OK, let's start with a trip to the dictionary section of www.soccerhelp.com for a definition of today's topic:
| Professional Foul |
(aka
"Tactical Foul"). An intentional foul for the purpose of stopping
the attacker from breaking away to goal or to prevent a scoring
opportunity. Punishable by a yellow card or red card. Also called a
tactical foul.
|
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For a not so subtle example of this definition, check out the above video. This soccer video comes from a French A League match between Marseille and Lille, and it's into the last 10 minutes of the match and Marseille is up 1-0. Marseille defender Meite puts the stop to a promising attack by wrapping up and taking to turf the Lille ball handler, and earns a yellow card for his efforts.
But that doesn't paint the complete picture**, so let's also consider the following definition from the soccer glossary of www.firstbasesports.com:
|
The Prosecution's Exhibit A in the case of Mike Kimbro vs. Soccer's Status Quo is the very existence of this second professional foul type. Think about it, just to stop a single solitary goal...even very early in a match...it is usually considered good judgment for a defender to execute a foul which will pretty much guarantee a red card and his expulsion from that match and the next...if that goal is the 'go ahead' goal...and if it's an important soccer match.***
Take a second to look over the following professional foul which occurred during minute 18 of the 2006 UEFA Champion's League Final Match.
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Interesting here is that while many feel that this monumentally important match (more than 500 million viewers worldwide) was flat out ruined by the awarding of the red card, no one questioned the wisdom of Lehmann's execution of the professional foul...even though the match was only into it's 18th minute. Such is the general mentality of soccer today, but this thinking reaches it's crescendo during UEFA Champions League matches.
And if you're thinking that this "blunder" will likely haunt Lehmann big time, forget about it. It probably helped his career, as he's been chosen to start in goal for the German Mens National Team in Germany at World Cup 2006. Who did he beat out for the job? None other than Oliver Kahn, who was awarded the MVP for FIFA World Cup 2002...a distinction which typically guarantees a player the starting position in the next World Cup. So, I'm not seeing any evidence that Lehmann's Professional Foul was considered an error in judgment by anyone who really matters.
But I guess that has to be considered in the context of the team. The German Men's National Team has historically lived and died by the Professional Foul. Surely no one has forgotten German midfielder Michael Ballack's Professional Foul in the semi-final match of FIFA World Cup 2002, which forced Ballack to sit out the big Final just a few days later. Was Ballack a major loss to his team? Please consider that, not only had Ballack scored that match's only goal via a header, fans of 'set piece soccer' will enjoy the following video which documents the fact that Ballack scored the only goal in the previous World Cup match against the USA just a few days before:
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Yes indeed, this guy was important. But was that Professional Foul considered a blunder? Hell no, as FIFA immediately named him "FIFA Man of The Match", and German Coach Rudi Voeller praised Ballack for his willingness to sacrifice himself for the good of the team. Sadly, the title of the article by Sapa which reviews that match says it all:
"Professional foul makes Ballack a tragic hero"
Maybe you're skeptical that the Professional Foul is really that common place? Let's consider last year's Champion League Final match, featuring Liverpool FC v. AC Milan, where the Professional Foul again reared its ugly head. From the photo gallery page of BBC's Football Site I barrow the photo at right, which is accompanied by the caption:
"In the 59th minute Gerrard breaks into the penalty area and is hauled back by Milan's Gennaro Gattuso."
Oh yeah, keep in mind that AC Milan was up a goal at the time, and that Guttuso is a starter on Italy's Men's National Team, a team which doesn't tolerate weak defensive play, and in fact won the "FIFA Man of the Match" in Italy's World Cup match against Ukraine.
And yes, this is the very same AC Milan which has been the dominate force in the UEFA Champions League during recent times, a team which embraces defensive soccer like no other team on the planet, as is evidenced by the following little collage I put together to celebrate their triumphs from the Year 2003:
Title: Winning Soccer, circa 2003
Source: World Soccer Magazine, July 2003
Giving witness to the true power of defensive oriented soccer, AC Milan wins the 2003 Champion's League Title by scoring one single goal in it's final 3 matches. And if there's one thing I've learned during my short time on this planet, it's that:
"Nothing succeeds like success!"
