Ossie & Ricky

Gary Stevens Age : 30 Joined : 24 Jul 2007 Posts : 1798

FROM THE GUARDIAN:

When Ricardo Villa and Osvaldo Ardiles joined Spurs in 1978, the notion of overseas players was pretty much new to English football. It is revealing, 30 years on, as the pair step into a gala reception at the club to mark their induction into the Hall of Fame, that the challenge now posed in most Premier League fixtures is to spot those players who are actually English.
"Everything is different in English football now," says Villa, who is wearing bombachas de gaucho and points out that he now lives in the same village he would have lived in even if he had never been a footballer. "Perhaps the biggest change is financial, but everything feels very different. Back then all the club owners were English."
Keith Burkinshaw signed the pair for a combined fee of £750,000 - although they had just won a World Cup. When asked how they ended up in England, the answer comes hand in hand with a barely perceptible shrug. "It's simple: we wanted to play in Europe," says Ardiles, who points out that for most Argentinians back then playing in Europe meant Spain or Italy, at a stretch maybe France. "But Keith Burkinshaw turned up and brought us over." There was no such thing as scouts looking for talent in South America. "Nor in Europe," Ardiles continues, "because no one came here."
There were strong voices of dissent at the time: most notably that of Gordon Taylor at the PFA, but also from some MPs. Villa and Ardiles claim to have been unaware of the resistance, although culturally they knew they were far from home. "At first they doubted we would survive the winter," Ossie laughs, "and the concept of 'the Empire' was very present still. If you think about it, there were hardly any black players playing for England even. Culturally, this was very much an island, very insular. But we didn't think about all that. We just played football."
On the pitch, Villa remembers struggling to adapt: "It was all long balls, never going through the midfield. And I had always thought that was what I ought to be: a thinking midfielder. But there was no such thing here. It was hard for me. I didn't find a position easily. We worked at it a lot with the manager and eventually a role was sort of generated behind Garth Crooks and [Steve] Archibald: a sort of enganche." I scribble the word down in Spanish, noting that I always struggle to translate it adequately. "Me too," Ardiles chuckles.
Whereas Ricardo found it hard to adjust, Osvaldo slipped into the English game after barely a handful of teething matches to adapt. "He was born for English football," says Villa. "I would watch him run around, go, come, in no time it was like he'd always been playing here."
"I like the English game," Osvaldo says. "There was a lot of crosses, a lot of hoofs to the area, but for me it wasn't so hard to settle." And it's interesting to note the differences between the two - Villa is relaxed, chatty, willing to follow any thought wherever it might take him, asking about Tevez and Mascherano, while Ardiles, who has scheduled interviews throughout the day, keeps bringing us back into focus. "If we don't stick to the subject we're going to be here all day."
"It's very difficult to find someone who is not in their private life a little bit like they are on the pitch," says Ricardo, who describes himself as having been a 'lazy' player. Not through lack of work: he always turned up at training on time, and always did what was required. He means 'lazy' in the sense of visible effort on the pitch. "Not my thing," he says.
Now they are being honoured with a series of events to mark their status as club icons - the two launched a community initiative for the club 'Reach 2 Teach' and attended the gala dinner for their induction into the Hall of Fame. As they, their wives and one son each mingled with an impressive selection of ex-players gathered in a small bar before the meal, it was clear they were delighted at the recognition bestowed upon them. On a small stand, the ostentatious Opus book lay open with a pair of white gloves to hand for those interested in browsing through its heavy pages.
The double-spread photograph of Ardiles and Villa, with a backdrop consisting of an Argentinian flag in what looks like a ranch with a barbecue, was in fact taken in Ardiles's suburban English garden. "There's Letii, the family dog," points out an old friend who first met them after their first training session with Spurs. A doctor from Cordoba, he simply went along to say hello and they have remained very close ever since.
It seems so different from the experience of transatlantic foreign signings these days; the novelty factor also meant the club went that little bit further to ensure a smooth acclimatisation. The secretary would call on Cristina Villa every afternoon, drive her around the neighbourhood, make sure she wasn't too isolated. Cristina also recalls English lessons taken jointly with the two players in which the three managed to get the teacher speaking Spanish in no time at all.
"This is a wonderful country to work in," Ardiles says now. He is a football man through and through and all his professional decisions have always been made "purely footballistically". When he was called in 2002 to return to Argentina and manage Racing de Avellaneda, just after the club won the national championship, "it was an easy decision," he says. At the time he asked Villa to be his field assistant and "let's just say eventually he agreed."
The reunion of these two on the pitch - the first time they worked together in football since Villa left England in 1983 - made headlines. Perhaps partly because they were together again, but also because it somehow symbolised, amid a critical moment in Argentina's political and economic turmoil, an attempt to modernise football. "It was phenomenal," says Ardiles. Villa seconds the motion: "Professionally it was excellent - the facilities were in top condition, we never had to complain about payments ... the club was great. A great, great year."
There is a sense in which one could argue that these two Argentinians, 30 years ago, paved the way for the new English football, one in which footballers from all over the globe scatter the pitches of this island. "I think we did open the doors for more foreign signings," says Ardiles. "Maybe not immediately, but because it worked, we won things ..." He pauses for a moment and then adds: "Maybe if we had failed, everything would have turned out differently".
_________________
The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory. It is about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.

