THE FINISHED ARTICLE

Welcome to The Finished Article (The FA) where every fortnight you'll find my take on the past couple of weeks in the world of football. I'll be discussing the major issues at hand and inviting you to give me your take in the forum on the relevant topics as well as any others that are of interest to you. Unlike The FA who reside in Soho Square, I promise not to be indecisive and inconsistent when it comes to telling it how it is.

In addition to the main issues of discussion The Finished Article will aim to introduce you to some of the many talented players around the world who are likely to be household names sometime in the future. You can impress your friends with your extensive knowledge of the world game courtesy of The Finished Article, or maybe they’ll think you should get out more. Either way it’ll be a talking point.

MY CLUB OR MY COUNTRY?

Let me put my cards on the table from the off; playing international football was my biggest dream as a youngster. I’m still young but that ship has sailed for me. Maybe it was my lack of enthusiasm for running without the ball or my frequent visits to McDonalds and Pizza Hut that held me back, I’m not sure. I blame the injuries.

Regardless, international football remains as important to me now as it ever did. The world’s biggest clubs have gradually been trying to exert a greater influence over international football than at any other time in the history of the game. We’re at a point now where many of Europe’s top clubs (and it is European clubs who are the main instigators) seem to scoff at international football unless it’s the World Cup or European Championships.

This is disrespectful to me on many levels and there are many tangents I could go onto in recognition of this. European clubs sign up many South American and African players when they are fully fledged internationals or are youth stars with a bright full international future ahead of them. Once they are signed up they see fit to pressure their players into not representing their nations at the Copa America or African Cup of Nations. You never see this attitude with the European Championships and possibly that’s because the cream of Europe’s clubs are biding their time before taking on the governing bodies of European nations while they hone their whining skills with South American and African bodies.

One such battle has been headline news for the past few weeks – Barcelona v Argentina. Argentina have been known to play the odd friendly in the Camp Nou against a representative Catalunya side, but this time the battle was off the pitch. We all know that the Olympics is not the World Cup, it’s an under-23 event with the aid of three players over that age if the respective nation wishes to utilise that. The event hasn’t caught fire in Europe, but is a tournament that in South America for one is worthy enough to win.

Lionel Messi had been expected to be named in Argentina’s Olympic squad for the best part of a year. It was not a secret and until very recently it had not been a problem. It became a problem the minute Barcelona failed to secure a direct place in the coming season’s Champions League and their requirement to play a qualification round became their excuse to stop their star player’s wish to play in the Olympics.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand why Barcelona would wish Messi to not be at the Olympics. I understand why any club would wish none of their players played any matches that did not involve the club that pays them their wages. However, why would any club think that once a player signs for them or is with them from youth level that their desire to play for their national team will stop or become less relevant?

It baffles me. The arrogance of the clubs disappoints me and the action taken by Werder Bremen’s Diego to defy the orders of his club by flying out to the Olympics well before the case was brought to the Court of Arbitration for Sport pleased me greatly. The current decision by Vincent Kompany of Belgium to stay at the Olympics despite the fact his German club Hamburg have demanded he return with the Bundesliga set to kick off this weekend is also one that I applaud.

Since the CAS came down in favour of the clubs on the eve of the Olympics tournament, the three clubs that brought the action – Barcelona, Werder Bremen and Schalke – ended their insistence that the players in question – Messi, Diego and Rafinha – return to their clubs immediately. However, don’t be fooled into thinking these decisions were made because the clubs had found a heart and an understanding of why it was important to the players to represent their nations in an event that may come around only once in a career.

Both German clubs agreed an insurance/compensation package with the CBF (Brazilian Federation) and Barcelona went even further than that; brokering a deal with the AFA that Messi would be exempt from all Argentina friendlies for the duration of the 2008/09 season. Messi has had to sacrifice representing his nation (albeit in friendlies) in order to play in a competition where Argentina are proud to be defending the gold medal and wish to win another.

It makes me sick and the sooner the day comes that a player such as Messi negotiates his next contract to include being released for any and all international commitments the better.

I LOVE YOU, I HATE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I HATE YOU…

I’ve got another gripe with clubs, big or small, and a sizeable proportion of their fickle fans. Do you remember when you were a kid and dreamed of becoming a footballer, wasn’t there a club side that you invariably imagined yourself playing for? There was for me and I’m sure for many of you there was one too, most likely the team you supported, but in some instances possibly a major club in the world of football who captured your imagination for a myriad of reasons.

