- There were relatively few yellow and red cards shown during the championship. Does that reflect a more polished game?
- Yes, I would agree with that. Part of it has to do with additional fourth and fifth referees that were put near the goals. It is hard to forget the mistake when referees disallowed Ukraine's goal during the game with England.
It later turned out that the ball had indeed crossed the goal-line. In spite of that, the presence of extra referees did much to make the game cleaner. Perhaps they did not see everything and there were doubtful decisions, but I think that all players subconsciously felt they could not playact by falling down in the penalty area and demand penalties, since they were being observed.
- And yet the mistake during the England-Ukraine match rekindled old debate about a goal-line technology. Perhaps it's the time to have it put in place?
- We've heard that after Ukraine was robbed of its goal, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said there must be a goal-line technology.
It is yet unclear if that will happen, but if sports like tennis or rugby readily employ it, why not do the same in football? Especially since it is very easy and does not require stopping or interrupting the game. After all, both Ukrainians after this championship and the English after 2010 world championship, when their goal was disallowed, will remember the grievance for years to come. “What if...” keeps cropping up. And that's something that could be avoided.
- Skeptics counter moves to introduce these technologies with the human factor argument. Can it really render football more automatic and less exciting?
- The fact that we've appointed referees four and five means that, after all, we do try to minimize the human factor. We see now that this solution doesn't work, since they keep making same mistakes.
Technologies can easily solve that and I don't think that the game of football will suffer as a result. I object to extra breaks during the game or other novelties. Goal-line technology, on the other hand, would prevent misunderstanding and would not take extra time.
- This year's championship was particularly rich in goals, many of them scored with heads. Is there any reason for that?
- I've read that as many as a third of all goals were scored with the ball bouncing off the head. I think it has to do with changing football tactics. After the Spanish victory, many clubs are likely to start employing the tactics of playing without a center forward.
Teams have reached a very high level and out-maneuvering rivals in the penalty area is getting increasingly difficult. Teams study each other's offensive strategies and manage to defend by playing very compactly. Therefore, unless you are part of the Spanish or the German team, getting the ball into the penalty area is more and more difficult.
When players pack around the penalty area, there's some space left on the sides from where there's no other way to pass the ball but crossing it high. And then chances are someone will grab the opportunity and hit the ball with his head. Particularly the team that has tall players is at an advantage. Germany with Mario Gomez made particular good use of this factor.
- Spaniards showed an example of how to play without a center forward. However, does this set-up work only when you have such world-class midfielders like Xavi Hernandez or Andres Iniesta?
- I do not think it is so. The tactics is not particularly new. Coaches select their tactics depending on the players they have at their disposal. True, Spain boasts superstar midfielders, but such tactics has been used in club games too. Manchester United played it for most of the 2008 season and won the Champions League. At the time, they had no fewer than three world-class forwards: Wayne Rooney, Christiano Ronaldo, and Carlos Tevez. They played without number 9 and constantly rotated.
Even before that, in 1998 and several years since, Spartak Moscow employed the tactics which earned its coach Oleg Romantsev a lot of criticism.
His argument in favor of the forward-less game was simple: the number of forwards does not determine the team's performance. You could have 3 or 4 of them in the field, yet if they don't get the chance to get hold of the ball, nothing good will come out of it. Barcelona, too, played all season like that. The fact that, after Barcelona's contract with Jordi Alba, the Spanish team has 8 players from this club, made the coach's work significantly easier. There was no need of inventing something new, they were already in tune.
- The first goal in the finals was scored by David Silva – the only player in the field at that moment who did not come from Barcelona or Real Madrid.
- Since he is truly a first-class player, it was easy for him to adapt to the tactics. David Silva, to my mind, was one of last season's best players in England's league. Robin van Persie managed to scored many goals, but for me, the best player was Silva. He is of a very similar type with Xavi or Andres Iniesta.
- Jordi Alba became the first defender to score a goal in the finals. Is it another sign that clear-cut positioning of players is disappearing?
- Sure, everyone is talking that the future belongs to universal players. Total football, that first emerged 30 years ago, is the football of the future. The Spanish national team and Barcelona club clearly demonstrate how distinctions between player positions is being erased.
Barcelona played last season without typical side defenders, the center-back position also shifts. With more space in the middle of the field, they are the playmakers. While Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique were joining the offense in Barcelona game, their position would be taken up by Sergio Busquets who is a defensive midfielder, but could take on the role of center-back.
Center-midfielders, attacking midfielder playmakers, who previously were at the core of the game, are moving to the center-field. This is the position of Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane, Francesco Totti. Therefore, players' tactical preparation and technique become increasingly important.
The same goes for goalkeepers. We have seen, even in this championship, that the German team effectively played without a goalkeeper. Manuel Neuer would come to to the middle of the field and stand in for a center-defender. It will become the next novelty in the future – the goalkeeper will move further and further away from the goal and show his ability to play with his feet. Especially in times of need. Just as in ice hockey, teams will risk leaving the goal empty in order to take control of the ball.
- Euro 2012 top goalscorer is Fernando Torres with 3 goals, even though there were other candidates for the title. Is he the most worthy of it?
- Well, no one scored more goals than him and according to the rules – the number of assists and shortest playing time – he outdid everyone else.
It is interesting that in 1984, Michel Platini was named top goalscorer with 9 goals in 4 or 5 games – that is, fewer games than they play now. That shows how football is changing and how universal players are. Back then, forwards would score most of the goals. In the Spanish team, scorers were forwards as well as midfielders and defenders like Xabi Alonso.
- What is your general impression from Euro 2012?
- This and the previous 2008 championship were truly grand. And the Spanish are probably the ones to thank for it. Last time, their victory was somewhat unexpected, while this year they were sometimes reproached for being boring. In the last game, however, they proved they could play. I think that the Spanish football is a model, everyone should seek to play like that. Coaches should use them as an example to teach kids to play football.
- What do you think of plans to change the championship format and expand the number of participating teams to 24?
- I think that now European Championship maintains higher level than World Cup. There, some teams – e.g., from the Caribbean or Asia – fall short of the highest-level game.
And as a result we have those crushing victories by 6 goals. There was nothing of the sort in Europe, but if we expanded to 24 teams, the general level would doubtlessly suffer. There would be manifestly weaker teams coming to the championship simply to participate.
