If we think about the nineties what comes to many minds of then-teenagers are (soap)series like Beverly Hills 90210, hotshots like Zack Morris, cool detectives like in Miami Vice and 21 Jumpstreet, Agassi vs. Sampras, Steffi Graf’s monopoly, Baggio and Romario, Stephen Hendry’s absolute dominance, Michael Jordan of course, MJ, Madonna (but she emerges in almost every decade..), East vs. West and many more icons, moments and programs that had institutionalized social movements and the pursuit of professional perfection.
But if we look back at the nineties now, we’ll see that the nineties meant much more than that. In behind, in between and, in some cases, through these icons something was changing. The balance of their professions and the context in which they operated was fundamentally shifted. They paved the path for many more to join; they popularized their professions further and made it mainstream. By that the entrance barrier was lowered and that on its turn changed the environment.
But not only did it become easier to enter, also the rules of the game changed exactly because the environment had changed. It meant a disastrous decline in the quality, in the class of these professions.
Whilst in the beginning of the nineties a game between Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis was more than only a game of snooker, as it equalled chess at times, now we see Ronnie O’Sullivan and Sun Junghui coming to the table, playing aggressively on full attack. While Steffi Graf danced on the tennis court, we now see the Williams sisters and the Nadal’s turning the game into a serve combat, instead of a beautiful symphony of rallies. While the 80’s and 90’s meant Biggie, Madonna, Micheal Jackson and even Arnold Schwarzenegger (never thought I would say this), the 2K’s mean 50 Cents (no, the ‘s’ is no mistake), Britney Spears, MJ left a void, and Vin Diesel.
Everything seems to have lost its touch, its artistic core, its complex dimension, its highlight of technique and thought and it all seems to be more about muscles, marketing, power and muscles again.
Unfortunately, football is no exception to that. Slow footballers are a rarity, usually lost dinosaurs from the past convicted to extinction. Neither technique, nor tactics are the primary requirements, but speed and muscle power. In today’s football there is no room for Cruyff’s totality, there is no room for patient possession of the ball for creating a goal like the weaving of a carpet. No, today’s football carpets are fabricated, as art seems to have lost the battle to speed.
And that is what makes today so special, so rare, and so unnatural. In about half an hour, Milan will kick off against Manchester United. It is not just the kick off between two traditions in football, it is not just the kick off between two power houses or the kick off between two concepts of football. It is the kick off between the past and the present, or maybe even the future. While ManU, like the abbreviation hints, has adapted itself to the new environment of force, speed and aggressiveness, Milan to a high degree has maintained its football of the nineties and to a large degree even the 80’s. While Rooney is the future, Pippo seems like Gianni Rivera’s twin brother. While Ferdinand and Vidic are contemporary defenders, Nesta and, quite literally, Maldini reminds of the past. And while C. Ronaldo could be a marketer with all his tricks, Kaka plays as simple as Cruyff.
I will shout my longs out of my chest for the past, as I miss it. But whoever will be the winner tonight, I hope that the game of football will have the greatest victory. For the sake of future.
But if we look back at the nineties now, we’ll see that the nineties meant much more than that. In behind, in between and, in some cases, through these icons something was changing. The balance of their professions and the context in which they operated was fundamentally shifted. They paved the path for many more to join; they popularized their professions further and made it mainstream. By that the entrance barrier was lowered and that on its turn changed the environment.
But not only did it become easier to enter, also the rules of the game changed exactly because the environment had changed. It meant a disastrous decline in the quality, in the class of these professions.
Whilst in the beginning of the nineties a game between Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis was more than only a game of snooker, as it equalled chess at times, now we see Ronnie O’Sullivan and Sun Junghui coming to the table, playing aggressively on full attack. While Steffi Graf danced on the tennis court, we now see the Williams sisters and the Nadal’s turning the game into a serve combat, instead of a beautiful symphony of rallies. While the 80’s and 90’s meant Biggie, Madonna, Micheal Jackson and even Arnold Schwarzenegger (never thought I would say this), the 2K’s mean 50 Cents (no, the ‘s’ is no mistake), Britney Spears, MJ left a void, and Vin Diesel.
Everything seems to have lost its touch, its artistic core, its complex dimension, its highlight of technique and thought and it all seems to be more about muscles, marketing, power and muscles again.
Unfortunately, football is no exception to that. Slow footballers are a rarity, usually lost dinosaurs from the past convicted to extinction. Neither technique, nor tactics are the primary requirements, but speed and muscle power. In today’s football there is no room for Cruyff’s totality, there is no room for patient possession of the ball for creating a goal like the weaving of a carpet. No, today’s football carpets are fabricated, as art seems to have lost the battle to speed.
And that is what makes today so special, so rare, and so unnatural. In about half an hour, Milan will kick off against Manchester United. It is not just the kick off between two traditions in football, it is not just the kick off between two power houses or the kick off between two concepts of football. It is the kick off between the past and the present, or maybe even the future. While ManU, like the abbreviation hints, has adapted itself to the new environment of force, speed and aggressiveness, Milan to a high degree has maintained its football of the nineties and to a large degree even the 80’s. While Rooney is the future, Pippo seems like Gianni Rivera’s twin brother. While Ferdinand and Vidic are contemporary defenders, Nesta and, quite literally, Maldini reminds of the past. And while C. Ronaldo could be a marketer with all his tricks, Kaka plays as simple as Cruyff.
I will shout my longs out of my chest for the past, as I miss it. But whoever will be the winner tonight, I hope that the game of football will have the greatest victory. For the sake of future.
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