In my previous posts, Part 1 and Part 2, I had brought up the topic of how defenders and midfielders weren't given as much credit as strikers or forwards on an individual basis. One of the reasons for this could be that defence is a collective responsibility of the entire team. So what value does a single high quality defender or defensive minded midfielder add to a team?
Before we get into that, let us first look at how teams defend. There are several defensive strategies followed by teams. From possession based football that follows the ideology 'if we have the ball, the opposition can't score' to the age-old 'catennacio' style of football that relies on solid defending by soaking up the pressure and then counter-attacking swiftly, the possibilities are endless.
However, three principles are followed irrespective of what defensive strategy is used.
The first one is maintaining formation or team structure, whether as an entire team or in certain sections of the pitch, and this has to be followed. If players are randomly organised without any particular arrangement, confusion arises which leads to chaos. Second is marking, whether it is man-to-man marking or zonal marking, and it is a must. Teams generally prefer the former for set-pieces and the latter for open play. The third is pressing, or anything similar which is used to win the ball back.
Now, the defenders and midfielders have to be the most cautious about maintaining and sticking to their positions as they form the backbone of the team's structure. Attacking midfielders, strikers and modern wingers typically have a much more free role, and are allowed to roam anywhere along the front line. This is because their 'roaming' causes problems for the opposition defence. However, defensive players need to maintain their shape and structure in order to prevent gaps from opening up. Hence, a large portion of a team's defensive capabilities depends on how well they are organised.
Hence, defensive players have to be highly aware of how their fellow teammates are positioned, as well as where their opponents are. Defenders play 'an intelligent game', not a beautiful one. Maldini himself famously said that if he had to make a tackle, it meant that he had already made a mistake. Someone else, either a fellow defender or even a forward could also have given the ball away, and hence a defender has to position himself thinking about all those aspects as well.
Therefore, although a striker or forward's contribution can be measured in terms of dribbles, key passes, chances created, assists and goals, a defenders contribution cannot be measured in terms of tackles, interceptions and duels won. This is merely because a defender would have positioned himself in such a manner that there would be no need for the tackle or other things to be made in the first place.
Another important thing, which is often not talked about enough in my opinion, is how great defenders have an invisible effect on teams as well as on other individuals within the team, and if you look into any forward who has won an individual award, I am sure that it was only because of those behind them. Literally those behind them.
Let us take some examples from this very decade to prove this point. Liverpool until the 2017-18 season were a shadow of their former self. Enter Virgil van Dijk. A tall imposing central defender who completely changed the way they played. Yes, they did have an already impressive trio of Salah, Mane and Firmino up front, but the Dutchman's introduction completely changed the way Liverpool played. They no longer had to worry about their defence because van Dijk's imposing presence and dominance at the back, not to mention prodigious defensive skill, was like using a titanium lock on an otherwise open door.
Another example from recent times, Real Madrid. In this case I want to talk about two very important positions that were critical for their team. One is Sergio Ramos at the heart of their defence. Now one of the reasons Madrid was very successful in European competitions, aside from the fact that they had incredibly talented and experienced players, was their system. Apart from being able to retain possession and dominate the midfield area, they had two of the best players at full-back, Marcelo and Carvajal. Marcelo was the more attack-minded of the two, and he was often the most advanced player on the left flank (he even stood at the halfway-line during kick-off), which meant that there was huge gap in Madrid's defensive line. Nothing to worry about though, because Sergio Ramos covered that entire side all alone, and his domineering presence was so good that Marcelo could literally live in the opposition's half. Ramos' effect is perhaps more noticed when he's absent, as Madrid leaked goals faster than Usain Bolt running a sprint, such as in the second legs against Ajax in the 2018-19 season and Juventus in 2017-18, and when he is present, Madrid flood their opposition's box and you get 'goals, more goals and even more goals'.
The second player is Casemiro. A Central Defensive Midfielder (CDM), he was perhaps the most crucial piece of the team. Casemiro is like the engine of an expensive car. No one looking at the car can see the engine. They all look at how it looks, how the seats feel etc. If the car doesn't start, only then they look at the engine. Real Madrid won the Champions League in 2013-2014. The next season, they upgraded their midfield by acquiring both Toni Kroos as well as James Rodriguez. However, they failed to defend their title as they played with three midfielders who were terrible at CDM, which Xabi Alonso (who had moved to Bayern) played with such finesse for them the previous year. Next season, enter Casemiro, and they win three consecutive Champions Leagues.
From the above examples and the various explanations across all three posts, it is obvious that while forwards play the beautiful game, defenders play an intelligent one, and the human tendency is to focus on beauty. Not until you spend enough time with a person, will you realize how intelligent they are, Similarly, even several experts may be biased towards what they see, over what has to be understood and thought out.
