''Ghana is a football mad country'' is a trite you often hear people mutter and that is very true.Everyday of the week presents a new angle to the ever-exciting subject and weekends belong to the gods of the beautiful game as pubs become extensions of Europe's most popular grounds and the local stadia get their ''fair'' share of patrons too.So in every sense of the phrase,we do love our football but how much are we doing to keep the player production line working? Very little,I must say and it is very worrying.
Yesterday,the ''money bags'' of football,Manchester City announced a plan to put up a state-of-the-art footballing project named the Etihad campus that will seek to develop local English talent primarily in the Manchester area and they mean it too by getting an 80-acre area that will house 15 full-size pitches,a 7,000 seater mini-stadium,staff offices,a media centre,an educational centre that will cater to 200 young players.This project should train 400 players and will house 32 first-team and 40 youth-team players.To top it off,there will be a pedestrian bridge connecting the campus to the Etihad stadium.Quite stunning and maybe too farfetched for a developing country like Ghana,some might say but when the number of local talent in the Black Stars is constantly below 5,you begin to see the wisdom in Manchester City's project.It becomes even more apparent when you consider the fact that in Kevin-Prince Boateng,Adam Kwarasey,Albert Adomaa and possibly Emmanuel Frimpong (if the situation clears up) and even Andre Ayew,we have players who were moulded,baked and packaged in Europe but fortunately,they chose the red,yellow and green over the European options.This leaves us wondering whether the local production line is still working effectively as it should. The Ghanaman Soccer School of Excellence should have been our response to Clairefontaine in France but it only rivals the French establishment as the national team camp but not in the daily grooming of players as the French have done for years with Thierry Henry,Nicholas Anelka and Louis Saha among their illustrious alumni.Our local clubs should also play their parts effectively but it's not chalk cheese.A massive amount of funds would have to be spent but taking the initiative is the first step to an ultimate end in national success because history has given us examples of Ajax in the 70s and now,Barcelona's La Masia to learn from.
Talent,just like all raw materials,need processing but if the factories are non-existant,they will remain untapped and very unused.
Let's get to work now.
Showing posts with label Barcelona. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barcelona. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
LESSONS FROM THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI FINAL 1ST LEGS:
Lesson 1: THE ESSENTIAL ALWAYS MATTERS THAN THE PLEASANT.
Flamboyance pleases the fans but does it always get you the results? No but essential things will and Manchester United have showed this very well so far in Europe and in their semi final first leg against Schalke they underlined the assertion.Schalke may have been poor.United may have dominated but never at a point did the Red Devils take their foot off the gas until they got their two goals.They kept doing the simple things and those are the elements which gave them the push to win the game.
The performance was a sharp contrast to Man United's away games in Europe in the last 4 years or so where they've displayed a certain sense of disrespect for their opponents and sometimes,wrong team selection from Sir Alex Ferguson and ultimately,they've lost those games. Lille,AC Milan,Celtic and Benfica quickly come to mind.
However,now they've kept to simplicity and it has been genius.
Lesson 2:The Champions League punishes poor play.
So many teams have learnt this lesson the hard way in times past and last night,Schalke made themselves another example for pundits,journalists and fans to use in their deliveries.The Royal Blues fizzled out too quickly and they looked as though they forgot why they were there in the first place.They suddenly develped an aversion to pressing,marking even defending.Matip looked poor in central defence,Jurado and Baumjohann didn't work hard enough and Farfan was only interested when he had the ball.For a side coached by the ''Professor'',Ralf Ragnick,they played as if they had not read the lecture notes at all.
Lesson 3:Too much hype spoils the El Clasico
The trailers,the records,the players,the coaches,what he or the next man said.All these elements are beautifully woven as the backdrop to a football match.Yes,a football match even if it's between Barcelona and Real Madrid.Yes,they may have clout,history,tradition,rivalry, and even the Special One but it's still a football match but the Champions League version of this drama was anything but.Silly fouls,brilliant acting classes by certain players and the odd whistle and crad here and there all added to the borefest.Maybe if we treated the ''El Clasico'' like just any other game,we will all get our money's worth and the players will show us what they can really do.We deserve that and the Champions League demands it.It's as simple as that.
Lesson 3:Lionel Messi is class.
