Global Football Today » Spain https://globalfootballtoday.com Sat, 06 Dec 2014 04:19:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.1 A Season’s Recap for 2013-2014 https://globalfootballtoday.com/a-seasons-recap-for-2013-2014/ https://globalfootballtoday.com/a-seasons-recap-for-2013-2014/#comments Tue, 01 Jul 2014 13:39:22 +0000 https://globalfootballtoday.com/?guid=c8f74a063c0d730701629d57a959a06a https://globalfootballtoday.com/a-seasons-recap-for-2013-2014/feed/ 0 A Life with the World Cup https://globalfootballtoday.com/a-life-with-the-world-cup/ https://globalfootballtoday.com/a-life-with-the-world-cup/#comments Sat, 28 Jun 2014 11:04:31 +0000 https://globalfootballtoday.com/?guid=8ce05cb8df4b0f63d9dd1510bb3fcb0e
Germany 06: I started blogging around this time, right before World Cup 2006. I was working at a school, and 5 days before the World Cup started I found out that I was unceremoniously being transferred to another school. Summer break had started but here I was packing crates from 6 years of teaching. It took me twice as long to pack as I was watching the matches from my classroom at the same time.

South Africa 10: Four years later and a lot had changed. I was a father again and recently married. My eldest who was a short fourth grader before Germany had grown into a tall eighth grader with a budding mustache and a teenager’s attitude. My inquisitive preschooler was now a third grader; still curious but taller and more independent. I inherited a stepson with a black-belt in karate and a deadpan nature. My Grandfather passed. My Mom moved out and my elderly father had grown ill. I wrote a daily column for La Liga Weekly and recorded a weekly podcast with my best friends, and yet not much had really changed. I was moving again, to yet another school, and the World Cup had returned.

Some people measure their lives by very personal landmarks. Graduating from school or getting married, the birth of a child or getting a promotion, but one of my personal recurring landmarks is the tidal return of the FIFA World Cup.

Flashbacks: I remember 1978 in Argentina clearly. I remember the final, broadcast on Spanish television here in the States. I was 12 years old. The one before did not even hit on my radar: 1974. I was 8 years old and as I have mentioned before football was clearly, positively, not my sport, but there was something that captured my imagination there in the stadium in 1978, seen through the filter of our black and white television: Cesar Luis Menotti’s long hair and the cigarette permanently attacked to his lip, urging his Argentina side on against the Cruyff-less Clockwork Orange of the Netherlands at the Monumental in Buenos Aires, with the flags waving, the confetti and the people screaming. I had no way of knowing that people were disappearing in Argentina and the Military junta was cracking down on its political opponents throwing them off helicopters into the River Plate. I was 12 years old and I was in love with the spectacle, blinded and unaware of its real costs.

1982 in Spain, I loved my Italian neighbor Rose at 16. An Azzurri fan, her dark hair in a tight ponytail, Italian and exotic to a sheltered kid from the suburbs, and I became an Azzurro too learning about Paolo Rossi and their improbable win in Spain and his hat-trick against Brazil. She grew up and grew out, met a guy in a band, and forgot I ever existed, but I still remember Paolo holding the cup.

In 1986 I was 20; a teenager no more. I was working as a teacher’s assistant and marking time, looking for a break in life, and I almost let the excitement pass me by. That little 17 year old with the magic left foot on the news from 1978, the one who waited in vain for Menotti to call him up, was all grown. His name was Armando like me, well at least his middle name, and all the talk was how he had missed the World Cup back then but that this was Diego Maradona's stage and that this was his moment. It couldn't have been more true. I never saw his famous goal, the great one where he knifes through the English defense like butter, but I did see the other one, the infamous one. It left an awful taste in my mouth sure, that Hand of God goal, but worse yet was the reaction from the media. How quickly they can turn on a player, adored to vilified in the span of minutes. All these years later and nothing really changes does it?

1990 was in Italy, and I was 24 years old, a great generation of players had come and gone and another set to replace them. I remember images: Van Basten’s skill, Gullit’s dreadlocks, Lineker’s goals, Gascoigne who cried, Klinsmann who dived, and above them all the divine ponytail of Roberto Baggio and again Maradona, who cursed his home fans, the Neapolitan faithful, for whistling at the Argentine anthem. Germany beat Argentina and I thought how lucky were the Germans and how dreadful they played. It was a sub-par World Cup but I remember thinking to myself that I might not see any of these giants of the game like this in their prime ever again. Time waits for no one.

Four years later I was married and the World Cup was here in the States, the final played just 20 minutes away from my house; everything is 20 minutes away from everything else in Los Angeles.  I was sitting in a Red Robin restaurant in Pasadena, California home of the Rose Parade with one television on and no one else watching the most exciting penalty shoot-out I can recall. Brazil beats Italy and Roberto Baggio couldn't get away quicker from the heat and the pressure and the burden of losing a World Cup final in a place like this, oblivious to his pain, after skying that infamous last kick.

1998 was France and the best player of his time was French, my namesake had retired into a cocaine haze the World Cup before, and the stars were aligned and the United Colors of Benetton, or Le Bleus had won it for Liberté, égalité, and fraternité. A country that prides itself on equality had problems at times accepting the changing face of the nation and drew together on the inspiration of players with the names of Djorkaeff, Zidane, Lizarazu, Boghossian and Karembeu, their names were Basque, Senegalese, Polish, Algerian, Armenian, Pacific Islander or from the Antilles, and all of them equally French. In a time of ethnic cleansing so fresh in the memory, happening “three doors down” in Europe, it was inspirational to see the French putting their slogans and mottos to practical use. It was something I whispered to my two year old son. Sad that we can't ever be bothered to live by those rules over time.

2002 was in Japan and Korea. My son was 6 and his younger brother was 6 months old and my 11 year marriage was disintegrating. We were all falling, reeling still from September 11, and it was a comfortable feeling that some truths were universal. Brazil would qualify, even if they struggled, and they would find a way to win. The home squads would do well, even at the expense of heavy favorites like Spain and Italy, the losers blamed FIFA, corrupt referees or the weather; and everything, all of it, was all too eerily familiar.

