The first week of the World cup has proved to be a revelation, with goals a plenty, comebacks and thrilling late victories, so you would assume that the commentators and pundits jobs would be quite straightforward and that their analysis would be professional, interesting and insightful...well, in the case of some, this is certainly true but for others it would appear that the heat (isn’t this to blame for everything in Brazil?) has taken its toll. So with that being said, let’s take a look at some of the pundits and commentators who have "graced" our TV’s for the past week. Commentator, Jonathan Pearce – BBC Old loud mouth has been at his insufferable best during this tournament and has provided more than 1 gaff so far in the competition, one of many being for the Benzema goal against Honduras when the new goal line technology was called upon for the first time. Have a look at this exchange with co-commentator Martin Keown. Pearce: "Look at this again. We've seen so many spurious goal-line technology replays. And it signals no goal! No goal has gone up on the screen. The fans have heard it, the Honduran players have seen it." Martin Keown: "But it's a goal there..." Pearce: "Oh goodness me, they've changed their minds now. Does goal-line technology work or doesn't it? Which replay are we supposed to believe? This was supposed to be a flawless system." Keown: "Yes but it says the ball was over the line on the second instance." Pearce: "The whole goal line technology debate will flare up again because it was not good enough, was it?" He really got his panties in a twist over something that was clear for 99.9% of people watching but still he managed to get excited and try to draw some controversy out of a moment where the technology had helped the referee reach the CORRECT decision. They say the system is fool proof but not in the case of this simple commentator. Overall, Pearce scores points for being excited but loses them for his inability to get excited at the right moments and this very fact caused him to declare a a goal for about 3 seconds before he realised it had only been the side netting he had seen bustling (it's a goal, yes, it's 1.0.....oh no) and his presence on our screens makes me long for the days of commentator god Barry Davies or even the late departed Brian Moore. Pundit – Rio Ferdinand BBC Rio in Rio had a nice ring to it for the BBC and while everyone else got ready to squirm in their sofa at the prospect of Ferdinand joining the pundits team for the competition and while most, myself included would have not been especially enamoured at his appointment, as it turns out, he has been something of a revelation. To contextualise this, I am comparing him against the likes of Hansen, Lawrenson and Shearer (more on him later)where it doesn’t take much to offer more in the ways of insight, so it would perhaps be naive to hail Ferdinand as the second coming of Gary Neville, but his performances have exuded excitement and a willingness to share his experiences of actually playing the game and given his age and the fact he is still very much involved in the playing side of the game, it adds a gravitas and relevancy to his comments that the likes of Lawrenson and Hansen simply no longer posses (did they ever?) He also sounds like a real human being, again a quality that is absent in so many of our pundits. His little stories about marking Messi and getting slated by Busquets were actually interesting little side notes that footballers very rarely tend to share and even if they were not especially revealing, it makes a real change having the presence of a man who actually understands the modern game and seemed genuinely as excited as I might have been to be at the Maracana to witness Messi’s goal in their win over Bosnia. This is a great quality for any pundit to have and really has made Ferdinand much more likable than you might have imagined before the tournament got under way. Of course he is by no means the finished article but I can see a bright future for Rio and the BBC are likely to promote him to Match of the Day in lieu of the retirement of the aforementioned Hansen and this could only be a good thing tg have a younger, fresher approach to a show stuck in the dark ages. Pundit and Co-Commentator Robbie Savage (BBC) Just what this man has done to deserve his place on the BBC panel for a World Cup in Brazil, only god (or superman) can answer. The Welsh Wally was actually part of a presentation team that included Thierry Henry (World Cup Winner and living Legend), Alan Shearer (Best EPL striker ever with 30 England goals) Clarence Seedorf (man of multiple Champions League winners medals) and Gary Lineker, former Barcelona striker and Golden boot winner from Mexico in 1986...and Savage...39 caps for Wales and general hatchet man and bullshit talker. Really is there any justice in the world when a man as stupid, arrogant and downright rude can get such a privelaged role commentating at a Brazilian World Cup? Savage seems to believe that the validity of a point is closely related to the decibel level that said point is delivered at and during his co-commentary role it seems he was trying his hardest to be the complete antithesis of monotone Phil Neville. Somewhere in between would do nicely boys...we don’t need you screaming your head off about a Ghanaian corner but at the same time a little sense of occasion wouldn’t go amiss. Are you listening Phil? Savage has always been a loudmouth in everything he does. Make a tackle? break the man’s legs. Buy a new car, paint it pink, co commentary? shout your face off and discriminate against anyone who has not played the game at the “top top top top level” It was a real pleasure to watch Henry disagree and generally make him look like the long blonde haired fool he truly is. Long blonde hair it could be argued is better for Shakira and betting/blogging experts called Bo :) Like Pearce he does score points for enthusiasm but that is about the extent of his talent and the sooner he is forgotten about and put out to pasture, the better it will be for everybody. Sadly such an occurrence seems highly unlikely in a world where Commentators seem destined to stay in their jobs until they are about 100. Only another 40 years then of this man's nonsense to enjoy. In all seriousness, where the hell is Barry Davies? he is certainly still alive and kicking and the fact he is no longer an option for the BBC at football events is truly a tragedy. Well a commentary tragedy. Davies had the perfect combinations of knowledge, tone and the ability to sum up what he was watching in a manner that conveyed both joy and excitement and that truly is a rare skill. It seems easy but with a litany of voiceless commentators now polluting our airwaves, it seems the days of first rate commentary have long since departed and we will be stuck with the likes of Pearce, Tyldsley and Mowbray forever! Comments are closed.
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