COULD THIS BE THE WORST WORLD CUP IN HISTORY?

[jenni_blog]

I've just read this very interesting blog in soccerlens.com:

http://soccerlens.com/is-this-the-worst-world-cup-ever/47528/#comment-125999

It really brings up a lot of issues that could be a factor in preventing teams from scoring goals, and in causing fans to lose interest.

Some of them:

- the FIFA seeding
- too many teams?
- player fatigue

And I'll add one of my own: the Jabulani ball. It wasn't mentioned in the article, but the only league that has used this ball for the last year is the Bundesliga. Those players have had almost a year to get used to it. The result: Germany's performance compared to all the others. Most of the players on the German NT play their club football in Germany.

Comments

[crazy-girl-86.livejournal.com]

Ok, I read the blog...

I don't agree with the hype being the problem. It's always like that before a World Cup and even more when you live in the country it takes place. But why should it influence the teams' play? It could lead to people being annoyed from the marchendise but not from football... Same goes for the comment about politicians.

What I do agree with is the media pressure on the players, but on the other hand, they are used to it from every big tournament. The Spanish league lives and dies with media pressure...

The FIFA seeding isn't a nice topic and if we are honest, it started with France and Henry... maybe even earlier. It sucks, yeah, but do you wanna see more countries like Slovenia?! I prefer France and Portugal being there, however they made it... Besides... Italy vs. Australia 2006... And Italy became Champion.

Ok, I do agree in parts about the club football. The best example is Lio Messi, what he does for Argentina doesn't even get close t his work at Barcelona. But Kaká is the perfect example that players don't save themselves for their clubs, I think it was the opposite in his case! And he's probably not the only one. But sure, we shouldn't expect these teams playing as well as some clubs, they don't have the time to get used to each other. But isn't that the case each WC, each Euro? *shrugs* A reason yes for sure, but the reason why it's so bad till now?

But I absolutely agree about banning the vuvuzelas. :)

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

The fact is that this World Cup has been pretty sad so far, with too many draws and hardly any goals. I remember the last one in 2006 and it was really enjoyable.

So what is the problem? Everyone is trying to figure it out and analyze everything about it. The ball, the vuvuzelas, the weather, the long domestic league seasons, poor coaching, etc., etc., etc.

When the press has gone straight to the players, you are getting true first-hand reactions. They have blamed the ball. I do believe the ball is a factor this time. They have blamed the 24-hour nonstop vuvuzelas for keeping them awake all night. Some players have come out criticizing their coaches, complaining they are playing out of position, etc. The weather has been intermittently hot and cold. The players have complained about the state of some of the pitches. All of these things can be contributing to fewer goals.

But I think as the tournament wears on, the players might get more familiar with all of these things (and each other) and hopefully things will get better.