Is Football Dying?
ARTICLE BY ALAN CRONIN
Apologies in advance if you were hoping for an uplifting article,in that case viewer discretion is advised.
In the past few years I have become more and more disillusioned with the beautiful game. This wasn’t a knee jerk thing but more of a gradual disliking due to many factors. Where do I start, football becoming a near non contact sport is as good as any I suppose. When I first fell in love with football in the 80s hard men with big hair were the stars of that era and none more so than the magnificent Graeme Souness whose main footballing philosophy was just get the ball and if he had to go through a player first than so be it. Tackles in those days would probably end up in a multi game ban and outrage in the media by lazy pundits and journalists that just like toe the line. While there might have been too much leeway back then it has gone in a complete opposite direction now a shoulder charge is barely acceptable these days. On the subject of the rules of the game the standard of refereeing is absolutely appalling, governed by jumped up traffic wardens that never kicked a football in their lives. I can’t remember the last time I saw a decent advantage played and some referees are so biased I imagine they are wined and dined after the game, are you listening Howard Webb. So biased sometimes that it becomes impossible for a small team to beat a big one . The recent game between the Republic of Ireland and Portugal was testament to this where the referee looked like he was more interested in Cristiano Ronaldo breaking the world record than refereeing the game by the rules.
The players themselves are far too soft now and seem to be more concerned with social media and celebrity status than being a damn good footballer. Loyalty has also gone out of the game too with players kissing the badge one minute, ten minutes later selling their souls for a multi million pound deal created in the middle east. Too many players to mention in this list, we could be here all night.
The disgusting scourge of racism has never gone away from the dark days of the 80s where john Barnes had bananas thrown at him to the many examples we see on a weekly basis. Unfortunately things have hit an all time low on that front and it appears there is no easy solution. Away from racist fans, the many modern day football fans too have their own part to play in the current malaise of the game and are hardly faultless. The flip flop nature of the fickle fan has never been worse. Supporting your team through thick and thin seems alien to so many nowadays . Our own are every bit as bad. We are currently witnessing football greatness and a team I haven’t enjoyed since the heady days of Barnes, Beardsley, Hansen, McMahon, Houghton et al. Yet amazingly some prefer to constantly find fault when you’re meant to bloody enjoy it.
I haven’t finished yet, now we come to my biggest bugbear of all Diving. With the advent of VAR I foolishly thought the cheats would be a thing of the past but hopeless officials continue to turn a blind eye to it and its rare you even see a player booked for a blatant dive or retrospectively punished. Yet again I blame the media and fans who condemn others when they do it but absolve their own of any blame.
Things came to a head for me when the European super league was nearly forced upon us. I was honestly done with football at that stage and was honestly going to walk from the sport. The one thing that keeps me going and keeps me sane in all this and I’ll finish on the one good note. It’s all down to one man, a man of principle, honour and an absolute footballing genius, our own Jurgen Norbert Klopp, the pride of Liverpool.
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