Today’s guest post is by Muppet
If it’s not the price tag, what is it?
Bang average. Taxi. Turning circle of an oil tanker. Clown. Barn Door.
Certain blogs pull no punches in their assessment of players. To be fair, it can go the other way:
Legend. Genius. Unplayable.
So what distinguishes a clown from a legend? Is it a matter of fan opinion? Is it fact? Can we measure it?
I tend to defer to the man, or woman, on the terraces, who has stood there for a long time, often in the cold. They can know their footballers. It’s hard to argue against those with an eye. Ask them exactly what it is about that footballer, and you’ll get answers like, well – “He’s class” or “Top, top class”.
But what exactly does that mean?
I thought about this the other day, and wondered how it was that Wenger persisted with Ramsey for so long? Wondered how Song could now be in a Barcelona shirt, when most on a certain blog thought he was destined for the championship. Wondered how it is that a manager is able to distinguish between a talented young player who will make it to the top, and one that will not.
So there must be some criteria, right ? I’m talking about at the top level. And let me point out I don’t have any top level experience. I’m a middle aged, overweight amateur – a has been. Actually, a never was. Tennis player that is. My best years well and truly behind me. My football experience was a couple of short years in the Sunday league, in goal. Makes me well qualified to discuss all this? No. But I can speculate, like we all do. I can even do a bit of research.
We all kind of know the attributes that make a good footballer. Got to be fit, right? Be a good athlete? Got to be well co-ordinated, have strength. Have good technique. Have vision. Have mental strength. Well, I’m beginning to sound like Wenger. As this is the stuff that he trots out in his press conferences – “Mental Strength”. We’ve heard it on a subliminal level for years. But what does it all actually mean? Fitness? I’m fit – me, I do circuits once or twice a week, and err, play some amateur tennis, so that includes me, right? And, err, technique. Well, I can kick a ball, and do kicky-uppy? Can’t you? And mental strength, well, I’m strong.
Ok, so let’s get serious here now. I thought it would be interesting to try and explore what we mean by good athlete? What do we mean by good vision? What do we mean by good technique? And what other attributes do top players need? And remember, we are talking about attributes often needed in combination.
FITNESS & ATHLETICISM
Sorry to bring in stats, but I read somewhere that on average, in 1970, a footballer would run 4 kilometers a game. In 2014 this has gone up to around 10k to 12k on average. Top level players have extraordinary levels of fitness. Some are extraordinary athletes to start with.
In fact, certain managers prefer athletes in their side now, which is probably why the term “luxury player” has evolved over time. Examples of this, in the 1986 World Cup, Hoddle was decreed a luxury player by Beckenbauer, one who would weaken England. Pundits believe Mata was sold by Mourinho because of his lack of athleticism, resulting in failure to track back and cover the game as well as Oscar and Willian.
The converse of this is the phrase “water carrier.” Of course, not all players are either water carriers or luxury players. However, it helps if athleticism and stamina is part of your armory. The modern day midfielder runs around 12k to 14k in a game, often capable of lung-busting runs. Basically, we are talking middle distance runners kicking a ball. Ramsey was the school boys champion in Wales at 800m. I don’t know his time, but I suspect it was around 2 minutes, maybe sub 2 minutes. Can you do the 800 in 2 minutes? I managed about 2 minutes 30, almost throwing up over the line as I came in last, when I was 14.
Modern day full backs have to be quick, possess copious amounts of stamina for bombing up and down the touchline, supporting attacks. The converse is true for wingers who have to do defensive duties. They too, run between 8k to 12k in a game.
Strikers? Some measurements have been taken of the fastest players in world football. The top 10 apparently come in between 31 kph to 35 kph. This approximates to around 11.6 to 10.2 seconds over 100m. Of course, you don’t need to do the 100 that fast if you have other attributes, like strength and hold up play, a la Giroud, and finishing of course. But strikers also need a fair amount of stamina to be the 1st line of defence and press the opposition. Difficult to do. Modern day football demands it. A player can quickly be dubbed “lazy” if they don’t do this, and we know one quite well.
