Topic: Blatter criticises England, and Chelsea.

[Saracen Salcano]

http://www.tagesspiegel.de/sport/archiv/29.06.2006/2627975.asp

Sepp Blatter hit out in an interview in German newspaper Tagesspiegel, critisising England's style of play and Formation.

Regarding his thoughts on the world cup so far the FIFA President said he was happy that football is being played with panache and freedom from the remaining world cup winning hopefuls, apart from England:

"I am happy that the football is very offensive. The only exception is England, who fielded just one striker in their second-round match," said Blatter. "That is not the kind of offensive football you would expect from a title contender. Thier football is the only one I find quite poor"

In a remarkable interview, he also accuses Chelsea of spoiling the natural love of football in England by simply buying it, unbelievably comparing it to prostitution:

"The greed in football is exemplified by Chelsea, London. The love that England has for its club sides has turned to hate because Abramovich has bought the love of the chelsea fan like a prostitute. There Stadia is similar to a Brothel"

[Ben S]

"The greed in football is exemplified by Chelsea, London. The love that England has for its club sides has turned to hate because Abramovich has bought the love of the chelsea fan like a prostitute. There Stadia is similar to a Brothel"

Does that mean Rooney will want to be going there?

[anon-y-mouse]

Blatter talking sense for once.

[buzzing]

Blatter talking sense for once.

[The Fletcher Memorial]

hah, he's a c*nt, but well in for pissing the people off I want pissed off.

[Guz-kop]

Blatter talking sense for once.

Still a twat

[pistol]

Just said what we're all thinking....

[mobydick]

Blatter talking sense for once.

Maybe.

But to borrow a phrase from Tony Benn

Some people are Weathercocks and some people are Signposts.

Blatter is a Weathercock.

[nidgemo]

In a remarkable interview, he also accuses Chelsea of spoiling the natural love of football in England by simply buying it, unbelievably comparing it to prostitution:

What's unbelievable about that. It IS what it's like.

[Scarlet`]

Well, to be fair, England basically has 2 strikers left in their squad

Loved what he said about Stamford Bridge though let's make a song...

(For he's a jolly good fellow)
Blatter calls this place a brothel,
Blatter calls this place a brothel,
Blatter calls this place a brotheeeeeel,
Because it's full of whores!

[pistol]

The only thing thats unbelievable is that someone in a position of power had the guts to say it, though he does tend to spout shite a little too often, so it'll probably be forgotten quite quickly.

[stoa]

I can see where he's going with that Chelsea-thing. That's quite reasonable, but the stuff about England and playing with just one striker is just bollocks. They haven't played well, but I don't think it has to do anything with playing only one 'real' striker. There is still much attacking power in midfield, but it just hasn't worked out (yet).

By saying that stuff he just seems like one of those people who have absolutely no clue about football and tactical formations. Just because there's only one striker on the teamsheet doesn't necessarily mean the team doesn't want to attack. How often have we been accused of playing defensive football last season, when we only used Crouch in attack, and still we played decent attacking football with just one striker...

[The Cappuccino Kid]

I can see where he's going with that Chelsea-thing. That's quite reasonable, but the stuff about England and playing with just one striker is just bollocks. They haven't played well, but I don't think it has to do anything with playing only one 'real' striker. There is still much attacking power in midfield, but it just hasn't worked out (yet).

By saying that stuff he just seems like one of those people who have absolutely no clue about football and tactical formations. Just because there's only one striker on the teamsheet doesn't necessarily mean the team doesn't want to attack. How often have we been accused of playing defensive football last season, when we only used Crouch in attack, and still we played decent attacking football with just one striker...

Exactly. Wouldn't exactly call myself an England but 4-5-1 can be an attacking formation providing you have two wingers who'll get forward and a midfielder who'll get forward at every oppurtunity. Just because you have one striker, it doesn't mean that it's a negative formation. Blatter is a clueless prick.

[mobydick]

Beckenbauer has already contradicted him, saying it's easy to sit in the stands and criticize when you have no responsibility.

[cornelius]

Blatter talking sense for once.

Really? Because he said this...

Regarding his thoughts on the world cup so far the FIFA President said he was happy that football is being played with panache and freedom from the remaining world cup winning hopefuls, apart from England:

"I am happy that the football is very offensive. The only exception is England,

...and that's funny because I could have sworn I saw the fat, free-loading c*nt at the Switzerland-Ukraine match and if ever a team was happy to play for penalties it was his nation. What a fucking hypocrite.

I mean he's talking shite because let's be honest none of the knockout games were particularly special and I doubt they'll live long in the memory.

There have been some superb goals in this tournament (as there always is) but Germany 2006 has been anything but a classic world cup so far. Possibly because of the shite refereeing which is party Blatter's own fault.

[Notayesman]

Blatter needs to get his own house in order before he starts dishing out the criticism. This guy is a prick of the highest order and is as bad for football as Chelsea and all their millions.

[Withnail]

just for once, everything he says in this case is true.
England have offered fuck all going forward, and chelsea are soulless slags.

[stoa]

"The greed in football is exemplified by Chelsea, London. The love that England has for its club sides has turned to hate because Abramovich has bought the love of the chelsea fan like a prostitute. There Stadia is similar to a Brothel"

I've read the original article now and can't find that Brothel-remark. Might be that that was edited out or that it was in the print-edition, but in that online-interview there's no remark about Stamford Bridge being a brothel. Just the usual stuff, about Chelsea buying players and the big clubs getting too much money...

[mobydick]

Reading the article, this answer to a question gives me more cause for concern.

Pretty soon Sepp will have us playing in enclosed stadia on plastic pitches, with a Coca Cola ball and Ronald McDonald as the referee. All this and no contact with the opposing players.

