HAY-MES, A-MEN!

Jose Pekerman seems to have done it again on the World Cup stage.

In 2006, Argentina were the best footballing side. No doubt.

Though, I would make a case that he did not take the side far enough to a footballing euphoria, and that his caution under pressure in the quarter final brought us undone.

However, his success of a footballing idea, which is increasingly lost and misunderstood, must be applauded.

That Argentina side was led by a classic South American enganche, Roman.

Again today, Colombia is led by a classic enganche, James.

(Colombianly pronounced, Hay- meh, or Hay-mes, just go with it).

The genius of what Pekerman does, is that in the current football world of over-scrutinised tactics and systems, he has enough belief in James to let go of the responsibility, and trust in the number 10.

Like Roman in 2006, he pops up everywhere.

On his volleyed goal, yes, he is exactly where a typical coach would want him. But throughout the match, he often goes to where most coaches might say he doesn't need to be.

But he does need to be there.

When the team needs composure, he is there.

When the team needs a push, he is there.

When they need a pause, he's there.

He is given, a somewhat free reign. It is to be admired.

For Jose's trust in a cultural idea.

And for James' execution.

The Goodbyes..

Some were just happy to be here. Their moment on the World stage.

Some expected to be here for a lot longer.

The most exciting group stage of a World Cup I have ever lived.

Here is a quick line or two on those making their way home..

Croatia - Rakitic/Modric midfield, Mandzukic up top. Promised so much, delivered so little..

Cameroon - Promised very little, and delivered! Standard red card too. 

Espana - Uff. Welcome and goodbye in two matches. Thanks for bringing the trophy back. A sad goodbye to a absolute quality generation of players. Andresito, Xavi, Xabi, Villa.. 

Australia - The coaching change needed to happen a year and a half earlier. A group way too hard for a group of players at least 2 years short of experience. Nevertheless, two great performances that gives hope for the future.

Ivory Coast - Fell short, literally, at the hurdle.  A cruel way to exit for a side that looked like they could do some damage. 

Japan - Been promising a lot for a couple of years now, but also falling short. As always, goals, hard to find. 

England - Didn't promise anything this time, and didn't deliver. But some very good young players coming through, and I think that with a good coach they are capable of a lot more in a few years.

Italia - 90 minutes of beauty versus England. And then 180 minutes of disappointment. 

Honduras - They scored a goal! Got to be happy with that. 

Ecuador - If the World Cup was played at 4500m altitude, these guys would have it in the bag. 

Bosnia - Far too nervous. A very qualify-able group, yet they came without enough conviction and belief.

Iran - Very very well organised defensively. Almost pulled off a famous draw. 

Portugal - Good riddance. Personally, I just feel they lacked a star player to give them quality. :-p

Ghana - What a shame, such a great side to watch. They showed this against Germany, but the last minute winner to the US hurt their chances. 

Korea Republic - To be completely honest. I did not watch any of their games. :-/

Argentina - Keep Calm, Our World Cup starts now..

Ok so the warm ups are over now. Our World Cup starts now!

With my love for the little guy, it would be easy to get swept up in the Messi/Argentina fever hitting the World Cup. 3 wins, 4 goals, 3 Man of the Match awards. But I'm not yet jumping up and down.. Ok I am, but it's with caution...

It only takes one match for it to all crash to earth from here. And I have seen it crash too often too quickly for my loved Argentina. 

Let's be honest, we have faced no one. And I mean that with respect for the opposition because Bosnia were going to be a tough test, but yet they were too nervous to get near their potential. Iran proved to be a test, yet they are not near enough to the quality that the knock out phase brings. And the similiar can be said for Nigeria today, though they do go through to the next phase. 

But those were our warm ups. 

It's easy to think things are going smoothly, however if we were in a group like Italy or Spain, it could just as easily have been us making the short trip home.

We got blessed, we got luck, and you need that. It has given us time to tinker and build for the first 3 matches. Though the question will be if we can go from 2nd gear, to 5th gear. Will those around Leo step up, or be found wanting??

Today, certainly gave evidence that the players around Leo are growing in confidence. Di Maria was outstanding, and should have been Man of the Match. Mascherano, Lavezzi, and even Rojo were also very good.

I very much prefer Lavezzi to Higuain, although the latter scored a hatful in qualifying. The injury to Kun is a concern, he has been quiet, but that isn't all bad. He may explode at the right time, as he has for City.

Switzerland do worry me. They are similar to the Germans, but less angry.

Ironically, the worry for me is a German, their manager Ottmar Hitzfeld. In Ottmar, they have a very experienced manager who has been with them since 2008.

They will be German like, organised and fast on the counter. Nigeria showed we may struggle with this. And no doubt they are scheming a plan for Leo as we speak.

Thankfully, the little man is growing again.

My head says we need to be careful..

My heart says we may witness something truly special..

Day 13 - Another big gun bites the dust…

Pardon the pun.

Luis Suarez

Lets get the obvious out there, what the???

Ok now let's think about it. He obviously has an issue. I don't want to be the unqualified one who diagnoses him, but ADHD or something. No joke,  we need to look at it from this point of view because it is not normal. He does need help.

And it is a better way to look at the issue then from a racist point of view. I've seen  'dirty south american' mentioned and that is just wrong. Equally disappointing, was seeing John Aloisi say something quite similar on National TV. Moving on to the football…

What a difference a week in football makes.

One week we are marvelling at the Spanish Squad. The next they are packing..

One week ago I marvelled at the ingenious cult figure of Andrea Pirlo. Day 3 - Magical

The next, he has played his last international. I am honestly devastated he is out of the Cup. And the Azzurri. Cesare Prandelli is a marvellous coach, with great value and respect for the game. It would have been nice to see them go further.

