Kalac says: Italian football is better
Roar Rookie By David Sygall, 6 May 2007 David Sygall is a Roar Rookie
Zeljko Kalac must have plenty of confidence. Despite being known to most Australians as the goalkeeper that nearly fumbled away the Socceroos World Cup match against Croatia, he continues to make waves with both his hands and his mouth.
This time he’s got England muttering. Kalac, who is AC Milan’s reserve goalkeeper, took the opportunity to have a good old swipe at the Poms after Milan’s crushing 3-0 UEFA Champions League semi final on Wednesday, saying that the Italian game was much better than the English brand.
Kalac, who retired from international football in October, claims the Italian style is “technically and tactically better” than the “predictable” standard of football played in England.
Is he right?
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May 7th 2007 @ 10:34am
sheek said | May 7th 2007 @ 10:34am | Report comment
My Football/Soccer mates tell me the English Premier League is now the ‘gun’ comp, with many of the world’s best players involved. However, the EPL might be in danger of going the same way as the Spanish PL in the 1970-80s & Italian PL in the 1980-90s.
That is, with so many talented overseas players in their club ranks, while this boosts the comp domestically, it doesn’t necessarily help the national team, because local talent is submerged by outsiders. Apparently Chelsea rarely has an Englishman in its strarting XI these days.
i know it’s called “restraint of trade” to do so otherwise, but frankly, I think leading countries would do themselves a favour by limiting the number of overseas players on their roster. I don’t know what would be an acceptable figure – say overseas players 4 per local team?
With more specific reference to Kalic’s comments, italy has always been respected for its technical & tactical know-how. However, this doesn’t always transfer to regular International success, Spain being a particular case in point.
Each country has its own style mostly, & that must be a good thing. In England, they like helter-skelter Football. I probably don’t watch EPL often enough to say definetely one way or the other, that it’s predictable. I think Kalic might be exaggerating a bit!
May 7th 2007 @ 1:26pm
Greg said | May 7th 2007 @ 1:26pm | Report comment
The English FA have decided that they would rather reap the benefits of a successful domestic league than focus on its national side. The development of talent in England sure is a worry because young English players do struggle to get a run in a Premier League side.
Teams like Chelsea do have a few (Joe Cole, Terry & Lampard come to mind) but these players are established players who are already in the national team. A team like Arsenal has lost pretty much all of its English players and this has only been the case in the last 5 or so years. Back then they had the likes of Parlour, Dixon, Seaman, Ashley Cole, Campbell, Adams, Keown now Theo Walcott is the only player who gets a run and he is not a regular.
The English FA should do something to stop this, but as soon as you restrict the amount of foriegn players in a squad you decrease the standard, and the FA are keen for the Premier League to be the premier domestic comp in the world. I guess their argument is that young English players can earn their stripes in the Championship and other lower leagues (there are 4 leagues below the Premier League) and if they show potential they will be picked up by a Premier League team (like Walcott was with Arsenal). Problem is there is a huge step up from the Championship to the Premiership.
As for Kalac’s comments, he probably has a point that the Italian league is the most skillfull, but really it is just a different style. A lot of the games are more defensive with counter attacks but the players are very technically gifted. The Premier league often has a more work horse image of getting the job done but in a more physical and routine way. But to say it is preticable is selling the competition short – it is clearly in the top 3 leagues in the world with the Spanish and Italians. I guess it is up to personal choice.
Sheek, I don’t think you can call it the “gun comp” in terms of anything but viewing numbers. The Italian and Spanish leagues have as many super stars in its ranks too. But I love the Premier League the best beacause its what gets the most coverage and I can watch the most amount of games and really follow the comp.
May 8th 2007 @ 12:10pm
sheek said | May 8th 2007 @ 12:10pm | Report comment
Yeah Greg,
I think my workmates meant the EPL was ‘gun’ in terms of the interest it generated. And it was probably arsenal, not Chelsea i was thinking of, that had no starting Englishmen. Obviously, my handle on football is not as strong as the Rugby codes or Cricket.
Call me old fashioned, but if I want to watch the English PL, I want to see mostly Englishmen running around; if I watch the Italian PL, I want to see mostly Italians running around; etc, etc.
If I watch the A-league, I hope the majority of players are Australian. I don’t mind a small percentage of foreign players in each comp, but the overwhelming majority should come from the home country.
And I dispute it might be restraint of trade. There’s plenty of money around, it just needs to be distributed more evenly, but never is, of course!
May 8th 2007 @ 6:07pm
Dave said | May 8th 2007 @ 6:07pm | Report comment
I think now that Australians will get to see more of other leagues, such as the Italian, Spanish and Argentinian leagues – instead of just the EPL, like we used to – they will get a much wider perpective on the world of football. We used to only see the English league and were quick to judge it to be the best in the world. Pay tv has changed all that.
I haven’t seen much Italian football over the years. But, from what I have seen, Kalac definitely has a point..