Who's signing who?

It seemed as though as soon as the World Cup was over, the world of football returned to normal and everything I read was about who was signing who, as it invariably is at this time of year.  And of course, predominantly it’s about the big, powerful teams picking the bones of the smaller teams, the ones that punched above their weight.

That’s what I love about the World Cup and International football in general: that money has so much less of a bearing on success.   A 7-1 scoreline happening to a big team in Europe, would, at worst, result in a manager sacking and one of better pedigree coming in, who would then be provided with the funds to put it right.   Much more often than not, it would be put right, be it after a week, a month, a year or whatever; but everything is in place for it to happen, everything is in that big club’s favour, which is why the same clubs dominate year in, year out: the teams with money and tradition. 

But the problem of Brazil’s mystifying capitulation in the World Cup will have to be sorted from within.  A nation, however powerful, can’t just ‘buy’ players to put it right, there is no instant fix.  They’ve parted company with manager Scolari of course, but I believe that would’ve happened no matter what.  I predict there will be a long period of re-building and soul-searching before Brazil has any chance to return to the top.  I have no doubts that they will, eventually, but unlike in club football it will be down purely to hard work, along – of course – with getting the right players of the right quality together to play for that famous shirt again.

As for Germany: what worthy World Champions!  They did it playing the right way, with attacking and expansive football that is both easy on the eye and fascinating to watch.  Spain’s reign came emphatically to an end in Brazil, but don’t be at all surprised if this is the start of a new period of dominance by another of Europe’s powerhouses.  Playing like this, I don’t mind if they do.