The Red Yank Think Tank: Edition #7 – The Right to Stand?

The Red Yank Think Tank: Edition #7 – The Right to Stand?: "Lately there has been an issue thrust into the fore of the football community—at least the English football community. The rest of the wor..."

Edition #7 – The Right to Stand?

Lately there has been an issue thrust into the fore of the football community—at least the English football community.  The rest of the world doesn’t appear to be debating whether or not to allow standing areas in their stadiums.  So, what’s the big deal England?

Okay, calm down—that was tongue in cheek.  I understand the history behind the side of the debate that says ‘absolutely no’ to allowing standing room in stadiums.  From day one I have built this blog to deliver something different than what I’ve found out on the web to date.  Everyone has an opinion on the club, but not all of those opinions have to sound the same—so I’m not about to allow myself that luxury.

I want to tackle this with a little perspective; a little of my perspective, if you’ll indulge me.  I am an American; I grew up in farm country in the middle of nowhere.  I was born and bred a true American boy; I played and watched all American sports.  This may come as a surprise, but football isn’t considered an “American sport”.  I cannot tell you how many summer nights I spent at the local minor league baseball stadium following our local team.  Looking back it’s still easy to remember how bored I was, even as a serious fan, watching those games through my adolescent years.  Then something magical happened; I joined the United States Air Force and was sent to Germany as my first duty station.  There I had German friends who insisted their new American mate needed to see a football game.  I was 18 at the time, and sure that I wouldn’t enjoy this “sport”; quotes to denote the lack of serious consideration the game received from me, though I’d never watched or played it.  I finally gave in and attended my first match, which saw host 1FC Kaiserslautern beat FC Bayern Munich.  I don’t remember the score, but I do remember standing the entire game in the Weste Curve while 42,000+ Germans stood around me, drinking and singing songs I couldn’t understand for 90 minutes.  It was a revelation for me; I’d found something, forcibly or not, where the sport was the interest, not what happened in between television commercials or those annoying cheerleaders.  It was a new dawn for me and I have not turned back since the fateful day twenty plus years ago.

Why was that experience so enjoyable?  Surely I didn’t understand the game or even why beating this club from Munich was such a big deal.  Hell, I didn’t even know why clubs would put the words “Football Club” in their name at that point.  But I knew I’d just been exposed to a sport that was going to be a new part of the rest of my life.  My love for football quickly grew exponentially because of those early games at the Betzenburg, watching my first professional football team.  The passion that followed has been deep and consistent; I LIVE for football now.  It’s a part of my life 365 ¼ days a year and I attribute that to the early experiences of standing among all those life-long fans, learning about their club, their songs, and their culture. 

Would things have turned out differently if all of my early experiences had been sitting versus standing-experiences?  Would have I have jumped into following this sport had I taken a seat, passed bratwurst to my buddy and stood only during goal celebrations and the occasional rant at the referee?  There is no way to ever know the answer to that.  But I do know that following the sport is much different now in the all-seater world. 

Other countries still allow standing areas in their stadiums.  Before anyone slanders the countries who do allow it, consider who they are.  They are some of the most refined leagues on the content of Europe with football histories as steeped in tradition as the English.  Like many things in the world of football, Germany sets a good example; they have fans just as passionate as the English, just as in love with their clubs and their alcohol and stadia that are just as big/small/old and new.  The Germans are so smart that they have standing areas that are convert to seating areas for European nights!  The Germans (and others) stand week-in and week-out without incident.  Why couldn’t England?

The arguments are often based on emotion.  Lower leagues in England already (still) have standing areas.  The “study” by the licensing authority was hardly that; you need to look at more than ONE, modern stadium to make a determination.  It’s a ridiculously presumptuous statement when so severely restricting your research pool.  What if, all those years ago, I had given soccer one game to make an impression on me and I’d attended the dullest 0-0 draw imaginable?  I probably would have never returned if I’d limited myself to a one-off, right?  We have all seen plenty of stinkers of games where we question whether or not we truly had nothing else more pressing to do with those two hours of our lives, yet we come back each weekend.  Why is it any different when addressing the standing issue?  How does “studying” one stadium justify any rational argument against a return to standing?  The numbers do not support the myth that standing areas in stadiums are a dangerous venture.  Not every club is made equally and not every stadium is either. 

The challenge, then, is understanding the vociferous voices which preach a message of opposition to the idea of any return to standing.  One cannot help but feel for their position, because we know it comes from their heart and their hurt.  Too many bad memories are associated with the concept of standing areas and, like most tragic memories; the cultural impact is long-lasting and difficult to change.  There is no fault in taking that position; any humanist would easily understand it, but to limit the options of ALL football fans because of a relatively restricted population’s desires is unfair. 

