A Kieron Dying Breed?
Not long ago, perhaps just over 5 years, this title of this piece could have been much the same as it is now. The same, except that the main noun of the sentence will be replaced, so it will read, ‘Are the days of the technical wizard over?’
It seems we have gone half circle in the last 5 years. Perhaps even full circle in the last 15 years, as we can all remember players like ‘Fash the Bash’ and his many Nigerian based clones swarming our league. The most dominant player in the world at the time was George Weah, who, let’s face it, is probably the only person who could take Chuck Norris.
Then came the skillful players. Zidane, Beckham, Scholes, Totti, Figo all thrived. Such was the strength of the skill, that a player so weak and lanky that he still literally had the visual effects of poverty, was crowned the World’s best in 1999.
A shift appeared soon afterwards. Brazil seemed to produce bigger and stronger players than ever before, Adriano, Dani Alves, and Luis Fabiano being the most intimidating. Athletic players, dare I say journeyman, athletic players, suddenly rose to prominence. Cafu was suddenly the best right back in the world. Sol Campbell seemed to double in effectiveness overnight. The best player in the world was once again lightning quick, with great strength. Henry was able to use these gifts to the fullest, even though they appeared ineffective in his early career. Europe filled up with African imports, who stereotypes aside, are simply much better athletes. Such was the athletic dominance required, that some Premier League clubs rejected trialists for their academy without touching a ball; they weren’t powerful enough of course. A great young player was Obafemi Martins.
Today though, a great young player is Jack Wilshere, Carlos Vela, Sergio Aguero or Sebastien Giovinco. I wouldn’t frankly like to be in the same town as Obafemi Martins if he was ever filled with rage. The four mentioned above… I don’t think I could actually stop laughing in disbelief if they said they would give me a beating. They are the typical, American view of footballers. Pussy fags. Incidentally, I was recently called a ’soccer Nazi’ by an American the other day. Strange, to say the least.
The point is, it seems like world football is opting for skill over power again. There are numerous examples of this. The outlined prospect above is only equaled as evidence by the decline of great young athletes. When I watched Abou Diaby and Lassana Diarra in the Carling Cup final 2007, I thought they would both become world class players. There skill was OK, not great, but they were physically dominating and looked brilliant.
Diarra is now what his name sounds like, and Abou Diaby may have disappeared to Abou Dhabi for all I know (get it?). There have been so many great prospects who have been complete duds because they don’t have the skill. Florent Sinama Pongolle anyone? Best example though, that honour goes to Micah Richards. Everybody was raving about him just over a year ago. He had been caught out defensively by more skillful players so much this year, that now he can’t even get in the England squad, when it appeared he had the entire right wing nailed down last year.
I think that we will enjoy the next 5 years of football. It will all be about outrageous curling shots, perfectly weighted passes, superb off the ball movement, intelligence and new skills never thought of before. If money does ruin the sport, as many seem to think it will, then this next few years could prove to be the zenith of football. Thank goodness I will be alive to be one of those old people, who can hark on about the good old days, and not feel the need to exaggerate at all.
As a final note, I realise that there are exceptions to the trends. Of course players like Raul, Shevchenko and Van Nistelrooy thrived despite being athletes, just as athletes will live on in the form of Balotelli, Anderson and Marcelo. I am talking about the general trend, and only a bit out of my ass.
Written by Douglas Johnson.
This article is a submission for the Soccerlens 2008 Writing Competition; to participate, please read the details here. The competition is sponsored by Subside Sports (premier online store for football shirts) and Icons (official signed football jerseys).
So i have a question for you then, does this mean that a skillful, passing team such as Arsenal will thrive in the next 5 years?
Not a very good article. It does not make sense to name scholes, or even beckham in the same sentence as figo, totti and zidane,. If you were looking for skillful premiership players you should have named zola, bergkamp, giggs but most of the skillful players just weren’t playing in England at that time. Scholes is just a determined and somewhat skilled midfielder,beckham a player with a good cross and shot. At that moment in the spanish and italian leagues there were lots of players who were more skilled(del piero, raul, seedorf to name a few).
Your point is that technical will dominate physical the next few years, I think they will both have their place. Arsenal are commonly named as a team of technique above physique, but if you look at their back four and adebayor, bendtner and diaby(who is back after some injuries, not from abu dhabi) they rely more on physique then technique.
I think you are generally talking out of your ass and only a little bit about a trend.
