THE PERFECT STAGE IS SET
Brazil will provide a spectacular backdrop to this year’s festival of football... just don’t expect host nation to win the tournament
WITH the World Cup edging ever closer, the Scottish Mail on Sunday welcomes Scotland assistant manager Mark McGhee to our line-up. Over the course of the tournament, he will bring his wealth of experience to offer a fascinating insight as the action in Brazil develops. In his first offering, Gordon Strachan’s No 2 reveals who he thinks will win it, why Brazil and England won’t and which players will set football’s biggest stage alight
IBEGAN collecting Panini World Cup stickers with my five-yearold son Archie several weeks ago. This was my attempt to indoctrinate him i nto the football world and to initiate his journey as a lover of the game — a journey which we all know will be full of ecstatic highs and lows of anguish. What better place to begin the wee lad’s journey than in Brazil?
To an extent, my mission has succeeded. He is aware that the World Cup is coming and that there are many teams taking part, but he still can’t get his head round why Scotland are not going to be there! Many more of us feel the same.
I have enjoyed the process of opening the little packets to reveal the next exciting group of players who will be there in Brazil to thrill us with their skills. For the amount of money I have now invested I could have sent him there to see the Final live!
One regret from my playing days is that I never played in a World Cup. Perhaps I will have the opportunity as a Scotland coach to go to one. As we left the pitch at Craven Cottage last week, Gordon commented on the performance of the Tartan Army that night. ‘Imagine going to a World Cup with that lot,’ he said. I dare to imagine!
As the opening match approaches the excitement is growing. Who’s in each squad? Who’s left out? Who’s injured? Who will be the stars? Which team will be the surprise package? Ultimately, who will win this magnificent football fiesta?
Many pundits have the host nation as the team to beat. I’m afraid I’m going to be a party pooper and disagree. I believe that, having won Group A, they will exit at the first knockout stage, where they will lose to the team who finishes second in Group B — most likely Holland, but possibly Spain.
Unlike some of the other contenders, I don’t believe they have strong enough attacking options.
THERE are only six teams who can win the competition. I recommend that you extrapolate the draw on the wallchart included within today’s paper and I guarantee that most of us will arrive at very similar outcomes.
In the semi-finals, I have Germany playing the Netherlands and Argentina facing Spain. I would love the Final to be between Spain and Argentina but the draw makes that seem unlikely.
Keeping the best players healthy and fresh can be key to a prolonged run in the tournament. Those teams who enjoy a more straightforward group stage will benefit over those teams who have to fight every step of the way to make the first knockout stage.
England, Uruguay and Italy find themselves in just such a group and could suffer as a consequence.
When Gordon took over the national team, we discussed at length what we could possibly do to i mprove performances and results.
SCOTLAND ASSISTANT MANAGER
During those deliberations, I mentioned that I was often struck by how much more sophisticated the playing style of many European club sides and international teams was in comparison to ours and, indeed, England’s.
Teams place far greater emphasis on technique and on ball retention than many British teams do. The outstanding difference, though, is in the shape of teams and the variety and complexity of the movement that they achieve within their various systems.
The British model is far too rigid and relies too heavily on the strength of individual players than a more joined-up team performance. The individual is important and can often be the difference between winning and not winning but that is
England’s system and strategy are too simplistic to upset the top teams. They enjoy what is more like a boxing match than the chess game the best sides aspire to
secondary to the team plan which is designed to make it as difficult as possible for the opposition to mark and track match-winning players.
It gives the flair players space and time to exploit the opposition’s weaknesses. That is the reason I believe England will once again struggle at a World Cup.
England have some terrific players but their system and strategy are too simplistic to upset the best teams in the world. England enjoy what is more like a boxing match than the chess game that Spain and Argentina will aspire to.
I’VE been struck by the publicity that has been given to the ‘legacy’ of Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games, something that looks like being an extremely positive event for the entire nation.
The Games give us the opportunity to showcase our beautiful country and demonstrate what great hosts we are. In addition an infrastructure, which will benefit our children in the coming years, will be left for the nation to enjoy.
What will be Brazil’s legacy? Several revamped stadia, some improved local infrastructure and the huge disappointment of being the hosts and not even making the Final. Hosting a World Cup is a high-risk undertaking for any nation. The impact it has on a country is no longer a positive exercise in ‘cost and benefit’.
The process of deciding how and where World Cups are held must be reviewed. The pantomime that is the proposed 2022 Qatar World Cup is further evidence that something fundamental in world football has to change for the sake of the game’s integrity and to make the finals affordable in the future.
All that said, the backdrop Brazil will provide for football’s showpiece competition will make this the most spectacular World Cup ever.
New media, improved technology, global communications, the music, the colour and the Brazilian people will make this the greatest show on earth.
There are very few of the great players who won’t be there. Gareth Bale is the prime example. Like his fellow countryman Ryan Giggs, the Welsh superstar may never play in the finals.
The World Cup finals provide us with the opportunity to see so many great players. Times have changed though as we see so many of them playing regularly in the English Premier League and in the Champions League. Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Luka Modric, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Robin van
The ongoing pantomime that is the proposed 2022 Qatar World Cup is evidence that something fundamental has to change for the sake of the game’s integrity
Persie, Yaya Toure, Luis Suarez. The list goes on: Mario Balotelli (love him or hate him), Edin Dzeko, Mesut Ozil and so on.
Conspicuous by their absence from my hit list are any Argentinians. In my book, they come under a separate heading. That of World Cup winners 2014.
Maxi Rodriguez, Angel di Maria, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain. What other squad could have left out Carlos Tevez?
Then, of course, they have Lionel Messi, for me the best player ever to have played the game. For that alone, he deserves a World Cup winner’s medal.
They have power, pace, a healthy measure of cynicism in defence and an abundance of attacking options. Crucially, they have the brilliant Messi. There are others to look out for. Some less known to us in Europe. Players who have the opportunity to make themselves household names.
Look out for Alexis Sanchez of Chile, Xherdan Shaqiri of Switzerland, France’s Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani of Uruguay, Christian Noboa of Ecuador and also Enzo Perez.
The Benfica man is one of the less recognisable names in the Argentina squad but he will anchor the midfield and allow Messi the freedom to win the World Cup.
I can’t wait for the show to begin.