The 'Biased Basis' of the GOAT Debate- Part 2

In my previous post, I had brought up the topic of how the public, and even the experts perceive forwards or attack-minded players in football to be 'better' than defensive players on an individual level. Statistics prove this seeing that more individual awards, higher shirt sales, higher salaries and transfer fees, are all linked to attack-minded players. 

Now in the average football match, we had seen how an individual player usually has the ball for only 2-3 minutes per game at most, and how for the 87 minutes they do not have the ball, they are utilizing their 'off the ball' skills. Having seen how various kinds of players utilize those few minutes that they do have the ball, let us now see how these players utilize the time when each player does not have the ball.

Now just because the individual player does not have the ball, does not mean that his team isn't in possession of the ball. Hence, let us divide 'off the ball skills' into two categories; one when the player's team has possession of the ball and the other when the opposition has it.

In this post, let us look at what attack-minded players do without the ball irrespective of whether its their team that has possession or whether it's the opposition.

Let us assume two teams are playing, TEAM A and TEAM B. Now if TEAM A is in possession of the ball, and the ball is with their defensive minded players, what the attacking players of TEAM A will look to do is provide an outlet for their teammates to pass the ball to them. Not only will this relieve the pressure on their teammates as they won't have to pass the ball around in dangerous areas anymore, but it will also put pressure on TEAM B as the ball is now closer to their goal, and it's also with players who will pose a much greater threat in terms of scoring goals. 

Forwards of the team in white shirts 'pressing'
defenders of the team in black shirts.

Now when TEAM A's defenders and defensive players have the ball, the 'forwards' of TEAM B will look to 'press', i.e. they will move around chasing the players of TEAM A who have the ball in a systemic manner. The goal of 'pressing' is to put pressure on opposition defenders and not give them too much time on the ball, and hence 'pressurize' them into making a mistake and thus regain possession. 

Once TEAM A's attack minded players get the ball, they attempt to constantly move the ball around and switch it from one side of the field to another, and as they do this, they also continuously move around, and make runs into empty spaces so that they can receive the ball from a teammate when they have a lot of room around them to do something, either play the final ball, take a shot at goal, or even get a few extra moments to decide what to do. Either way, their constant moving around also provides more options to their teammates and makes life more difficult for the opposition as they have to move around with these players, thus tiring them out.

Thus the defenders from TEAM B will not only have to keep their eyes on the ball, but will also have to make sure they know where exactly TEAM A's forwards are. They shall also have to move around along with these forwards individually, while at the same time maintain structure. Hence, forwards generally try to occupy positions or make runs where it will be difficult for the defender to keep an eye on both the ball as well as the forward, and thus the defender will be forced to pay extra attention to either one, or may have to adjust his/her position to see both, which may come at the cost of breaking their team's formation. Forwards can capitalize on any of these moments to score a goal.

Forwards of the team in white shirts
making runs to provide their teammate
who has the ball with various options.

                                         
Hence, forwards of a team must contribute actively when they are 'off the ball' regardless of whether it's their team or the opposition in possession of the ball. They do an awful lot of running around, either towards the ball or opponents when the other team has it, or away from the ball and opponents into space when their own team has it.

Now, what do TEAM B's defensive players do when TEAM A has possession? Also, what do the defenders of TEAM A do when their forwards have the ball higher up the field?

Before we get to that, let us first recognize that although a single forward is the only requirement to score a goal, defence is a collective effort. Every single player must contribute to their teams defensive requirements, and defenders are largely responsible for coordinating this along with their goalkeeper as they are the ones who can see the most of the field. Hence a defender's role is much more 'passive' as compared to an attacker. Even though they often cover as much ground as an attacker, they do not run around much, unless they are deployed on the flanks. So what value does an individual high-quality defender add to the team, when defence is collectively a team effort? We'll figure that out in Part 3!