So, where are we going with this? Keep in mind that Arsenal had allowed only 1 single goal over the previous 10 Champion's League matches. And this is particularly ironic, since at home in the EPL Coach Arsene Wenger's Arsenal is considered by many to be the most entertaining and offensive minded soccer sides of modern times. But thoughtful consideration of brilliant analysis such as that from Dan Lyles' article posted at right has forced Coach Wenger to morph Arsenal into a defensive powerhouse...putting Henry up front, and then tasking Swedish marathon man Freddie Ljungberg with non-stop runs all over the field, while favoring defensive oriented midfielders in favor of talented goal scorers like Reyes. A move which broke my heart, as I love to watch Reyes out on the pitch providing entertainment like the following:
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For a little more enlightenment on what other negative effects the switch from 4-4-2 formation to 4-5-1 brings about, please listen closely to the analysis of the Liverpool's single forward game plan during the spring of 2006, keeping in mind that the boys from Anfield finished in the top 3 in the English Premier League, and as mentioned above, Liverpool had just a year earlier won the 2005 UEFA Champions League:
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image credit: Fox Soccer Channel.
Hey y'all, forget what you've heard about
being the mark of the beast,
for I'm
certain that it is instead:
4-5-1
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Now, for those who might challenge me at this point, certain that they have finally caught me spreading outright disinformation, all I can do is assure you that I too was every bit as confused as you are right now. For I had looked up to England's Coach Sven Goran Eriksson, a man of principle, who has been so masterful at staying above the politics of English Football, a man who claimed to have traveled the world in search of total 4-4-2 enlightenment. So you can understand how I felt back in June 2006, when I realized that in the heat of the ultimate soccer battle, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Coach Eriksson had turned to the dark side.
image credit: World Soccer Magazine, Feb 2006 issue, page 32. The exclusive interview of Coach Sven Ericksson by Keir Randnedge
While I must admit that my view of the classic battle between good and evil has been overly influenced by the writings of Stephen King, Anne Rice, & Brian Lumley, I'm thinking the following exchange between Chelsea's Coach Jose Mourino and Coach Sven could have taken place not so long ago...
"Sven, look into my eyes. You are getting weary. Your will is no longer your own. You are in thrall to me. Do you understand me?"
"Yes Master, blessed art thou among coaches, and blessed is the fruit of your intellect...Chelsea."
"Quite right, you Swedish Meatball. Now, I've been pondering all this Team England nonsense, and I'm thinking you should switch from that silly 4-4-2 to my personal favorite, the 4-5-1 formation. Now I expect the switch to be made immediately."
"But Master, I need time! How about after the World Cup?"
"You need time? Chelsea's trainer just informed me that Terry and Lampard are gonna need time to recover from an injury sustained during our last practice. A most unfortunate incident. I'm sure you can do without them."
"OK, Master. The switch will be made by the round of 16."
"That's better, and you'll be happy to hear the my boy's are recovering surprisingly fast."
"Oh wonderful. And Master, if I may...any luck convincing Ballack to immigrate to England?"
"Sven, I've noticed that with you it's always England, England, England. To earn such a gift as Michael Ballack, England is going to make me very happy the next time that they play my homeland Portugal. Do you catch my meaning?"
"Yes Master, I'll have the lads work on their crotch-stomp technique."
"Excellent, Sven. By the way, I understand there's soon to be an opening for an assistant at CSKA Moscow. Keep it up and I'll put in a good word with Roman Abramovich."
And the rest, as they say, is history. Simply listen to the following little video for proof positive of two facts, that Coach Sven has indeed embraced the 4-5-1 formation, and that the commentators had not only accepted England's long ball implementation of the 4-5-1, and were in fact anxious to get striker Peter Crouch subbed onto the field so that England would have justification to kick the ball over the midfield on every single possession:
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As the 4-5-1 soccer formation sweeps through professional football, let me quote one simple sentiment to those who concern themselves with the entertainment value of their cherished Saturday afternoon matches:
"Be afraid...be very afraid"
But again, I digress. I don't want to get all caught up in football formation analysis here, as I started this as a celebration of the Professional Foul, and please don't think that I'm just being critical of the UEFA Champion's League and the 2006 World Cup.
