About cheating and the English. An unfinished debate

A new visit of a Spanish team in England, another Spanish victory and, for some, another opportunity to have a dig at the ‘cheating’ employed by, in this case, FC Barcelona. Really? Is that what you can get from the game, what you get from seeing the club that has set the patterns of excellence for a decade? Is that what you can learn from them? What does it say about you if you try to extract moral lessons from a football game? What does it say about your culture when you feel the need to judge a club for the actions of some players, by the way, actions that can be seen in the Premier league too? Does it matter?

It reminded me of a chat I had on a flight back from Spain, a chance meeting with Paul Hayward, Chief Sports Writer for The Observer at the time, which led to a lengthy discussion on the cultural differences between the English and Spanish game.

Our conversation took place in the aftermath of the 2011 Champions League semi finals between Barcelona and Real Madrid that did little to enhance the reputation of La Liga in the eyes of the British press and public. With this Saturday`s Champions League final bringing our two footballing cultures together, Paul Hayward and I thought it would be interesting to continue our comparisons of attitudes and approaches to the sport via email and publish them in my web page (www.guillembalague.com). Here`s the first couple of exchanges between Paul and I. Please join in the debate

GUILLEM: The Semi Finals of the Champions League between Barcelona and Real Madrid triggered widespread outrage and condemnation of the Spanish game in the British press. Pundits who had spent the past season asking “why can`t England even come close to emulating the level of Spain`s performance at the World Cup” seemed to relish in breathing a collective sigh of relief in proclaiming “thanks heavens we`re not like them after all.” After praising the game in Spain, that very British tall poppy toppling instinct kicked in and suddenly commentators were championing the notion that foreign leagues may be technically superior, but morally inferior to the English game. Am I being too sensitive?

PAUL HAYWARD: I can see why you think that. In all sports I cover, the English/British are assumed to be arrogant and condescending. The accusation is that English football thinks it wrote the moral code as well as the laws of Association Football.

First, the admiration for Spain`s European Championship and World Cup double is genuine. Anyone who thinks seriously about the game in the home of the Premier League knows Spain set the standard for English football to aspire to. Barcelona are similarly revered and have picked up an army of devotees, who won`t hear a word against tiki-taka.

Integrity/cheating is a separate issue. What we`re seeing here is cultural difference. In England, play-acting and injury-simulation are seen as un-manly, or craven. This is near the top of England`s no-no list. But of course the violent tackle is more widely tolerated here, so Spain is within its rights to point out that cheating takes many forms. It`s all subjective.

I hate the leg-breaking tackle most, but I also dislike players clutching their faces when they`ve only been tapped on the arm. How do Spanish spectators see play-acting?

GUILLEM: Play acting is seeing as a clever thing by Spanish spectators, but within certain limits: limits which were exceeded in the first leg of the semi-finals of the Champions League. Look at the reaction of La Liga defenders when someone has dive: they don`t go and have ago at the player who has gone to ground, they appeal to the referee, trying to convince him that he has been deceived.

It is part of the Latin culture (students of Spanish will be familiar with the tradition of historical literary characters like Lazarillo who use guile, cunning to turn the tables on society; subversives are seen as heroes, or even anti-heros but admired. In England they will be perceived as cheats).

I don`t expect you to understand it, it`s one of those cultural differences – like Eskimos kissing each others noses, that seems weird to us, who think its much nicer on the lips; to others, that`s equally strange.

Things like play acting are simply not at the top of the list of things that Spanish people think should be changed in football. Perhaps they should be. But the British reaction to it is overwhelming when compared with other big issues like, say, the Premier League allowing dubious characters to take control of football clubs, which I think deserve as much attention and anger. Why do you think it is?

PAUL: Ah, now you`re really poking around the English psyche, which has many rooms, some of them very dark. Believe it or not, there is still a hangover from the original Corinthian age - a concept framed by the public (fee-paying schools) when organised sport started to develop in the late 19th Century. To these people, fair play was more important than the result. Before you say it, I know this sounds absurd, because English football is now UNFAIR in countless ways. But football fans still have this idea in their heads, through school and upbringing, that to deceive, or cheat, in the game itself (as opposed to the business AROUND the game) is dishonourable - so we see this furious reaction to diving, or players rolling on the ground.

Also, ours is a very macho, aggressive culture. A man is expected to take his licks on the football field and not moan, or show “weakness.” Think of Roy Keane, though he is Irish. An opponent takes you out, but you don`t stay down, and don`t let him know you`re hurt. You certainly don`t adopt the Busquets tactic of feigning mortal injury. I`m not saying any of this is right, but it`s how the English think. Speculator owners are ripping off clubs, fans are being charged obscenely high ticket prices and violent tackling goes unpunished, yet the English will always react to what they see as “dishonesty” on the football pitch.

Finally, we don`t feel we can discuss the “latin culture” in case we`re accused of stereotyping. I wonder if Barcelona fans feel uncomfortable watching Alves or Busquets - given that Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and others generally don`t play those games?