Brazil 14: 2006 felt like the end of a chapter. Italy finally won again after years and years of near misses. I finally won the office pool after years and years of near misses and I wondered if Rose even remembered me after all these years. 2010 felt like the beginning of a new chapter; a new job, a new marriage, a new son, a new stepson and a new outlook on life, but it's never quite so easy. Life is complicated. Some things are gained as other things are lost. That two year old from France 98 is now in college and the black-belt starts next year. My toddler from Korea/Japan 02 is now almost as tall as I am. My youngest was born right before South Africa and will start kindergarten right after Brazil. My mom remarried, my dad is still ill, and I still record a weekly podcast with my best friend and her step-dad. I also realized quite by accident that I enjoy writing about football, but life is more chaotic and unmanageable than ever; like this World Cup in Brazil for that matter.

Some people measure their lives by very personal landmarks. Mine is measured in four year increments, the 10 World Cups in my memory, from Argentina to Brazil over 36 years. I am excited to see what memories this World Cup will leave for myself and my family and I will mark time yet again in Russia in 2018, Qatar in 2022 and beyond if permitted.
]]>
Germany 06: I started blogging around this time, right before World Cup 2006. I was working at a school, and 5 days before the World Cup started I found out that I was unceremoniously being transferred to another school. Summer break had started but here I was packing crates from 6 years of teaching. It took me twice as long to pack as I was watching the matches from my classroom at the same time.

South Africa 10: Four years later and a lot had changed. I was a father again and recently married. My eldest who was a short fourth grader before Germany had grown into a tall eighth grader with a budding mustache and a teenager’s attitude. My inquisitive preschooler was now a third grader; still curious but taller and more independent. I inherited a stepson with a black-belt in karate and a deadpan nature. My Grandfather passed. My Mom moved out and my elderly father had grown ill. I wrote a daily column for La Liga Weekly and recorded a weekly podcast with my best friends, and yet not much had really changed. I was moving again, to yet another school, and the World Cup had returned.

Some people measure their lives by very personal landmarks. Graduating from school or getting married, the birth of a child or getting a promotion, but one of my personal recurring landmarks is the tidal return of the FIFA World Cup.

Flashbacks: I remember 1978 in Argentina clearly. I remember the final, broadcast on Spanish television here in the States. I was 12 years old. The one before did not even hit on my radar: 1974. I was 8 years old and as I have mentioned before football was clearly, positively, not my sport, but there was something that captured my imagination there in the stadium in 1978, seen through the filter of our black and white television: Cesar Luis Menotti’s long hair and the cigarette permanently attacked to his lip, urging his Argentina side on against the Cruyff-less Clockwork Orange of the Netherlands at the Monumental in Buenos Aires, with the flags waving, the confetti and the people screaming. I had no way of knowing that people were disappearing in Argentina and the Military junta was cracking down on its political opponents throwing them off helicopters into the River Plate. I was 12 years old and I was in love with the spectacle, blinded and unaware of its real costs.

1982 in Spain, I loved my Italian neighbor Rose at 16. An Azzurri fan, her dark hair in a tight ponytail, Italian and exotic to a sheltered kid from the suburbs, and I became an Azzurro too learning about Paolo Rossi and their improbable win in Spain and his hat-trick against Brazil. She grew up and grew out, met a guy in a band, and forgot I ever existed, but I still remember Paolo holding the cup.

In 1986 I was 20; a teenager no more. I was working as a teacher’s assistant and marking time, looking for a break in life, and I almost let the excitement pass me by. That little 17 year old with the magic left foot on the news from 1978, the one who waited in vain for Menotti to call him up, was all grown. His name was Armando like me, well at least his middle name, and all the talk was how he had missed the World Cup back then but that this was Diego Maradona's stage and that this was his moment. It couldn't have been more true. I never saw his famous goal, the great one where he knifes through the English defense like butter, but I did see the other one, the infamous one. It left an awful taste in my mouth sure, that Hand of God goal, but worse yet was the reaction from the media. How quickly they can turn on a player, adored to vilified in the span of minutes. All these years later and nothing really changes does it?

1990 was in Italy, and I was 24 years old, a great generation of players had come and gone and another set to replace them. I remember images: Van Basten’s skill, Gullit’s dreadlocks, Lineker’s goals, Gascoigne who cried, Klinsmann who dived, and above them all the divine ponytail of Roberto Baggio and again Maradona, who cursed his home fans, the Neapolitan faithful, for whistling at the Argentine anthem. Germany beat Argentina and I thought how lucky were the Germans and how dreadful they played. It was a sub-par World Cup but I remember thinking to myself that I might not see any of these giants of the game like this in their prime ever again. Time waits for no one.

Four years later I was married and the World Cup was here in the States, the final played just 20 minutes away from my house; everything is 20 minutes away from everything else in Los Angeles.  I was sitting in a Red Robin restaurant in Pasadena, California home of the Rose Parade with one television on and no one else watching the most exciting penalty shoot-out I can recall. Brazil beats Italy and Roberto Baggio couldn't get away quicker from the heat and the pressure and the burden of losing a World Cup final in a place like this, oblivious to his pain, after skying that infamous last kick.

1998 was France and the best player of his time was French, my namesake had retired into a cocaine haze the World Cup before, and the stars were aligned and the United Colors of Benetton, or Le Bleus had won it for Liberté, égalité, and fraternité. A country that prides itself on equality had problems at times accepting the changing face of the nation and drew together on the inspiration of players with the names of Djorkaeff, Zidane, Lizarazu, Boghossian and Karembeu, their names were Basque, Senegalese, Polish, Algerian, Armenian, Pacific Islander or from the Antilles, and all of them equally French. In a time of ethnic cleansing so fresh in the memory, happening “three doors down” in Europe, it was inspirational to see the French putting their slogans and mottos to practical use. It was something I whispered to my two year old son. Sad that we can't ever be bothered to live by those rules over time.

2002 was in Japan and Korea. My son was 6 and his younger brother was 6 months old and my 11 year marriage was disintegrating. We were all falling, reeling still from September 11, and it was a comfortable feeling that some truths were universal. Brazil would qualify, even if they struggled, and they would find a way to win. The home squads would do well, even at the expense of heavy favorites like Spain and Italy, the losers blamed FIFA, corrupt referees or the weather; and everything, all of it, was all too eerily familiar.

