Observations about UEFA 2008

[perspolees]

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The bauty of Hiddink's job, is that :
1- He gets results fast, even on his first year.
2-Does not neccessarly need top talents.
3-Is used to different cultures .
4-Has learned, not just what wins in Europe, but also, what is it that other places do not do.
I remember the legendary coach of 49ers, Bill walsh, once said, that majority of coaches lose thier jobs, for some small details.....
It is matter of where to put the emphasise.

lol what a comparison
on a well oiled and well organized giant that would spend millions on a ready bed that all the BASICS and the ADVANCED pieces of football art was evident ( read Walsh's 49ers or for that matter even the rest of the NFL) ofcourse it is the detail that matters

for a place that lacks foundation and basics, details are just hot air waiting to be explored in half a century when and if the basics and the foundation is really laid out!

[perspolees]

I hmbely request if you watch this game and really pay attention. Watch how Russia plays, you will see everything here:
Offensive Transition
Defensive Transition
Movement without the ball, watch both Russia's goals
Excellence in coaching, how Guss Hidding has transformed Russian team to come back from a trashing 4-1 defeat by Spain and trash Sweden 2-0. Beleive me, without exageration this game could have been 6-1 or 5-1 for Russia.
Russian made GODS of football happy. Johan Cryff focus on beautiful game was what Russian team displayed last night.
I promised to write about UEFA and specailly Greeks, Austria, Turks, Swiss since these teams are more at our level of football and their approach to the tournament. I wasnt' able to do that, in part due to huge work volume and then 4 hours a day watching the UEFA games. But I will get to it.
I can write volumes about Russia Sweden game, but got to get back to work ( I have a deadline for this weekend), but I had to post this, until the Russia Sweden game is freash in everyone's mind. Like I said there is so much one can write about magnificant Russian team. But I focus on one element GUSS Hidding's role as the head coach.
In many of the threads in F+, I see a lot of comments like this "Impact of head coach isn't a lot" and then they bring examples of IFF and Iran's shortcomings in general to explain poor results in out football. I tended to generally think like that as well.
After watching the game last night, revised my opinion. Role of a head coach is amazing and is much more than I realized.
Hidding was able to bring a decimated Russian team from a 4-1 loss to Spain and make them play like that. These are the same players, same team. See the improvements with your own eyes.
During the game, the ESPN comentator was saying, Russian fans say " In Guss, we beleive" (as a back ground, the original phrase is from the quote on the back of the dollar bills in the United State " In God, We Trust").
To you guys, it may seems insignificat that fans say "In Guss, we trust", but to me, it shows what kind of environment Guss Hidding has created around the Russian Natioanl team. The enviroment that brews confidence and respect for the head coach. In this enviroment, there is no room of self centerisem, lazyness, .... etc. etc.
Russia will play Holland in Quarter final. Holland in this tournament trashed Italy and France, so they aren't a push over to say the least. Wait for the prettiest game in the UEFA when Russia, Holland play.
I am not that naive to think based on one performance Russian will be this and that. Maybe all of this will be a fluke and just one excellent performance from Russia. Somehow I think there is more than that. I wouldn't even be surprised to see if Russia with a bit of luck will win the whole thing.
Still there is so much to write about the Greek and Turkish approach to the UEFA,which I think is very applicable to Iran's natioal team. To me the way, we played in WC 2006 was the way Greeks played in this tournament (not to mention the weak goalie that Greeks brought by themselves).

I truly enjoyed the russians and they really showed their depth against Holland. Amazing game plan and talent this team has. But:
This is exactly what I mean when I argue against foreigner big name coaches for TM!
In russia and in t hat talent and organization you would be able to see the mastery of lord hiddink!
in the chaos and unprofessional bed that lacks infrastructure called Iran's football you would see nothing from Hiddink! it would be like daei or ghalemorghi runnig the show...

after all it does not matter what pixel camera you have if you do not have the LCD or the printer to bring it out!