da pinnacle： The 'beautiful game' has been made to look so ugly by England and France, making a victory for the most exciting team in the tournament imperative
da marjack bet： After England had turned in yet another "woeful" performance against Slovakia in the last 16 of Euro 2024, Gary Neville called on manager Gareth Southgate to implement a drastic change in approach.
"Getting over the line and winning is all-important in tournaments," the former defender said on , "but it's unrealistic to think you can go through a month of a tournament playing like we are, and get through to [the final]."
Unfortunately, Neville was wrong. England are now just one win away from the tournament-decider in Berlin, after another horror-show against Switzerland in which they once again managed to force us neutrals to endure 30 more minutes of mediocrity by scoring late on with their first shot on target.
Worse, still, France are also still in the running – despite being incapable of scoring goals from open play. Just like England, they are far less than the sum of their parts because of the debilitating negativity of their coach, making them even more difficult to watch.
Netherlands have been easier on the eye, at least at times, but were it not for the Euros' ludicrous format, Ronald Koeman & Co. would already be out, having finished third in their group. Truth be told, they barely would have been missed. This is not a vintage Dutch side steeped in the country's proud history of Total Football.
The onus, then, is on Spain to save a tedious tournament that has done little other than hammer home the fact that football is suffering from a self-inflicted crisis of quality.
Getty Images'Ugly path to aim for the title'
England and France fans are perfectly entitled to savour the lead-up to the semi-finals. These are exciting times for both sets of players and their supporters – but deeply disturbing for the rest of us.
'Good football' is an undeniably subjective term and beauty unquestionably lies in the eye of the beholder, but passion, pride and patriotism are often enemies of impartiality and should not be allowed to cloud one's judgement.
For example, Johan Cruyff wanted to see Netherlands win the 2010 World Cup – but not after witnessing the roughhouse tactics they employed in the final against Spain, with the Dutch legend seeing such a brutally defensive display as an embarrassing betrayal of the country's footballing philosophy.
"On the Thursday before the game, they asked me from Holland 'Can we play like Inter? Can we stop Spain in the same way [Jose] Mourinho eliminated Barca [from the Champions League semi-finals]?'" Cruyff told .
"I said no, no way at all. I said no, not because I hate this style – I said no because I thought that my country wouldn't dare to and would never renounce their style. I said no because, without having great players like those of the past, the team has its own style.
"I was wrong…. And it hurts me that Holland chose an ugly path to aim for the title."
England and France have been guilty of the same shocking levels of cynicism in Germany.
AdvertisementGetty Images'Sh*t on a stick'
Pundits can dress it up whatever way they want, talking about resilience, bravery and togetherness – but what these two great football nations have achieved at the Euros is not some sort of defensive work of art; it's what Jorge Valdano called "sh*t on a stick" – which is unforgivable given the tools with which both Deschamps and Southgate have been blessed.
They can call upon some of the best footballers in the game today and yet their matches have been almost unwatchable. Indeed, when Ralf Rangnick, the coach of a wonderfully dynamic and adventurous Austria side, said that "I've seen other games when it was difficult to even stay awake", we knew exactly which teams he was talking about.
Of course, both England and France would argue that the ends justifies the means and one can be sure that Southgate will be celebrated as a hero in his homeland if the Three Lions finally end their 58-year wait for a major international trophy – but it would be extremely damaging for football if either he or Deschamps ends up with his hands on the trophy, because it would legitimise their shameful strategies.
Getty Images'Less and less attractive'
Deschamps remains indifferent to the criticism, stating on the eve of the semi-final with Spain if that football fans find France boring, they just "watch another game" – and that's fine, that's his prerogative. He'll feel he's in Germany to win, not entertain.
The problem is, though, that so many coaches now care so little about the spectacle, at what is a very delicate time in the history of the game becaust it feels as if we've reached a tipping point, the moment of over-saturation. There are more matches but fewer great games at the business end of the season.
The standard of play is also arguably higher than ever before and yet, paradoxically, there is less room for creative talents. So, what happens in people don't just "watch another game", but another sport? Even the great Ronaldo says he prefers to watch tennis these days because he finds football "boring".
He's not alone in that regard. Uruguay boss Marcelo Bielsa argued last week, "Football has more and more spectators but it is becoming less and less attractive. What made this game the best game in the world at the time, is not prioritised today.
"Then, this process will be finished. No matter how many people watch football, if you don't ensure that what people watch is something pleasant, it will only benefit the business. Because the business only cares about how many people watch it. But, in a few years, the players who deserve to be watched will be fewer, and the game produced becomes less enjoyable and this current artificial increase in support will end."
Getty'Sending these guys to the slaughterhouse'
The Euros is a perfect case in point. The expansion to 24 teams has been a disaster, diluting the quality of the competition and placing ever more pressure on players. This is the modern game, though. More games means more money for the organisers, meaning player welfare doesn't enter the equation.
As Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri told last season, "They are sending these guys to the slaughterhouse without anyone intervening. This is football now: take the money and run."
The net result is an ever-increasing amount of injuries caused by a disgracefully congested schedule. It's no coincidence that several top players didn't even make it to the Euros having been struck down by the dreaded ACL tear, while even some of those that did turn up have looked utterly exhausted. Indeed, there's a very real risk of Barcelona and Spain prodigy Pedri becoming a poster-boy for burnout after he suffered yet another injury before his 22nd birthday in Germany.