Power to the people

By Paul Simpson

No matter how Real Madrid CF play against FC Dynamo Kyiv this week, you will have to lock yourself in the bell tower of a Trappist monastery to avoid hearing the words 'player power'. Commentators and pundits usually use these words as a pejorative term, feeding the popular suspicion that footballers no longer know their place.

Player power
However, even back in the 1960s, 'player power' was no novelty. As Helenio Herrera, the man who perfected the catenaccio defensive style of football and won two European Champion Clubs' Cups with FC Internazionale Milano in the 1960s said: "In those days, it was the players who ran the teams."

Great sides
Indeed, two of the greatest teams football has ever seen - the Madrid side which won five European Cups in a row and the Brazil side which won the Jules Rimet trophy for keeps in 1970 - were driven by player power.

Coaching conundrum
The Madrid side which monopolised the European Cup until 1960 had three different coaches - the longest lasting being Miguel Muñoz who had twice lifted the trophy as Madrid captain. Argentinian coach Luis Antonio Caniglia did not see eye to eye with some of the original stars at the Santiago Bernabéu and, even though he had won the European Cup twice in a row with Madrid, he paid for those disagreements with his job.

Pelé prominence
Meanwhile, Brazil famously changed coaches in the run up to the 1970 FIFA World Cup after João Saldanha committed the cardinal sin and told the press he might drop Pelé.

Important distinction
So when the term 'player power' crops up again, as it undoubtedly will, let us be clear what is at issue. Nobody objects to successful player power - if this Madrid side were playing like the team of Alberto Di Stefano and Ferenc Puskás or like Brazil in 1970, only a few dyed-in-the-wool disciplinarians would grumble. The trouble starts when player power is not seen to be matched by player performance.

Mutual recognition
Yet, heretical as this might seem, blaming the players is too simple. Football is, after all, one of the few global industries in which the very idea that senior employees should be consulted about their business is seen by media and fans as anathema. Nobody is saying players should pick the team, or tell the coach where they should play, yet most successful coaches today recognise that, though they can rarely sack players, players can get them sacked.

Twin stars
This Wednesday, the San Siro will see the kind of player power every fan and pundit approves of when two FIFA World Player of the Year contenders, Deco and Andriy Shevchenko, face each other. The campaign for Shevchenko to win the accolade is already under way - Deco and José Mourinho have publicly nominated the Ukrainian, the third highest scorer ever in the Champions League, and probably the greatest player since Manchester United FC's George Best not to have graced the World Cup finals. 

Stellar cast
Deco, the best player in the Champions League last season, is part of a stellar cast who have led Barça to the top of the Primera División. Deco, Ronaldinho, Ludovic Giuly, Henrik Larsson, Samuel Eto'o - the names do rather roll off the tongue. The Catalan club are too proud to borrow jargon from Madrid but with that line up they might, just, be the new 'Gálacticos'.

Paul Simpson is the editor of Champions, the official magazine of the UEFA Champions League. Click here to subscribe.