spain on a plane
SPAIN V ITALY.
so the match was basically during my flight. I watched about the first 15 minutes from a bar in the terminal with an English guy (I was wearing my Villa jersey). I basically ran to the tv from security and as I sat down he turned to me, unprompted, and said, "they're playing abut six wingers." He was flying out to Shanghai, so he was going to miss England's game because he'd be in the air. He was very understanding of me as I swore a lot and we talked a little bit about Villa's injuries/my feelings of tragedy.
then I ran to my gate to board and as I'm boarding, this guy in a USMNT jersey asked me how the game was going and I was like "so tense I am going to die if I can't get ESPN on the tv in the cabin." It was really great to have those moments while I was traveling. It can be so bleak and depersonalized and just, I don't know, grim to fly. I travel so much I sometimes feel really rootless, also, so it was great to have those two conversations in the airport, while I was panicking about Spain, while my phone was out of batteries so I couldn't frantically text my sister. It made me feel grounded, connected. It was one of those moments where you really do see what's great about sports - not the grand gestures or whatever but the way my jersey and my interest made a connection with both of them that was strong enough to overcome the isolation and distrust that airports create.
ANYWAY SO THE GAME. fkldgjldfkgjlfkdg. I have had feelings about Spain's striker situations since basically I was born. I still think and will probably always think that Fernando Torres cannot be played as a lone striker. So I do understand the logic of the starting formation - in fact, I liked it a lot. But the attack still needs a terminus, it needs someone in the goddamn box if only to help spilt the defense. IT NEEDS DAVID VILLA OK MY FEELINGS OVERFLOW. absent medical miracles however I will say that if we're going the F. Torres route I'd like to see him played off another striker. If he's going to be a bit more deep-lying (which it seemed to me to be where he was playing?) I would like to see us bring a winger in the side of the box, in front of Torres. If we are going Torres-less, I don't know.
I also missed Sergio marauding up the wings. I KNOW HE'S A CENTER BACK NOW BUT. he provided some much width! he gave the attack a lot more direction, too. It's hard to fuck around with endless triangle passes in a ten foot radius when Sergio Ramos is galavanting along. He is going places and those places are the motherfucking goal. idk, at World Cup, despite the win, I thought we often looked very direcitonless and...not listless but, I don't know, there's a kind of masturbatory pointlessness to all that passing. I miss the way we played at Euro 2008 - I miss the fire and brimestone and the endless, building forward motion to the goal.
On a more positive note, I have a ton of faith in this team's ability to improve over the course of a tournament. I think it's very telling that when Italy scored, rather than shifting the momentum or breaking Spain's spirit even a little but they responded with a goal. They need to score, so they did. Although I wish that impetus had come a little sooner, or more often, that is how champions play. They don't break down; they redouble their efforts and they get shit down.
Italy were a good team, and I enjoyed watching them play. I think the draw was deserved, and I'm not worried at all about Ireland or Croatia - we'll get out of the group, and get stronger as we go. I just hope we figure out how to get our deadly efficiency back before we face a serious opponent in the knockout rounds.
so the match was basically during my flight. I watched about the first 15 minutes from a bar in the terminal with an English guy (I was wearing my Villa jersey). I basically ran to the tv from security and as I sat down he turned to me, unprompted, and said, "they're playing abut six wingers." He was flying out to Shanghai, so he was going to miss England's game because he'd be in the air. He was very understanding of me as I swore a lot and we talked a little bit about Villa's injuries/my feelings of tragedy.
then I ran to my gate to board and as I'm boarding, this guy in a USMNT jersey asked me how the game was going and I was like "so tense I am going to die if I can't get ESPN on the tv in the cabin." It was really great to have those moments while I was traveling. It can be so bleak and depersonalized and just, I don't know, grim to fly. I travel so much I sometimes feel really rootless, also, so it was great to have those two conversations in the airport, while I was panicking about Spain, while my phone was out of batteries so I couldn't frantically text my sister. It made me feel grounded, connected. It was one of those moments where you really do see what's great about sports - not the grand gestures or whatever but the way my jersey and my interest made a connection with both of them that was strong enough to overcome the isolation and distrust that airports create.
ANYWAY SO THE GAME. fkldgjldfkgjlfkdg. I have had feelings about Spain's striker situations since basically I was born. I still think and will probably always think that Fernando Torres cannot be played as a lone striker. So I do understand the logic of the starting formation - in fact, I liked it a lot. But the attack still needs a terminus, it needs someone in the goddamn box if only to help spilt the defense. IT NEEDS DAVID VILLA OK MY FEELINGS OVERFLOW. absent medical miracles however I will say that if we're going the F. Torres route I'd like to see him played off another striker. If he's going to be a bit more deep-lying (which it seemed to me to be where he was playing?) I would like to see us bring a winger in the side of the box, in front of Torres. If we are going Torres-less, I don't know.
I also missed Sergio marauding up the wings. I KNOW HE'S A CENTER BACK NOW BUT. he provided some much width! he gave the attack a lot more direction, too. It's hard to fuck around with endless triangle passes in a ten foot radius when Sergio Ramos is galavanting along. He is going places and those places are the motherfucking goal. idk, at World Cup, despite the win, I thought we often looked very direcitonless and...not listless but, I don't know, there's a kind of masturbatory pointlessness to all that passing. I miss the way we played at Euro 2008 - I miss the fire and brimestone and the endless, building forward motion to the goal.
On a more positive note, I have a ton of faith in this team's ability to improve over the course of a tournament. I think it's very telling that when Italy scored, rather than shifting the momentum or breaking Spain's spirit even a little but they responded with a goal. They need to score, so they did. Although I wish that impetus had come a little sooner, or more often, that is how champions play. They don't break down; they redouble their efforts and they get shit down.
Italy were a good team, and I enjoyed watching them play. I think the draw was deserved, and I'm not worried at all about Ireland or Croatia - we'll get out of the group, and get stronger as we go. I just hope we figure out how to get our deadly efficiency back before we face a serious opponent in the knockout rounds.