review part 1

Over the last few days I’ve heard a great deal of condemnation of Romania’s performance that I feel is unwarranted and wanted to address it in a series of postings. Certainly there were some weaknesses however beyond these concerns that we will address, the squad performed amiably and fell victim to an under-rated Netherlands squad that is riding a momentum high. Other than the disappointment of the final match, the team tactically dealt with the “Group of Death” intelligently and was very close to knocking out the Azzurri and advancing to the quarter-finals. With this mind, I’d like to re-examine the general weaknesses of Romania’s Euro efforts, start reviewing the domestic league and as well formulate a generalized plan that need to be put into place.

Prior to reviewing specifics I likely need to make something clear on a topic that I think is extremely important but is typically overlooked. Maybe I’m being a trace defensive but while many areas of the world receive a great deal of attention as “Football hotbeds”, one of the most important areas with a consistently high level of play, is the broad eastern region of Europe. For those of you familiar with the area this comment is no secret and maybe you’re nodding in agreement but sadly much of the commercially-bred Football “fan” who clamors for the hot new kit, rarely understands this. Geographically and in consideration of their most recent FIFA world rankings, with a north-western border of Poland (28th) across to Belarus (57th) and the Ukraine (31st), then moving south through the Czech Republic (6th), Hungary (52nd) and Slovakia (66th) you have a stunning wealth of talent and of course if you were to consider Russia (24th) within the group, the entire sporting power-base trembles. From this area, you head south to the highly diverse Balkan region, which is a real gem-stone in Football that sadly few are aware of. Using a broad definition of the region, it includes amongst others, Serbia (39th), Moldova (51st), , Macedonia (56th), Bosnia and Herzegovina (67th) as well as top-twenty teams world-wide; Greece (8th), Croatia (15th), Bulgaria (18th), Turkey (20th) and of course Romania (12th). As you consider the region and the population base, it truly is one of world’s top Football hotbeds.

With that said, I contend the weakness, if you can call it that, of the Tricolorii was primarily based upon weaknesses in the creative end of play and possessing the level of confidence needed to excel at this level. This is a critical component at the elite level and over the last decade the Romania squad has not consistently shown an insufficient level of confidence and aggressive play without the leadership of the legendary Gheorghe Hagi. It is quite evident from flow of play that captain Cristian Chivu and the masterful young Adrian Mutu are the forefront of the squad but it must also be noted that this is proven-out in a less glamorous review of work-rate and speed as they dominated most of the squad. While technical merit and tactical play are very large areas to discuss, work-rate and speed effectively comes down to a professionals level of intensity and desire. While Victor Piţurcă’s side displayed a well-disciplined approach, particularly though matches against France and Italy, the entire squad needs to emulate the leadership of Chivu and Mutu with a greater work-rate.

In the next posting we’re going to look at tactical and positional weaknesses of the existing national team and lead us into review of the domestic league and development.