HOPEFULLY, things will improve once we get rid of the bulk of the 'diddy teams' and World Cup 2022 gets down to the serious business of the knock-out games in the last 16 and beyond. But, as yet, it's been pretty underwhelming fare.
I know the fans with lap tops are now conditioned to attempt to persuade us that 21st century football is all about athleticism and running power, but, I cannot help but thinking, even with their alleged lack of fitness, the midfield giants of the past, such as oor ain Slim Jim Baxter could have a field day in Qatar.
To go back even further, I am quite prepared to believe that, back in the 1870s, when to use Forrest Robertson's great phrase: “the men with the educated feet” from the South side of Glasgow and the Vale of Leven, men such as Charles Campbell, the McNeill and McKinnon brothers and Dr John Smith were handing the English a new arse on an annual basis, they would, when the occasion demanded, pass the ball sideways or even backwards. However, their instinct was to pass forward and run on into a position to receive a return pass. I suspect they wouldn't have had much time for today's 'keep ball' tactic of: three passes sideways, four passes back, then one forward.
Barry Ferguson used to get a lot of criticism for his ability to keep possession, if he was playing today, Barry would be a maverick, who insisted on playing the ball towards the opposition's goal. Watching non-Scottish defenders, who are from the classic stable of our rearguard players – able to mis-kick with both shins – playing easy five or ten yard passes across their own half, well that turns me right off.
Sixty years ago, John Greig, Ronnie McKinnon and Baxter used to do this for fun, to wind up the Celtic support and emphasise how easy it had been win for Rangers to build-up a comfortable two-goal winning margin against a young Celtic side, still years and a player or five away from greatness.
Today, that sort of keep-ball passing seems part of a side's tactics to win games – perhaps a case of: “let's bore them to death first.”
I first encountered 'the press' as a tactic in basketball. In that game, there is 'the full-court press' whereby the team in possession is immediately put under pressure as they attempt to bring the ball out from their own end line. The answer to this is to have a guard (midfield play maker) such as former Cumnock, Paisley and Scotland star (and a damned good PE teacher too) Jim Smart, who was quite capable of dribbling the length of the court and scoring, thereby nullifying the press.
Of course, such a tactic is unlikely to work in the 100 metres long football field, particularly today, where the dribbler would be felled somewhere around the centre line. But, although Japan briefly employed one in one of the games in Qatar, we seldom see full-court pressing in football. Instead, we tend to see what I would call 'the half-court press' where the team in possession is put under defensive pressure as soon as they cross the half-way line.
This leads to sides, when they eventually summon-up the courage to cross into the opposition's half, playing myriad meaningless cross-field balls in front of a defensive line, quite happy to let them do this; edge of your seat fitba it isn't.
I feel for Lionel Messi; he was brought up with 'tiki-taka', playing alongside Pedro, Xavi, Inesta and Fabergas. Their style of short, precise passes, at pace, could cut through any defence. Today, while Messi is no longer the force of nature he once was, he is surrounded by players who are not of the quality of the guys he grew up with. It is often said, tiki-taka was the 21st century embodiment of the Queen's Park/Scottish passing game of the 19th century.
In Qatar, we are not seeing tiki-taka, and we are certainly seeing very-few, if any, of the great defence-splitting passes which can open up even today's well-organised back lines.
Time and again, watching on TV, I have seen opportunities for one of football's great passes, the diagonal ball between the central and the wing back defender, for a wide man to run onto, hit the by-line and cross against a retreating defence. This move has been a basic tenet of attacking football since the dawn of the game – today, the players seem incapable of doing this.
The quality of crosses into the box in Qatar has been generally poor, too many crosses are either over-hit, or fail to beat the first defender. Ally MacLeod, a fine winger himself, used to go absolutely ape shit at his wide men when they failed to beat the first defender – that was a criminal failing in his eyes.
However, at least, in Qatar, we are seeing the occasional flash of genius from the likes of Messi and Luka Modric. Two guys still capable of playing the killer defence-splitting pass, sadly, an endangered species these days.
Just before bed time on Sunday, I caught a few minutes of an FA Cup second round clash between Borough Green and Bristol Rovers. This confirmed something I have observed up here – you see more positive, risky fitba from two 'diddy teams' in one game than you will see in a full season watching the so-called good teams. At the top end of the game, everyone is now scared and risk-averse; that is not a good look for the game.
FINALLY – the coverage of this World Cup has been very po-faced and serious. However, oor ain Ally McCoist has thus far been the stand-out performer in the UK media, particularly in his double act with Jon Champion.
Best joke so far: Name three Qatar players? OK – Hank Marvin, Eric Clapton and Jimmi Hendrix.
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