This blog welcomes Mr. Nandakumar B Nair - Kochammavan. Kochammavan, among being many other important things/roles in my life, is also my football mentor. It was with him that I watched my first full world cup - 1994 USA. His views has always influenced and inspired a lot of mine.
He is an ardent world cup and euro cup follower. You can ask him who lined up with Pele in the 1970's and what each of them brought to the team. He can give you his dissertation of how to mark Maradona and what made Romario one of the best strikers the world has seen on par with the more sung names.
So we thought we should be co-authoring this blog. Look forward to some very classic and authentic views from him.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Iconoclasm and heresy in club soccer.
What is normal? Will our lives be better if it remained normal? How do we react to changes? How important are changes?
History is rife with change agents who were misunderstood, mistrusted, feared and even burnt on a stake - but ultimately proven right; sometimes posthumously. Some of the most radical, life changing ideas have come from erstwhile heretics - telecommunications, electricity, astronomy you name it has come from a differently geared mind. If we for a moment try to think about the world without these once heretics/iconoclasts, we will still be in stone age. We will still be fighting the sabre tooths and mammoths for world dominance - world itself would be as wide as what our eyes can see and where our legs can take us. If we analyze a few commonly recognised 'virtues' we will find that change is loathed even in this most developed world of free men and thought. For instance Wiki defines discipline thus : To discipline means to instruct a person or animal to follow a particular code of conduct, or to adhere to a certain order. We are creatures of routine - we like to wake up at the same time everyday, eat our meals at the same time everyday, go to sleep the same time everyday and sleep for similiar hours everyday. Even our body clock is geared to work in a routine.
For a moment lets try to fathom the other end of the spectrum - where change is the name of the game in the world. Where we appreciate and evaluate and adopt and celebrate the new ideas and their creators. Everyday will be unique. The car you bought a month earlier is outmode now as someone has invented a new technology which made the existing technology arcane and stupid. And the car company has created a new breed of vehicles which has made yours worthless.
If we look closely around us we can see both worlds in action. In fact I chose my illustration above to demonstrate one of these sub worlds. Cars and automotive industry has not changed fundamentally in close to a century. Cars burn the same fuel, move the same piston turn the same wheel. The size the efficiency and the make has varied but its essentially refining the same idea. On the other hand is my professional interest - information technology and what we can all relate to - electronics. The cell phone or camera or mp3 player you buy today will be sure to go outmode in a few months if not lesser. We have seen that we can live with both worlds. Change or acceptance of it in our modern worlds has another very important controlling factor - interests of important financial stake holders. We have seen that powerful stake holders can stem or stimulate changes.
In my opinion sports is a micro cosm of life. Sports is life in fast forward with huge stakes. Sports is a theater where every character is given a short time to play their character and make it or break it. And as such the incentive to go for the tried and trusted is even more. Specifically in the business of club soccer where sponsors are difficult to come by, change or innovation is risk amplified many times.
Repetition of ideas, as it already does, will see victors being chosen from a select group of contendors. Why? Victory reinforces the victor's finances and sways the neutral viewers. In club football finances the single most important factor is neutral viewers. They move merchandise, increase television viewership and in short swell club coffers. So if you use the same or similar tactics over and over again, similar systems will be played, similar attributes in players will be coveted and clubs will end up competing for the same few players. With the advent of power owners and super clubs these clubs end up getting snapped up by these few clubs - who win more, widening the gulf more.
So how does someone cross this gulf? I think the answer is very obvious and stares me in my face - the only way is to create a system that demands a different set of players and allows you to exist without competing from the common pool of players. This is a case where iconoclasm and heresy is not a way forward - its the only way forward.
Continuing my analysis further, how would the regular fan on the street react to this? He is schooled in the success of other clubs and in select cases his own - achieved using traditional means. He will see his clubs thunder being stolen by other clubs when they buy the keys to success - the traditional superstar players. He will cry blue murder when a traditional superstar becomes available and his club doesnt move a little finger to buy them. He will cry and whinge when his club goes collecting players that does not fit into his idea of a team. This will put into perspective the risk taken by a reformist or a change agent in club soccer. Failure will paint them as unappreciated knob heads who didnt have a clue. Success on the other hand will paint them as the second coming. But as we all know there is no certainties when it comes to results in soccer. You play the same two teams on ten different days, chances are high that the results won't repeat. Risks are huge and chances of success are slim.
What would you do? Take the tried and trusted route to mediocrity or give victory a chance and go down all guns blazing? I know what I will.
