By Rohan Ricketts
The Premier League was never the best league in the world based on the quality of football. In terms of revenue making, marketing potential and sponsorship deals I would say it IS ahead of the rest of the world. But when you are talking about the ART of football – the way the game should be played, with skill and technique – the Premier League is not better than Spain, Brazil and possibly Argentina.
The English game is based more on power, size and speed rather than technical ability and genuine skill. Thierry Henry’s experience in Spain is an example of why players with pace and power can run riot in the Premier League, yet going to Spain requires more of technical and tactical acumen. Take nothing away from Thierry: he has been an incredible player and a sublime goalscorer. Yet he himself had to admit to the demands from a technical and tactical standpoint with Barcelona were completely different. True football talent such as Xavi and Ronaldinho have rejected coming to England, knowing that the game here is not about their talent but more about their workrate and fitness. The value of the football is critical in Spain; over in England, possession is lost every few seconds and this shows a lack of control and awareness.
I don’t understand how we can watch a team like Barcelona continue to be the best footballing team in the world and not take some serious notes. In England, the coaches and the FA need to see how they develop talent and play such an attractive and effective brand of football. If you want to become a better Tennis player, who would you study? Roger Federer. If you want to become a better Table Tennis player, you would study China’s Ma Long. It’s no different with football.
I’m going to end by saying this ever so bluntly: in Brazil and Spain, if you are not good enough, you don’t play. In England you don’t have to be good enough. You just have to be strong, fast and fit and be able to follow basic tactical orders. If you can do that, you can play. It does leave technical standards to be questioned though.
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Rohan needs his own radio show. Make it happen FAN590.
- PoweruserI don’t think its right to dismiss elements from the game such as fitness/workrate. However I do believe the priorities are in the wrong order when they are looking at favourable attributes. Talent/flair and creativity seem to be frowned upon from grass root all the way up as opposed to being embraced and nurtured like in other countries like Brazil. In England, know one likes a “champagne Charlie”
- ECouldnt agree more as a Football coach myself I see that the English way is by playing 6ft plus players and use them to destroy other teams using very little skill but pace and power you only need to look at Barca and see how they make the English ethos look stupid and they have many ” little guys ” in the team and they are looked at as the best
- Jim HemmingsThinking about what you said has made me realise that maybe the Premier League is not the best in the world in terms of skill. But I still strongly believe that our supporters are ten times more passionate than any abroad, whether your a Premiership supporter or a Conference supporter.
However I disagree with the Henry statement. I believe that if he had joined Barcelona during his early 20′s like he did Arsenal that he would of had an impact like he did in the Premiership in La Liga instead of joining when maybe his best days were behind him.
A great report there Rohan.
- Milesricketts is the guy!
- Gustavoim folowing this sit from now on!
Twitter Trackbacks
- AnonymousI agree, Football is an Art and that is how it should be played. Very well written Ro.
- SharI will have to totally agree with Mr.Ricketts on this topic. The way way he has described the difference in the mental physical and technical aspect shows us a gap if you will between the leagues. I am a huge Henry fan, but watching him play in Spain was a bit painful. He couldn’t cope with the technical and tactical superiority of his Spanish counter parts. Its good to see a person who has played at the highest level recognizing this and most importantly reporting this to the public who may lack the knowledge to see this. I LOOK FORWARD TO MR.RICKETTS NEXT REPORT LONG LIVE ROLLIN WITH RICKETTS!
- JohnathonFootball is a game of chess not checkers…..
yes ro….im loving this blog….they need more realness like this to be spoke out,,,,,expose what others are ignoring…….secret service soon come lol,,,,,,,,,,lmfao….respect bro
- christopher ellisCompletely agree, I’ve been saying it for years! I genuinely believe there is one fundamental problem in the coaching of young players in Britain – 2 AND 3 TOUCH FOOTBALL! Why doo we do it? Every club I’ve trained with it’s the same. What does this do other than teach us to give the ball to someone else! No wonder we’re not comfortbale on the ball and always try to force the pass. Please can we get coaches to stop it now! Let the great young players have as many touches as they like!!!
- Ben JacksonWholeheartedly agree mate. Players with footballing brains just don’t get a look in nowadays. That’s why many of the Premier League academies are just putting through lads who are strong and quick. Thankfully you can see it even if others can’t! Come back to England asap! your fans at http://www.popeandswift.co.uk
- Pope (of Pope and Swift sports blog)The EPL might make a lot of money, but the football is not overly attractive. There is no parity, no beauty to the game, and only a few big teams who buy great footballing talents and bore them to death by forcing them to play a dull style of football.
I’d rather watch the Bundesliga or La Liga any day of the week. EPL football simply is not as Beautiful as the Beautiful Game should be. at least in the Bundesliga, the emphasis on fitness and work rate is complimented by creative talent, great competition and great parity across the league.
- Ghett0I agree with all of it mate football is an art and it should be played that way, there are some good english players that are really good in the english acadamys but not given a chance in other teams in other countries get better chances and they produce the best players
- Alex SmithWe want Mo Ro! Great first post Rohan! T DOT Needs your football insights!
- EnoughIsEnoughDid you ever watch Thierry at Arsenal?
- AdamRohan’s points are true, to a certain degree. But more technical footbal does not necessarily mean more entertaining football. I’d much rather watch an end-to-end game of direct football in the Prem than some of the stalemate, over-thought drab affairs on the continent. The most recent Word Cup was a flop purely because it was dominated by the tactical, technical approach to which our European friends subscribe too.
- GordinoInteresting perspective Rohan. The problem is that in the Sky-driven coverage of the EPL, there is no real objectivity and pressure to maintain the myth that the English game is the best in the world. Then every two years, when we see the England team in action, we end up being forced to eat some unpalatable home truths.
