a load of hot air, maybe
Blowing in the wind
Thursday, 21 December 2006
by Paul Simpson
Celtic FC, Manchester United FC, Liverpool FC, Nottingham Forest FC and Aston Villa FC you should be proud, very proud. For in winning the most coveted prize in club football, they have defied the odds and triumphed over mother nature.
Vialli research
The relative underperformance of English clubs in the UEFA Champions League has often been blamed on a gap in technique between the sceptered isle's footballers and players on the continent. The cause, and extent, of that gap have been much debated. But new research suggests the weather, the bane of English life, may be the culprit. OK, other factors have come into play - Jens Lehmann's rush of blood in Paris being just one of many - but research by Gianluca Vialli, who won the UEFA Champions League with Juventus in 1996, suggests that the answer is, as Bob Dylan might say, blowing in the wind.
Training differences
Sounds absurd but Vialli's research, for his new book The Italian Job, found that the real climactic difference between major footballing cities in Italy and England was not rainfall (Milan is wetter than Manchester) or average temperature but average wind speed. The wind in London, Birmingham and Manchester typically blows 50 per cent harder than in Milan, Rome and Turin. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger told Vialli that the English wind affects everything in football, but especially training. The need to keep players warm means there is little time for improving technique or stopping a training game to highlight a tactical issue or some dodgy running off the ball. For Wenger, the wind affects youngsters too, making them keener to run around than stand still and perfect their volleying or shooting.
Capello agreement
Wenger's views find some support from Fabio Capello who, after trying to train a Scottish youth side in the same way he would usually coach an Italian team, gave up, complaining: "How can you possibly teach anybody anything in those conditions? To me, [the weather] explains why Brazilians are more technical than Europeans and, in Italy, the further south you go, the more technical they are." Anyone who watched Wigan Athletic FC beat Charlton Athletic FC 3-2 this November will agree with Capello and Wenger. Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland was credited with an assist for two of his team's goals but the credit should really have gone to the wind that blew his goal-kicks past Charlton's defence.
Footballing victim
The nations blessed with a lower than normal wind speed - Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Uruguay, Germany, France - have won the FIFA World Cup 17 times while those countries with above average wind speed - England is the main footballing victim - have won it just once.
Wind speed
The case against wind speed is not proven beyond reasonable doubt. But there is enough evidence to show that the effect of climate on football deserves more study. At the moment, the weather is usually discussed - and then only derisorily - whenever an England team fails to deliver at the World Cup finals. But a UEFA study of football injuries, published in November 2004, comparing eleven top European clubs, found that English and Dutch teams suffered 41.8 injuries for every 1,000 hours of play of which 2.0 were major. The comparative figures for Mediterranean teams were 24 and 1.1 respectively.
