Marco van Basten unimpressed with Neymar playacting
What do you get when five of the greatest soccer minds on the planet gather in a room for an hour? A thumbs up for VAR and a thumbs down for Neymar.
The use of the VAR system used for the first time at this World Cup “brings fairness” to soccer that has fueled the large number of set-piece goals, members of FIFA’s Technical Study Group revealed Wednesday.
“It brings development for the game and this brings fairness. Referees are human beings. They can make mistakes,” said former Brazil manager Carlos Alberto Parreira, who now heads FIFA’s Technical Study Group.
“I remember the [World Cup] final between West Germany and Holland in 1974. In the first minute there was a penalty against Holland. If this was nowadays, if you come to the VAR, it would not have happened. Now everybody respects [VAR]. They know it works.”
The group’s love of VAR was only one of several things the expert panel pointed to as positive development at this World Cup. The others included what they called the “Pep Guardiola effect,” England’s mastery at scoring from dead ball situations and Croatia’s grit.
Aside from Parreira, who coached Brazil to a World Cup title in 1994, the panel includes former Dutch star Marco van Basten, Bora Milutinovic, who coached five different teams at a World Cup finals, ex-Nigeria striker Emmanuel Amunike and former Scotland manager Andy Roxburgh.
The panel will assemble this weekend to determine who get a series of awards, including the tournament’s top player and goalkeeper. While FIFA said the panel would release a full report in September, its members weren’t shy about proclaiming the benefits of VAR at a news conference in the basement of Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.
Roxburgh said VAR was to be thanked for so many set-piece goals at this tournament.
“At this World Cup, the attention to detail on set plays has stood out,” he said. “In the last Euros, and even this season’s Champions League, a goal was scored every 45 corner kicks. Here in Russia, it has been one goal for every 30 corners.”
Roxburgh added that VAR’s influence wasn’t just there to minimize officiating errors.
“VAR is not only there to help minimize mistakes, but it also had a deterrent effect,” he said. “After the first few games, VAR has virtually eliminated tugging and pushing, which means players have more freedom to move [in the box]. Then it’s about the delivery of the ball. As my friend Sir Alex Ferguson once told me, ‘Delivery is everything. We have seen high quality delivery, movement and finishing ability.”
England, above all, have excelled at this over the past four weeks. The Three Lions have scored nine of their 12 goals from set pieces.
“That are teams pressing, attacking with and without the ball and taking care of the ball,” Roxburgh said. “A lot of the best players here in Russia play in the Champions League. In that competition, you see the effect of Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and [currently at] Manchester City. It has had impact on a lot of players and coaches. You see teams seeking to play out from the back but through the middle as well.”
As for Croatia, the panel said the team’s determination and stamina should be credited for helping them get to Sunday’s final against France.
“Linked with that is this ability to attack with Pep’s clear possession game, with the determination that once you lose the ball, you get it back immediately and then keep it again,” Roxburgh said during the hour-long news conference. “This philosophy and approach has had influence on a number of players and coaches here.”
Next: It’s okay to be happy for Croatia
Not everything was positive at this World Cup.
Amunike said “it was a disappointment” that no African teams progressed past the groups stage.
“There were a lot of expectations for the African teams to progress beyond what they had done at previous World Cups,” he added. “The truth is that football is developing and changing. We should embrace the responsibility to develop young generation.”
A black eye for the game was Brazil striker Neymar’s play acting. Van Basten said the PSG star’s constantly rolling around, which became an instant internet meme, was unnecessary.
“He makes people laugh as we have seen by all those things on social media,” van Basten said. “But for me, what I have seen from him is not a good attitude. As a player, you have to try to do your best and if you act too much it will not help you.”