EX- GUNNER PUBLISHES HIS LONG-AWAITED AUTOBIOGRAPHY
ARE Russian
referees dodgy?
This view
still seems to have held currency among some in Germany ever since that controversial goal in
the 1966 World Cup Final.
To the
outrage of Germans, it was awarded in England’s favour - on the say-so of a
‘Russian’ linesman - even though subsequent footage indicated that Geoff
Hurst’s shot may never have crossed the line.
The fact
that the linesman,Tofiq Bahramov, actually hailed from Azerbaijan, not Russia, seemed to make no difference to
German opinion. After all, wasn’t Azerbaijan a Soviet state and thus a Russian
satellite?
In his excellent autobiography, The Madness Is On The
Pitch, former Arsenal and Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann fast-forwards 40 years to confess his
suspicions about the Russian referee, Ivan Ivanov, in the 2006 Champions League
semi-final between The Gunners and Villareal.
Without
evidence, Lehmann allows the reader to speculate that the Russian official may have
awarded a last-minute penalty to the Spanish club as a favour to its president,
a wealthy property developer.
As it happened,
the incident worked to the goalkeeper’s favour. He saved the spotkick - the
match was played in Spain - and the 0-0 draw allowed Arsenal to
progress, 1-0 on aggregate, to the final.
Although
forthright, Lehmann’s fascinating book is mostly refreshingly free of the petty
vindictiveness and settling of old scores that characterises many sports
autobiographies.
In his
career which also included spells with AC Milan and various German clubs, he was sent off seven times, but he mostly spares referees his scorn,
with the exception of Ivanov and a particular Bundesliga official, Wolfgang Stark.
He recalls:
“During my last year in Stuttgart, I took extra care to associate
well with referees, but in some cases this was difficult thing.
“Alongside
really good and relaxed people, there was also Wolfgang Stark, from Bavaria, who was notorious for being
terribly arrogant.
“He would
brandish yellow cards whenever players called attention to an error in a normal
tone of voice.
“The fact
that we players did not have any respect for him went without
saying. How he was allowed to become a FIFA referee, I will never
understand."
By his own
admission, Lehmann sometimes had a short fuse - he could be hot-headed,
not to say down right bellicose, even with fans.
On one
occasion in a match in German, he became so incensed at the flak he had been taking that he grabbed his tormentor by the scruff
of his neck with such vigour that it
dislodged the man’s hearing aid.
Years
later, following another match, he snatched the spectacles from
an abusive supporter who then had to plead to him for their return.
There is
much to commend in this informative and highly entertaining
account of what motivates high-achieving
footballers and what goes on behind the scenes at top level.
Sometimes Lehmann
provides his own interpretation (not necessarily authoritative) of why things go
wrong as in this observation: “Over the
course of career, I saw teammates who suddenly cracked completely in pressure
situations, who failed to perform during finals, a relegation battle or a penalty shoot-out.
“Often
these were people who came from unstable backgrounds - the parents divorced,
the father disappeared, things like that.
“When they
were on a knife edge, they would think this is going to go belly up again,”
Later, he adds:
“The soft factors - for instance, a player’s wellbeing and his family’s
happiness all have a decided impact on his performance.”
Lehmann has
little truck with the vanity of some contemporary players who, before
games and even at half-time, stand in front of mirror to do their hair,
applying gel.
During one
match, he took matters into his own hands after convincing himself that Stuttgart colleague Khalid Boulahrouz could not hear what
he was shouting because his headband was covering his ears.
“I ripped
the piece of material off his head - he was the first player I had ever seen
wear such a thing.”
For
up-and-coming goalkeepers, some of the insights contained in The Madness is on The Pitch should be
particularly valuable.
He writes:
“First and foremost, the goalkeeper should be an organiser.
“He must be
able to give orders, particularly during risky situations in the box, as often the
defenders no longer have a feeling either for the ball or for the opposing
players.
“One moment
they are watching the ball, the next they are looking for their opponent in the
process they lose their view of the whole game.
“This view
needs to be preserved by the goalkeeper and translated into pinpoint stage
directions, especially if the ball is in motion."
At corners and crosses, most keepers prefer to stay within the goal area for
two main reasons - firstly, it reduces the risk of being hurt by an opponent’s
foot, knee or elbow and, secondly, it spares the possibility of failing to
catch or punch clear the ball.
There is
nothing more annoying and embarrassing for any top goalkeeper when watching a
TV replay of his match than to hear the commentator exclaim that the keeper has
“flapped” at the ball
But,
throughout his career, Lehmann was always prepared to take that risk because he
saw it as his mission to dominate the penalty area, to give confidence to his
teammates and to intimidate his opponents who soon learned that, whenever
things turned physical, he could give as he got.
He writes: “My style involved frequently having to leave the safe harbour of my
six-yard box in order to intercept crosses, through balls and ricocheted shots.
“On the
line it is easy to look good, Usually, you do not get hurt while you are there,
but every excursion away from it can bring pain; the opponent can end up
kicking or hitting you, whether on purpose or not.
“You have
to leave behind this entirely natural protective reflex.”
Lehmann
also emphasises the importance of concentration which, he reckons, is aided by
reading.
Among the
titles on his shelf, there was one he found particularly helpful - Dr Joseph
Murphy’s, Das Erfolgsbuch
(Success Book) which describes the importance of the subconscious in generating
positive energy.
Lehmann also has some amusing one-liners, such as: “Humiliations are like power plants - ugly
things but you draw power from them.”
Here is
another: “A team is a community of purpose - it functions like a wolf-pack.”
Among the players she most admired in his career were
two Arsenal players, Thierry Henry and Patrick Viera, with the latter described
as “a kind of lighthouse on the pitch thanks to his physical presence and
fantastic technique”.
Of his longtime Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger he
says: “The system made the players successful, not the other way round -
conductor Wenger managed to have everyone in his perfect orchestra stand out
through synergy with their colleagues.”
Lehmann’s collaborator in the writing of the book was
Christof Siemes, and the translator from the German is Ceylan Hussein.