Turning our attention to The States, the tournament is the US Open Cup and the local MLS team is the FC Dallas, who made it to the final match of this tournament just last year. The action for the year 2006 again found FC Dallas in the thick of it, and from a match where Dallas has a one point lead in the 2nd half, let's study the attitude of sports writer Andrew Mosier regarding the professional foul in the following excerpt from the match's recap:
"The Hoops held the lead for 15 minutes. A miscommunication in the back found former Dallas player Gavin Glinton one-on-one with Clarence Goodson.
With superior pace, Glinton pushed the ball past Goodson leaving the lanky center back little choice but to commit the professional foul, dragging him to the turf. Goodson was summarily given his walking papers, and the Battery's Ben Hollingsworth banged home the penalty kick."
Even in the context of the Charleston Battery being a semi-pro team, while FC Dallas was leading it's MLS conference by a wide margin, and with FC Dallas in the lead 1-0, Mr. Mosier chooses to paint the picture of Goodson sacrificing himself for the good of the team. Then consider that Charleston's 2nd goal of that match was also the result of a PK. Such is soccer in the year 2006...lots of PK's and Corner Kicks.
The following "misconduct summary" from a recent MLS match makes it all too clear that the "professional foul" is alive and well here in North America:
May 15, 2006
1 2 F
Chicago Fire
0 1 1
MetroStars
1 0 1
Scoring Summary:
MET -- Fabian Taylor 4 (Amado Guevara 2, Eddie Gaven 4) 13
CHI -- Ante Razov 2 (DaMarcus Beasley 2, Andy Williams 2) 51
Chicago Fire -- Henry Ring, C.J. Brown, Jim Curtin, Evan Whitfield, Justin
Mapp
(Nate Jaqua 79), Chris Armas, Logan Pause, Andy Williams (Craig Capano
86),
DaMarcus Beasley, Damani Ralph, Ante Razov (Dipsy Selolwane 82).
TOTAL SHOTS: 21 (Ante Razov 8); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Ante Razov 3); FOULS: 8
(Evan
Whitfield 4); OFFSIDES: 5 (Ante Razov 3); CORNER KICKS: 9 (Justin Mapp 5);
SAVES: 7 (Henry Ring 7)
MetroStars -- Jonny Walker, Tenywa Bonseu, Eddie Pope, Chris Leitch, Tim
Regan,
Joselito Vaca (Ricardo Clark 81), Amado Guevara, Mark Lisi, Eddie Gaven,
Fabian
Taylor (John Wolyniec 79), Cornell Glen (Sergio Galvan Rey 63).
TOTAL SHOTS: 20 (Fabian Taylor 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (Fabian Taylor 2,
Joselito
Vaca 2); FOULS: 18 (Amado Guevara 7); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 5
(Amado
Guevara 5); SAVES: 5 (Jonny Walker 5)
Misconduct Summary:
MET -- Chris Leitch (caution; Deliberate Handball) 39
CHI -- Evan Whitfield (caution; Professional Foul) 43
MET -- Cornell Glen (caution; Professional Foul) 45
MET -- Mark Lisi (caution; Professional Foul) 52
CHI -- Chris Armas (caution; Professional Foul) 52
MET -- Tenywa Bonseu (caution; Pushing, Holding) 85
Referee: Ricardo Valenzuela
Now, let's not miss this opportunity to dig a little deeper into the above stat sample. I find it interesting that while Chicago picked up just 8 fouls, note the 7 fouls by one particular MetroStars player, Honduran striker Amado Guevara. Now think about this, even when Chicago was playing a unbelievably clean match, 7 fouls wasn't enough to earn Guevara a yellow card for repeated fouls. If this isn't a testimony to inconsistent officiating in soccer, I don't know what is, particularly when considering that Chicago never led the match, and was in fact behind by a goal for 38 minutes. Hey folks, I've yet to hear the argument that being down a goal WASN'T just cause for overly physical play by the down team, yet Chicago earned only 8 fouls. For all the young players out there, let Chicago's example be one to emulate, as it's proof positive that you don't have to play like a thug just because your team is down a goal.
