If you have to dribble, you obviously didn't run enough before receiving the pass. If you see open space and you have the ball, pass. If you see open space and you don't have the ball, go there. Always try to find open space. Those are the basic concepts behind the finest display of football I've seen in a while. I remember Romania's 1994 World Cup team led by Gheorghe Hagi and coach Anghel Iordanescu, and Dinamo Kyev's period around 1998 with Shevchenko, Rebrov and Lobanovsky as a head coach. Those teams were beautiful to watch, and their common trait is a perfect organization of offensive maneuvers, where every player knows exactly where to run and what to do. It leaves the opposing team with a question mark above their heads, as a sign they don't understand what's going on.

In a recent interview, Ruud van Nistelrooy said "People expect Netherlands to always win by 3-4 goals difference, but modern football isn't like that anymore". Yeah right, Ruud. Zenit Sankt Peterburg says otherwise. It's been a long while since I've watched a football match for full 90 minutes unless I'm on the stadium. I usually watch those TV matches as a background while doing something else, but the match between Zenit and Bayern was something I didn't plan to miss, as I don't get fooled twice. After the result Bayer - Zenit 1:4 I've finally decided to see what's so special about a small Russian team sponsored by Gazprom. Boy, I've discovered a whole new world, and after the first five minutes I knew I'm watching something which I thought is ancient history. Because, as Ruud said, "football isn't like that anymore".

Of course it isn't for those overtrained players led by boring coaches. They have no soul, and for football you need one. I am probably one of few people who are not amazed by Christiano Ronaldo's dribbles, and the reason is personal - I don't like dribblers, I like passers. I also don't like players who spend too much time on the ball. Also, as I said in the first sentence of this article, "if you have to dribble, you obviously didn't run enough before receiving the pass". You're supposed to already be ahead of the defender at the moment when you get the ball. If you found open space, then you will be ahead. And, what do you get when each member of the team, not just one, does that? You get 4:0 against Bayern and a performance which will be remembered for years to come. At least by me, and by journalists who don't rate teams and players by their names but for what they can do.

Watch a Champions League match. Players "run" at least 10 kilometers, don't they? Well, in 90 minutes I walk 10 kilometers. Meaning, the players don't run as much as the official computer computed. Most of the time they stand there, run slowly to reach a desired position, and then they sprint when they have the ball or when they're trying to catch the guy who has the ball. And you won't see any team running, where all ten players are moving as a team, most of the times only the guys on the side of the pitch where the ball is will run.The others will "slowly reach their desired position", and the reason why they find those matches so exhausting is because there are plenty of duels. If they ran enough, there would be no duels...and the matches aren't so boring and low-scoring because the players run more, but because the offensive players don't run enough, and they run without an offensive plan.

I'll make a big bet on Zenit to win the UEFA Cup. I believe no one can counter their game style, not even the top teams, and their opponent in the finals won't be one of those. And I would really want Zenit to win, to prove to the world that "modern football" isn't that special. It's all about the money anyway, not so much about the fine game we're all addicted to. Pogrebnyak won't play in the finals, but I rate him as the weakest link in Zenit anyway, although he scored 10 goals in 13 matches, because he's the slowest player and tends to ruin fine chances because he can't keep up with the pace. Arshavin will be back to take his place, and no defense can hold that at the same time while attempting to break the routine of the Russian defense.

This dream will soon be gone, when one of the top teams notices a Zenit player (probably Arshavin) and buys him. But they'll soon see that the team play made him good and he won't be that good when put in a "top team", where he's expected ro receive the ball to his feet, dribble everyone and score. It doesn't work that way. Enjoying a CL match would mean they got me fooled, but after watching Zenit I'm expecting only the best.

I have just watched 13 minutes of Fiorentina - Glasgow Rangers, and I gave up. I'll go do something else.

Dan Horvat, BrainBetting.com

Comments (4)

1. Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 04-05-2008 13:02 Thanks guys. And I'll take a look at Porto Report

3. Impressive Written by mariusrec , on 02-05-2008 08:08 Really nice article!!! Report

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