Brazil 14: 2006 felt like the end of a chapter. Italy finally won again after years and years of near misses. I finally won the office pool after years and years of near misses and I wondered if Rose even remembered me after all these years. 2010 felt like the beginning of a new chapter; a new job, a new marriage, a new son, a new stepson and a new outlook on life, but it's never quite so easy. Life is complicated. Some things are gained as other things are lost. That two year old from France 98 is now in college and the black-belt starts next year. My toddler from Korea/Japan 02 is now almost as tall as I am. My youngest was born right before South Africa and will start kindergarten right after Brazil. My mom remarried, my dad is still ill, and I still record a weekly podcast with my best friend and her step-dad. I also realized quite by accident that I enjoy writing about football, but life is more chaotic and unmanageable than ever; like this World Cup in Brazil for that matter.

Some people measure their lives by very personal landmarks. Mine is measured in four year increments, the 10 World Cups in my memory, from Argentina to Brazil over 36 years. I am excited to see what memories this World Cup will leave for myself and my family and I will mark time yet again in Russia in 2018, Qatar in 2022 and beyond if permitted.
]]> https://globalfootballtoday.com/a-life-with-the-world-cup/feed/ 0 An Uncivil War https://globalfootballtoday.com/an-uncivil-war/ https://globalfootballtoday.com/an-uncivil-war/#comments Fri, 27 Jun 2014 16:40:38 +0000 https://globalfootballtoday.com/?guid=06ff2422bec9af4ec4657d36ba122b3b Being a fan in this country has always been hard. In the days before BeIn Sports there was the NASL, then the indoor leagues on the radio, and maybe the Mexican League stand-offs on the weekends on local Spanish television, but overall this wasn’t considered a real hotbed of soccer fandom. Sure, we’d see a World Cup every 4 years and we’d get a hint of what the great players in the world were doing, we heard of Real Madrid and Manchester United, Milan and Juventus, Barcelona and Liverpool, but they were foreign, seductive to a fault, but from another time and place that had little to do with what was happening in my youth and in my town.

No, where I grew up, in South Central Los Angeles, there were two clubs and only two in the world that anyone knew about: Las Chivas Rayadas de Guadalajara and Las Aguilas de America. Goats and
Eagles, eternal rivals, like Barcelona and Real Madrid, their derby that is not a derby divides not only one country, but divides many cities where the Mexican Diaspora hit, and Los Angeles, the real Los Angeles that visitors fail to venture into when they come and they write about what a supposedly crappy city this is, is filled with passionate, even rabid soccer fans. Rojiblanco or Azulcrema, you could choose either or go with the neutrals best bet of El Tri for the national team, but don’t bother with a European kit or a South American kit.

Real Madrid didn’t exist for my friends until Hugo Sanchez went there, but even the most rabid Hugo-centric fan would rather have seen him doing cartwheels at UNAM or Club America than being out-of-sight out-of mind. We even laughed at his accent. What was this whole affectation he had, lisping his esses like a true Spaniard, the tone and the inflection not of a proud Mexican, but of a poseur. No, my friends had a comfortable disdain for Europeans and the European Leagues.

Sunday afternoon games, at a civilized hour, trips to the Swap Meet before where knock-off kits were going for scandalous prices, soccer balls, hats and caps, paraphernalia, and the sounds of the game in the background, the staccato bursts punctuated by elongated goal celebrations, and the beer of course, always the watered down lagers of cheap Mexican beer.

I was aware of all this, but I’m Cuban and growing up what separated us from our neighbors was our love of Baseball. That was my sport. I played them all certainly, I played horse in the fall, two hand tag in the Winter, sprinkled with five a side pick-up matches, but as soon as February would hit and pitchers and catchers would report to Spring Training, well everything fell by the wayside and it was Baseball Fever in my household.

Soccer? It wasn’t our sport. I spoke the language, to a certain extent, the rhythms are faster for us than for them, the vocabulary miles apart, like Scottish and English you could say, and in a sense that’s the sort of relationship we Cubans have with Mexicans here in California. We held onto what made us different, what we brought with us from home and that was Pelota or Baseball, and when we did consider soccer, it was European. The World Cup would hit, the most memorable in Spain in 1982 and in Mexico City in 1986 after Colombia lost the chance to host it, and my myopic friends insisted that Mexico would win it, and would complain about referee bias after the fact, that Brazil and Argentina were no match for them if everything were equal.

I won’t go into the particulars about my dis-infatuation with most American Sports, there are lots of reasons and no it isn’t about one thing in particular, but a matter of a million mosquito bites. Suffice it to say, that soccer was practically all I had left. I started watching it casually as a kid, and a bit more seriously after the 1994 World Cup, and then the satellite boom hit and the world’s soccer stadiums opened up. England was a good place to start. Italy followed with Spain and Germany neck and neck afterwards. The marketing wing of Sky and Fox were very comfortable extolling the virtues of the sport in Europe, and I lapped it up over that of the game back home.

Starved for the best players playing thousands of miles away, I think we all bought into the myth that the game in Europe was somehow innately better than that in our hemisphere, that the clubs had a grander history or were better suited for our sensibilities. We glommed onto the ghosts of Munich, or Superga, the Kop or the Camp Nou, the derbies, the rivalries of a Old-World social structure that held little meaning for a New World resident. I’m guilty of it. I support a European club, a small one with little fan base outside of Barcelona, but I kiss the shirt, I go through the motions, and in the end I’m no more Catalan than any of you.

No, this is an uncivil war. For 100 years, the top European clubs have been poaching the top talent in the Americas, naturalizing them, making them their own, profiting from them and contributing little to the game here. Certainly players would come back, invest in the clubs, and help with youth development, but always to benefit their adoptive teams in Europe. Think of what Europe did for Diego Maradona. He was already a star, they just made him an addict. What about Ronaldo, the real one, or even more recent Adriano? Used up, washed up, and tossed aside for the latest 17 year old sensation from Cruzeiro or River Plate. What of Gio Dos Santos, Mexican wunderkind, a U-17 World Champion? He was Ronaldinho’s heir, a spectacular player, until the homegrown Bojan took column inches and minutes away from the Mexican starlet. Off he went to Tottenham and then loaned out to Ipswich Town. Horrors.

In the end, the immigrant in Europe is always a commodity to be tossed aside as easily as that.
East v West, Europe v America, I think it’s time we started looking closer to home again, supporting our local team, giving them our money first and building the sport that way. Our players are better off here, the cultural divide much closer between Latin American countries, the language barrier slight if non-existent. They’d be better received here. The more I think about it, if the pay were better, if the stadiums were soccer-specific and we gave the same amount of time and energy to the LA Galaxy or the Chicago Fire that we give to Arsenal or Real Madrid would we see a higher quality of player and game here, especially for that player that is just about to dive into the European abyss, or one who is just coming back from it?

