Friends familiar with history should know that Ireland has been a colony of the British Empire for hundreds of years. Beginning in the mid-19th century, due to the influence of the Great Famine and other factors, the Irish people complained about British rule, and the vigorous national independence movement lasted for nearly a hundred years, finally becoming a permanent neutral country in the late 1940s and completely breaking away from the British Commonwealth.
So we can think that the two peoples have a feud, and it is the norm for the people to look at each other, but there are a very small number of people who have broken the barrier and are regarded as heroic figures on either side, such as our protagonist today, Jack Charlton. As a player, he was an England international, the main centre-back of the 1966 World Cup winner team; as a coach, he led Ireland to 10 years, participated in two World Cups and one European Championship, and was the most accomplished manager in his team's history.
On July 10, 2020, a sad news came that the 85-year-old Jack Charlton died of illness, and his departure took away the memories of generations of fans, in addition to the fans of England and Ireland, some old Chinese fans should also have some impressions of him, under the sunshine of Italy and the United States, shining the youth of many people.
Jack Charlton
In my opinion, he was one of the most well-known defenders of his time when he played football, and when he was a coach, he also created his own glory, and Jack's achievements in football in this life even surpassed that of his own brother Bobby Charlton.
One. The leader of the White Rose, the brave and fearless guard with the sword
More than half a century ago, the height of footballers could not be compared with today, and today it is normal for top teams to average more than 1.8 meters tall, but it was standard at about 1.7 meters that year. Jack's height reached 1.87 meters, even as a center-back, he was tall in that era, and overall his body shape was similar to today's Stones.
But he is not as good at fine work as Stones, and belongs to the more courageous and "stubborn" defensive players, although the footwork is ok, but there is no advantage among the players of the same class. However, he often made cameo appearances in the center early in his career, and he had a better shooting ability than other defenders, which was his biggest shining point outside of defense.
Jack was absorbed into Leeds United's youth system in 1950 and retired in 1973, staying at the Elam Road Stadium and was one of the most famous one club men of antiquity. He debuted during the post-World War II league shuffling period, the various teams took turns to sit in the house, there was no stable order to speak of, but these had little to do with the white rose.
Leeds United had been in the second division for a long time, and although they were promoted to the top flight and hovered for a few years, after entering the 1960s, they seemed to have completely sunk. The manager came and went like a marquee, the results are not improving, if you mix like this for a few more years, I am afraid it will be completely sinking.
Fortunately, at a critical juncture, a 34-year-old genius young marshal turned out to be Tang Rivi, who would become famous in the future. As an outstanding representative of the old British manager, Rivie is a fan of confrontational play, and the ugly point is that the kick is a little "dirty". But in those chaotic times, the unreasonable way of playing was very effective, and it took Rivie two or three years to bring the team back to The League One, and immediately became one of the most competitive teams in England after regrouping and upgrading the squad.
Jack Charlton and Don River
Under Rivie, the team naturally attaches great importance to defense, and the defense led by Jack Charlton and Norman Hunter is impregnable, and they play with their opponents in an almost "barbaric" way, and even let a manager like Shankly who pays attention to technical polishing "scold". At the time, it was said that if Leeds United led 1-0, the game would be over, and the utilitarians of every era were subjected to similar criticism.
But competitive sports, good results can shut up the doubters, Rivie led the team for 13 years, Jack played under him for 12 years, they won the League One, the FA Cup, and the European Exposition Cup (which can be regarded as the early form of the League Cup). As a centre-back, Jack also won the Football Journalists Association's Player of the Year and became the leader of the era.
Two. World Cup gods: fight brothers, local enemies
Unlike his younger brother, jack, who became famous at a young age, was not surprised by fans at the time until the age of 30. First of all, during his 20-30 years of age, Leeds United's overall performance is very poor, more than half of the time mixed in the second division, even if the information is so developed now, Southgate will not be able to go to the Championship to investigate players. Secondly, in the early years, he was not very disciplined, addicted to party life, and was once beaten into the cold palace by the club, but later "changed from evil to righteousness", and the competitive state was also guaranteed.
He caught up with the best of his time, starting with Leeds United's return to the top flight in 1964 and becoming a favourite to win the League One and FA Cups the following season, with Jack naturally in the spotlight as a core centre-back.
In 1965, the Charlton brothers also played for England
Secondly, after taking over the Three Lions, coach Alf Ramsey has been looking at "newcomers", no matter what past resume, no matter how old, as long as the strength is enough, it is possible to be recruited. In the spring of 1965, before Jack's 30th birthday, he finally made his England debut.