The Ronaldo transfer saga to Real Madrid has been as tedious as any speculated transfer I can recall, and although Ronaldo can possibly be criticised for the manner in which he tried to negotiate his exit, is his biggest fault that he was simply honest? According to Ronaldo, playing for Real Madrid has been a lifelong ambition and naturally like any person on the planet, the opportunity to fulfil a dream was an opening not to be passed up.

Ronaldo has received a great amount of criticism for his wish to leave, but I don’t buy it at all. The same fans who criticise him for wanting to leave are the same who were cheering his every goal and assist last season and will do again this season. And clubs talk about wanting loyalty from their players! Look who’s talking!? Football clubs are completely ruthless, if a player is not producing what they require, they have no hesitation in cutting ties with the player or selling them on to the first club that will put up a reasonable offer.

Football clubs are the last to demand loyalty in my eyes, and you can say the same for the fans, too. Fans are fickle, this isn’t news, but I wish fans could be a little more realistic at times and accept that players are human too and it’s natural for them to want to move on to bigger and better things (if that’s how they see it). I’m not saying fans have to like it, but how many of the same people criticising Ronaldo for wanting to move based on sporting or financial reasons have made a similar move in their career path at one time or another?

On the subject of Ronaldo, this You Tube video has been circulating ever since the Ronaldo rumours were in full flow following the Champions League final. You may well have seen it, whether you have or you haven’t, it’s sure to give you a laugh. Please be advised that if you’re easily offended, this video is not for you.

OLYMPICS UPDATE

At the outset of the Olympics I provided my picks for the tournament and now offers us the chance to have a look at how those picks are progressing. The group stage treble involving Argentina, Brazil and Italy is well on course to provide us with a return. All three sides have won their opening two games of the tournament and in the case of Argentina and Brazil the group has already been won. Italy, who have been the most impressive of the three sides thus far, need to avoid defeat against Cameroon to top the group and we’ll be expecting that to happen at Priceform so we can cash that treble in.

We also backed Italy for a medal and Argentina to defend the gold medal. Italy have been very inventive and have definitely been the best side of the competition so far, although that guarantees nothing in the latter stages. Argentina have not hit the heights that were expected and were arguably fortunate to win against a very impressive Ivory Coast outfit and laboured to a 1-0 win against an Australian side that should have punished some careless defending. Aside from Lionel Messi, Argentina’s brightest spark has come from substitute Angel Di Maria who has never failed to impress me since shining in the under 20 World Cup in Canada in 2007. Argentina are on course for a showdown with Brazil in the last four and I’d expect both sides to raise their level of play significantly by the time that battle commences.

ONE TO WATCH

Seeing young talent emerge and flourish is one of the joys of being a sporting couch potato. Spotting the talent early and using it to your advantage is a skill that is of great use when it comes to putting that intuition into practice when evaluating the prices and looking to make a play for profit. One such player who you should keep a close eye on over the next few years is Boca Juniors forward Ricardo Noir. The 21 year old striker made his debut for Boca in May of this year, scoring an injury time winner against Racing Club after coming on as a substitute. Noir is fast and skilful and has a very fluid running style with the ball that is similar to Boca’s Rodrigo Palacio.

Getting first team action for Noir will not be so easy at present having to contend with Martin Palermo, Palacio and Lucas Castroman for places, but he is quickly making a reputation for himself as being an instant impact-type player. Boca began their Apertura campaign this past weekend and looked rudderless in a disappointing first half against Gimnasia de Jujuy.

Within seconds of coming on at halftime Noir put Boca ahead and turned the game completely with Boca eventually running out 4-0 winners (without Juan Roman Riquelme – Olympics & Palacio – injury). Noir was a danger throughout and exhibited the kind of talent that you should expect to hear a lot more of as his career moves on. It’s inevitable that Noir will soon enough be on his way to Europe, be that in the next year or two to three years if he is given the opportunity to grow at Boca before making the right move at the right time. Remember where you heard about him first and take a look at this video to see how his goal changed the game from turning out to be one of frustration for Boca into a stroll in the park.

I’ll be back in two weeks when the football season will have got into full swing. In the meantime I’d like to know how important you see international football and whether it means more to you to see your country do well or your club? Express your views in the forum on this or any other football topic you’d like to make your opinions known on, I’ll be sure to read them and address any pertinent points made in future editions of The Finished Article.