The Brazil 2014 World Cup was one of the best and most entertaining in recent times. It had close to the highest amount of goals for the tournament, it had great teams that made it a very open competition and it produced matches that will be remembered as classics. However, it didn't have two things that come hand in hand with most World Cups, an outright outstanding player and a completely dominant team. When you think of great World Cup players you think about Rossi in 82', Maradona in 86', Romario in 94' or Ronaldo in 98', all FIFA Golden Ball winners. When you think of dominant team performances you think about Italy 34', Brazil 70', Germany 74', Argentina 78' or Spain 10'. In 2014, it was Germany who won the trophy and Lionel Messi who won the Golden Ball, two facts that the stats and figures don't support. Most fans were satisfied with Brazil 2014 but I think it could have been even better. I believe that player fatigue hampered both team and individual performances at this year's World Cup and that FIFA should consider a change to its calendar for the season before the tournament.
The pinnacle of world football for me is the World Cup, nothing comes close. When a player is just starting their career in the junior teams and dreams of making it big, their ultimate goal is to one day lift the World Cup trophy. In saying that, when the World Cup tournament comes around every four years, I want to see the best that football has to offer, the top players and the best team performances. The truth is that once the World Cup comes around a lot of the players are tired, fatigued and at times injured following a long and strenuous season. In the twelve months prior to the World Cup the top five players in the world were arguably Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribery, Luis Suarez and Radamel Falcao. Out of those five, only Messi reached the World Cup at "100%" and even then he looked tired on the pitch. Ribery and Falcao were ruled out before the tournament began with injuries. Luis Suarez had a knee operation weeks before the start of the tournament and barely made it, he still played well. Ronaldo had a knee injury for most of the last few weeks of the season that he carried into the World Cup, he did not have the impact he usually does and Portugal did not qualify for the knockout rounds. Then there's the matter of Messi, even though he won the tournament's best player award he looked tired on the pitch and many times was criticised for walking when he should have been chasing after the ball. Most of his goals came from either set pieces or well placed shots at walking pace. We did not see his trademark long dribbles or quick one-twos.
As for the team performances... there were more than a couple of teams that had good showings and were considered contenders throughout the tournament but there wasn't a stand out team. Even though Germany impressed a lot and ultimately won, people forget that they nearly lost to Ghana in the group stage and were almost eliminated by Algeria in the round of 16. Argentina seemed to have most of their matches under control but they didn't impress in the group stage and only qualified to the knockout stages thanks to some brilliance from Lionel Messi. In the knockout rounds Argentina were more solid but still found it extremely hard to break down the opposition and find the back of the net, 3 out of 4 of their knockout round matches went to extra time or penalties. The best of the rest, the Netherlands, Brazil, France and Colombia, were too inconsistent where most had blistering starts to the tournament but then started to fade. Netherlands were the biggest mixed bag, smashing the former world champions Spain 5-1 in their opening match but then struggling in the knockout stages before defeating Brazil comfortably in the third place playoff. There were plenty of good team performances in the tournament but far too inconsistent and which in turn hurt a lot of individual performances.
My proposal... FIFA should cut down the footballing calendar leading up to a World Cup. Players that play for the top clubs in the world and take part in many competitions play far too many games to be at the top of their game at all times. Players such as Messi, Ronaldo, Di Maria, Khedira or Costa would have played more than 50 games in the year prior to the World Cup. A lot of top clubs play up to four competitions throughout the season including the league, national and continental cup competitions. FIFA could remove the continental cup competition (i.e. Champions League) and the lesser national cup (i.e. English league cup) in the season leading up to the World Cup. This would mean that even the top clubs would play at most two competitions, the league of course and the country's most prestigious cup competition (i.e. the FA Cup or Copa Del Rey). The players would then reach the biggest football stage of all, the World Cup, in better shape. National squads could also have more training sessions as the players wouldn't be as busy as normal. Another option would be to stage the World Cup at a later date to "open" the season so to speak, instead of "closing" it. Hosting the World Cup in July-August instead of June would give the players a longer break leading up to the tournament to rest and give the national squads more time to gel.
Of course I find it hard to see FIFA make such drastic changes as unfortunately in football, money talks. As the footballing calendar becomes more and more congested we are likely to continue seeing disappointing performances in big games and especially at World Cups.
My proposal... FIFA should cut down the footballing calendar leading up to a World Cup. Players that play for the top clubs in the world and take part in many competitions play far too many games to be at the top of their game at all times. Players such as Messi, Ronaldo, Di Maria, Khedira or Costa would have played more than 50 games in the year prior to the World Cup. A lot of top clubs play up to four competitions throughout the season including the league, national and continental cup competitions. FIFA could remove the continental cup competition (i.e. Champions League) and the lesser national cup (i.e. English league cup) in the season leading up to the World Cup. This would mean that even the top clubs would play at most two competitions, the league of course and the country's most prestigious cup competition (i.e. the FA Cup or Copa Del Rey). The players would then reach the biggest football stage of all, the World Cup, in better shape. National squads could also have more training sessions as the players wouldn't be as busy as normal. Another option would be to stage the World Cup at a later date to "open" the season so to speak, instead of "closing" it. Hosting the World Cup in July-August instead of June would give the players a longer break leading up to the tournament to rest and give the national squads more time to gel.
Of course I find it hard to see FIFA make such drastic changes as unfortunately in football, money talks. As the footballing calendar becomes more and more congested we are likely to continue seeing disappointing performances in big games and especially at World Cups.
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