Today marks
the occasion of a meeting between two sides whom many believe to be polar
opposites.
Swansea City
have been irritatingly praised by the media for their ability to keep
possession and pass the ball smoothly ever since they were promoted to the
Premiership. Sam Allardyce, whether he is managing Bolton Wanderers, West Ham
United or AC Milan, will always be shunned as ‘a long-ball merchant’.
The birth of
the modern Barcelona as the greatest footballing side in the world (and the
consequent dominance of the Spanish national side) has resulted in a far
greater emphasis on ‘style of play’.
Gianfranco
Zola tried to adopt a slick passing style here a few years ago and although it
had moments of success, the fragility of his team meant David Sullivan and
David Gold opted to make a change, deeming it too risky for Zola to continue
with the ‘project’. A sensible decision, albeit one executed terribly with the
appointment of Avram Grant.
Swansea began
their transition to prioritise attractive football with the appointment of
Roberto Martinez in 2007. Since then they have remained dedicated to the trend
of passing football and young, suit-and-tie coaches in the form of Paulo Sousa,
Brendan Rodgers and the manager today, Michael Laudrup.
Swansea’s
‘project’ is thus six years old and began when they were in League One. By
beginning in the lower leagues they have had time to remould the club from top
to bottom without the desperate fear of losing Premiership status.
Our owners on
the other hand, who infamously previously billed relegation as ‘Armageddon’, would
rather take a more practical approach than follow the Barcelona blue-print and
have thus chosen to favour an experienced, hardened, English manager like
Allardyce.
After a
disappointing run of form it seems some fans are again beginning to criticise
Allardyce. However, I am extremely grateful that we don’t have chairmen like
many other clubs who are quick to follow the fashion and become Barcelona
wannabes.
Nicola
Cortese at Southampton is so desperate to get the sort of praise that Swansea
have had that he recently sacked Nigel Adkins, a man who had taken Southampton
from League One to just two losses in twelve Premier League games, for a poor
man’s Pep Guardiola (Mauricio Pochettino) who can’t even speak English.
Pochettino
now has to motivate his players to stave off relegation (in Spanish) whilst
introducing a complete change in style of football. Hopefully they are punished
for their treatment of Adkins with relegation.
Barcelona is
certainly a story for the football purist. They fielded an entirely home-grown
team in November and won 4-0. They are widely regarded as the best team ever and
sit fifteen points above their arch-rivals Real Madrid at the top of the
league.
Barcelona’s situation
took years of hard work and restructuring, and they are now reaping the rewards
of enduring years of Real Madrid-dominance during a time when Barca pumped
funds into their academy whilst Madrid opted to splash out on ‘Galacticos’ such
as Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham.
But
crucially, Barcelona were a big enough club to sustain a high level of success
during their era of restructuring. The Nou Camp already existed (holding nearly
100,000 people), they were able to have some stars such as Carlos Puyol,
Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert and their league was not nearly strong enough for
someone to rise up and topple them as a top 3 team.
West Ham are
not nearly as big as Barcelona and English football is ruthless enough to mean
if we spent a couple of seasons focusing on off-field restructuring rather than
on-field matters we would quickly find ourselves relegated.
I’m not
saying West Ham will never be in a position in which we could be comfortable
enough to put a great deal of focus on our famed ‘academy of football’ and
build a side capable of playing attractive football, after all, we could be in
a 60,000 seater stadium in a few years, but practicality is the priority for
now.
Stick by Big
Sam during this wobbly period; anyone must admit that this is one of our
strongest squads for many years. Never have we had so many options in midfield
(I’m hoping Momo Diame is still a West Ham player by the time you are reading
this). And I’m confident that the defence will become efficient again under the
guidance of Allardyce and the immense Winston Reid.
Today we may
be outclassed at times but I’m confident we will dominate periods and probably
get a result today. If Gold and Sullivan had made a Southampton-like decision
and appointed someone to play Swansea at their own game then I believe we would
sink without a trace.
Some fans
should learn to appreciate our current team rather than continually moaning
about tactics. Every team hits a sticky patch in the Premiership and we must
remember that this is our first season back in the top flight! It would be
extremely unusual for us to effortlessly float into a European spot as many
seem to expect us to.
Trust in Big
Sam and over the next few years we will rise above those more interested in
uncovering the next Lionel Messi than getting results on the pitch.
Follow me on
Twitter @RichMaher93