Founding Father Joined : 05 Jun 2007 Posts : 3522

did anyone see that interview with Garth Crooks and Villa before one cup final a few years ago? Very moving. Villa is a lovely man to this very day.

Gary Stevens Age : 30 Joined : 24 Jul 2007 Posts : 1798

England need better youth policy, Ardiles says
By Mike Collett
BROXBOURNE, England, Feb 14 (Reuters) - As one of the first high-profile overseas footballers to play in England, Ossie Ardiles is in a unique position to comment on the difficulties now facing the English game.
England have real problems to overcome if they are ever to seriously challenge for the World Cup again, the Argentine says.
"I don't think it is a question of Fabio Capello waving a magic wand and making England great again. I don't think it matters if it is an English or a foreign manager in the job," 1978 World Cup winner Ardiles told Reuters in an interview.
"If he does a good job he is going to be loved, like Jack Charlton was in Ireland. It doesn't matter who the England manager is. I think the problems are much, much deeper than just changing the manager.
"The real problem is...the development of young players. Why are there not enough good English players, Under-23 Under-21, Under-19, whatever you want to call it?" said Ardiles, who has coached in England, Japan, the Middle East and South America since his glittering playing career ended.
"When was the last time England won a world championship at that level? If you check the records, probably not more than once or twice in the last 40 or 50 years.
"Do England players lack a football gene? Do they have a deficiency? I don't think so. So it must be in the development, it is obvious. For me that is the answer."
The influx of foreign players was not to blame, said Ardiles, who was back in England with former Tottenham Hotspur team mate Ricardo Villa.
"The responsibility of the Premier League clubs is to have the best team possible; it doesn't matter if they are English, Argentine, Nigerian," he said.

FUTURE CHAMPIONS
"The people who have the real responsibility for England are the FA but who is the top manager in the youth set-up in England? In that position should be one of the best managers in the world who should be paid accordingly because these are the future World Cup champions.
"It is as simple as that. But for far, far too long, when Ricky and I arrived, in the '70s, and the early '80s, it was Charles Hughes...the long ball game.
"He was the one who said Brazil got it wrong. If you had someone like that in charge it was obvious that England were going to be suffering for a long, long, long time to come. What is needed in England is a kind of revolution in terms of developing youth players."
The situation was very different in Argentina, he said.
"Look at Argentina, they are going to the Beijing Olympics with players like Riquelme, Mascherano.... Perhaps they'll win it, perhaps they won't, but they will be fighting for it.
Juan Roman Riquelme, 29, and Javier Mascherano, 23, were among the few experienced players picked by Argentina for the first match in their preparations for the defence of the Olympic title in August.
Most of the squad for this month's friendly against Guatemala were young, in keeping with Olympic soccer rules that limit participants to under 23, with three over-age players allowed.
"These are the players who are young now but could be champions of the world in a few years' time," said Ardiles.
"Look at what happened in France; France was not even a real football country but they looked at the youth set-up and put all their efforts into a system that produced Zinedine Zidane and the others and they became world champions.
"This is exactly what England have to do. England can't even think about winning the World Cup. I would say they should think about qualifying first."
SPANISH SPEAKERS
The arrival in England of Ardiles and Villa, who helped Argentina to win the World Cup in 1978, made headlines and opened the door to the modern era of multi-national club teams.
The world of football had changed since they arrived in London nearly 30 years ago, they said.
"No-one spoke Spanish when we got to Spurs -- now the manager of Spurs is Spanish and the manager of England is an Italian. It is incredible what has happened here in 30 years, unbelievable," said Ardiles, who maintains a home in his adopted country.
"No other country is like England when it comes to football," said Villa. "I'm not recognised in Argentina but in England, everyone recognises me. England is very special like that. I think we were very lucky to come and play in England."
"No," laughed Ardiles, "I believe Tottenham were very lucky to have us."
Villa, who is no longer actively involved in football but spends his time looking after his ranch in Argentina, "farming, playing golf and tennis," was in England to be inducted along with Ardiles into Tottenham's Hall of Fame at a gala dinner.
Villa will forever be remembered for the winning goal he scored in the 1981 FA Cup final replay for Spurs against Manchester City.
The countless television replays of the tall, bearded Argentine weaving his way through the City defence before scoring is the main reason he is still so easily recognised in England today.
"He planned it all," joked Ardiles. "He had a bad game in the first match and was taken off so he could come back for the second game and be very dramatic like that. He wanted all the glory. He is very Latin you know, very emotional." (Editing by Clare Fallon)
_________________
The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory. It is about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.

Edgar Davids Joined : 06 Jun 2007 Posts : 3552

Founding Father Joined : 06 Jun 2007 Posts : 1704

Whenever I read articles about Ricky and Ozzie I get goose bumps. The day the two new signings were announced will stick with me forever, even as an 11 year old. To have 2 world cup winners playing for my beloved Tottenham was special. It was a defining moment in the history of the club. And a wonderful 6 or 7 years followed. I don't think supporting Spurs has ever been the same since. Those years growing up as a teenager and supporting Spurs were magical and inspirational. Thank you Ozzie, Ricky and of course Keith.