On Second Thoughts: Faustino Asprilla

[asteroidblitz 12]

Something I've always agreed with, especially the bit about Batty:

 

Rob Smyth

guardian.co.uk,

Friday July 11, 2008

 

Football's essence is its simplicity - 22 men, an inflated pig's bladder, an inflated ego with a whistle - but, as Leslie Grantham would tell you, sometimes a strength can also be a weakness. People rush to form straightforward opinions, to eschew contradictory evidence in favour of an easy, comforting discourse. Most football fans are less interested in the complex principles of cause-and-effect and more concerned with the simple concept of Coors-and-effect.

 

A prime example comes with the damning judgement given to the trio of players infamous for allegedly costing teams the title after being signed mid-season: Rodney Marsh for Manchester City in 1971-72, Tony Cascarino for Aston Villa in 1989-90, and Faustino Asprilla for Newcastle in 1995-96. The logic seems sound: the team were winning, they bought him, they stopped winning. Ergo, it's his fault.

 

It's a view so insultingly simplistic that it does not even deserve to come out of Alan Shearer's mouth. This is not to say that it is intrinsically wrong - although it was before this cherubic correspondent's time, all research suggests that Marsh was palpably the wrong stylistic choice for City - but that it is just too narrow. Such myriad factors contribute to a five-minute spell of a match, never mind half a season, that to pass off such a perception as gospel - when in fact it amounts to surmising that 2+2=5 - is more than a little flawed.

 

There is no question Newcastle's performances with Asprilla in the side were relatively poor: of his 14 games that season they won six, drew three and lost five. But that was only a continuation of the dodgy form - three wins in eight - leading up to his arrival. The fact is that they were starting to stagger, with or without him. Indeed, Asprilla had a significant influence on six of his first seven games. The problem is that the seventh, the 4-3 defeat to Liverpool, took the title out of Newcastle's hands for the first time. And even if Asprilla did not play as well after that, the fact is, when it really mattered, he was probably Newcastle's best player. He was one of the few who wasn't affected by the increasingly asphyxiating pressure. He was a sparkly new outfit, and he looked bloody good.

 

If you don't believe me, revisit those first seven games:

1. Middlesbrough away - Asprilla comes off the bench with Newcastle 1-0 down and completely changes the game, makes the equaliser for Steve Watson with an exquisite drag-back before Les Ferdinand scores the winner.

2. West Ham away - hits the post and was arguably Newcastle's best player, according to this article, in a 2-0 defeat.

3. Man City away - scores second equaliser in a ramshackle 3-3 draw.

4. Man Utd home - absolutely sublime for the first half as Newcastle dominate completely. United take iron grip on the game in the second half and win 1-0.

5. West Ham home - orchestrates an outstanding display and scores his first goal at St James' Park It would have been 10-0 but for a glorious performance from the late Les Sealey.

6. Arsenal away - a quiet game as Newcastle lose 2-0.

7. Liverpool away - makes Newcastle's first equaliser with another glorious piece of skill and generally runs amok for the first hour. Puts Newcastle 3-2 ahead with delicious insouciance. That the lead was surrendered by a shower of a defence is not really his fault, is it?

 

There are many reasons why Newcastle lost the league. They lost it because Kevin Keegan lost his nerve and stopped coming to work with his usual empowering infectiousness before eventually imploding like [insert absurd simile here]; because the defence was a joke; because, by a quirk of the fixture list, almost all of the really tough away games were in the second half of the season; because Manchester United finished the season with an almost unprecedented run of 14 wins in 16 games; because Peter Schmeichel and Eric Cantona were in the form of their lives.

 

It was not because Newcastle bought Asprilla. In fact, it's arguable that signing Asprilla was one of the few things Keegan got right in that fraught second half of the season. Keegan bought Asprilla because he saw the danger signs. When he accosted Les Ferdinand in the showers after the 2-0 League Cup defeat at Arsenal to tell him of an imminent signing, Newcastle had won only three of their last eight games. Ferdinand, devastatingly prolific up to Christmas, was in the middle of a run of two goals in nine games. Keith Gillespie was starting to flag. Paul Kitson and Scott Sellars were the main attacking alternatives. For the first half of the season, Newcastle had been ingenuous and fearless. Now the gravity of what they were apparently about to achieve was starting to scare them. So was the pressure: in that League Cup game, David Ginola was sent off for easing an elbow into Lee Dixon's face.

 

Asprilla would do something similar to Keith Curle at Manchester City, putting the head on him, but that was more down to his inherent combustibility than any sense that the pressure was getting to him. Some would argue that this combustibility upset a happy dressing-room, yet there is no real evidence to support such a view. Indeed Shearer, who later played with Asprilla at Newcastle, apparently suggested that he was the most popular member of the squad.

 

Others would argue that Asprilla compromised an established system, but this is not strictly true: his addition necessitated merely a mild tweaking. In the first part of the season, Newcastle played 4-4-2 with a front six of Gillespie-Lee-Clark-Ginola and then Beardsley and Ferdinand. Then, for the first few games at least, it was Gillespie-Lee-Beardsley-Ginola and then Asprilla and Ferdinand. Essentially the change was Faustino Asprilla for Lee Clark. Try to look someone in the eye and tell them that, even allowing for the fact that football is more about teams than individuals, Asprilla for Clark is not an irresistible and significant upgrade.

 

What really did affect Newcastle's system, both philosophically and actually, was signing David Batty at the start of March. Batty, though a very good and underrated player, was arguably a much greater panic buy. While you can argue that defensive midfielders exist in a vacuum, and as such do not really affect a team's set-up, the fact is that until Batty signed Newcastle did not have a defensive midfielder, so his signing wrenched the team into an uncomfortable shape. And it didn't stop them shipping goals all over the place.