But this World Cup is so unpredictable, they all are really. Go back through all the World Cup semi-finalists, there is almost always at least one team there that you would not have been fancied to get to the last four before it all kicked off.

Spain, England, Italy, and almost certainly Portugal, gone, 1st round. Wow.

The great part is that Costa Rica deserve nothing less. They have been a joy to watch.

Another Joy to watch, James Rodriguez - Colombian pronunciation - Haaaaiimmmehhh. :-/

What a player. I think I'm repeating myself again, but who cares. A classic South American enganche, mixed with a bit of a modern attacking midfielder. Here in Australia there is a lot of talk about 'producing' this type of player.

You cannot 'produce' them. As a coach you need to just 'allow' them to develop. Teach them about the game around them. That is all, do not impose restrictions. Enhance, not restrict their ability.

Back to the Cup. I am quite sad we are over half way, but the best is about to come.

One thing to remember.

Luck, and by that I mean good and bad, bad being dodgy decisions, are part of the game. I have always said that it generally evens itself out. An example is that Italy got some luck along the way in 2006, but today, it went against them.

It is how you react though. Much like life.

It's not what happens to you, it's how you react.

Italy could have defended that corner away, and progressed despite the bite…

But they didn't. The Uruguayan spirit fights on.

A sad arrivederci, grazie Andrea...

The Socceroos

I am increasingly saying that football is individual. It is subjective. So I am not going to try to convince anyone what they should or should not feel about the Socceroos.

Some are upset and some are proud.

Yes, we lost all three matches and conceded 9 goals. But you can shape and twist any story to suit your own opinion. 

If you just look at the results, goals for, and goals against, then the world is probably also black and white to you. It's a poor performance, 0 points.

That is not me. I am proud of the Socceroos performance in Brazil. 

We pushed Netherlands and Chile, not to their limits, but we pushed them hard. For 75 minutes or so, both sides were uncomfortable and in a bit of shock at the difficulty of the match. 

The manner of our play was far more progressive than under Hogler. Ange has given us structured build up play and quick transition for us to build on when Cahill is no longer with the team.

Also the high press, a feature of the modern game, was bald and a shock to the world that we dared to do it to the giants of world football in our group of death. 

Proof that we took it to the best in the world and competed was in the image of the Chilean National manager storming the touchlines, a look of nervousness, wishing the match to be over after Cahill and Bresciano went close to equalizers.

Also the blank look of disbelief on Loui Van Gaal and his assistant Kluivert, as we pressed the Netherlands back line, forcing them into cheap long ball turnovers.

And who can forget Cahill's volley…

Does all of this mean that I think we should be content with losing? Of course not. 

Does it mean that everything at National, State and Local level is fine? Far from it.  

But for me Ange represents a positive change for the game in Australia. And he gave a very good representation of that on the world stage.

That we can be proud of…

Argentina - Adonde Estamos

Two match days in for Argentina, and us and the rest of the world, are still unsure about where we are.

Are we building? Are we faltering? Que mierda pasa!!!

What is not in doubt, is that is if we get the ball to Leo, in the right area, then we are good going forward.

Although we have looked a little stale going forward over the 2 matches, I have no doubt it will improve.

In the first match I think Sabella experimented with the 5-3-2/3-5-2 to see if we could get the same forward movement and fluidity with the added protection of 3 central defenders. It did look more secure, and certainly will be an option against the heavier teams later on, in particular say if we are leading a knockout match and need to close up a bit.

However, we completely lost fluidity going forward. Messi had to drop too far to receive the ball, and then he only had Aguero ahead of him. This scenario is far too easy to defend, allows the opposition to literally put 3 or 4 around him. It's clear this can't be the set up in matches we are expected to dictate and go find the goal.

To dictate and find the goals we need the 4-3-3 from qualifying. The problem is though,  the 4 at the back are very suspect. Iran created at least 3 good chances, and they weren't exactly piling numbers forward. I worry when I think of a European counter-attack coming at that.

Going forward today I think Gago and Mascherano moved the ball far too slow and not enough. They should have and needed to dominate the game to provide the room ahead for Messi. They have to be the Xavi for Argentina, as they were in qualifying. But they passed too slow, not enough and did not see Leo often when he had a metre on his man, and thats all he needs.

Ultimately I think the key going forward will be the men around Leo.

If they can play their part, it will give him more room to do what he does. He also has to give away some of the responsibility, to allow them to play their part. Too often against Bosnia it was Leo vs 11. We won't win the end goal like this, despite it working so far.

At the back, it's obvious we don't have the quality. Sabella will have to tinker and tactika finely to get it right. I'd say in the knockout stages, expect the 3 central defender defence to come back. In particular in the latter stages of matches if we are already ahead. Leo on the counter will do just fine to close things out.

So, adonde estamos?.. Que se yo, pero VAMOS CARAJO!!!

Day 7 - Nothing is Forever

'The Spanish have characterised the past decade with their intricate passing game. We wondered at times if it would ever end. It seemed as though they had almost perfected the game. But the game always moves on…It seemed it would go on forever. But it's all about to end. Nothing, is forever.'

The commentator hit the nail on the head today.

The game does move on. One manager picks the lock. Then another, and another until what once seemed unstoppable, can barely get going. 

It is exactly what happened to Spain. They seemed slow, stationary, sterile. 

The Netherlands and Chile, both differing styles, but yet both dominated the Spanish.

The idealistic game had no answers the questions being asked. 

'Is tiki taka dead?. Certainly not. They've simply forgotten how to win.'

Perfectly said.