Greatest Stat

My all-time favourite player would probably be Denilson then Messi. Yes, I know strange, a player who is probably popular for once being the most expensive player in the world and winning the world cup from the bench.

In actual fact prefer Scholes over Lampard, Henry over Shearer, Van Nistelrooy over Shearer, Van Persie over Rooney, Del Piero over Totti, Pirlo and Baggio combined, and Ronaldo (original) over Christiano. Almost my favourite players of all time are statistically inferior compared to some of their compatriots, but is this how we really judge the greatest player? With stats, achievements and which club they played for and which league?

Stats count sure, but it can’t quantify a players impact, for example, Michael Jordan, Muhammed Ali both do not have the most titles in history, but their talent and impact make those two the greatest players in their respective sports. Maxwell is not seen as the greatest player or even left back, but he is one of the most successful players when it comes to club achievements, why is he not the greatest? He worked hard though? Because his talents were never better than a Roberto Carlos.

I have always held the belief greatest player had a talent so undeniable that no amount of hard work would match up. Don’t get me wrong, some of the greatest players are a result of more hard work than talent, but there is a reason no defender is ever in debates about being the greatest player of all time. Besides defending not being a talent (That's the next post), defenders are hard working who get outshone by the talented attackers we all love and actually pay money to see.

My point is you can work hard and achieve those stats but is that enough to quantify calling a player the greatest player or do we only use it when we do not like the more talented player?

I digress …Back to Denilson, He was a phenomenal player whose talent could only be rivalled by Ronaldinho. His only downfall? Everything else! His stats were never up there with the greats and he just never was at the right club at the right time. 

Welcome back beloved

For all the suspense, heartache and jubilation you put us through. We missed you.

For all the debates, arguments and conversations you spark. We missed you.

For the oohs, aahs and almosts you give us. We missed you.

For all the yellow and red cards. We missed you.

For all the right calls, wrongs calls and close calls. We missed you.

For all the good goals, bad goals and own goals. We missed you.

For all the offsides, dives and no goals. We missed you.

For all the Mike Dean antics. We missed you.

For coaches tantrums, Bench sulking. We missed you.

For all the transfer rumours and speculations. We missed you.

For all the parked buses, all out attacks and kitchen sink throwing. We missed you.

For all the big teams, small teams and new teams. We missed you.

For all the brilliant tactics, insightful analysis and funny commentary. We missed you.

For all the post-match comments. We missed you.

For all the skills, tackling and techniques. We missed you.

For all the penalties, Free kicks and saves. We missed you.

For all the days you weren’t here in the off season. We missed you.

Welcome back beloved football.

Love The Game Right

Photo by Zwelizwe Ndlhovu

In the many stories I have heard of township soccer, two stories stick out for me at this point. First was the story of the coach who made it a tendency to walk into the field and start slapping the referee when his team started losing by quite a margin. The second was this team that had supporters that would threaten to beat up the referee after the game of their team did not win.

Granted that this violence was less team performance more a referee aimed. It shows a problem that goes beyond professional football. This is not the first incident we have seen where this happen or the last.  Even internationally there has been violence in professional games.

Which begs the question, why do we get violent for the game we say we love?

We say we love this beautiful game, we have a passion for it that is almost unparalleled. We’ve seen people get overjoyed by the feeling of watching their favourite player do his magic on the field, clapped hands when a wonderful goal has been scored (even if it is against your own team). I mean this sport is called the beautiful game because of the all-round feeling it gave not only the beauty it displayed on the field. And violence has never been beautiful.

So when we get violent in the game we say we have a passion for, where does this passion come from?

Does it come from a place of genuinely loving the sport or is it more hatred of seeing anyone that is not your team doing better than you. A loss should leave us disappointed not angry, if anger and violence are the result of the passion for the game. We need to re-examine how we love this beautiful game.

Surely we cannot say we love this game if we keep doing things that harm the game?

And it is not just on the pitch, soccer lovers are some of the most vile, homophobic, abusive people in sports. Ever read the insults when a team is not playing well? Supporters of the beautiful game are some of the nastiest people when things do not go their way. Soccer fans either want to leave you scarred physically or mentally.

South African soccer already suffers from low attendance already, the acts that we as fans confine to show each season does nothing but hurt the game, the beautiful game.

This is not healthy for our sport. I think it is time to re-examine our we love this sports and it's magicians.