I’m not saying we should give up watching the best players, playing in the best leagues in the World, I love the game in Italy and Spain especially, but our game here in North America and South America, deserves the same amount of respect. If anything, this World Cup in Brazil is establishing that in leaps and bounds.
]]> Being a fan in this country has always been hard. In the days before BeIn Sports there was the NASL, then the indoor leagues on the radio, and maybe the Mexican League stand-offs on the weekends on local Spanish television, but overall this wasn’t considered a real hotbed of soccer fandom. Sure, we’d see a World Cup every 4 years and we’d get a hint of what the great players in the world were doing, we heard of Real Madrid and Manchester United, Milan and Juventus, Barcelona and Liverpool, but they were foreign, seductive to a fault, but from another time and place that had little to do with what was happening in my youth and in my town.

No, where I grew up, in South Central Los Angeles, there were two clubs and only two in the world that anyone knew about: Las Chivas Rayadas de Guadalajara and Las Aguilas de America. Goats and
Eagles, eternal rivals, like Barcelona and Real Madrid, their derby that is not a derby divides not only one country, but divides many cities where the Mexican Diaspora hit, and Los Angeles, the real Los Angeles that visitors fail to venture into when they come and they write about what a supposedly crappy city this is, is filled with passionate, even rabid soccer fans. Rojiblanco or Azulcrema, you could choose either or go with the neutrals best bet of El Tri for the national team, but don’t bother with a European kit or a South American kit.

Real Madrid didn’t exist for my friends until Hugo Sanchez went there, but even the most rabid Hugo-centric fan would rather have seen him doing cartwheels at UNAM or Club America than being out-of-sight out-of mind. We even laughed at his accent. What was this whole affectation he had, lisping his esses like a true Spaniard, the tone and the inflection not of a proud Mexican, but of a poseur. No, my friends had a comfortable disdain for Europeans and the European Leagues.

Sunday afternoon games, at a civilized hour, trips to the Swap Meet before where knock-off kits were going for scandalous prices, soccer balls, hats and caps, paraphernalia, and the sounds of the game in the background, the staccato bursts punctuated by elongated goal celebrations, and the beer of course, always the watered down lagers of cheap Mexican beer.

I was aware of all this, but I’m Cuban and growing up what separated us from our neighbors was our love of Baseball. That was my sport. I played them all certainly, I played horse in the fall, two hand tag in the Winter, sprinkled with five a side pick-up matches, but as soon as February would hit and pitchers and catchers would report to Spring Training, well everything fell by the wayside and it was Baseball Fever in my household.

Soccer? It wasn’t our sport. I spoke the language, to a certain extent, the rhythms are faster for us than for them, the vocabulary miles apart, like Scottish and English you could say, and in a sense that’s the sort of relationship we Cubans have with Mexicans here in California. We held onto what made us different, what we brought with us from home and that was Pelota or Baseball, and when we did consider soccer, it was European. The World Cup would hit, the most memorable in Spain in 1982 and in Mexico City in 1986 after Colombia lost the chance to host it, and my myopic friends insisted that Mexico would win it, and would complain about referee bias after the fact, that Brazil and Argentina were no match for them if everything were equal.

I won’t go into the particulars about my dis-infatuation with most American Sports, there are lots of reasons and no it isn’t about one thing in particular, but a matter of a million mosquito bites. Suffice it to say, that soccer was practically all I had left. I started watching it casually as a kid, and a bit more seriously after the 1994 World Cup, and then the satellite boom hit and the world’s soccer stadiums opened up. England was a good place to start. Italy followed with Spain and Germany neck and neck afterwards. The marketing wing of Sky and Fox were very comfortable extolling the virtues of the sport in Europe, and I lapped it up over that of the game back home.

Starved for the best players playing thousands of miles away, I think we all bought into the myth that the game in Europe was somehow innately better than that in our hemisphere, that the clubs had a grander history or were better suited for our sensibilities. We glommed onto the ghosts of Munich, or Superga, the Kop or the Camp Nou, the derbies, the rivalries of a Old-World social structure that held little meaning for a New World resident. I’m guilty of it. I support a European club, a small one with little fan base outside of Barcelona, but I kiss the shirt, I go through the motions, and in the end I’m no more Catalan than any of you.

No, this is an uncivil war. For 100 years, the top European clubs have been poaching the top talent in the Americas, naturalizing them, making them their own, profiting from them and contributing little to the game here. Certainly players would come back, invest in the clubs, and help with youth development, but always to benefit their adoptive teams in Europe. Think of what Europe did for Diego Maradona. He was already a star, they just made him an addict. What about Ronaldo, the real one, or even more recent Adriano? Used up, washed up, and tossed aside for the latest 17 year old sensation from Cruzeiro or River Plate. What of Gio Dos Santos, Mexican wunderkind, a U-17 World Champion? He was Ronaldinho’s heir, a spectacular player, until the homegrown Bojan took column inches and minutes away from the Mexican starlet. Off he went to Tottenham and then loaned out to Ipswich Town. Horrors.

In the end, the immigrant in Europe is always a commodity to be tossed aside as easily as that.
East v West, Europe v America, I think it’s time we started looking closer to home again, supporting our local team, giving them our money first and building the sport that way. Our players are better off here, the cultural divide much closer between Latin American countries, the language barrier slight if non-existent. They’d be better received here. The more I think about it, if the pay were better, if the stadiums were soccer-specific and we gave the same amount of time and energy to the LA Galaxy or the Chicago Fire that we give to Arsenal or Real Madrid would we see a higher quality of player and game here, especially for that player that is just about to dive into the European abyss, or one who is just coming back from it?

I’m not saying we should give up watching the best players, playing in the best leagues in the World, I love the game in Italy and Spain especially, but our game here in North America and South America, deserves the same amount of respect. If anything, this World Cup in Brazil is establishing that in leaps and bounds.
]]> https://globalfootballtoday.com/an-uncivil-war/feed/ 0 World Cup 2014: Week One https://globalfootballtoday.com/world-cup-2014-week-one/ https://globalfootballtoday.com/world-cup-2014-week-one/#comments Thu, 19 Jun 2014 23:46:34 +0000 https://globalfootballtoday.com/?guid=66c380e6373cf7c114bd7a97cd0ac920 Written by The Ball is Flat Forum member Curtis Saiti: This is a relatively long post. It is just my personal review of what I have witnessed so far.

Best game: This was hard to select because virtually every game had loads of goals. Judging by the number of goals in each game, this promises to be the best World Cup in a long time. There have been many super matches, but I think Spain vs The Netherlands tops them all. Well, unless you are a Spain fan, like me.

Best player: Many players have come to the fore for their countries: Neymar, Benzema, van Persie, Robben, Mueller, Ochoa… Personally, how Joel Campbell carried his team against Uruguay puts him at the top of the pile. Best goal: As I said, they have been loads and loads of goals. Unfortunately, quality and quantity share little in common apart from their almost identical spelling. As it stands, the only goal that took my breath away was Van Persie’s first against Spain.

Best team: Germany and Italy all came out strong in their opening matches considering their opposition. However, The Netherlands were simply out of this world against the defending champions. Most intriguing match: Italy vs England was like a game of chess.

Most disappointing team: Spain were hammered by the Dutch. Brazil are struggling. Portugal were truly awful. All were extremely disappointing, but Uruguay were worse against Costa Rica.

Best coach: Louis van Gaal should have gotten this. But I’ll give it to Ottmar Hitzfield. While overturning a score against Honduras is not something to shout about for a European team, it should not be understated that the goal scorers were all substitutes. His substitutions were on point.

Worst player: When someone asked me to name my best ever World Cup 11, I had Iker Casillas in it. However, during Spain versus Holland, I almost tried to hide under a chair. Until now, I’m still wondering what the saint consumed before Spain’s game against Holland. He was truly awful during that game.

Most disappointing player: Now, there are many players who were playing hide and seek during their matches. But I’ll give this to Edinson Cavani. Apart from his two minutes of fame while taking and celebrating his penalty, Cavani was otherwise anonymous during Uruguay vs Costa Rica. I chose him because many people rate him as a 60 m euro player.

Worst game: I must admit, choosing this one was difficult since we’ve had goal galore in virtually every game. Brazil – Mexico was not that bad even though it finished nil-nil. Therefore, Nigeria vs Iran wins this by default. Honestly, this was not a bad game because I have seen worse, just not at this World Cup. Worst team: Spain were walloped. Portugal were hammered. But Uruguay were worse. This is just my opinion. Comments and critics are welcome.
]]> Written by The Ball is Flat Forum member Curtis Saiti: This is a relatively long post. It is just my personal review of what I have witnessed so far.

Best game: This was hard to select because virtually every game had loads of goals. Judging by the number of goals in each game, this promises to be the best World Cup in a long time. There have been many super matches, but I think Spain vs The Netherlands tops them all. Well, unless you are a Spain fan, like me.

Best player: Many players have come to the fore for their countries: Neymar, Benzema, van Persie, Robben, Mueller, Ochoa… Personally, how Joel Campbell carried his team against Uruguay puts him at the top of the pile. Best goal: As I said, they have been loads and loads of goals. Unfortunately, quality and quantity share little in common apart from their almost identical spelling. As it stands, the only goal that took my breath away was Van Persie’s first against Spain.

Best team: Germany and Italy all came out strong in their opening matches considering their opposition. However, The Netherlands were simply out of this world against the defending champions. Most intriguing match: Italy vs England was like a game of chess.

Most disappointing team: Spain were hammered by the Dutch. Brazil are struggling. Portugal were truly awful. All were extremely disappointing, but Uruguay were worse against Costa Rica.

Best coach: Louis van Gaal should have gotten this. But I’ll give it to Ottmar Hitzfield. While overturning a score against Honduras is not something to shout about for a European team, it should not be understated that the goal scorers were all substitutes. His substitutions were on point.

Worst player: When someone asked me to name my best ever World Cup 11, I had Iker Casillas in it. However, during Spain versus Holland, I almost tried to hide under a chair. Until now, I’m still wondering what the saint consumed before Spain’s game against Holland. He was truly awful during that game.

Most disappointing player: Now, there are many players who were playing hide and seek during their matches. But I’ll give this to Edinson Cavani. Apart from his two minutes of fame while taking and celebrating his penalty, Cavani was otherwise anonymous during Uruguay vs Costa Rica. I chose him because many people rate him as a 60 m euro player.

Worst game: I must admit, choosing this one was difficult since we’ve had goal galore in virtually every game. Brazil – Mexico was not that bad even though it finished nil-nil. Therefore, Nigeria vs Iran wins this by default. Honestly, this was not a bad game because I have seen worse, just not at this World Cup. Worst team: Spain were walloped. Portugal were hammered. But Uruguay were worse. This is just my opinion. Comments and critics are welcome.
]]> https://globalfootballtoday.com/world-cup-2014-week-one/feed/ 0 Spain 2.0: Replacing Del Bosque https://globalfootballtoday.com/spain-2-0-replacing-del-bosque/ https://globalfootballtoday.com/spain-2-0-replacing-del-bosque/#comments Thu, 19 Jun 2014 23:05:31 +0000 https://globalfootballtoday.com/?guid=7de31c475595876de0e756973d0a0a3c
I know this is premature and a lot of you are Vicente del Bosque loyalists, because I am one of them, Real Madrid should never have fired him after their ninth Champions League title and I've blamed Florentino Perez ever since, but I'm also a pragmatist and I know that the debacle that has been Spain at the Brazil 2014 World Cup can only point towards one person: Vicente del Bosque. He's accomplished so much and he's just a year and a half from being honored as the best coach on the planet but the Spanish are a reactionary lot. They call for blood at bullfights, in Civil Wars, and even if they've gotten a taste of what unity and respect between ethnic groups on the national team they're still ready to find someone to blame. Sad to say, but it looks like either he'll get fired (less-likely, he's got a contract until 2016) or the more likely scenario is that he'll take his golden parachute and tread off to that golden sunset that Federation sent Luis Aragones after he won Euro 2008. So who then to pick up the broken pieces of this nightmarish exit from World Cup play?

You can't have Spain teeter back and forth after a World Cup win like 2006 Champions Italy did with Lippi-Donadoni-Lippi and then settlilng on a long-term project with Cesare Prandelli. They can't afford to lose their way as Brazil did after winning 2002 with Felipao and then losing their way with developing talent, establishing a style that reflects their talent, and allowing their leadership to train their charges accordingly. There are eight footballing powers in the World Cup and Spain don't want to resort to form, concede that their inter-sectional rivalries are too difficult to bypass, and fall the way of England or France on the grand stage.