Defensive contributions to the game, such as maintaining formations, playing a forward offside, positioning yourself perfectly to block the angles for a pass or a shot, controlling the tempo of the game, all these involve the mind more than the body. It is therefore no surprise that the most revered managers who were also brilliant players, such as Guardiola, Zidane and Beckenbauer, were midfielders or defenders. It takes a lot more than prodigious skill on the ball to be a great manager, and perhaps that's the reason why Maradona failed as a manager for Argentina. There are exceptions however, as Cruyff was a forward and yet was perhaps the most influential manager in terms of how the modern game is played.
To conclude, you cannot actually decide on who is the best player. You can perhaps debate on who the greatest forward, midfielder, defender and goalkeeper are, but never on the best overall player. Even among those positions, variations in playing style exist. For example, an inverted winger will most certainly have a higher goal contribution than a traditional one, so how again do we divide them?
In my opinion, there needs to be a separate award for each position. Currently however, there are only awards that distinguish between goalkeepers and all outfield players.
As for deciding who the GOAT is, we can perhaps imagine a virtual tournament in our head where each team is composed of 11 identical copies of the same player. The winner of that tournament could certainly be considered the greatest player of all time. Imagine 11 Lionel Messi's against 11 Cristiano Ronaldo's. If we held a tournament like that considering every single player to have ever played the game at their prime, who would win? I'm backing Beckenbauer or Zidane. What about you?
Therefore, although a striker or forward's contribution can be measured in terms of dribbles, key passes, chances created, assists and goals, a defenders contribution cannot be measured in terms of tackles, interceptions and duels won. This is merely because a defender would have positioned himself in such a manner that there would be no need for the tackle or other things to be made in the first place.
Another important thing, which is often not talked about enough in my opinion, is how great defenders have an invisible effect on teams as well as on other individuals within the team, and if you look into any forward who has won an individual award, I am sure that it was only because of those behind them. Literally those behind them.
Let us take some examples from this very decade to prove this point. Liverpool until the 2017-18 season were a shadow of their former self. Enter Virgil van Dijk. A tall imposing central defender who completely changed the way they played. Yes, they did have an already impressive trio of Salah, Mane and Firmino up front, but the Dutchman's introduction completely changed the way Liverpool played. They no longer had to worry about their defence because van Dijk's imposing presence and dominance at the back, not to mention prodigious defensive skill, was like using a titanium lock on an otherwise open door.
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| Although Virgil van Dijk was awarded the UEFA Best Men's Player in 2019, he was beaten by Lionel Messi for both the FIFA Best Player as well as the Ballon d'Or. Credits: Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images |
The second player is Casemiro. A Central Defensive Midfielder (CDM), he was perhaps the most crucial piece of the team. Casemiro is like the engine of an expensive car. No one looking at the car can see the engine. They all look at how it looks, how the seats feel etc. If the car doesn't start, only then they look at the engine. Real Madrid won the Champions League in 2013-2014. The next season, they upgraded their midfield by acquiring both Toni Kroos as well as James Rodriguez. However, they failed to defend their title as they played with three midfielders who were terrible at CDM, which Xabi Alonso (who had moved to Bayern) played with such finesse for them the previous year. Next season, enter Casemiro, and they win three consecutive Champions Leagues.
From the above examples and the various explanations across all three posts, it is obvious that while forwards play the beautiful game, defenders play an intelligent one, and the human tendency is to focus on beauty. Not until you spend enough time with a person, will you realize how intelligent they are, Similarly, even several experts may be biased towards what they see, over what has to be understood and thought out.
Defensive contributions to the game, such as maintaining formations, playing a forward offside, positioning yourself perfectly to block the angles for a pass or a shot, controlling the tempo of the game, all these involve the mind more than the body. It is therefore no surprise that the most revered managers who were also brilliant players, such as Guardiola, Zidane and Beckenbauer, were midfielders or defenders. It takes a lot more than prodigious skill on the ball to be a great manager, and perhaps that's the reason why Maradona failed as a manager for Argentina. There are exceptions however, as Cruyff was a forward and yet was perhaps the most influential manager in terms of how the modern game is played.
To conclude, you cannot actually decide on who is the best player. You can perhaps debate on who the greatest forward, midfielder, defender and goalkeeper are, but never on the best overall player. Even among those positions, variations in playing style exist. For example, an inverted winger will most certainly have a higher goal contribution than a traditional one, so how again do we divide them?
In my opinion, there needs to be a separate award for each position. Currently however, there are only awards that distinguish between goalkeepers and all outfield players.
As for deciding who the GOAT is, we can perhaps imagine a virtual tournament in our head where each team is composed of 11 identical copies of the same player. The winner of that tournament could certainly be considered the greatest player of all time. Imagine 11 Lionel Messi's against 11 Cristiano Ronaldo's. If we held a tournament like that considering every single player to have ever played the game at their prime, who would win? I'm backing Beckenbauer or Zidane. What about you?
Great work
ReplyDeleteA good work.
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