I’ve been given great support he added and I’m just proud that we have been able to go so far so quickly

“I’ve been given great support,” he added, “and I’m just proud that we have been able to go so far, so quickly.”Few indeed have covered so much ground in such a short space of time. In their first year in the top flight, 1964-65, Revie’s Leeds were title runners-up, to Manchester United, on goal average, and lost the FA Cup to Liverpool, in extra time. But they didn’t get such quick access to the European Cup as O’Leary’s men, and to some extent their brilliance as a team congealed for a while. Today, as the old warrior Lorimer notes, Leeds cannot afford to pause on the brink of glory They have to take it all, as it comes. No one, all the evidence says, knows this better than David O’Leary.. There’s nothing quite so banal, simplistic or potentially offensive in sports reporting as the thoughtlessly-spouted, national stereotype.

It is far too easy, particularly when describing football, to revert to outmoded notions of “fiery” Italians, “sophisticated” Frenchmen, “silky” Brazilians or “Braveheart” Scots. There’s nothing quite so banal, simplistic or potentially offensive in sports reporting as the thoughtlessly-spouted, national stereotype. It is far too easy, particularly when describing football, to revert to outmoded notions of “fiery” Italians, “sophisticated” Frenchmen, “silky” Brazilians or “Braveheart” Scots.
Quite apart from representing the most blatant clich? such stereotypes ­ without going too far down the road towards political over-correctness ­ do not need too much extension before they touch on mild racism Plenty of Italians are fiery, but plenty are not. So, when a volcanic Latin temperament is blithely attributed to every homegrown star in Serie A, it starts to become questionable.To an extent, clubs get dubbed with ancient reputations, too. How can such a clean-tackling and elegant defender as Rio Ferdinand captain “dirty” Leeds? How did “Chopper” Harris (or, come to that, rugged, little Dennis Wise) thrive at “sleek, chic” Chelsea of the King’s Road? When Watford or Wimbledon so much as combine half-a-dozen passes, they are deserting their supposed kick-and-rush roots. When West Ham or Spurs boot a long-ball, they are betraying their heritage.Folklore has it that there is a “Tottenham” way to play, and a “Liverpool” way, and a “United” way, etc.

Perhaps their devoted followers will tell you that there’s a “Barnet” way and a “Stenhousemuir” way as well Frankly, though, it’s a myth. At best, these are harmless labels; at worst, they are blinds obscuring our view of what is actually going on.Club generalisations are unhelpful. However, in dealing with nationality, the temptation to slide towards ill-considered stereotyping simply must be avoided. It might upset folk; it certainly won’t inform them.All of which preamble leads up to the dilemma with which this commentator was presented at the Bernabeu stadium, Madrid on Tuesday evening.

The trouble was that, typically ­ or stereotypically ­ the Germans (Bayern Munich) were so damned efficient That ought to be a compliment; indeed, it is. The trouble, however, is that when the words “German” and “efficient” appear in mental juxtaposition, an inner alarm sounds. A series of bosses have rightly drummed into me.: “No national stereotypes!” Yet here was one being played out in front of me as blatantly as if the French national side had cycled on in stripy T-shirts with strings of garlic around their necks.Perhaps it would be simpler not to be so hung up about all this. As with “fiery” Italians, plenty of Germans are efficient; no doubt, many are as hopelessly disorganised as a Wembley stadium planning committee. It’s just that we’re so imbued with the whole “Vorsprung durch technik” phenomenon that it feels lazy and mindless to apply the stereotypical adjective to a German club.Particularly so when Bayern’s goalscorer, Giovane Elber, was Brazilian and three of their most efficient players were the Bosnian midfielder Hasan Salihamidzic and French wing-backs Willy Sagnol and Bixente Lizarazu Indeed, only five of the starting XI were German.