Stick it in the mixer

Before the World Cup started I was going to write a piece on whether this would be a defensive tournament like Italia '90 or a more attacking one such as Spain '82 or France '98. With the first set of opening round games now over, we have witnessed the fewest ever goals at this stage of the competition and the hyperbolic overdrive that is 24-hour news coverage is desperate to tell us this is the 'worst World Cup ever'. After all, these days there are only two things events can be – best and worst. There is no middle ground. None.

However, there is more at work than simply tagging the event defensive, or even blaming the roundest of round balls, which admittedly has had an impact but nothing like what has been talked about. As an aside, I do like the fact that the Germans looked good in their opening game allegedly because they’ve had six months to play with the ball. Definitely had nothing to do with the fact that they kept it on the deck and didn’t balloon Hollywood balls into the Highveld all evening long.

The first round so far has been interesting because so many of the favourites and 'big teams' have had fixtures against minnows and so-called lesser opposition, resulting in first night nerves for the established contenders and leading to more pressure from both supporters and media back home. For the little guys, hell this is the biggest day of their lives – we’re at the World f**king Cup for god’s sake.

The less fancied teams have been called negative by some. Not myself. You’re up against some of the best players in the world, why should you have to play to their strengths and against your own. Switzerland, North Korea, Paraguay and the USA have been organised, played as a team and executed their game plan with a tactical discipline that England have scarcely managed. Factor in guts and fight – New Zealand’s 93rd minute equaliser for example, and you’ve got a raft of dogged plucky underdogs. Romantic as that is, the plucky tire and class shines through. Isn’t that how the story goes? Certainly in qualifying – how many times have we seen England face a brick wall of eleven men in the box, to run out 3-0 winners in the second half?

In the Brazil game we saw Kaka, Elano et al play pretty little passes in pretty little circles in front of North Korea’s back seven who were determined to scrap for their lives. Against Switzerland, Spain looked not only bereft of ideas, but almost shocked that the Swiss weren’t bowing down in front of their five-yard passes and not parting like the Red Sea for them.

Brazil beat North Korea because of two moments when someone thought, “F**k this”. Maicon decided to run at a man, and what can we say about the finish. Robinho (who was far and away Brazil’s most potent threat, but that almost seems like a half-hearted compliment so muted were the others) sliced open the defence with a glorious pass into the box. North Korea’s goal came from running at defenders. When Spain tried to go direct, it was too late, and the quality of delivery very poor. Elia changed the game for the Netherlands with his pace.

The bigger teams, in my opinion, aren’t being direct enough. Although, this is not to say they should go all out hoofball – England showed that the route one is as ineffective as dinking it around the centre circle at one-nil – though maybe if Rooney hadn’t waited until the 75th minute to pull his finger out, who knows.

The only 'favourite' to have really shone is Germany. They kept it on the floor. They held onto the ball. But they did things the other teams did not. They shifted the point of attack – if an alley ran blind, they moved it around, started again, constantly probing, backing their own fitness to win out over the Australians’. Ozil ran through the centre, he looked for a through ball. They shipped it out wide and put it in the box. They got in behind the defenders and created havoc.

Maybe this is a load of old nonsense, and I’m by no means advocating long ball – but in this World Cup so far defence has prevailed but attack has let it down, been half hearted. Germany have shown, that for those prepared to try, to go for it, to mix it up and go out to win instead of trying not to lose, there are riches to be had. Maybe Spain, Holland et al need to realise no one will think less of them if they stick it in the mixer every so often.

Robert Donnellan