 

Yet Batty's signing is never questioned - perhaps because of his role, and perhaps because of the casual, almost unconscious racism that dogged English football at that stage. Batty is a simple player, the sort we instinctively trust. But it's the complicated players who often produce the simplest judgements of all.

[grasshopper 0]

harsh but true

[Holden McGroin 5116]

I dont want to cover ground that we have a million times before but Asprilla and Batty didnt cost us the league. Both were very good in the run-in.

 

In my opinion it was putting Beardsley on the wing and a combination of a lack of experience and Man Utd being in formidable form that lost it.

 

This article is about 10 years too late by the way. Why is Rob Smyth regurgitating it now?

[NJS 4026]

Again missing the fact that Gillespie was kicked out of the game for 3 months by a dirty manc cunt.

 

"because the defence was a joke"

 

Fuck off you know nothing piece of shit.

 

(Yes I'm still bitter)

Edited July 12, 2008 by NJS

[Fop 1]

Yet Batty's signing is never questioned - perhaps because of his role, and perhaps because of the casual, almost unconscious racism that dogged English football at that stage. Batty is a simple player, the sort we instinctively trust. But it's the complicated players who often produce the simplest judgements of all.

 

All reasonably true apart from that bit of usual Guardian-esq tripe.

 

Yes Batty's signing has been questioned plenty, and nothing to do with Asprilla has anything to do with "racism", apart from maybe those size of his cock photo's (which is surely positive discrimination if you are ever unfortunate to see the untouched ones. ).

 

 

Having said that I've never heard Asprilla or Batty solely blamed, just a combination of things (with both Asprilla and Batty having weaknesses as players and within that team), so it's the usual got nothing to write about "wise" with 11 years of hindsight sports journalist nonsense.

[luckyluke 1]

Yet Batty's signing is never questioned - perhaps because of his role, and perhaps because of the casual, almost unconscious racism that dogged English football at that stage. Batty is a simple player, the sort we instinctively trust. But it's the complicated players who often produce the simplest judgements of all.

 

All reasonably true apart from that bit of usual Guardian-esq tripe.

 

Yes Batty's signing has been questioned plenty, and nothing to do with Asprilla has anything to do with "racism", apart from maybe those size of his cock photo's (which is surely positive discrimination if you are ever unfortunate to see the untouched ones. ).

 

I wouldn't go so far as to call it racism, but English players did, and still do, get more favourable press. Biased patriotism or nationalism perhaps, but not racism. No idea what you're waffling an about (as usual) with regards to his cock though.

[Fop 1]

Yet Batty's signing is never questioned - perhaps because of his role, and perhaps because of the casual, almost unconscious racism that dogged English football at that stage. Batty is a simple player, the sort we instinctively trust. But it's the complicated players who often produce the simplest judgements of all.

 

All reasonably true apart from that bit of usual Guardian-esq tripe.

 

Yes Batty's signing has been questioned plenty, and nothing to do with Asprilla has anything to do with "racism", apart from maybe those size of his cock photo's (which is surely positive discrimination if you are ever unfortunate to see the untouched ones. ).

 

I wouldn't go so far as to call it racism, but English players did, and still do, get more favourable press. Biased patriotism or nationalism perhaps, but not racism. No idea what you're waffling an about (as usual) with regards to his cock though.

 

Every player (whatever their skin melanin amount) is likely to get slightly better press from their own media (well usually), that's got nothing to do with "racism" though (but that's a VERY typical Guardian-esq strawman), and nothing to do with Batty and Asprilla and the Newcastle team of the time.

 

As for the other bit, I'm not surprised you're clueless, as that's your usual state in the universe.

[luckyluke 1]

I'm only clueless when it comes to the inner workings of the mind of a deranged internet wind up merchant.

[Fop 1]

I'm only clueless when it comes to the inner workings of the mind of a deranged internet wind up merchant.

And the general portrayal of Asprilla as well clearly. And what is and isn't racism. And how to do a masters and medical degree. And most anything else you could care bring up.

 

Although I enjoy your (undoubtedly clueless again) hypocrisy on internet WUMing.

[luckyluke 1]

I'm only clueless when it comes to the inner workings of the mind of a deranged internet wind up merchant.

And the general portrayal of Asprilla as well clearly. And what is and isn't racism. And how to do a masters and medical degree. And most anything else you could care bring up.

 

Although I enjoy your (undoubtedly clueless again) hypocrisy on internet WUMing.

 

You're almost as annoying as you are wrong, but not quite.

[Fop 1]

I'm only clueless when it comes to the inner workings of the mind of a deranged internet wind up merchant.

And the general portrayal of Asprilla as well clearly. And what is and isn't racism. And how to do a masters and medical degree. And most anything else you could care bring up.

 

Although I enjoy your (undoubtedly clueless again) hypocrisy on internet WUMing.

 

You're almost as annoying as you are wrong, but not quite.

 

You and manc-fop(lite) should join forces to pointlessly derail every thread.

[Lazarus 0]

batty was a very workmanlike player in a team where even the centre backs had flair.

 

i seem to remember pretty much everyone moaning about batty being in the side and how he never made a forward pass etc etc blah blah

 

then a few years later -it became 'fashionable' for every team to have a holding midfield player to protect the back 4.

 

when we signed him we didnt want him and when we no longer had that type of player we missed it.

[Tooj 17]

Stevie made a class post quite a while ago about Asprilla etc iirc.

[Holden McGroin 5116]

Batty was quality imo. I never realised how good he was until he signed for us.

[Ketsbaia 0]

Stevie made a class post quite a while ago about Asprilla etc iirc.

 

Fuck off

[Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0]

That article is mostly shite imo.