With no major injuries, the 30-year-old Jack is still at his peak and has been Bobby Moore's closest partner since playing for England and is considered a core member by Ramsey in 1966. Catching up with the opportunity of the local World Cup, we can only say that people are not as good as the sky.
He is the main player in the whole cup, because Moore's footwork is more outstanding, close to the free man's playing style, and he is responsible for the organization of the ball, so Jack's coverage on the defensive end is wider, and under the non-staring system, various supplementary positions are indispensable, equivalent to giving Moore a cushion. It's just that the focus of public opinion in that cup is in the midfield, the defense line is rarely cared about, Banks and Moore also stole most of the traffic, and Jack seems to be a little silent.
Jack Charlton started and played 120 minutes in the 1966 World Cup final
None of this mattered, though, because he participated in the once-in-a-lifetime World Cup final as a starter and went out with his brother Bobbie, and the process was as dramatic as a twist, but the result was like a fairy tale. For someone who only became an international at the age of 30, those days were like dreams.
Jack was not short-lived, and he then competed as a substitute at the 1968 European Championships and the 1970 World Cup, and despite limited appearances, he remained a key figure in Ramsey's mind. At that time, there were not many players who could still have a place at the age of 35, not to mention that it was the heyday of the Three Lions.
Three. He led the Irish Expedition for ten years, and achieved remarkable results in style
Well-known stars generally have two paths to go after retiring, either to make a living by their own fame or to continue to work strength. The former is mainly a variety of holes, or as an image ambassador such as a virtual position; the latter is either a coach, or into the team management, and even politics is possible. The two Charlton brothers chose each other completely differently, with the more famous Bobby choosing the former and Jack becoming the coach.
In fact, his coaching resume in the early years is not very outstanding, most of the time in the lower leagues, although he has won the title of the best of the year, but if he is not in the top league of the strong team to prove himself, generally speaking, it is not a famous coach. But Jack seems to like to go a different way, and after the "dog" team has made a name for himself, he chose to coach the Irish national team.
At that point in 1986, ireland's position at the national level was equivalent to the middle team of the second-tier league club, although it was not a nationality, but it had not been shortlisted for a World Cup or a European Championship, and the level of talk was always insufficient.
But we have to admire Jack's vision and tactical achievements, that era was the most talented time ireland has ever had, Liam Brady, David O'Reilly, Mark Lawrensen, Ronnie Whelan, Ray Horton, Paul McKinsey and even Aldridge, Staunton and Quinn, etc., were all famous players in League One at that time, and in any period since, Ireland has not had so many top-flight stars.
After the talent reserve is in place, all the manager has to do is to create a tactical system that suits them, and Jack still adheres to the traditional British 442 architecture, but pays more attention to the oppression of ball carriers, and the offensive end also pays more attention to creativity. In summary, it is to try to solve the problem through the flash of talented players on the basis of solid defense.
1988 Euro 1988 Ireland 0-1 Netherlands
During Jack's golden years in charge, the team competed in the 1988 European Championships, 1990 and 1994 World Cups, and played a number of famous games. They have defeated the giants England and Italy, and have also forced the peak of the Soviet Union and the Netherlands into a desperate situation, and two consecutive World Cups have reached the knockout stages, which is quite a remarkable achievement.
If you've watched the Irish game back then, you'll be impressed by the stubborn and suffocating sense of oppression that will take the game into the vortex of "small balls". A variety of 0-0, 1-0 and 1-1 are standard for jack's team, and their set of ideas is particularly useful in cup matches, seemingly five or five but always able to laugh at the end of the war of attrition, even if the loss is a decent exit.
1994 FIFA World Cup Ireland 1-0 Italy Jack Charlton and Robert Baggio
It wasn't until 1996, when jack Charlton announced his decision to go into hiding, when he was already the supreme god in the minds of Irish fans, a totem figure of the golden age.
After Jack left, ireland's performance in both stardom and international competitions plummeted, and reaching the round of 16 in the 2002 World Cup was the "last dance". At present, they are not competitive, and they may not be able to get the main competition place after the expansion of the European Championship, and the World Cup is even more fantastic. Perhaps for many years to come, domestic fans will still have to live in the dream of 30 years ago, where jack led the dream team.
The Irish people spontaneously mourned Jack Charlton
Finally, may Mr. Jack Charlton rest in peace and thank you for your contribution to the world of football!