Football
Sad Old Year
Hans Keller
Now that the New Year euphoria about nothing is over, the old year's depression about quite something may perhaps be allowed to have its factual say. The trouble about both conditions, the manic and the depressive, is that they are invariably identified as sick. And the double trouble is that they usually are. However, truth-finding is always unusual, and there are findings accompanied by realistic euphoria, and findings — to wit, those below — that should be accompanied by realistic gloom.
Instead, tens of thousands of Spurs supporters are in a state of euphoria about their team occupying a mid-table position in the First Division after a season in the Second, and never mind about losing 0-7 to Liverpool away or 0-5 to Arsenal at home, while one of the League's best players, Ricardo Villa, gets himself frustratedly booked in the reserves or shivers amiably on the substitutes' bench, watching mediocrities give him a lesson in sub-mediocrity produced by his absence.
On the field of play, his friend Osvaldo Ardilles, with whom he had performed wonders of mutual anticipation during the few minutes the two had been allowed to play together (and never mind about their winning the World Cup), has been displaying his lonely gifts week in, week out, many of his failures proving as impressive as his successes — for more often than not, a tad pass' had been turned bad by lack of anticipation at the reception end. Inevit ably, his passes have therefore becomes trifle more cautious and conventional, hi: runs — themselves emergency measure: from a midfield player — more soloistic an demonstrative, pedagogical almost: it isn' easy to part with the ball if you know what': going to happen to it.
In the circumstances, the degree to whicl Ardilles has been able to maintain hi involvement and retain the quality of hi game has been exceptional in our League' experience, the more so since, in this lovel■ League of ours, he may now be its most fouled player — the ideal target for what we and only we, call a 'professional foul'. Le me submit statistical facts culled from si: matches since the end of October — fact which no 'normal' sports writer can pro vide: his professional life does not allow hin any such sustained, specific study.
Mine is a conservative count: twc matches here considered I left before nil end, and one of them, against Mancheste United, I saw on television, i.e. not in it entirety. Yet, in six matches, five at home, saw Ardilles fouled eighteen times, mos severely by the League Champions, of al sides — five times, that is, with the result tha he had to be taken off: a unique fate for ; midfield player, for we normally reserve thi extremes of professional physical tortus for strikers.
Yet it was against the selfsame Not tingham Forest, and again against Ipswich that Ardilles reached his maximal involve ment in any forty-five minutes, when h played the ball 33 times in both the first hal of the Forest game and the second half o the match against the Cup winners: a work rate — no, play-rate — unequalled, in m: experience, by any midfield player this sea son, yet attained with downright non chalance: his unerring positioning replace the running and rushing with which ou natives tend to prove their busyness.
It was only in that disastrous 0-5 gam. against Arsenal that, bored to death in th. second half, he started to hide: equall bored, I left eight minutes from the ek when he had played the ball no more tha] 11 times after half-time; in the first half, h. had still played it as often as in the firs halves of the home games against Liverpoc and Ipswich --28 times in each of the thre. cases. A sinister warning to the manage] this: if you can even get an Ardilles dowr there's something wrong with you, not hitr Give him Villa (as 1ast week), an matches like those against Liverpool awa and Arsenal at home won't happen. Con sanguine collaboration would replac stupid strategy; mutual inspiration woul, preclude that depressing disintegratio which, in the funeral march against Arsenal affected Glenn Hoddle too — the one othe player of class Spurs can muster at the tim of weeping, when the only sound advice on can give him is to bolt: evidently, the tw. Argentinians bolted the wrong way, whil Kevin Keegan, that great English footballe playing with S.V. Hamburg, has no become European Footballer of the 01, Year.
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