Was funktioniert nicht?

Wo? Hier bei der WM?

Ja, hier.

Der Rasen ist in einigen Stadien ein Ärgernis. In den steilen Arenen bekommt er zu wenig Luft und Sonne, darum vertrocknen die Halme. In der Schweiz liegt schon Kunstrasen, das ist die Zukunft.

Translation...........

Question..What is not working?

Answer....Where? Here at this World Cup?

.....Yes


Answer...... The grass in some stadiums is a nuisance /annoyance, In these steep arena the grass doesn't get enough sun or wind thus the grass is drying out. In Switzerland they have already laid Astroturf, that is the future 

[StevieG26]

Astroturf? Oh my God...







This guy seriously needs to get laid.

[SMD]

Someone ought to point out to him how many strikers France fielded.

[Tom_B]

First thing Blatter has said recently I have agreed with. Thing is, if anyone is in a position to actually do something about Chelsea's spending its him. He can't care that much.

[Something Else]

First thing Blatter has said recently I have agreed with. Thing is, if anyone is in a position to actually do something about Chelsea's spending its him. He can't care that much.

what can he realisticaly do though

[byrnetred]

First thing Blatter has said recently I have agreed with. Thing is, if anyone is in a position to actually do something about Chelsea's spending its him. He can't care that much.

he is probably pissed off that he is not getting a cut in the transfer dealings...

[hoonin]

Its worth reading the full article if you can. Not sure who translated and paraphrased the original, but its a little misleading in some parts and outright fabricated in others, as I understand it anyway.

Blatter also talks about Argentina playing with a 5 man defense against Mexico and talks about mistakes made by goalkeeprs, particularl from African and Asian teams. All this is in the context of the question of "How has the game changed?"

Regarding Chelsea, theres no mention of Abramovich or Chelsea being like a brothel. Where did that come from All I can see it Blatter talking about money, two tiers of football and the fact Chelsea can only play 11 players in a game.

[Gnurglan]

"I am happy that the football is very offensive. The only exception is England, who fielded just one striker in their second-round match," said Blatter. "That is not the kind of offensive football you would expect from a title contender. Thier football is the only one I find quite poor"

So the number of strikers says it all about how attacking minded a side is? Oh, dear. Didn't Rafa say someting like "it doesn't matter how many you play up front, what matters is how many players you have in the box"? I know which man I agree with and as so many times before, it's not Blatter.   

[mobydick]

Ich würde das nicht Schwarzmarkt nennen, das ist der offene Markt. In Zukunft kümmern wir uns selbst um den Ticketverkauf. Der wird 2010 vorrangig über Tourvermarkter abgewickelt, die gleichzeitig Reisen und Unterkünfte anbieten.

Translation......

I wouldn't call it the Black Market, it was an open Market. In the future we will take control of the ticket sales. Sales in 2010 will be undertaken predominately by tour operators, who will be selling them as a package with accommodation.

Found this intersting too.

This answer came about after a question about the safety controls and the checking of personal details at the turnstile. This system, it was felt would have been mostly unworkable, so  it was discarded. This then obviously opened the gate for the black market normal business of selling tickets on, like for a Pop concert, which Sepp Blatter sees as normal. Only because reality set in and people could buy and sell tickets, were the Stadia full., he goes on to say.He futher defines the black market as the sale of tickets by FIFA employees and anyone else who was supplied with tickets through FIFA (or the DFB I presume)


Any way, they'll be no camping in South Africa. By order of Sepp, unless it's a FIFA Campsite

[afc tukrish]

something appears possibly to have been lost in translation, but Blatter criticising Chelsea's monetary obsession, given his and his esteemed predecessor Joao Havelange's role in bringing about and trumpeting world-wide corporate football is a little rich.

i usually prefer my hypocrisy slightly diluted...

[Branno]

"I am happy that the football is very offensive"

Despite it being the second lowest scoring World Cup (Italia 90 No.1) Goals per game ratio 

[hoonin]

Any way, they'll be no camping in South Africa. By oder of Sepp, unless it's a FIFA Campsite

Oder?

[smicer07]

He's spot on for a change, England are wank.

[mobydick]

Oder?

Freudian slip

[Tom_B]

what can he realisticaly do though

Salary Cap, Spending Cap, Limit Debt, I know its not just as easy as saying it, but its not like there is no way round it. And I know all of these 3 ideas are flawed, but they are there nonetheless.

[Mouth]

Translation......

I wouldn't call it the Black Market, it was an open Market. In the future we will take control of the ticket sales. Sales in 2010 will be undertaken predominately by tour operators, who will be selling them as a package with accommodation.

Thats very interesting in light of the recent Panorama about him being under investigation for corruption. I seem to recall one of the officials who was under the spotlight was Jack Warner, President of CONCACAF
Turned out among other dodgy things he got up to (like vote rigging Blatters election) he owned the travel agent in Trinidad that, shock horror, got the exclusive allocation tickets for this world cup and was selling them as a package deal.

[mobydick]

Thats very interesting in light of the recent Panorama about him being under investigation for corruption. I seem to recall one of the officials who was under the spotlight was Jack Warner, President of CONCACAF
Turned out among other dodgy things he got up to (like vote rigging Blatters election) he owned the travel agent in Trinidad that, shock horror, got the exclusive allocation tickets for this world cup and was selling them as a package deal.

Warner was also mentioned in the interview, in connection with the sale of tickets at inflated prices. Apparently the travel agency belonged to his family. He testified before the ethics committee that he had given up his interests and connection to the travel agency and in the light of that FIFA dropped the charges against him. 

You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.