A few thoughts on the World Cup

So, that's the World Cup over and France are champions.

In a surprisingly good final, my pre-tournament prediction to win actually did - what was even more impressive is that this year's winners were unquestionably the best team over the last few weeks. That doesn't always happen.

I have no intention of undertaking an analysis of the various games or the tournament as a whole, but I would like to make a few observations (inevitably, some of these are from a political perspective).

1. England are a good team. Not a great team by any means, but they exit a tournament for the first time in 22 years with genuine reasons to be optimistic. They are managed by an obviously nice guy who understands how to manage both expectations and the media. Sure, England got lucky with the draw, but ultimately they can only play what's in front of them and while they were unconvincing in spells against Tunisia, Colombia and Croatia they looked to play football in the right way and were for the most part entertaining. Jordan Pickford in particular had an impressive tournament and he answered his doubters effectively, and not only in that penalty shoot-out against Colombia. Harry Maguire is another who confounded expectations and showed he has a bright future at international level.

2. Portugal are not a good team. They have a largely undeserved reputation as being a cohesive, attack-minded unit who play aggressive but attractive football, but they won Euro 2016 playing turgid football. They were lucky against Spain that David de Gea was in a mood for gifting silly goals and that Cristiano Ronaldo is the set-piece king, but otherwise they didn't look like the reigning European champions. They're not a team in any case - Portugal is Ronaldo and a supporting cast.

3. VAR adds to the drama, but isn't (yet) fit for purpose. There is no doubt that the VAR system added some interest to this World Cup. There can similarly be little doubt that it didn't actually do what it was supposed to. The delays I expected - the blatantly wrong calls I did not. Clearly VAR is a work in progress and I'm yet to be convinced it is an answer to the often cited problems of consistency and accuracy in refereeing decisions.

4. England fans needed someone to believe in. And that someone turned out to be Gareth Southgate. Who'd have thought it? From having almost zero expectations before the competition kicked off, England fans were singing "it's coming home" as soon as the stunningly poor Panamanians were thrashed 6-1. Southgate has become the most unlikely of role models. I suspect it won't last but it's curious that a man in a waistcoat who doesn't take himself too seriously - and has dared to be both realistic and deeply human in his approach - has for a time become England's national icon.

5. England might have performed well, but the BBC commentary team didn't. I liked watching England, I often hated listening to the commentators (and not just the BBC either, although they were the worst). It's not so much the bias that I object to but the dreadful delivery, banal comments, mispronunciation of names and (on at least one occasion) a lack of respect for England's opponents. It's a shame, because the BBC should have the personnel and the resources to do it so much better.

6. The "big names" failed, and deserved to. For all the Messi v Ronaldo hype, I hoped the World Cup would be won by the best team and not the team with the biggest "personality" (i.e. focus of obsessive media exposure). Messi missed a penalty against Iceland and never seemed to recover; his team, however, were far more disappointing and fully merited being routed by Croatia. Ronaldo looked like a talented player in a mediocre team, and there was always a sense that he felt himself to be above the team game. As for Neymar - why such a talented player needs to spend most of his time rolling around on the floor I have no idea.

When Argentina and Portugal exited at the same stage, an ITV reporter announced that "the two best players are leaving the World Cup". Best players? Isn't that rather subjective to be given as a statement of fact? And doesn't it betray the media approach to international football - an obsession with "big names" and individuals rather than collective effort? Do they even understand football?

7. Roberto Martinez is a genius! Put an ex-Motherwell player in charge of Belgium and great things happen! And he beat England twice in the space of 17 days. Seriously, while he wasn't able (in spite of making various changes) to get the better of France in the semi-final, he deserves praise for the way he changed things against Japan and the approach used in the Brazil game. To think that he was considered too tactically naïve to succeed at this level...

8. As a PR exercise for Putin's Russia, it failed. The Russian government hoped that the World Cup would help change the image and perception of their country internationally. However, Mo Salah's awkward photos with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and the Pussy Riot pitch invasion in the final ensured that Russia's questionable human rights record came under even more scrutiny.

9. Maradona is a completely inappropriate "goodwill ambassador". There are no words to describe the embarrassment many of us feel at seeing this once great player reduced to abusing fans and making intemperate outbursts. That he's not only tolerated but given an official role by FIFA says a great deal about that organisation's difficulties in moving forwards. On which note...

10. FIFA continues to have all the wrong priorities. FIFA was happy to hand out fines for various things, and did so in a way that underlines its priorities. "Wearing the wrong socks, England? Right, that's a £60,000 fine. And you, Croatia! Yes, we saw you consuming non-sponsor drinks...we have these cameras, see? That's £60,000 from you as well. Now, Russia...you see that neo-Nazi banner? That's not very nice is it really? We're going to have to fine you £8,500...now, please don't do it again. We know you meant no harm but some people don't really like that kind of thing. Homophobic chanting from Mexico fans? Not good is it, but it's not as if it's like...you know, wearing the wrong socks or drinking the wrong drinks. Here, a slap on the wrist for you..."

11. As England fans surely realise now, it's not all about the winning. For Panama it was scoring their first goal at the World Cup. For Senegal fans, it was having a party and cleaning up the mess afterwards. For Saudi Arabia, it was an opportunity for Prince Mohammed bin Salman to meet with Vladimir Putin.

12. The new fair play rules don't work. When teams are tied on points and goals, the number of yellow/red cards is now taken into consideration. In group H, with Senegal and Japan both level on points and goals and both losing in their 1-0 in their respective games, Japan deliberately played out a tedious final 20 minutes with Poland (who seemed equally uninterested in scoring again). Japan's anti-football tactics were widely booed, but the fact they'd received two fewer yellow cards than Senegal sent them through. My issue isn't that Japan played to the rules - I wouldn't expect them to have done anything else - but that the rules themselves encourage the very antithesis of pair play.

13. What a World Cup Final! It wasn't quite in the same league as the 1970 final, but it was refreshing to have a truly entertaining and at times surprisingly open match - especially after some recent finals (I'm thinking of the last two particularly). It was to my mind the best final since 1986, and both teams deserve huge credit for their approach to the game (even if the refereeing was somewhat suspect).

14. And finally, the surprise highlight of the world cup...Tim Farron's tweets! A mixture of patriotic support, personal hopes and disappointments, humorous interactions with fans, football history, geeky explanations of obscure World Cup facts...Tim's commentary had everything. Well done, Tim - you made the World Cup that bit more entertaining!