Football associations should not be able to dictate policy on what is best for each club in regards to a policy.  What is good for one club or set of fans isn’t necessarily good for everyone.  Clubs should be given the power and freedom to decide for themselves what is best for their fans.  The fans should be able to tell their clubs what they want and what they think is best for them and the club they care about.  A general policy against standing areas blatantly ignores the restriction of flexibility for the clubs to build a business model which best suits them.  The policy restricts the ability of clubs to design a ticket and pricing policy which could realize financial gains those clubs can only dream about.  Additionally, if those voices continue to want to address the safety aspect; they need to research the types of standing areas currently being utilized around the world, many of which are much safer than thousands and thousands of fans who every Saturday continue to STAND in seating areas.  Until they conduct a fair consideration of what is working week-in and week-out around the world they need to stop standing themselves in seated areas while complaining about the danger associated with dedicated standing areas.  The nonsensical nature of those arguments is mind-boggling.

Many clubs and fans suffer when a governing body doggedly clings to a decision point without a greater effort to determine the fairness and viability of its own decision.  The policy is rooted in tragic events of history, before evolution of stadium safety, ticketing and oversight measures being used around the world today.  It is out-dated and unnecessary in many perspectives.  Time should be called on this restriction and bring the game back to what it was to allow a new generation of fans to fall in love with it in its natural state. 

Until we meet again,

The Red Yank

The Red Yank Think Tank: Edition #6 – Birmingham Recap

The Red Yank Think Tank: Edition #6 – Birmingham Recap: "A 5-0 score is a hell of a way to start a Saturday morning! Ugly goals, beautiful goals, movement and passing, pass and move; this game ha..."

Edition #6 – Birmingham Recap

A 5-0 score is a hell of a way to start a Saturday morning!  Ugly goals, beautiful goals, movement and passing, pass and move; this game had all of it.  Funny season, isn’t it?  Only a few short months ago we were languishing in mid-table, wishing for the season to be over by Christmas so we could start anew.  The savior came in and turned around a set of players, a club, millions of fans world-wide and an entire culture.  Since his reign started we have gone 8-3-3 and improved our goal difference from -3 to +12.

Of everything we saw today, one of the things that shown through was the unity in this squad that King Kenny has been able to muster since taking control.  As if the post-game celebrations last week at the Emirates weren’t enough of indication, seeing the way the guys moved together and played for each other today warmed the heart.  Maxi’s first goal came from a great sequence of movement from Flanagan to Suarez to Kuyt to Spearing before Maxi hustled the ball in off the rebound.  Kuyt’s work to get in position to support Suarez on the second was rewarded with one of the greatest ugly goals you’ll ever see, all due to his hustle.  The two young lads on the outside turned in equally different yet further respectable displays, with Flanagan taking the opportunities to get forward while Robinson’s hustle closed down any slight moves Birmingham tried to create.  The lasting bit of evidence of this in my mind was in the 85^th minute when Pepe collected the ball and pushed the pace up, distributing the ball like only he can.  He delivered the ball spot-on to Kuyt who got the ball to Cole for his first touch of awkward touches before scoring on a weak shot.  We were up 4-0 at that point; holding the ball and slowing the pace would have been the easy, common answer taken by the team of old.  But in a sign of things to come, a sign of the growing sense of a new dawn for Liverpool, we pushed on, not settling for a Rafa-style death of the game.  This is the type of killer instinct this club has needed for years.  This is the type of the thing that champions do; this will hopefully be the beginning of the new culture at the club.

Yes, this was a display of effort and hustled and common goal achievement.

This was a group of guys playing for the same thing.

This was a display of a group of players building towards a common goal.

This game showed that we Liverpool fans have much to look forward to over the summer and next season.  I, for one, can hardly wait. 

Until we meet again,

The Red Yank

Edition #5 – A Billion Ways to Shame

Ah, like a breath of fresh spring air, our beloved Reds swept through what semblance of a Manchester City squad sat in front of us last night.  When I say “sat”, I mean it; the City boys were as stagnant as standing water.  Their performance was disgusting (if I were a City fan) and horribly indicative of a team on the precipice of no return.  Surely I wasn’t the only one who saw the signs of a team leaning towards complete capitulation, was I? So much for a Billion dollars well-spent!

More importantly; how about our boys?  What a great night!  What a nice debut for Flanagan.  And the scoreboard reads:

Carroll/Suarez   4

Torres:                0   (Thank you Roman!)