In a game where anti-football was winning all the awards,Lionel Andres Messi swooped in to take the most important award:our thoughts,comments and imaginations.His first goal was predatory;his second,masterful.The little Argentine scored his 52nd second goal of the season tonight and for me,it's not the goals which put him in a different world.It's his decision making.How he finds the pass,how he runs into space and how he picks the exact moment to strike should be studied by young players all over the world.The young man will retire with all the records at his feet and his name etched into football history and Barcelona's stories for generations.Yes,he hasn't won anything with Argentina yet but in the Champions League,he's done what mortals can only dream about.
Lesson 4:We all know who Neuer is now.
Many may have seen Neuer at the World Cup in South Africa and even in the Bundesliga but he chose the perfect time to squeeze his name on a coach's shopping list.Last night against Man United was the opportune moment and like Jack Sparrow,he recognised it.His umpteen saves kept Schalke in a tie they were never at and trust me,his value has just gone up by a few more millions.Maybe pounds,dollars or euros. However,his performance was just the one many saw but it wasn't as stupendous as what he gave in the 07/08 season at Sevilla when he saved Schalke in regulation time,extra time and in the penalty-shoot out.He even got a YouTube video for that.We may have forgotten that but yesterday,Manuel Neuer became everybody's dream goalkeeper.
Lesson 1: THE ESSENTIAL ALWAYS MATTERS THAN THE PLEASANT.
Flamboyance pleases the fans but does it always get you the results? No but essential things will and Manchester United have showed this very well so far in Europe and in their semi final first leg against Schalke they underlined the assertion.Schalke may have been poor.United may have dominated but never at a point did the Red Devils take their foot off the gas until they got their two goals.They kept doing the simple things and those are the elements which gave them the push to win the game.
The performance was a sharp contrast to Man United's away games in Europe in the last 4 years or so where they've displayed a certain sense of disrespect for their opponents and sometimes,wrong team selection from Sir Alex Ferguson and ultimately,they've lost those games. Lille,AC Milan,Celtic and Benfica quickly come to mind.
However,now they've kept to simplicity and it has been genius.
Lesson 2:The Champions League punishes poor play.
So many teams have learnt this lesson the hard way in times past and last night,Schalke made themselves another example for pundits,journalists and fans to use in their deliveries.The Royal Blues fizzled out too quickly and they looked as though they forgot why they were there in the first place.They suddenly develped an aversion to pressing,marking even defending.Matip looked poor in central defence,Jurado and Baumjohann didn't work hard enough and Farfan was only interested when he had the ball.For a side coached by the ''Professor'',Ralf Ragnick,they played as if they had not read the lecture notes at all.
Lesson 3:Too much hype spoils the El Clasico
The trailers,the records,the players,the coaches,what he or the next man said.All these elements are beautifully woven as the backdrop to a football match.Yes,a football match even if it's between Barcelona and Real Madrid.Yes,they may have clout,history,tradition,rivalry, and even the Special One but it's still a football match but the Champions League version of this drama was anything but.Silly fouls,brilliant acting classes by certain players and the odd whistle and crad here and there all added to the borefest.Maybe if we treated the ''El Clasico'' like just any other game,we will all get our money's worth and the players will show us what they can really do.We deserve that and the Champions League demands it.It's as simple as that.
Lesson 3:Lionel Messi is class.
In a game where anti-football was winning all the awards,Lionel Andres Messi swooped in to take the most important award:our thoughts,comments and imaginations.His first goal was predatory;his second,masterful.The little Argentine scored his 52nd second goal of the season tonight and for me,it's not the goals which put him in a different world.It's his decision making.How he finds the pass,how he runs into space and how he picks the exact moment to strike should be studied by young players all over the world.The young man will retire with all the records at his feet and his name etched into football history and Barcelona's stories for generations.Yes,he hasn't won anything with Argentina yet but in the Champions League,he's done what mortals can only dream about.
Lesson 4:We all know who Neuer is now.
Many may have seen Neuer at the World Cup in South Africa and even in the Bundesliga but he chose the perfect time to squeeze his name on a coach's shopping list.Last night against Man United was the opportune moment and like Jack Sparrow,he recognised it.His umpteen saves kept Schalke in a tie they were never at and trust me,his value has just gone up by a few more millions.Maybe pounds,dollars or euros. However,his performance was just the one many saw but it wasn't as stupendous as what he gave in the 07/08 season at Sevilla when he saved Schalke in regulation time,extra time and in the penalty-shoot out.He even got a YouTube video for that.We may have forgotten that but yesterday,Manuel Neuer became everybody's dream goalkeeper.
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