IT’S EURO TRASH
Chris Dunlavy says Euro 2016 shows the quality footballers in Non-League
MAROONED in a Valencian mountain village, bereft of telephone signal or internet, I’ve spent the last week severed from Euro 2016. Even the TV was useless. For reasons unknown, Spanish broadcasters refused to show any match except the 9pm kickoff. Wales against Northern Ireland was replaced by a two-hour variety show. France v Ireland shunned in favour of back-to-back soaps. Not even highlights. At first, this felt like a mortal blow.Yet, judging by what preceded this unexpected blackout and what has transpired since, missing out was perhaps no disaster. Euro 2016 has been less festival of football, more a carnival of horrors, filled to bursting with tired, tactically straightjacketed teams playing percentages or refusing to cross halfway.
Suckers
A group stage that saw 1.86 goals per game, the lowest at any tournament since 1980. A wretched Portugal side in the semi-finals, despite failing to win a match inside 90 minutes. If this is the pinnacle of football, leave me at base camp. Yet, if the quality has been awful – and it certainly has – this European Championship should at least serve to dispel the myth of the superstar. In England, we are absolute suckers for a big name. Press, punters, managers – everyone deifies a so-called ‘world class’ player like serfs fawning round the knee of a king. When Germany were vanquished 3-2 in April, it was obvious – screamingly, blindingly obvious – that the ageing Wayne Rooney no longer merited a place in the starting XI. Yet, anyone who suggested such was dismissed as some kind of reactionary troglodyte, not least by the bellicose, irritable Roy Hodgson. Rooney has spent a decade failing to turn up for major tournaments.Why did Hodgson, or the Manchester United striker’s many apologists, expect anything different? I’ll tell you why.The same reason we spent a decade trying to wedge Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard into the same team, knackering all attempts at a coherent system and condemning Paul Scholes to the left wing. The same reason a prolific scorer like Kevin Phillips was overlooked by a succession of England managers.The same reason so few sides sign players from the EFL or National League. Blind, senseless, vacuous veneration of the superstar. A belief that inherent talent will always trump intelligence and sweat. To this day, people still peddle the old twaddle that Kevin Keegan was somehow a lesser light than Kenny Dalglish, simply because he worked harder. Much the same argument is wielded to elevate Lionel Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo. What utter garbage.Two weeks ago, I was at the Stade De Lumieres in Lyons as Northern Ireland defeated Ukraine 2-0 to secure their place in the last 16. Players from Doncaster, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen turned in a performance of passion, energy and tactical discipline that outshone anything England’s clueless nuggets produced in France. Conor Washington, a guy who started his career at St Ives Town, ran two experienced centre-halves to a standstill. “Who is this Washington?” remarked a huge, tattooed German beside me. “He is like a machine.” Compare that to Harry Kane, a bloke whose contribution to England consisted of standing still and hacking a succession of the worst set-pieces ever seen into Row Z. Up in the stands, a pea-green wall of joy bellowed Sweet Caroline or the Will Grigg ditty, turning the stadium into a warmer, swankier version of Windsor Park. As with Iceland, Northern Ireland’s success was built on collective will, hard work, engagement with supporters and players who fitted an effective, tactical plan.
Rubbish
Were they the ‘best’ footballers in the world? Of course not. But neither was Lukas Podolski and that didn’t blind Joachim Loew to the fact the striker was integral to Germany’s system. Great players, good players, average players – it’s all a load of rubbish. As both England and Ireland have demonstrated in their own fashion, any player is only as good as his environment. Put Washington in Arsenal’s side and I bet he’d score like Ryan Reynolds at a hen do. Talent is everywhere. In the National League, in League Two, in the Ryman League. All those boys need is a stage to perform, just like Iceland and Northern Ireland. If more Premier League managers recognised that fact, just imagine the wondrous pool of resources available to the England manager. Maybe then we would realise ‘world class’ players are created, not born. Maybe then we would see our own national side play with the endeavour of the Northern Irish. Maybe then we’d see the end of the star culture that has crippled England for too long.