Man Of The Match

[anotheoldgit]

I do not follow soccer all that much but I did watch the England V Poland match.

I noticed that Wayne Rooney was made 'Man of the match' for some reason, yes I know he scored but apart from that he didn't seem to do much more, Andros Townsend on the other hand, gave it everything he had.

This has got me to thinking, who picks the 'man of the match' and does the said person receive a prize?

[VHG]

People who don't watch football a lot tend to only notice the people who score goals or make goals (or nearly score goals or nearly make goals).

But a lot of what goes on in a football pitch is more than that.

Things such as tackling back, covering a team mate who is out of position, running off the ball to make space, chasing a "lost cause" to put off the defence or goalkeeper and so on.

I have seen many goals scored only because a team mate (who did not even touch the ball) ran into space, taking a defender with them, giving room for the player who scored or who made the killer pass.

Everybody congratulates the person who scored, or the person who made the "killer" pass, when in fact the key contribution to the goal was the person who ran "off the ball" to help make the goal.

These are the things that managers and other professionals see, but many fans don't see.

And that is why Man of the match may go to a player who may not have "caught the eye" but did a hell of a lot off work to help the team.

I am not sure who chose man of the match last night, but it is often a retired professional player, and I know sometimes the "prize" is a bottle of champagne (but not if you are Muslim!).

[VHG]

Look at the first 18 seconds of this YouTube video.

This is Barcelona and as the video starts two players have a "square" round them.

Both these players run into the penalty area, taking the defenders with them.

This produces a huge space in front of the penalty area, for Messi to pass the ball into the "space", and then Keita running in to score.

Most people would congratulate Messi for the pass and Keita for scoring, but the two players who ran into the box (and did not even touch the ball) actually made the goal.

So this sort of "off the ball" activity is spotted by managers and other professionals but rarely by football fans.

Which is why running around and not achieving much may catch they eye, but it is the subtle off the ball activities that professionals appreciate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrf3fm4Kasg

[ichkeria]

In answer to the actual question, in this particular instance Andy Townsend of ITV picked the Man of the Match - the "Vauxhall" man of the match no less, whatever that means. There's often a bottle of champers for the winner.
In Rooney's case perhaps he was offered a second opinion on his head injury, surely one of the slowest healing ones in history :-)

[belindabee]

Wayne Rooney's dad was on the panel !

[ichkeria]

...perhaps giving it to "Andros Townsend" would have lookd like family favouritism to the uninitiated :-)

I think in fairness to Rooney he was pretty good. I'm not an England fan but my favourite player is Baines. A very special player indeed.

[FredPuli43]

Rooney had one of his better games for England and did busy himself in working off the ball and tracking back and defending. Brian Clough had a young new player who scored, I think, a hat-trick. The Press were eager to hear the manager's view of this new prodigy. And Clough answered their eager questions : "He scored goals. That is what he is paid to do. Now, I thought our left back had a good game " And that's the difference; the manager wasn't concerned about the goal scorer, but one unheralded player got his praise, because he'd seen his performance as excellent. The Press weren't interested in that, of course.

[FredPuli43]

As a side question for you soccer buffs: Have England ever fielded a Muslim player? There are Muslims playing at the top level, but they aren't usually qualified for England.

[davetuc]

Beginning to notice a strange trend on Answerbank. Even questions about football are getting a 'Muslim' slant! Paranoid? Maybe.........

[sir.prize]

FredPuli - To answer your question, Leon Osman has played for England

[VHG]

>>>questions about football are getting a 'Muslim' slant!

I only mentioned it because a Muslim player who had won man of the match in a premier league game WAS offered a bottle of champagne as a prize.

[factor-fiction]

Sometimes it's simply a representative from the sponsor.
I once had to select the man of the match in a Premier League match- I have a photo somewhere of me presenting it to Damian Duff.