Disregarding discussions about refereeing and VAR, the EC has been fun. Do you know what’s so great about the EC? That England cannot buy Georgia’s left wing. Khvitsja Kvaratskhelia wreaked havoc as Georgia beat Portugal on Wednesday night. He is exactly what a dysfunctional English team needs: a strong dribbler who can hold the width of the left flank, cut inside and shoot with his right foot. If the EC had been like club football, England could have bought Kvaratskhelia and fixed the beef. The big ones win, the small ones lose. But now England must solve the problem with cleverness and tactical adjustments. It’s so much fairer that way. This may seem obvious, but the contrasts have never been greater between the European Championship and a club football that is becoming increasingly chaotic, complicated and bitter. So let’s say, just for fun, that the EC had been like club football. WILD SCENES: It really took off in Georgia when the national team beat the giant Portugal. Photo: Irakli Gedenidze / Reuters The money chaos Let’s say that England had bought Kvaratskhelia from Georgia. England win the next match, Georgia is eliminated. But now the floodgates are open. All the big teams buy the best players from the small nations. Soon the same teams win again and again. They become so good that they demand a separate tournament just for them, because they are the ones who draw the audience and therefore deserve the TV money. Let’s call this new tournament… The Superliga. But wait! The European Football Association (Uefa), which organizes the European Championship, has rules for how much money each nation can spend on players. Now Uefa believes that England have spent more than they are allowed to. England protest but are awarded a point penalty. They are furious. The discussion explodes: Was the punishment too severe? What about other teams that have spent a lot of money? NATIONAL TEAM MANAGER: Gareth Southgate leads a star-studded England. Photo: Arne Dedert / AP Before this, Uefa accused France of having broken the financial rules. Suddenly, France counters by suing Uefa because they think the rules are too strict. This leads to new debate among fans and commentators in the form of endless articles, theories, opinions and accusations. Fortunately, none of these things happen in the EC, because no one can spend money. But on the club side, this is now how football works. Selling hotels to himself This whole course of events has happened in the last three years. We got the attempt to create the Super League in 2021, a result of increasing economic inequalities that have made a bunch of teams extremely good. In 2022, the Premier League accused the big team Manchester City of breaking the rules, and just before the European Championship, City went to court against the Premier League due to rules on income from sponsorship agreements. LAWSUIT: Manchester City is in conflict with the Premier League and has gone to court. Photo: Lee Smith / Reuters This season, Everton were deducted eight points for spending too much money. Now several teams in the Premier League are in a hurry to get the numbers up by the end of the financial year at the end of June. They sell players to each other. Chelsea have sold two hotels to themselves. Both tricks exploit loopholes in the regulations. Is it legal? Is that fair? Since so much of sports is about how much money can be spent on players, the battle for revenue has become a game in itself. Legal starting line-up Especially in the Premier League, it can seem that the most important thing now happens off the pitch. The stars who can decide the fates of teams are lawyers. Lawyers were in action when Everton appealed and had their points penalty reduced. Lawyers will go into battle when City have to defend themselves against the accusations from the Premier League, which in theory could punish them with relegation. When the Premier League accused City of the breaches in 2022, fans lined up at the next home game with a banner paying tribute to Lord Pannick, the lawyer who will represent them in the hearing against the league this November. Before the EC, a City account published a “line-up” at X of the legal heavyweights who will fight for the club in the lawsuit against the Premier League. THE LINE-UP: These will be the lawyers working to exonerate Manchester City. Photo: Screenshot / X/Twitter Lite creates as much anger as these legal cases. The rivals believe that City have broken the rules and must be punished. City believe that the rules are unfair and that the rivals are colluding against them. There must be some rules, otherwise only the team with the richest owners wins. But these controversies are far removed from what football used to be about. Retains its best In many ways, EC reverses all modern trends. Suddenly it’s all about where the players come from. The first clubs were founded in England in the middle of the 19th century by people such as students and hospital workers. As a player, you represented an institution. When Liverpool faced Manchester United, the players played for their cities. NEW TIMES: The principle of playing for one’s cities has been completely watered down, writes Thore Haugstad. Photo: Dave Thompson / AP This principle has been watered down ever since Willie Groves became the first player to be bought for money, when he left West Brom for Aston Villa for £100 in 1893. Now it is rare for the top teams to use local players. Which is understandable when economic forces pull the best players towards the biggest clubs. And there is something fair about this too, in that the best should play for the best, no matter where they come from. But it has also made money the driving force for success. In the EC, everything becomes more even when all teams get to keep their best. Peels in store It has been pleasing to see how well the smaller nations have played. Only Scotland has been beaten (5–1), but it was with one man less against the hosts Germany. Slovakia has beaten Belgium. Slovenia managed 1–1 against England. On Wednesday, Georgia won 2–0 against Portugal. They would hardly have managed it without Kvaratskhelia, who scored one goal and wreaked havoc all evening. CELEBRATING SCENES: Underdog Georgia defeated Portugal on Wednesday. Photo: OZAN KOSE / AFP In the Champions League, it has become rare to see underdogs make it to the semi-finals. City and Real Madrid have met three years in a row. Here in the EC, we quickly get big surprises, both because four title candidates have ended up on the same side of the table, and because teams like Austria and Switzerland are good enough to beat the big powers. Along the way, we can concentrate on what is actually happening on the pitch. No one is accusing France of being a buying team. We don’t need a master’s degree in law to understand what’s going on. On Sunday, England will meet Slovakia in the round of 16. So far, in practice, they have played without a threat on the left wing, because Phil Foden moves inside all the time. Should they continue with Foden? Or use Anthony Gordon? Or change formation? Whatever England does, they cannot solve the problem with money. And thanks and praise for that. Published 30.06.2024, at 17.26
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That’s how good football is without buying – Football EC 2024
