192ft2

Wingers & Decision-Making

Connecting Talent To Team

Wide players tend to carry the load of 1v1 attacking.  Suarez, Ribery, Bale, Ronaldo, Di Maria and Nani all come to mind, and are all clearly dangerous players with the ball at their feet.  However, a recent post on Whoscored.com shows us who is actually effective at dribbling (Ribery) and who is perhaps less circumspect in their application of the skill (Suarez).  Read the article here.


A quick pull-out quote on Suarez highlights the difficulty of balancing such a tremendous skill with the interests of the team:

Likewise, while want away Liverpool forward Luis Suarez also completes more dribbles per game than the average here (2.8), with 2.88, his success rate is the lowest of the 46 players by some distance. This suggests that while he terrorises defences at times with his direct approach, he also finds himself running down blind alleys and into defender shaped walls.

Young players can learn much from Suarez's example.  Obviously gifted, but perhaps a bit rash (selfish?).  In teaching young players, we ask that they become comfortable in 1v1 situations.  The game demands this.  But those who find the trickery easier to come by have to apply it when necessary, and avoid the dead ends Suarez runs into.

A teenage up-and-comer at Inter is shown in the Whoscored to be both prolific and effective in taking defenders on.  How well he continues to play will be of huge interest.  Can he use his special abilities to bring some added value to the team concept and improve the team (as compared, perhaps, to Suarez who evidently didn't have the statistical impact he could have).

Kovacic's video evidence: