So Fabio Capello says getting to the World Cup Final is an “aspiration” for him.
“Playing in the final would be success,” said Capello over the weekend. “For now, playing in it will do, rather than winning it. But if people are asking me what my aspiration is, then it is to reach the final.”
There are any number of problems with this statement. Let’s start with the obvious. His job is to win football matches and tournaments. That’s what the FA pay him for. Unless I'm misreading the situation, this means winning games up to and including the World Cup Final.
Of course reaching the final would be a significant accomplishment or even an amazing achievement. What it would not be is success. Success goes to the winners.
As for “playing in it will do” as opposed to “winning it”, pardon me if I don’t wonder what is going on in the man’s head. Merely days after securing qualification he appears content with not actually winning. Playing is good enough, apparently.
No it isn’t. Here’s why.
In 1984 Elton John’s Watford reached the FA Cup Final. They were delighted to have done so and told everybody they would enjoy the day.
The team they would play were mystified by this attitude. Everton players subsequently went on the record to make clear their attitude to the final – they wanted to win.
For a serial winner of La Liga and Serie A, the latter as player and manager, to come out with such statements is worrying.
Come on, Capello. Clear this up. Either you want to win next summer or you don’t.
Showing posts with label Everton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Everton. Show all posts
11/08/2009
The Weasel War Dance and other pointless prancing about
The news that Everton FC has launched its new all-black kit with a haka is worrying, and not just because it looked and sounded so rubbish.
Real danger lies ahead when teams start appropriating famous war dances for their own grubby shirt-selling money-making ends or indeed just because they think it might make them look harder than they really are.
For instance, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has performed an upset pirouette in technical areas across Europe for years. This routine involves spinning furiously on the spot while referees of all nationalities and colours contrive to sabotage his beloved team’s plans.
The upset pirouette would become so much more fearsome if Ferguson decided to combine it with the Samoan Fire Knife dance.
According to legend, tribal performers of fire knife tomfoolery Nureyev about while twirling the knife and doing other acrobatic stunts. It looks dangerous, so obviously I won’t be recommending that Fergie try it out every day for the rest of his life.
Of course Ferguson isn’t alone in his overuse of potentially fatal dance routines. For years football pundits have claimed to see something of The Kailao in Rafa Benitez. This ancient Tongan war dance encourages men to fling their arms about in a fierce manner as directed by a lead dancer with a fondness for changes in formation and zonal marking. Stop it, Rafa.
And as for Arsene Wenger, some have even convinced themselves that the Arsenal manager is copying the Weasel War Dance.
This colloquial term describes the behaviour of excited ferrets and weasels. Wild ones use this dance to confuse or disorient prey; the domestic variety normally exhibits this behaviour after the capture of a toy or another prize. It “consists of a frenzied series of sideways and backwards hops, often accompanied by an arched back, hissing noises, and a frizzy tail.” Just about sums the man up.
So this dancing malarkey all looks a bit unhinged. On the other hand, are we missing something here? On this evidence, mimicking war dances, human or otherwise, may just be the way to the top. Don’t be too surprised if you see David Moyes doing the haka on the Goodison pitch before the autumn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4o2bLb9f_E
Real danger lies ahead when teams start appropriating famous war dances for their own grubby shirt-selling money-making ends or indeed just because they think it might make them look harder than they really are.
For instance, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has performed an upset pirouette in technical areas across Europe for years. This routine involves spinning furiously on the spot while referees of all nationalities and colours contrive to sabotage his beloved team’s plans.
The upset pirouette would become so much more fearsome if Ferguson decided to combine it with the Samoan Fire Knife dance.
According to legend, tribal performers of fire knife tomfoolery Nureyev about while twirling the knife and doing other acrobatic stunts. It looks dangerous, so obviously I won’t be recommending that Fergie try it out every day for the rest of his life.
Of course Ferguson isn’t alone in his overuse of potentially fatal dance routines. For years football pundits have claimed to see something of The Kailao in Rafa Benitez. This ancient Tongan war dance encourages men to fling their arms about in a fierce manner as directed by a lead dancer with a fondness for changes in formation and zonal marking. Stop it, Rafa.
And as for Arsene Wenger, some have even convinced themselves that the Arsenal manager is copying the Weasel War Dance.
This colloquial term describes the behaviour of excited ferrets and weasels. Wild ones use this dance to confuse or disorient prey; the domestic variety normally exhibits this behaviour after the capture of a toy or another prize. It “consists of a frenzied series of sideways and backwards hops, often accompanied by an arched back, hissing noises, and a frizzy tail.” Just about sums the man up.
So this dancing malarkey all looks a bit unhinged. On the other hand, are we missing something here? On this evidence, mimicking war dances, human or otherwise, may just be the way to the top. Don’t be too surprised if you see David Moyes doing the haka on the Goodison pitch before the autumn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4o2bLb9f_E
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