This article explores the deeper meaning of football, arguing that its value lies beyond mere victories. It criticizes the increasing emphasis on pragmatism and the suppression of individuality in the sport, advocating for the return of pleasure and enjoyment as driving forces.
What is football for? I mean that existentially: what is it for? The ex-pro pundit would no doubt sit on a sofa, often a colourless bore, with legs wide apart and say “at the end of the day, Gary, it’s all about results”, because they always, always do. But it’s simply not true, is it? Because if it was, almost no one would play because they’d know they were not good enough to win anything.
In case our pundits have forgotten, or have never realised, almost no club wins anything almost all the time, and relegated teams get thousands to see them. So whatever ‘it’ is, it isn’t all about results. If it’s about results, it’d be a pretty miserable procession every season and I can’t see it lasting 150 years on the meagre rations of a win every now and again. If you think that then you undervalue the football experience.Obviously, the point of football is to have fun, though increasingly that is being forgotten or crushed. Football is driven towards pragmatism for fear of harsh judgement by social media and a lobotomised press who report social media comments as if it’s actual news, consistently soiling itself in creating every journalist’s eight ‘stories’ each day. Most teams play a similar brand of football, most players are trying or are playing in a similar fashion. If you’re not and are a maverick, you’ll soon have all your interesting bits ground off by the millstone of pragmatism. Pleasure…that’s what keeps us coming back for more. We’re often told grinding out a 1-0 win is the sign of title winners, but so what? If it’s boring, who wants to watch other than the glory hunters who always want to be on the winning side? Look at how many managers are criticised for playing defensive, negative, cautious football. Gareth Southgate, largely inaccurately, couldn’t move for the ‘never mind just winning, win with more style and flair’ shouter
Football Results Pragmatism Enjoyment Individuality
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