The first step is choosing a manager for the national team that will continue the work started by Luis Aragones and Vicente del Bosque. I think there are the pie-in-the-sky candidates: Pep Guardiola and Rafa Benitez would be excellent coaches but it's doubtful either would coach La Furia Roja: Pep for political reasons and Rafa because of his problems with the Spanish footballing authorities. There are plenty of other second-tier choices that I would have no problem with: Pepe Mel, Paco Jemez, Juande Ramos, or even Unai Emery, I do believe it has to be a Spanish coach, but the guy that ticks all the boxes for me is Quique Sanchez-Flores.

He took over a flailing club in Atletico Madrid and he remodeled them in his own image: tactically and defensively sound, and mentally strong. This from a club that were often called Patetico Madrid. The last 5 years of glory at Los Colchoneros are directly bound to the hard work that Flores and his group brought to the club in 2009. He has Real Madrid and Valencia ties and I think he'd bring a younger, fresher approach to the team.


]]>
I know this is premature and a lot of you are Vicente del Bosque loyalists, because I am one of them, Real Madrid should never have fired him after their ninth Champions League title and I've blamed Florentino Perez ever since, but I'm also a pragmatist and I know that the debacle that has been Spain at the Brazil 2014 World Cup can only point towards one person: Vicente del Bosque. He's accomplished so much and he's just a year and a half from being honored as the best coach on the planet but the Spanish are a reactionary lot. They call for blood at bullfights, in Civil Wars, and even if they've gotten a taste of what unity and respect between ethnic groups on the national team they're still ready to find someone to blame. Sad to say, but it looks like either he'll get fired (less-likely, he's got a contract until 2016) or the more likely scenario is that he'll take his golden parachute and tread off to that golden sunset that Federation sent Luis Aragones after he won Euro 2008. So who then to pick up the broken pieces of this nightmarish exit from World Cup play?

You can't have Spain teeter back and forth after a World Cup win like 2006 Champions Italy did with Lippi-Donadoni-Lippi and then settlilng on a long-term project with Cesare Prandelli. They can't afford to lose their way as Brazil did after winning 2002 with Felipao and then losing their way with developing talent, establishing a style that reflects their talent, and allowing their leadership to train their charges accordingly. There are eight footballing powers in the World Cup and Spain don't want to resort to form, concede that their inter-sectional rivalries are too difficult to bypass, and fall the way of England or France on the grand stage.

The first step is choosing a manager for the national team that will continue the work started by Luis Aragones and Vicente del Bosque. I think there are the pie-in-the-sky candidates: Pep Guardiola and Rafa Benitez would be excellent coaches but it's doubtful either would coach La Furia Roja: Pep for political reasons and Rafa because of his problems with the Spanish footballing authorities. There are plenty of other second-tier choices that I would have no problem with: Pepe Mel, Paco Jemez, Juande Ramos, or even Unai Emery, I do believe it has to be a Spanish coach, but the guy that ticks all the boxes for me is Quique Sanchez-Flores.

He took over a flailing club in Atletico Madrid and he remodeled them in his own image: tactically and defensively sound, and mentally strong. This from a club that were often called Patetico Madrid. The last 5 years of glory at Los Colchoneros are directly bound to the hard work that Flores and his group brought to the club in 2009. He has Real Madrid and Valencia ties and I think he'd bring a younger, fresher approach to the team.


]]> https://globalfootballtoday.com/spain-2-0-replacing-del-bosque/feed/ 0 Spain 2.0: Replacing Del Bosque https://globalfootballtoday.com/spain-2-0-replacing-del-bosque-2/ https://globalfootballtoday.com/spain-2-0-replacing-del-bosque-2/#comments Thu, 19 Jun 2014 23:05:31 +0000 https://globalfootballtoday.com/?guid=7de31c475595876de0e756973d0a0a3c
I know this is premature and a lot of you are Vicente del Bosque loyalists, because I am one of them, Real Madrid should never have fired him after their ninth Champions League title and I've blamed Florentino Perez ever since, but I'm also a pragmatist and I know that the debacle that has been Spain at the Brazil 2014 World Cup can only point towards one person: Vicente del Bosque. He's accomplished so much and he's just a year and a half from being honored as the best coach on the planet but the Spanish are a reactionary lot. They call for blood at bullfights, in Civil Wars, and even if they've gotten a taste of what unity and respect between ethnic groups on the national team they're still ready to find someone to blame. Sad to say, but it looks like either he'll get fired (less-likely, he's got a contract until 2016) or the more likely scenario is that he'll take his golden parachute and tread off to that golden sunset that Federation sent Luis Aragones after he won Euro 2008. So who then to pick up the broken pieces of this nightmarish exit from World Cup play?

You can't have Spain teeter back and forth after a World Cup win like 2006 Champions Italy did with Lippi-Donadoni-Lippi and then settlilng on a long-term project with Cesare Prandelli. They can't afford to lose their way as Brazil did after winning 2002 with Felipao and then losing their way with developing talent, establishing a style that reflects their talent, and allowing their leadership to train their charges accordingly. There are eight footballing powers in the World Cup and Spain don't want to resort to form, concede that their inter-sectional rivalries are too difficult to bypass, and fall the way of England or France on the grand stage.

The first step is choosing a manager for the national team that will continue the work started by Luis Aragones and Vicente del Bosque. I think there are the pie-in-the-sky candidates: Pep Guardiola and Rafa Benitez would be excellent coaches but it's doubtful either would coach La Furia Roja: Pep for political reasons and Rafa because of his problems with the Spanish footballing authorities. There are plenty of other second-tier choices that I would have no problem with: Pepe Mel, Paco Jemez, Juande Ramos, or even Unai Emery, I do believe it has to be a Spanish coach, but the guy that ticks all the boxes for me is Quique Sanchez-Flores.

He took over a flailing club in Atletico Madrid and he remodeled them in his own image: tactically and defensively sound, and mentally strong. This from a club that were often called Patetico Madrid. The last 5 years of glory at Los Colchoneros are directly bound to the hard work that Flores and his group brought to the club in 2009. He has Real Madrid and Valencia ties and I think he'd bring a younger, fresher approach to the team.


