on Feb 14, 2012 22:16:24 GMT 8
Are we getting Pavoned again?
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Post by buddha on Feb 14, 2012 16:07:17 GMT 8
... and such are the facts of life so it's OK? That sports is competitive so it's "tough luck, kid" for those who don't make it? That because Ajax is successful we can be successful too regardless of the consequences? I just can't buy into that.
Don't get me wrong. Ajax is a great club with a great tradition of producing their own talents BUT if we buy into their current system and the current culture pervading their youth development program then I think we are on the wrong track.
My suggestion is to look into various youth development programs (I can't believe nobody mentioned Crewe Alexandria when talking about youth football!) and get what is useful and beneficial for us AND DISCARD THE REST.
We mustn't buy into a club's principles and culture wholesale without assessing and evaluating their long term impact on our own growing football culture.
What are your thoughts, mate?
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Post by buddha on Feb 14, 2012 14:20:17 GMT 8
Why not form an USAPANGFOOTBALL league? Start small. Indoor or 7-a side.
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Post by buddha on Feb 14, 2012 13:37:07 GMT 8
I believe this article was posted on this forum idealizing the Ajax academy system as the training system to emulate for an emerging football country like the Philippines. True, Ajax has produced many world class players and are credited for the style of football played so beautifully by Barcelona and one I am so pitifully attempting with my own local team but that's another story.
But that was not what I saw in the article. What shocked me was how cold and mechanical Ajax's football production has become. The following statements sent a chill down my spine
“During training sessions at Ajax, I rarely heard the boys’ loud voices or laughter or much of anything besides the thump of the ball and the instruction of coaches.”
“I feel like they’ve lost some of the spirit of the place”
“It is always a very tense atmosphere here, for everyone”
Ajax “had become a caricature of itself.”
Most of the posters on this forum thread are not seeing the forest for the trees for truly we are witnessing a Jekyll-Hyde transformation here. Witness the spiteful negativism played by the Dutch team as they hacked and bullied their way into the WC 2010 Finals and now the profit driven production of footballers. Where has the joyful and exuberance of Total Voetbal gone? To Barcelona, one hopes. What the article above exposes is not the beauty of the Ajax system but it's fall from grace. No longer a refreshing fountain of footballing knowledge and innovation Ajax has become The Ultimate Football Mill.
We forget that we are dealing with young people here. You don't have to take courses on Child Psychology or Human Growth & Development to understand these young men are at a threshold in their lives. In more primitive societies they would be at an age when they would be preparing for their initiation into manhood and society. This is crucial because once you cross this threshold you will then spend the next few years finding your niche in society. What football mills like the current Ajax institution does is they produce individuals good for only one thing... and that is entertaining us. But when their careers are over we are left with people who may have very little skill in dealing with life outside football.
This quote has got to be one of the saddest insights about professional football:
“I asked if some of what he learned at Ajax — focus, perseverance, the ability to perform under pressure — might benefit him no matter what he ends up doing. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “We’re training for football, not for anything else.”
Is it any wonder why depression and suicide is high in the footballing industry? Have you heard of Sonny Pike? It's one of the saddest stories in football. At the age of ten Sonny was already being compared to Maradona and George Best and was whisked off to the world famous Ajax academy. He was being hailed as the future of English football.
“The pressure placed on him by his club, agents, sponsors and, to a lesser extent, the media made him suffer a nervous breakdown in October 2000, whilst still part of the Ajax youth squad. "'I couldn't take it, and I got ill, really screwed up," Sonny adds. "I stopped going to training and stuff, because I was so screwed up I couldn't hack it. Looking back, it's amazing how low I was. Ajax completely forgot about me, they didn't want to know, but as soon as I was better, they acted like they'd always been there for me. I realized how superficial it is at that level, and if I hadn't got back to form I bet they would have turfed me out. That's why I packed it in, it's so unstable.'”
We need football academies and I believe in the near future the Philippines will have football schools and clubs mula Aparri hanggang Jolo but if you read this article and go away thinking the Ajax system is the way to mass produce Pinoy footballers then I fear it won't be far off when we start producing brilliant but utterly dysfunctional football stars who have no place in Philippine society. And I'm sure there are many who wouldn't care as long as the Philippines becomes a mighty football nation.
Not me. My lads may not make the national team, they might not even make the provincial team, but they'll be wonderful human beings who just happen to play great football.
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Post by buddha on Feb 14, 2012 6:24:12 GMT 8
This is going to be a quick rant.
First off, why do we still romanticize Angel Guirado? He's slow, moves like an ox, has a terrible first touch, no movement off the ball, and an off-balanced running gait. It gets my goat when TV commentators and we in this forum use words like "fast," "great first touch," "good technique" when describing Angel. But what counts in my book is that he's an honest player (by "honest" I mean someone whose only sterling quality is his willingness to work hard but other than that he's...) and for that he should keep his place in the national side. He IS an honest player just don't describe him otherwise.
Second, as lovely as tiki-taka is, we don't have to play it to succeed. A lot of posters on this forum think it is the only way forward. Singapore won trophies playing direct, robust football. Why can't we? (As a coach I place a premium on ball possession, player movement, and the quality of the first touch but in my case I'm under no pressure to deliver trophies so even if it takes me 10 years for my first trophy I'm fine. My teams play a mean tiki-taka but I'm also pragmatic enough to know that possession football doesn't always work and I'm flexible enough to switch mid-play if I see a more direct approach would work.)
If you guys want to see our national team play possession football, fine, but it'll take a whole new generation of players to be able to do that and you've got to be very patient. Just know that you may not see the Azkals play tiki-taka in our lifetime. Hopefully, your son and grandson will. Can you deal with that?
Thirdly, as much as I have my issues with the tactical nous of the current gaffer I do see why he decides to play the way that he does. He's got to deliver or else it's his head on the platter. Now don't go about pointing fingers, lads... YOU want instant success and what's worse YOU want it done playing like a mini Barcelona. But for Mr. Weiss has got no time to play fancy football because he's under pressure to deliver. The reason we play the way we do is because he's being forced to play to our strengths as a team which, when you come to think of it, is sadly limited to two w...
Oh crap. I promised it would be a short rant.
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Post by buddha on Jan 17, 2012 6:22:24 GMT 8
I chose "others."
Kappa and Diadora are a class apart... and they have factories in Asia.
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Post by buddha on Jan 14, 2012 13:19:49 GMT 8
On the second thought, maybe we should keep this thread open as a testament to our own follies and foibles in our pursuit of footballing greatness.
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Post by buddha on Jan 14, 2012 11:04:14 GMT 8
PAVONED - (pAHv.Owned) To be tricked into thinking you've uncovered the last Azkal superstar.
*add your own definition
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