Image Credit: USA Today's Soccer Site
Sadly, one of the major problems I personally have with the officiating aspect of the Professional Foul is that it gives no feedback to the players as to the referee's overall mindset for how he's calling the match. Following is an example of what I mean, where the ref throws a 2nd yellow at the Swede Lucic for what the commentator feels is a "very soft" foul [the perfect opportunity for explanation of the professional foul was sadly passed on this time], but then just a few seconds later the ref lets another Swedish player pop the German ball handler from behind without calling a foul...conveying the message that "he's letting the boys play." Take a look at the action I describe in the following video by passing your mouse over the image box:
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Now call me simple, but while trying to define the professional foul, I don't feel that there is a real difference between grabbing and pushing, when both can be used to stop the attack or to simply slow down the ball handler just long enough to help to arrive. Consider the following video where England's Owen Hargreaves uses a primitive 2 armed shove to impede the Ecuadorian ball handler who had just burned Hargreaves with a clever nutmeg. Note that the ball was in fact heading straight for the goal, which I'm lead to believe is all important in the professional foul determination formula. Yet this was handled by the referee as nothing more than a foul, while this incident seems to fit the very definition of a professional foul. Check it out, and steel yourself to such feelings as "but poor Owen had no real choice here", since that sentiment is what distinguishes a professional foul, as it's not a foul borne out of unfortunate tackling timing and technique, but is instead inspired by pressures from the sidelines to impede the attack...or else. And don't feel guilty about your embrace of unattractive soccer, as Hargreaves' play in England's match against Portugal earned him "FIFA Man of the Match" in spite of the fact that he picked up 5 fouls and a yellow card in that match. Other kudos came from the press in the form of the formal recognition pictured at right, which included the reminder that:
"...the game [of soccer] is always one part skill, two parts effort."
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No folks, I'm not interested in presenting such Neanderthal defense as an example for all the young people out there. I find the defensive play in the above video to be wrong at many levels. First off, it represents the press's double standard. Had the ball handler been a marquis striker like say Ronaldinho or Michael Owen, then Hargreaves' action would have likely been regarded as:
"an affront to the spirit of play beautiful."
But against 'Jose Average' of Ecuador...well then it's inspiring play. I find such an unskilled response to a very clever maneuver to be far less than inspiring, but then you have to understand that I personally abhor the "not in my house" attitude of the today's 'hard athlete' (i.e. Charles Barkley), as it's at the root of most fouls in sports today. Such attitude is why getting assessed a foul and free kick, even from just outside the penalty box, is regarding as nothing more than a slap on the wrist by soccer coaches today. Oh sure, Beckham scored off a free kick under similar circumstances against Ecuador, but look to the BBC match recap for documentation that the goal was Beckham's first for England in 13 matches, and how many free kicks did England's captain take during that very important 13 match stretch? Face it, the odds were in Ecuador's favor, but they just ran out of luck.
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Oh yeah, before you move on, pass your mouse over the image box at right to kick off a video of some action from this same match which features England defender John Terry. Now, as you listen to the video, ask yourself what could the referee possibly tell Terry that he hasn't been told before. Terry is facing the approaching striker, so he has clear view of him, and makes the decision to do what is required to stop the attack, even if that means picking up a yellow card. I mean, this is why Terry is Chelsea's captain, and it's instincts like these which enabled Chelsea to go undefeated at home for the whole 2005-06 season. Oh yeah, take another look at that BBC match recap to learn that Terry was awarded "FIFA Man of the Match" for his efforts in this match against Ecuador. Quite remarkable! Both of England's "2006 Man of the Match" recipients picked up yellow cards in the matches where they won this prestigious recognition. It seems that the yellow is hardly a penalty, and might even be viewed as a badge of honor.