Scholes and Beckham were considered to be among the best players in the world at the time, Koewart. I understand your dislike for United, but please do not discount an article just because you do not think that Scholes is a skilled player.
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I think that if we look back on these past five years or so, the player which have thrived the most are those ‘complete’ attacking midfielders like Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Deco, Ballack and so on. You know, the ones who can shoot to perfection, pass brilliantly and dribble around a dog’s wiggle tail… they are the ones… that is where the game is going…
i think football has always been cyclical. the real madrid superteam frm the 1950s or the magical magyars were full of technical skill nd creativity. then came d italians with the catenaccio and importance of strength nd physical attributes went up. and then again came times in which creativity was valued more. cryuff’s holland nd d south american teams followed by the germans with beckenbauer , netzer nd breitner. they dominated for most of the 70s. and the trend has continued. every world cup has been different and the wanted qualities in footballers change with every generation. but quality will always prosper. messi , kaka nd the like would have flourished even in the physical era.
I think the author is talking through his ass…but I also agree with him. I believe that we will be in for a treat over the next few years, and then a Mourinho/Drogba approach will take over again.
Referring to United:
United always relied on 1, maybe 2 players in a team to bring about creativity/spark. (Beckham/Scholes defo wasn’t creative, Giggs was…before that it was Cantona, before that Robson,etc.). The rest of the squad were basically just bloody hardworking. Today they have about half a squad to provide that creativity/spark. So, I can see what the author is getting at.
Koewart, Scholes will be known as one of the most technically gifted players of his generation if not all time. IMO, in his prime their was not another player in the world as good at retaining possesion and distributing. Del Piero or anyone in the Italian league altogether in that time save for Pirlo even come CLOSE to him. He inspired a whole new generation of players. As for Becks, while not the best ever, his range of passing and skill on the ball without a doubt puts him up their with the best of the crop in recent times, their can be no doubting that.
If anyone is going to misappropriate the phrase ’swarm’…that’ll be me!
Your comment about ‘many Nigerian based clones swarming ‘our’ league’ was the type of offense I would have welcomed by in the 1960s…but perhaps it’s a little past it’s sell by date today!
Dearest Regards
Enoch
Andrei, I do like United, I just don’t think Scholes is skillful in the same way as Totti, Zidane or other great attacking minded players. And for Ardi, I think Beckham is a little bit one sided to be named there, he just isn’t very complete for a attacking midfielder/winger.
Maybe I was a bit harsh by claiming this submission was not very good, it could very well be this author’s first attempt for a article here. If this is the case, the author certainly has potential I think, but I can’t agree with his opinion, his observations and (some of) his jokes, so this article is far from my favourite for the competition.
Koewert, I think the article has some nic epoints but is a little off with the time scale of the so called “attribute movements” so im nto arguing that….and as for beckham, i wasnt saying the best player in the world but nearly their in terms of his passing, ball control etc..
Cant say that I agree with this article. Theres always been a requirement for both throughout a team, just some teams styles and tactics may place slightly more emphasis on one. This balance however has no impact on a players usefulness or ability, the very best ones have ALWAYS been extremely gifted on both counts. Rivaldo, Ronaldinho Figo and Zidane while being skillful are also great athletes and likewise Henry, big Ronaldo, Samuel Eto’o and George Weah) who may be seen as predominantly physical players are hugely technically gifted. This is being seen now with Kaka Messi and C Ronaldo the percieved best players at the moment.
The only changes come from the evolution of tactics. At present most top teams tend to use or require attacking fullbacks, a holding player and a mobile striker who can win the ball up field, which has obviously lead to an increase in demand for these types of players but also lead to the demise ofother types of player such as the classic number 10. However teams will always find room for the most talented players, whether technically or physically
I don’t think the article establishes that any of these ‘trends’ existed and I don’t believe that they did.
Writing critique: Disjointed, too conversational and poor choices of words (pussy fags?). Structurally sound with the establishment of the premise early on, clearly presented arguments and cleanly delivered conclusion.
Football critique: Your point was an interesting one but your examples were suspect. I think there are and have been teams that fit the bill for both sides of the argument. Cruyff’s Holland was technical and played against many physical teams. Italy has played the catenaccio for years but these teams are usually tough and good on the ball. Many times style of play can mask players physicality or technical ability.
The world of football is very large and to make the argument that there is a global style prevalence seems a little narrow minded.