]]>
I know this is premature and a lot of you are Vicente del Bosque loyalists, because I am one of them, Real Madrid should never have fired him after their ninth Champions League title and I've blamed Florentino Perez ever since, but I'm also a pragmatist and I know that the debacle that has been Spain at the Brazil 2014 World Cup can only point towards one person: Vicente del Bosque. He's accomplished so much and he's just a year and a half from being honored as the best coach on the planet but the Spanish are a reactionary lot. They call for blood at bullfights, in Civil Wars, and even if they've gotten a taste of what unity and respect between ethnic groups on the national team they're still ready to find someone to blame. Sad to say, but it looks like either he'll get fired (less-likely, he's got a contract until 2016) or the more likely scenario is that he'll take his golden parachute and tread off to that golden sunset that Federation sent Luis Aragones after he won Euro 2008. So who then to pick up the broken pieces of this nightmarish exit from World Cup play?

You can't have Spain teeter back and forth after a World Cup win like 2006 Champions Italy did with Lippi-Donadoni-Lippi and then settlilng on a long-term project with Cesare Prandelli. They can't afford to lose their way as Brazil did after winning 2002 with Felipao and then losing their way with developing talent, establishing a style that reflects their talent, and allowing their leadership to train their charges accordingly. There are eight footballing powers in the World Cup and Spain don't want to resort to form, concede that their inter-sectional rivalries are too difficult to bypass, and fall the way of England or France on the grand stage.

The first step is choosing a manager for the national team that will continue the work started by Luis Aragones and Vicente del Bosque. I think there are the pie-in-the-sky candidates: Pep Guardiola and Rafa Benitez would be excellent coaches but it's doubtful either would coach La Furia Roja: Pep for political reasons and Rafa because of his problems with the Spanish footballing authorities. There are plenty of other second-tier choices that I would have no problem with: Pepe Mel, Paco Jemez, Juande Ramos, or even Unai Emery, I do believe it has to be a Spanish coach, but the guy that ticks all the boxes for me is Quique Sanchez-Flores.

He took over a flailing club in Atletico Madrid and he remodeled them in his own image: tactically and defensively sound, and mentally strong. This from a club that were often called Patetico Madrid. The last 5 years of glory at Los Colchoneros are directly bound to the hard work that Flores and his group brought to the club in 2009. He has Real Madrid and Valencia ties and I think he'd bring a younger, fresher approach to the team.


]]> https://globalfootballtoday.com/spain-2-0-replacing-del-bosque-2/feed/ 0 World Cup 2014: Spain Post-Mortem https://globalfootballtoday.com/world-cup-2014-spain-post-mortem/ https://globalfootballtoday.com/world-cup-2014-spain-post-mortem/#comments Thu, 19 Jun 2014 14:55:38 +0000 https://globalfootballtoday.com/?guid=e449c0e25121352ba651e4b0bbc92a80 https://globalfootballtoday.com/world-cup-2014-spain-post-mortem/feed/ 0 Atletico Madrid and the Simeone Miracle https://globalfootballtoday.com/atletico-madrid-and-the-simeone-miracle/ https://globalfootballtoday.com/atletico-madrid-and-the-simeone-miracle/#comments Sat, 24 May 2014 16:37:27 +0000 https://globalfootballtoday.com/?guid=6cbe5a9575e0413b94cffa0ee5997cba https://globalfootballtoday.com/atletico-madrid-and-the-simeone-miracle/feed/ 0 Premier League Nonsense: FA Style https://globalfootballtoday.com/premier-league-nonsense-fa-style/ https://globalfootballtoday.com/premier-league-nonsense-fa-style/#comments Fri, 09 May 2014 18:53:05 +0000 https://globalfootballtoday.com/?guid=0d997414e0a6bf175f20b5b1c45ebbb3 I am just not going to get into the FA Chairman's plan in depth really. I know there are plans to limit foreign players, expand the English footballing pyramid to fit Premier League youth sides and a number of other relatively cosmetic patch-up jobs to essentially fix a problem that has been front and center of the English international game for generations; young English players were being pushed out for years. Their participation in the top-flight of English football has been marginal for the last generation and now that's also translating to fewer options at the Championship level and below; so leadership has responded by becoming more nativistic, more anti-foreigner?

You don't solve that problem by becoming more close-minded. They've basically created a system where the best players in the world can play amongst each other, especially against the best English ones that can adapt and now they essentially want to ban Johnny-Foreigner and you'll return to the 1970's when England struggled to qualify at all. When Germany had a similar crisis at the end of the 1990´s and early 2000´s they sent a delegation to Spain. and they realized that while their European rivals at the time had never won anything at international level they had made an impact at the youth level.

This wasn´t just lip service as many do to FC Barcelona´s youth system at La Masia or Real Madrid´s academy but as a whole, up and down the pyramid watching what Athletic Bilbao´s famed cantera produces, or Espanyol´s, Sporting de Gijon´s, Valencia´s or a dozen others, Spanish football is not about a brand of football, a style of playing, some hipster keyword like ¨ticky-tacky¨ or anything like that. Even clubs whose philosophy is more direct, produce technically proficient players that can handle critical game deciding situations very early on. Are they as tactically aware as their Italian counterparts or athletically gifted as their English counterparts? No, but the Spanish believe that all that can be accomplished when they are more developmentally ready for it. They stock the Spanish U-21 international team and have done for practically half a generation.

The way forward isn´t to allow for more slots so that 18-24 English players can experience top-flight football in the Premier League. As many have said, if you´re trying to get them playing time at that age, it´s too late. It´s not about wages- foreign players are cheaper, or favoritism- foreign coaches prefer their own, it is simply that they aren´t skilled enough. Invest your time and energy in coaching kids earlier on. Teach them the basic fundamental skills, the tools of their trade earlier and slowly introduce competition to the mix.

It's not even trying to get England playing like the Spanish, or the Italians, or the French, styles are intrinsic, but getting them ready for that bench on a Premier League club starts with younger and younger players each year. Coaching and academies in England need to better prepared for it.



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]]> I am just not going to get into the FA Chairman's plan in depth really. I know there are plans to limit foreign players, expand the English footballing pyramid to fit Premier League youth sides and a number of other relatively cosmetic patch-up jobs to essentially fix a problem that has been front and center of the English international game for generations; young English players were being pushed out for years. Their participation in the top-flight of English football has been marginal for the last generation and now that's also translating to fewer options at the Championship level and below; so leadership has responded by becoming more nativistic, more anti-foreigner?

