I've never used the phrase "wind up" (that I know of) in my "real" life. It's one of those Britishims adopted by so many Americans when talking about soccer, partly because it's fun to say, but also because we don't really have an easy equivalent.
In most of the big time American sports, announcers might say a player is trying to "get under the skin" of another player. Essentially, we're talking about baiting, trying to elicit a reaction that will hopefully lead to an advantage for the team doing the "winding up".
Which leads us to one of the more overplayed story lines, at least for me, in the week leading up to the USA v. England match on Saturday. Headlines scream that the Yanks plan to "wind up" England all-world striker Wayne Rooney, with our boys who have spent a significant amount of time in the land of tea and crumpets even using the phrase (of course they would, it's part of the soccer jargon over there). Quotes from Jay DeMerit are being thrown around, with the Watford defender commenting on Rooney's historical penchant for destructive tantrums. But are the Americans really planning to wind up Rooney, a supremely talented player and the key to the English attack, in an effort to gain some shady advantage?
I don't think so, and even if they were, it's certainly not a cogent "strategy". DeMerit and his partner, be it Goodson or Onyewu, might cagily throw some pointed words Rooney's way, and we know they won't back down from playing the Manchester United striker physically. But there's a clear line as to how far they can go, and anything that might come close to crossing that line would be a very bad idea indeed.
The Americans certainly can't afford to get anyone sent off, and it might be playing with fire just a bit too much if they needled Rooney strongly enough to get him to explode as he's done so many times before.
"The team know that you try to wind Rooney up. But I think he's learned over the years, with people telling him that's an easy way to get at him. I don't think it's as easy to wind Rooney up as people think it is. The preparations for him in particular, of course, are going to be high. We just have to make sure we make his day as difficult as possible."
- Jay DeMerit
If we read DeMerit's comments closely, it's clear that he thinks, or wants to give the impression that he thinks, Rooney isn't as easily riled as he used to be. That may be the case, but incidents like yesterday's slip, where Rooney was nearly sent off for cursing at the referee in England's friendly training session against a South African club side, make it clear he still has a tendency to lose his wits. While pushing Rooney, be it verbally or physically, might throw him off his game in some small way, intentionally setting out to do so is beyond what I can believe the Americans have planned.
Saturday will be about professionals doing what professionals do. DeMerit and his cohorts might give Roo a thing or two to think about, but none of it will be outside of the bounds of what they do, and he puts up with, on a weekly basis.