- Dan BrennanI find this, and Rohan’s points about natural talent vs hard workers to be a bit perverse.
It is obvious that Rohan sees himself as a footballer with ‘natural talent’ but not with natural size and strength. So he feels hard done by because he never quite cut it at the highest level, or even second highest.
The fact is that players need natural talent and athletic ability. It takes hard work to become a better athlete. All of the spanish team work hard for each other, and all are athletic. They might not be big, but they run there socks off as well as being technically brilliant.
The players that think they can rely on just there talent and technical ability, without working hard are the ones that will never make it.
You can never guarantee that you are the most talented player on the pitch, but you can guarantee that you will work the hardest.
- AndyYou may want to take note that even though English teams have not dominated this decade, they have dominated the Champions League Final over the last 6 years by participating in 4 of the 5 finals. MAN U won in 2008 beating Chelsea; MAN U were in the final 2009; Liverpool in final 2007; Arsenal 2006; Liverpool won in 2005. So to say that the EPL is lacking in quality may be true, but it is still effective to have a high work rate and conditioning… and many players in the EPL still do have skill!
- Rottysorry … 5 of the last 6 finals.
- RottyWell it’s two styles of games. Depends which one you like better.
The British game has always been about hitting the home run. Pass the ball long, wait for big guys like Peter Crouch or Heskey to knock the ball off each others heads, make a few moves and score. You can play as many men back in the box as you want but sooner or later they might break down against bigger, more physical opposition in English football. Quick strike offence. You’re going to have good nights and you’re going to have off nights.
South American and south european football is different. It’s like playing small ball and hitting singles and doubles. Short smooth passes, more dribbling involved, more ball control but if the other is a bit more tactically sound or if they’re just a step better than you, you’ve already lost. It’s more natural in terms of manufacturing goals but takes longer.
Two very different styles.
- JamesHard to make a sweeping general indictment of the entire league. I’m not the biggest supporter of english football in general, but it’s hard to match the class found in clubs like Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal, etc etc. That being said, smaller clubs (blackpool come to mind) have shown that they can put on a show as well. I think the majority of England’s problems as you’ve described them hinder their chances of ever being thought of as an elite footballing nation. And it all starts with their approach to training and bringing up youngsters with that mentality. Sad fact is most of Englands top prospects are burnt out by age 24.
- JoeThe argument isn’t over which league’s best team’s play more attractive football. It’s over which is a better league. And top to bottom, I’d still take the Premier League.
You think the top 4 dominance is bad in England? What about the top 2 in Spain? Or top 3.5 in Italy? With Tottenham taking a top 4 place last year, and other teams really pushing for a spot in Europe it’s much more interesting than watching a bunch of meaningless games just waiting for the Barca v. Real matches to settle it all.
- bFucking Spot on son. I myself have suffered at pro clubs where I’ve been the youth teams top scorer but apparently not big enough. Also when it comes to watching certain games like Stoke v Wigan I wouldn’t even bother, but gimme two random spanish or brazilian teams to watch and i’ll be entertained for the whole 90 mins.
- MutsaI agree with what you say. Leagues like Serie A and La Liga are based on pure technical skill. But i don’t think that it is the most important thing on a football team. Chemistry and the ability to work with your team mates comes first and if all 11 put in a good days shift, then there is no reason why your team shouldn’t come away with 3 points. You also have to consider that the Premier League has brought in plenty of technically gifted players like Carlos Tevez and Fernando Torres. And look at Robinho. He was a very gifted player technically. But he couldn’t make his mark on the Premier League. The argument works both ways.
- KBI love Post 15 which is typical of the sort of thing you see in these comments. Remember this isn’t written by a journalist, it’s written by a professional footballer.
More precisely have you seen Rohan Ricketts play? If you have you will understand his point.
I saw him play for England U20′s in Nov 2001 and beat Portugal 1-0 with Peter Crouch also really standing out. Rohan could pass, dribble, beat people and was two footed. But was that good enough for Spurs? No.
Rohan is absolutely right about Henry who I loved to watch at Arsenal, but he played a very marginal role in the way Ian Wright (who I also loved watching) did. They both played on the shoulder off defenders and loved to get in behind with a ball over the top or through the defence. Henry was better, and slightly different, in that he could come off the left wing and score a goal out of nothing as well but a lot of his goals while quick & powerful did not necessarily demonstrate an ability to hold the ball and break a stubborn defence down. Which is what is required when you play for Barca.
I am amazed when people say a certain country’s football is slow, Italian football is often branded as such. True, it can be defensive. The truth though is that English football is super-quick, quicker than any other country. They are not slower than us, we are quicker than them – or quicker than football, real football.
Hence why we get caught with our pants down against France. We can’t retain the ball and when we track a player we cannot compute he keeps the ball, passes and then moves and repeat and repeat in phases. We get lost after two or three movements of the ball because that is how quickly possession changes in the EPL.
Rant over.
- Gareth HoweYes the Spanish and Italian leagues are more technical, but wow they get some boring matches. Everything’s so slow sometimes, I’d much prefer to watch the EPL and see a fast paced end-to-end match. Especially this season when any team can beat another.
The problem with the World Cup this year? So defensive. I foolishly watched every match, and in most of them nothing happened. Easily the worst World Cup of my life, and probably to date.
Plus the EPL teams have dominated Europe for the past decade, so clearly the talent’s there to BEAT the other nations’ best teams.
And finally -
” In England you don’t have to be good enough. You just have to be strong, fast and fit and be able to follow basic tactical orders.”
Bit of a criticism to yourself really isn’t it considering you could never make it in the Premiership?
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