Charlie-Brown Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 In this current age of money dominated football with the biggest clubs gathering star players from anywhere & everywhere is International football now a 'purer' form of football closer to that we enjoyed in the past based on fairer sporting merit & real competition rather than current financial strength that dominates club football? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tott Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Or they get paid that much at club level,they really cant be arsed trying for there country anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie-Brown Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 In international football there is the possibility that Croatia can thump England in a way that is unlikely to be matched if Dinamo Zagreb played Manchester Utd or Chelsea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jambostuart Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 In international football there is the possibility that Croatia can thump England in a way that is unlikely to be matched if Dinamo Zagreb played Manchester Utd or Chelsea. I dunno about purer football, but there is certainly more passion. The pride in playing for your country is there, and that can sometimes make the difference for clubs like Croatia. Besides, assuming Zagreb is the best club in Croatia, the best Croatian player does not necessarily play for them. A good example of this is Ivory Coast. I can't name any teams from the Ivory Coast but we all know their best player is Drogba who in fact does play for Chelsea, and having him in their squad could be the difference between wether Ivory Coast beat France or not. But at club level, because, as you rightly mentioned, the financial clout of the big leagues especially the Premiership, Ivory's best club would be without their country's best player because a richer league has tempted him away. Dunno if I'm explaining my view properly. Hope you get my point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie-Brown Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 I dunno about purer football, but there is certainly more passion. The pride in playing for your country is there, and that can sometimes make the difference for clubs like Croatia. Besides, assuming Zagreb is the best club in Croatia, the best Croatian player does not necessarily play for them. A good example of this is Ivory Coast. I can't name any teams from the Ivory Coast but we all know their best player is Drogba who in fact does play for Chelsea, and having him in their squad could be the difference between wether Ivory Coast beat France or not. But at club level, because, as you rightly mentioned, the financial clout of the big leagues especially the Premiership, Ivory's best club would be without their country's best player because a richer league has tempted him away. Dunno if I'm explaining my view properly. Hope you get my point. I do get your point - on the radio today one of the pundits said that with 60% of Premiership players being Non-English that their league was actually developing all these other countries players for them and helping them at the expense of the English national team - one of the counter arguments was that Englands players will be improved from playing with/against and training with some of the best around and also the increased competition for squad places should raise the standards required of English players........ I meant 'purer' in the sense that each nation has to rely on it's own abilities and self improvement because there are no quick fixes like 'transfers' that club sides can buy new players or rebuild a team overnight with new signings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaun.lawson Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 I dunno about purer football, but there is certainly more passion. The pride in playing for your country is there, and that can sometimes make the difference for clubs like Croatia. Besides, assuming Zagreb is the best club in Croatia, the best Croatian player does not necessarily play for them. A good example of this is Ivory Coast. I can't name any teams from the Ivory Coast but we all know their best player is Drogba who in fact does play for Chelsea, and having him in their squad could be the difference between wether Ivory Coast beat France or not. But at club level, because, as you rightly mentioned, the financial clout of the big leagues especially the Premiership, Ivory's best club would be without their country's best player because a richer league has tempted him away. Dunno if I'm explaining my view properly. Hope you get my point. I love the passion even incredibly well paid players show when playing for their country. It's reassuring; and in the case of many, of course, they've had to endure a very humble background in a very poor nation before getting to the top, so never forget their roots and who they're playing for. One of my favourite World Cup moments occurred just before kick-off between Brazil and Chile in the last 16 ten years ago. I've just searched for it online, and this is the best I've been able to come up with. The loud voice you can hear throughout is that of Ivan 'Bam Bam' Zamorano, national hero and star with Inter as well as Chile; annoyingly, this version moves away from his face in the final fifteen seconds or so, but on the BBC feed when I was watching live, he went absolutely mental as the anthem reached its climax. He knew this would surely be his final match at his only ever World Cup - and if you remember the horrific things his people had gone through only 15 or 20 years earlier, it helps explain his immense passion whenever putting on the famous red jersey. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLB8V2BDodM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Findlay Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 NO the football is not purer. The standard in the Switzerland v Czech Rep game was poor. Despite all the hype surrounding Ronaldo and Portugal the fare on offer was not much better than that of the first game. Modern footballers are over hyped and overpaid nowadays. There is so much media space to be filled they talk drivel 90% of the time. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Kilpatrick Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Club football over international football any day of the week for me. Don't get me wrong. I love it when Northern Ireland win but I have no expectations over how well they will perform or the standard of the squad. One more reason why I would have hated to have been born in England! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoked-Glass Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Club football over international football any day of the week for me. Don't get me wrong. I love it when Northern Ireland win but I have no expectations over how well they will perform or the standard of the squad. One more reason why I would have hated to have been born in England! Club football is better than international football because it gets played almost every week in either league or cup format. International is a welcome break from club football for a week (in qualifying) or a tournament (every 2nd summer) but I wouldn't want it every week like club stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
We_are_the_Hearts Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 If you didn't enjoy the Portugal game then it just means you are getting old and critical. Happens to some quicker than others. Portugal play the game the way it should be. Defenders/Full backs with pace who can support the attack.......hope you were watching Vlad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adso7 Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 NO the football is not purer. The standard in the Switzerland v Czech Rep game was poor. Despite all the hype surrounding Ronaldo and Portugal the fare on offer was not much better than that of the first game. John Funny how people can watch the same games and see different things. I wasn't impressed with the Czech's against Scotland and i thought they were quite poor again yesterday. Have a feeling they might have another gear to move up though. I thought the Portugal game was a great watch. No other team, bar Brazil, have players with the ability of the Portuguese throughout the team. I love the way they use the ball, stay calm in possession and the movement is superb. If only Portugal had a top class striker..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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