Richard Bath: The BBC licence fee? It pays for a bunch of Crooks
I refer to Crooks’ team of Euro 2012, one of the most ridiculous, one-eyed space-fillers ever to appear in print. Or, more specifically, the fact that he had two Englishmen – Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson – in his team of the tournament, and would have included Ashley Cole had the Chelsea defender not missed a penalty.
Nor is it just the absurdity of the Englishmen whom Crooks has included which grates, but who he left out. There’s no Ronaldo – arguably the single most impressive player in the tournament – Fabio Coentrao, Nani, Philipp Lahm, Luca Modric, Mario Mandzukic, Sebastian Schweinsteiger or Xabi Alonso. There is, however, room for Mario Balotelli, who plays in the English Premier League, but who, with the notable exception of a dazzling semi-final appearance against Germany, was as ordinary as he was petulant.
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Hide AdAnd that’s without even starting on the fact that Crooks chose a central defender whose team conceded as many goals as all three of the other semi-finalists put together, or that he selected a goalkeeper who had fewer saves to make per game than any other ’keeper in the tournament.
Compared to ITV, for whom current managers such as Jurgen Klinsmann and Roberto Martinez provided some genuinely interesting insight, the BBC were shockingly off the pace. It’s time they started treating well-paid pundits on the basis of what comes out of their mouth rather than how many medals they have in the attic.