You don't solve that problem by becoming more close-minded. They've basically created a system where the best players in the world can play amongst each other, especially against the best English ones that can adapt and now they essentially want to ban Johnny-Foreigner and you'll return to the 1970's when England struggled to qualify at all. When Germany had a similar crisis at the end of the 1990´s and early 2000´s they sent a delegation to Spain. and they realized that while their European rivals at the time had never won anything at international level they had made an impact at the youth level.

This wasn´t just lip service as many do to FC Barcelona´s youth system at La Masia or Real Madrid´s academy but as a whole, up and down the pyramid watching what Athletic Bilbao´s famed cantera produces, or Espanyol´s, Sporting de Gijon´s, Valencia´s or a dozen others, Spanish football is not about a brand of football, a style of playing, some hipster keyword like ¨ticky-tacky¨ or anything like that. Even clubs whose philosophy is more direct, produce technically proficient players that can handle critical game deciding situations very early on. Are they as tactically aware as their Italian counterparts or athletically gifted as their English counterparts? No, but the Spanish believe that all that can be accomplished when they are more developmentally ready for it. They stock the Spanish U-21 international team and have done for practically half a generation.

The way forward isn´t to allow for more slots so that 18-24 English players can experience top-flight football in the Premier League. As many have said, if you´re trying to get them playing time at that age, it´s too late. It´s not about wages- foreign players are cheaper, or favoritism- foreign coaches prefer their own, it is simply that they aren´t skilled enough. Invest your time and energy in coaching kids earlier on. Teach them the basic fundamental skills, the tools of their trade earlier and slowly introduce competition to the mix.

It's not even trying to get England playing like the Spanish, or the Italians, or the French, styles are intrinsic, but getting them ready for that bench on a Premier League club starts with younger and younger players each year. Coaching and academies in England need to better prepared for it.



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]]> https://globalfootballtoday.com/premier-league-nonsense-fa-style/feed/ 0 Target On: Diego Simeone https://globalfootballtoday.com/target-on-diego-simeone/ https://globalfootballtoday.com/target-on-diego-simeone/#comments Wed, 07 May 2014 13:00:48 +0000 https://globalfootballtoday.com/?guid=98735641432a7a4963310702418bd087
If there is one person who is on the radar of any big club looking for a manager right now it's former Inter Milan and Argentina midfielder Diego Simeone. El Cholo has his current club Atletico de Madrid a hair's breath from not only the league title in Spain, which hasn't been wrenched from the big two since Rafa Benitez was still in his homeland, but also from the main competition in Europe. A club that were practically relegated, that were (frankly I think still is) beholden to outside financial interests, a club that has sold its best players for the last 7 years consistently, one that is not reasonably that far from the club that I support RCD Espanyol.

I mean, Atleti have been the joke of the Spanish league for over a decade. They have had coaches like Quique Sanchez-Flores and they have had players like Fernando Torres but the haven't been in these sights in 40 years. It's amazing. A few years ago we were commenting that Atletico de Madrid were a club confounded by their lack of belief, that there was a finite reason why they hadn't beaten their city rivals Real Madrid in ten years. and wondering if there was ever going to be a person to turn that decade's long racha, or year's of struggling results, on its end? Here was a former player that not only took practically the same squad that his predecessors did to domestic and European places but he mad no excuses. Atleti should be competing. They should be winning trophies and it's no excuse that they don't have enough operating capital as the big two in Spain.

What is remarkable though is that clubs across Europe, especially in England, have come to the conclusion that this young coach raised in the depths of Argentine football amongst River Plate and Estudiantes could have a similar impact with their club and with their environment.

I just don't think Diego Simeone can transplant the effect he's had across cultures and languages. He's taken Atletico de Madrid to the pinnacle of European football, he could maybe coach another squad in La Liga or return to Argentina, but to have the sort of impact he has had with a club in both interior and exterior ways, he'd have to have a club where he was a club legend, where his brand of rah-rah football actually stood a chance. Unfortunately, that's not Manchester United where he has been mentioned, or pretty much anywhere else. If there were another club where his shtick would work it might be Inter Milan where he also played but that might be too much for him. What is frankly real is that Diego Simeone might be right for a club like Atletico de Madrid where he played but he may not be right if he has to instill his philosophy at a place where he has no history.

Edited: please note that the original picture mistakenly used a Chivas de Guadalajara instead of an Atletico de Madrid shirt. An obvious mistake that got through which has been corrected.
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If there is one person who is on the radar of any big club looking for a manager right now it's former Inter Milan and Argentina midfielder Diego Simeone. El Cholo has his current club Atletico de Madrid a hair's breath from not only the league title in Spain, which hasn't been wrenched from the big two since Rafa Benitez was still in his homeland, but also from the main competition in Europe. A club that were practically relegated, that were (frankly I think still is) beholden to outside financial interests, a club that has sold its best players for the last 7 years consistently, one that is not reasonably that far from the club that I support RCD Espanyol.

I mean, Atleti have been the joke of the Spanish league for over a decade. They have had coaches like Quique Sanchez-Flores and they have had players like Fernando Torres but the haven't been in these sights in 40 years. It's amazing. A few years ago we were commenting that Atletico de Madrid were a club confounded by their lack of belief, that there was a finite reason why they hadn't beaten their city rivals Real Madrid in ten years. and wondering if there was ever going to be a person to turn that decade's long racha, or year's of struggling results, on its end? Here was a former player that not only took practically the same squad that his predecessors did to domestic and European places but he mad no excuses. Atleti should be competing. They should be winning trophies and it's no excuse that they don't have enough operating capital as the big two in Spain.

What is remarkable though is that clubs across Europe, especially in England, have come to the conclusion that this young coach raised in the depths of Argentine football amongst River Plate and Estudiantes could have a similar impact with their club and with their environment.

I just don't think Diego Simeone can transplant the effect he's had across cultures and languages. He's taken Atletico de Madrid to the pinnacle of European football, he could maybe coach another squad in La Liga or return to Argentina, but to have the sort of impact he has had with a club in both interior and exterior ways, he'd have to have a club where he was a club legend, where his brand of rah-rah football actually stood a chance. Unfortunately, that's not Manchester United where he has been mentioned, or pretty much anywhere else. If there were another club where his shtick would work it might be Inter Milan where he also played but that might be too much for him. What is frankly real is that Diego Simeone might be right for a club like Atletico de Madrid where he played but he may not be right if he has to instill his philosophy at a place where he has no history.

Edited: please note that the original picture mistakenly used a Chivas de Guadalajara instead of an Atletico de Madrid shirt. An obvious mistake that got through which has been corrected.
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