Parking the bus? How is that relevant to football?
The first time I heard and read about this word was from former Soccernet columnist, Phil Ball. He is, in my opinion, a brilliant columnist who wrote primarily on Spanish football and yes, you have guessed it. "Parking the bus" is a Spanish concept of a team who go to an away match in search of a draw, meaning that they also take with them the team bus out onto the pitch and park it in the goal area.
The first time I heard and read about this word was from former Soccernet columnist, Phil Ball. He is, in my opinion, a brilliant columnist who wrote primarily on Spanish football and yes, you have guessed it. "Parking the bus" is a Spanish concept of a team who go to an away match in search of a draw, meaning that they also take with them the team bus out onto the pitch and park it in the goal area.
Javier Clemente - The father of the "Parking the Bus" game plan
Javier Clemente, a former Spain national coach, also known as an ultra-defensive coach, was responsible for the birth of that metaphor, says Phil Ball. While at Murcia, for an away crunch match against Real Madrid, Javi Clemente left out two of his strikers and took a collective bunch of defenders and midfielders (the "bus"). Hence the term, park the bus.
More recently, Chelsea "parked the bus" in an away Champions League semifinal match against Barcelona which riled up the Barca players, coaches and fans alike. So a Spanish concept put into practice on a Spanish team....how beautifully ironic.
Coming back to the point, there is a small matter of a long overdue Greater Manchester derby match tonight. Small matter but high in significance as the destination of the trophy hinges on the result of this match. So if Wigan "parks the bus" to deny Manchester United victory, then Steve Bruce will have ensured that we will be in store for a most interesting remaining two matches of this season's Premier League challenge.I hope that they do so, but....it's still a tall order. Wigan have neither beaten nor forced a draw against the Red Devils since the Latics got promoted. Wigan cannot score goals at the moment. Worse still, they are leaking goals and the Mancs are just well capable of capitalizing on any defensive error. With United possessing a 100% win record against Wigan, I am not sure if this could be the "mistake" that Rafa spoke of.
Wishful Thinking? Yeah....think so
Stranger things have happened this season so we shall just wait and experience what this match has in store for us.
What does this mean? Let's try to put this into perspective.
We could see the arrival of the players onto the pitch and their introduction to the crowd as an emotional high point of the match experience. The heart rate of this subject reaches an extraordinary peak of 187 bpm at this point, a rate from which it gradually – and perhaps thankfully – decreases until the 40th minute of the game. Anticipation and the 'fan-fare' of the build up to the game play a crucial role here. The context of the match also adds to the intensity of the experience. Fans get immersed in team talk often days before the actual event. By the time match day comes around countless discussions, whether online or face-to-face, would have taken place regarding team selection, tactics, team formation, the current form of players and managers as well as the importance of the next encounter to team's standing in the league. Prior to this match on February 23rd, PSG were perilously close to the relegation zone and Monaco, while lying towards the top of Ligue 1, were smarting from a 6-0 defeat at the hands of Bordeaux. The game, ending in a hard-fought draw (1-1), saw few real chances in the first half. A total of 34 fouls occurred during the match, over 2/3 of these were in the first half. A number of attacking moves, particularly from PSG, were viewed by the referee to be offside, which also interrupted the flow of play. The heart rate of the subject reflects the rather fragmented nature of the opening period – and perhaps his frustration – and it is not until the 40th minute that the deadlock is broken with Rothen's (a former Monaco player) shot from the left side of the box forcing a save. The subject's heart rate increases rapidly – by 70 bpm in less than 40 seconds – with the attacking move culminating in the attempt on goal. The PSG fan's heart rate falls to just below 140 bpm, only to rise again to 172 bpm with Diané's goal in the 41st minute, putting PSG 1-0 in front. Despite the dramatic increases in heart rate towards the end of the first half, the level of arousal in the subject when his team scores is not as high as the rate recorded before kick-off. The sense of anticipation prior to the match elevates heart rate to levels equivalent to those accompanying goals. I bet this young fan was as physically tired as he would be psychologically after the match!