The really ironic aspect to this whole Pro Foul situation is that the expectations are set by the coaches for the team, so the coaches should accept the responsibility for the effect that the professional foul has on the entertainment value of the match. But what's happening today is that while coaches are encouraging the Professional Foul in critical situations (i.e.: any 1 goal margin, or roughly 80% of the time), coaches are instead blaming the rule or the ref for ruining the match for the fans. Read over the following for a case study of what I mean:
On the television that evening and in the Sunday newspapers no one denied that it was a penalty, it was the sending off that was called controversial.
Steve Bruce, the Birmingham Manager, is reported to have said that he didn't blame the referee. 'He had no choice under the present rules. If he hadn't done it the assessor in the stand would have deducted marks. I'm just saying that it ruined a good game of football. If referees were allowed to show common sense in a situation like this, I think the whole crowd would be pleased. After all they pay to see a contest between twenty-two players'.
This point of view had a great deal of sympathy from television pundits and newspaper reporters, although not
all were quite so generous to the referee. One reporter laid the blame at the referee's feet for 'interpreting the goalkeeper's action as a professional foul'.
Source: Article by Dick Sawdon Smith entitled "Nothing Professional About Denying a Goal"
Maybe what we really need to do here is to take action which will get the coaches mind right on the subject of the Professional Foul. How about a serious fine to be leveled at the coach. I'd think the amount of the fine would be based on the coaches wages, so Sir Alex would pay a higher fine than would a division 3 coach. But also important would be a rising scale for the fines, making repeated professional fouls much more painful than a single incident, although we all know that it only takes ONE of these types of foul to radically alter how the match is played, yet even that is totally in the hands of the coaches. And NO, I do not accept that a coach must go to 20 legs in the box when a man down. Coach Arsene Wenger made that choice during the big match again Barcelona in 2006, but he didn't have to, as he could easily have pulled the defensively minded midfielder Hleb in favor of Pires, who possesses the game to produce action like the following:
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Now that would have been a much more entertaining match, even if the final score had been Barcelona 5 - Arsenal 3. But instead, I endured that 2-1 beating...three times...putting me into a 2 week long 'virtual bender' during which time I sought enlightenment by surveying web sites such as one which attempted to educate me that in the video at:
http://www.cnra.net/downloads/caseStudies/MLS_5_8-10-05_METvDC_LeitchonCarroll70th.wmv
...a red card was not earned because the attacker wasn't heading directly toward the goal...even after the defender's trailing leg is brought forward to kick the ball handler across the back of the legs. In the words of the philosopher..."that's messed up." Obviously, surfing that site did nothing to lift my spirits.
Anyway, as I see it, 99.999999999% of soccer fans need to open their eyes to the fact that The Beautiful Game needs at makeover. American soccer will not begin to reach it's entertainment potential until the first goal of a match isn't of such supreme importance, freeing the coaches and commentators to feel that any Professional Foul is a totally STUPID mistake if executed in the first half of a match...and I mean in any match, not just in unimportant international 'friendly' matches, but in significant matches like tournament finals as well.
Mike 'Beautician to The Beautiful Game' Kimbro
Cartoon Credit: "The Penalty Shoot-out" by Stephff, from The Port Vila Presse
To return, it's better to hit your BACK ARROW button,
or Visualize Higher Scoring Soccer or
** Those who truly yearn for the complete picture will want to check out the history behind the professional foul at the Wikipedia site. It's a testimony to just how resistant to change the sport of soccer has always been.
*** Make no mistake about it, there is no such thing as an unimportant professional soccer match. Even the seemingly unimportant international exhibition (so called 'friendly') matches which are played as tune ups during the month prior to the World Cup are important enough to the coaches to insure that the matches finish as defensive struggles, usually ending 1-0 or 1-1, and played with absolutely zero consideration for the entertainment of the fans in the stands. I just sat through a week of viewing this insignificant soccer, and was sickened as offensively promising matches like France v. Mexico finished with 1-0 result...when nothing was at stake, as even the FIFA World Rankings are not affected by these matches. Sorry folks, but someone has to speak up for the fans here. Or maybe not, as this may be all that Mexicans and The French expect from their soccer. So I'm just going to continue focusing on helping American Professional Soccer reach it's entertainment potential.