Credit: AFCALICE
“We don’t have a lot of black goalkeepers at the top and people already have in their mind that black goalkeepers are not confident or they make too many mistakes”.
– André Onana, one of the World’s best young goalkeepers.
This episode will challenge both the writer and the reader to change how they think about players. How Racism on the Pitch Works is NOT about the systemic racism in UEFA, FIFA, club management, or Ultra groups, it is about how racial stereotypes dictate what we see on the pitch.
‘You expect more creativity from a Brazilian’
I believe that myself, and all readers and followers of this blog, do not consciously act upon racist values in our daily lives or in our watching of football. But, what I am less sure of fellow fans and of myself, is how much of our footballing opinions are subconsciously conditioned by stereotypes.
Football is rife with cliche and assumption, and players are categorised based on protected characteristics (the very definition of ‘discrimination’). German players are mechanical; Argentinians fiery; the Spanish are passmasters; good-looking Italians must be maestros; tall players must be strikers or centre-backs; Moroccan and Algerian players probably have attitude problems; and English players lack creativity and invention. Cliches-abound, some more problematic than others. This on-field racial stereotyping is so ingrained that it is just an accepted part of how we analyse football, and yet it is evidence of systemic profiling of players based on race and nationality.
The tired Brazilian ‘samba style’ cliché means Brazilians are expected to provide the flair and creativity which we have assigned to them. Yet the Brazilian contingent in FFT’s Top 100 Players list consists of Gabriel Jesus, Fernandinho, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Casemiro, Fabinho, Ederson, Neymar, Firmino, and Alisson. All technical and intelligent sure, but (Neymar aside) far more clinical and output-driven than flashy. Taking Chelsea’s Willian as a Premier League example, would his hard-working, conventional and uncomplicated style be so regularly criticised as unimaginative were it not for the fact that we expect ‘magic’ from a Brazilian?
Football is a patchwork and identity is good, but nationality and cultural identity are one of many contributory factors in playing styles.
Since N’Golo Kanté has become a star there has been an obsession with comparisons to Claude Makélelé. It is both sad and unsurprising to see why that is. Yet were it not for the fact they are both sub-175cm, bald, black French midfielders, the similarities of playing style are not as apparent as stereotype has us assume. Makélelé’s approach to ‘the Makélelé role’ was much more measured, and his close control and methodical passing complemented a role in which he very rarely went beyond the ball in attack. Despite overwhelming popular belief to the contrary, Kanté has very rarely played the deep-lying Makélelé role for either Chelsea or Leicester. For Leicester that role did not even exist, and his position was much more about aggressive pressing and using his extraordinary energy and reading of the play to constantly regain possession and be wherever the ball is. For Chelsea, the Makélelé role is filled by Jorginho, and Kanté again adopts a more aggressive position than Makélelé ever did at Chelsea. In the same way as Anthony Martial is compared to Thierry Henry, Romelu Lukaku to Didier Drogba, or Fabinho to Fernandinho, we surely must be cleverer with our comparisons?
In many cases these stereotypes seem harmless, but in reality they can be destructive to careers. Determination to categorise Romelu Lukaku as a Target Man-type striker like Drogba because of his race and physique made coaches blind to the fact he is much better facing the goal than he is with his back to it. Elsewhere white players De Bruyne, Coutinho, Draxler, Iniesta, Mata, Eriksen, Maddison, Thomas Muller and Paulo Dybala are all intelligent and technical Number 10s, but black and ethnic minority players Mane, Sancho, Mahrez, Gnabry, Bergwijn, Willian, Douglas Costa and Thomas Lemar are all tricky and athletic wide players. Yet running stats suggest De Bruyne is more athletic than Mahrez, Willian and Lemar, and passing, through-ball, and chance creation statistics suggest that Willian and Mahrez are more intelligent than Coutinho, Draxler, or Maddison. Race and nationality condition where and how fans, scouts, youth coaches, and elite managers believe players should play on the pitch.
Credit: UEFA.tv: The Makélelé Role is about discipline and control, and N’Golo Kante is not a modern iteration.
‘Black Goalkeepers make too many mistakes’ – Andre Onana on the perception of goalkeepers speaking to the BBC
Since the 1800s racial stereotyping has pushed black players in to certain types of sporting roles. The very early West Indies test cricket teams to tour England from the Caribbean in late 1890s to early 1900s featured both white and black players. But, it was the white cricketers who filled positions of ‘intelligence’ and ‘responsibility’ (captains, wicket-keepers, opening batsmen), whilst the black players were expected to graft, labour and toil in their pace bowling and boundary fielding.
Early West Indies Touring teams to England featured white players in positions of responsibility, and black players in the hard-working roles.
This stereotyping makes it harder for African and black footballers to hold ‘positions of authority’ on the pitch. Black players predominantly make careers as full-backs, wing-backs, wingers, or strikers. All positions of athleticism, but not positions considered to be the brains behind a team. When a black player is successful in an ‘authoritative’ and ‘intelligent’ position like central midfield, journalism, coaching, punditry, and fandom all focus on the physical over the technical. In May 2020 we have seen a lot of links between Thomas Partey and Arsenal, and a number of reputable journalists and newspapers who will remain unnamed have described Thomas as a ‘powerful’, ‘athletic’ midfielder. In actual fact, Thomas is the intelligent, deep-lying passer of the Atlético midfield, and the Champions League running statistics emphasise this. ‘Technicians’ Saúl Ñíguez and Koke have both run approximately 10,000 metres further than Thomas this season in similar minutes played. Again, our perception of style is driven by skin colour over tangible evidence.