Lets look at the real world for parallels. In the automotive industry there are only 3-4 big players or winners. You and I can't float a company and expect to be succesful in this industry. But in the electronic industry we have seen a little more open competition. The late entrants have had better success as new ideas have better market. Soccer business is somewhere between these two industries. More of the same will see soccer tending towards automotive industry and I for one will not be a fan.
The whole industry is crying out for a change agent that can give the power back to the lesser clubs. One such experiment is taking place at the Arsenal FC with Arsene Wenger at the helm. More about that later.
History is rife with change agents who were misunderstood, mistrusted, feared and even burnt on a stake - but ultimately proven right; sometimes posthumously. Some of the most radical, life changing ideas have come from erstwhile heretics - telecommunications, electricity, astronomy you name it has come from a differently geared mind. If we for a moment try to think about the world without these once heretics/iconoclasts, we will still be in stone age. We will still be fighting the sabre tooths and mammoths for world dominance - world itself would be as wide as what our eyes can see and where our legs can take us. If we analyze a few commonly recognised 'virtues' we will find that change is loathed even in this most developed world of free men and thought. For instance Wiki defines discipline thus : To discipline means to instruct a person or animal to follow a particular code of conduct, or to adhere to a certain order. We are creatures of routine - we like to wake up at the same time everyday, eat our meals at the same time everyday, go to sleep the same time everyday and sleep for similiar hours everyday. Even our body clock is geared to work in a routine.
For a moment lets try to fathom the other end of the spectrum - where change is the name of the game in the world. Where we appreciate and evaluate and adopt and celebrate the new ideas and their creators. Everyday will be unique. The car you bought a month earlier is outmode now as someone has invented a new technology which made the existing technology arcane and stupid. And the car company has created a new breed of vehicles which has made yours worthless.
If we look closely around us we can see both worlds in action. In fact I chose my illustration above to demonstrate one of these sub worlds. Cars and automotive industry has not changed fundamentally in close to a century. Cars burn the same fuel, move the same piston turn the same wheel. The size the efficiency and the make has varied but its essentially refining the same idea. On the other hand is my professional interest - information technology and what we can all relate to - electronics. The cell phone or camera or mp3 player you buy today will be sure to go outmode in a few months if not lesser. We have seen that we can live with both worlds. Change or acceptance of it in our modern worlds has another very important controlling factor - interests of important financial stake holders. We have seen that powerful stake holders can stem or stimulate changes.
In my opinion sports is a micro cosm of life. Sports is life in fast forward with huge stakes. Sports is a theater where every character is given a short time to play their character and make it or break it. And as such the incentive to go for the tried and trusted is even more. Specifically in the business of club soccer where sponsors are difficult to come by, change or innovation is risk amplified many times.
Repetition of ideas, as it already does, will see victors being chosen from a select group of contendors. Why? Victory reinforces the victor's finances and sways the neutral viewers. In club football finances the single most important factor is neutral viewers. They move merchandise, increase television viewership and in short swell club coffers. So if you use the same or similar tactics over and over again, similar systems will be played, similar attributes in players will be coveted and clubs will end up competing for the same few players. With the advent of power owners and super clubs these clubs end up getting snapped up by these few clubs - who win more, widening the gulf more.
So how does someone cross this gulf? I think the answer is very obvious and stares me in my face - the only way is to create a system that demands a different set of players and allows you to exist without competing from the common pool of players. This is a case where iconoclasm and heresy is not a way forward - its the only way forward.
Continuing my analysis further, how would the regular fan on the street react to this? He is schooled in the success of other clubs and in select cases his own - achieved using traditional means. He will see his clubs thunder being stolen by other clubs when they buy the keys to success - the traditional superstar players. He will cry blue murder when a traditional superstar becomes available and his club doesnt move a little finger to buy them. He will cry and whinge when his club goes collecting players that does not fit into his idea of a team. This will put into perspective the risk taken by a reformist or a change agent in club soccer. Failure will paint them as unappreciated knob heads who didnt have a clue. Success on the other hand will paint them as the second coming. But as we all know there is no certainties when it comes to results in soccer. You play the same two teams on ten different days, chances are high that the results won't repeat. Risks are huge and chances of success are slim.
What would you do? Take the tried and trusted route to mediocrity or give victory a chance and go down all guns blazing? I know what I will.
Lets look at the real world for parallels. In the automotive industry there are only 3-4 big players or winners. You and I can't float a company and expect to be succesful in this industry. But in the electronic industry we have seen a little more open competition. The late entrants have had better success as new ideas have better market. Soccer business is somewhere between these two industries. More of the same will see soccer tending towards automotive industry and I for one will not be a fan.
The whole industry is crying out for a change agent that can give the power back to the lesser clubs. One such experiment is taking place at the Arsenal FC with Arsene Wenger at the helm. More about that later.
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