We cannot possibly be happier about this budding relationship between Carroll and Suarez, could we?  Imagine all that we have to look forward to next season.  A huge shout-out to the big man for his ice-breaker performance!  It was easy to track his delayed reaction of utter joy after that first goal.  Initally he took off, controlled, calm, his arms spread in a t-shape; then the power of love from the Anfield crowd overtook him and his face cracked in that youthful smile, his run picked up pace and his triumphant fist-pump said ‘thank you’—I re-watched it three times for Carroll’s reaction alone.

Other notes from the sinking of the Billion Dollar Babies:  Jay Spearing was all over the place, covering every inch (I’m sorry, I’m American & incapable of spelling it out in metrics) of the field possible without (read Lucas) straying out of position.  He looked three steps quicker than his central midfield partner all game long.  Hopeful signs from the Liverpool lad!  Fabio Aurelio has not had a lot of love from me over the years, but showed solid signs upon his return.  His passing is rarely a problem, but his positioning and tackling typically is, but not tonight.  Staying in the back, did anyone notice Carra/Skrtel?  No?  Me either!! Wasn’t it nice to not sweat through clenched teeth as opposition strikers bullied our back men?  It was as if City played without strikers tonight.  And what can be said about young Flanagan except that he needs to grow some damn facial hair?!  Looking at the boy makes me feel old, very old.  What a debut; solid tracking, conservative runs and passing tact which shows promise.  He finished a little too aggressive in both his forward runs and closing down City players, making him susceptible to easy circumventing, but it was the boy’s debut.  Imagine; us with a home-grown youthful dilemma at Right Back next season between two young ones.  And at what cost to the club?  Arab billions?  We don’t need no stinkin’ Arab billions!

In a less positive note; those of you who know me know, though I’m outgrowing my dislike for Aurelio, I have not moved far in my position over Lucas.  He’s the most active Tweeter on the squad and I’m sure he’s a great guy and wonderful young father, but he still hasn’t sold me on the right to wear our colors.  Against City he lost his footing too easily each time a City player put a simple move on him and his work rate paled in comparison to Spearing’s own.  Worse still, what passes did he make that wetted the appetite and provided anything to our front men?  He plays in the center of the park!!  I have decided to find out WHY there is such a love-fest with Lucas from my Red Brothers and Sisters and the only way I could objectively do that is with numbers---after all, my heart tells me that he is a safe, decent player, but nothing more.  Surely the love so many Red men and women show him means I’m missing something.  But what?  So I decided to track everything he does, and doesn’t do, each game until the end of the season (if ESPN and Fox continue to show all LFC games).  It’s called my “Lucas Tracker” and here my first results from tonight’s game:

The Lucas Tracker

			FS		FC	SOT		Total Shots		Shooting %		Passes		Passes Complete		Passing %		Incisive Passes
11-Apr	Man City		0		1	0		2		0%		40		34		85%		0
Tackles		Successful Tackles		Tackling %			INT		Headers		Headers Won		Heading %		Dribbles		Completed Dribbles		Dribbling %
16		9		56%			4		6		3		50%		13		7		54%

FC-Fouls Committed/FS-Fouls Suffered/SOT-Shots on Target

So far the numbers hardly support the opinion of the Band of Lucas Lovers, at least for this game.  Twitter was alive with people promoting his play against City as one of his best games this season, so he’s either had a very bad year or people honestly believe he played well.  I, and my numbers, beg to differ.  Two horrible shots and barely half of his tackles, headers and dribbles were successful.  And before you try and justify his 85% passing rate consider what he actually does with the ball; it’s constantly going laterally or backwards.  Proof of his uninspired passing is seen in the fact that he didn’t have a single creative (incisive) pass in a game we completely dominated against a jaded team.  He just doesn’t bring anything to the side; at least Jonjo will try to break open a defense; at least Meireles can create and is dangerous into and around the box.  Lucas….well, he occupies space.

It’s time to sit Lucas; I’m still convinced of that.  There are only a handful of games left; let’s see what happens when we push Meireles in the middle and let him make those deep runs.  Or keep Meireles on the wing if we must and let Spearing and Shelvey begin what might be the next midfield pairing for the years to come.  We may never know what the young pair can do if we don’t try and we know for certain that Lucas is not Xabi or even Masch’s better-looking-but-crappier-footballing-cousin.  I just hope that whatever King Kenny’s plans are for the wings in the off-season they involve some form or fashion to get Meireles off the periphery. 

But, alas, even Lucas cannot dampen my spirits tonight.  All signs are pointing in the right direction and have made it so incredibly easy to forget what I saw last week against West Brom.  I, for one, never want to see another episode of This Greek Tragedy again this season.  A longer-term contract should not be long in coming….King Kenny definitely has us moving in the right direction, so……

Until we meet again,

The Red Yank