Credit: UEFA Statistics.
Football mirrors and fuels societal stereotypes, and will continue to have a profound positive or negative role in the society’s perception of races and nationalities. Speaking hypothetically, if in his personal life a white English fan identifies black footballers as only exceptional for their physical attributes, is that same fan less likely to promote a black person to a position of authority and responsibility in his working life?
‘A Black Goalkeeper is Difficult Here’ – Unnamed Top Italian Club’s explanation for not signing André Onana
The statistics are stark and alarming. Of the 20 Premier League captains in the 2019-20 season, only 3 are non-white (Troy Deeney, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, and Jamaal Lascelles). 3 from 20 is 15%, significantly lower than the overall demographic of Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Premier League players which is approximately 40%. In Spain, Germany, and Italy the statistics are even worse. Spain and Italy boast a cumulative zero black captains in their combined 40 teams, and Germany have just 2 of 18. That means across Europe’s top 4 leagues there are 5 black captains from 98 teams (5.1%). Captains are obviously selected from differing criteria; some are marketing figureheads for revenue-driven clubs, some are democratically elected by players, some are selected by coaches and managers. Whatever the selection method and the selection panel, this is profound evidence that clubs to not entrust on-field leadership and responsibility to BAME players.
Credit: THOMASJDESIGN
Beyond captaincy, it is fair to suggest that goalkeeper, central defence, central midfield, and the Number 10 positions are those which we consider require consistency, tactical awareness, responsibility, and intelligence. The statistics of player-position breakdown in Europe’s top 8 clubs (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Paris Saint Germain, Juventus, Bayern, Liverpool, Manchester City) is again telling. Across these clubs’ Champions League squad lists this season, of 50 BAME players 36 are either full-backs, wing-backs, wingers, or strikers, which means just 14 hold ‘authoritative’ positions.
Frankly, identifying why this is the case is difficult, and most-likely there are a number of factors:
- Club academies bringing in kids at age 8-10 are instrumental in the moulding of players in to certain roles. Whilst it is not unusual to re-position and re-specialise during their time in academies, by the time they emerge from the academy their position is normally set. Thus, do youth coaches need to ensure that they are assessing, coaching, and moulding their players on merit and attributes rather than race or nationality?
- Managers and first-team coaches are tasked with extracting the best performances from the players available to them. Without being too accusatory of individuals, there are a plethora of black players who have played chunks of their career out-of-position despite attributes which would better lend themselves to central positions. Joe Gomez, Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain, Thierry Henry, N’Golo Kanté, and Theo Walcott come to mind. Indeed, for a number of those the continual determination to play them out-of-position belies the evidence of their improved performances when played centrally (Walcott’s best season at Arsenal came as a central striker). Whether those players have been hampered by managers who are conditioned by subconscious racial stereotypes is impossible to say.
Verdict: The Shrinking World Can Expand Our Minds
The competitiveness of modern football’s top leagues and the comprehensiveness of club scouting networks now means that clubs must widen their search for future stars to a global scale. Perhaps, by necessity, we will see clubs shun stereotype to objectively assess the qualities of players. Particularly in a post-Coronavirus context clubs will surely be placing greater importance on their academies, perhaps this will perpetuate closer analysis of where BAME academy players may fit into squads and positions. If football can see past race on the pitch, it’s profound influence on society could help project an understanding that nationality and race are nothing more than physical identifiers.
As intelligent fans we have the opportunity to be better. We should think deeper about our opinions on players, and assess by skillset. Black players can be reliable centre-back as much as mechanical Germans can be Number 10s and limited Brits can be mercurial playmakers, they just need the opportunity…
How Racism On The Pitch Works is part of a fortnightly Podcast and journalistic series called How Football Works. Find us on Apple Podcasts and all good Podcast apps.
If Race and Football interests you like it does me, I thoroughly recommend Racial Discrimination in English Professional Football by Goddard. You access it through JSTOR, but they have a limited amount of free access for new sign-ups. It is where quantifiable and professional history of Sport is found.
The How Racism On The Pitch Works podcast is available from 19/06/2020 at Apple Podcasts and Spotify Podcasts.
If you have any questions about this or any other episode, please submit them to @WorksFootball on Twitter, or to CJSHowFootballWorks@gmail.com. If you want to support this series, you can do so at Patreon.com/cjshowfootballworks.
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Thanks for reading/listening, see you next time.
Chris x
Episode List:
-
- Episode 1: How Boca Juniors Works.
– Apple Podcasts
– Article - Episode 2: How Real Madrid Works: Total 80s Edition.
– Apple Podcasts
– Article - Episode 3: How The Galacticos Worked: Part 1.
– Apple Podcasts
– Article - Episode 4: How The Galacticos Worked: Part 2.
– Apple Podcasts
– Article - Episode 5: How French Football Works.
– Apple Podcasts
– Article - Episode 6: How Robert Lewandowski Works.
– Apple Podcasts
– Article
- Episode 1: How Boca Juniors Works.
How Football Works 