SKILLS
It is sometimes deceptive exactly how skillful top professionals are. I used to practice with a ball in my back garden. That thing they do, easily, keeping the ball up on either foot, then flicking it behind their head – child’s play for them, for me – impossible. But this is meat and drink for a top footballer.
The skill that really can differentiate a top player is how they receive the ball, i.e. their first touch. At Sunday league level, the morning after a heavy session in the pub and Indian, players have eons of time to receive the ball, pick out a leisurely pass to their lumbering and still-over-the-limit teammates. Premiership level, no chance. You have a millisecond, and within then, you have to have already computed what you are doing with the ball. Once, at the end of the season, I played in midfield, and the second or so that I dawdled on the ball was adequate time for the opposition to come and take it off of me.
Some of the greats are capable of slowing down time, breaking down what they do with the ball like in a freeze frame. They say a fly is able to see us coming because time appears to them to be slowed down by several magnitudes. This is how it is with Fabregas or Hoddle. Watch how they maximise what little time and space they have, bringing the ball down or laying it off, and picking the right option.
So first touch is an innate skill. Others too are probably more inherited than manufactured. The ability to shoot, passing accuracy, the art of defending i.e. anticipation. Take a look at this YouTube video. Some say it’s fake. I’m not so sure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dny2VxJufgA
TECHNIQUE
Aligned to skills, is technique. As this is an Arsenal blog, I have to mention that Wenger favours players with technique. In fact, it’s a pre-requisite. In an interview about coaching, in this link Wenger mentions technique:
http://www.soccer-training-info.com/coerver_coaching_interview_wenger.asp
Wenger states that it’s very important to teach technique to under 14 year olds. This is because if you are over 14, and you don’t have technique, it is harder to learn it in later years.
I think it’s fair to assume that top footballers must have worked very hard to achieve good technique, with countless hours of practice. Unless it is in their DNA. There are freaks like Rooney who come into this category.
VISION
Aligned with skills, most players need good vision. At the very top level, the ability to pick out a pass or read the game separates greatness from a run-of-the-mill top footballer. Mesut Özil encapsulates this exactly. He reads the game and can find his man with uncanny accuracy, resulting in assists that go off the chart. Some critics look at Özil and don’t see this as extraordinary, probably because he makes it look so easy. He also makes intelligent runs, dragging players out of their positions, then creating opportunities for unmarked players.
It was said of Fabregas that he picked the right pass whatever the situation. This is the hallmark of a great player. It is said that if you froze a game and then got a coach to pick out the best option for the team, Fabregas would pick the same option every time. It must be stated that this is an extremely rare ability. To do this requires a mental map, in real time, of exactly where all the players are on the field now, and anticipating where they are going to be by the time you have executed a pass. Some say that top level players can track the movements of 6 or 7 of their teammates and know where they are.
This attribute is not just needed in an attacking sense, but also to spot danger. Watch how Mertesacker and Koscienly have been patrolling the defensive line like a pair of sharks this season. Being in the right place at the right time is vital. Tony Adams was able to read the game and so possessed this attribute in abundance.
MENTAL STRENGTH
As all Gooners know, this is one of Wenger’s favourite terms.
What does it mean exactly? It seems to be a catch all for the competitive qualities necessary to win and succeed. I would surmise that you could have 2 young players of equal ability, but one has gone on to be a bigger success, because of having “Mental Strength”. This has probably happened on numerous occasions. The one that succeeded turned out to be more ruthless, more dedicated, more focused. They also say that what separates those at the top with talent, is those that are prepared to work harder with their talent to succeed.
There can be no doubt that this alone is a key attribute. A recent newspaper report estimated that out of 9,000 apprenticeships in football academies in the UK, only a handful progress to make the grade:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/4938593/Football-academies-kicking-and-screaming.html
Assuming then that you do become a Premiership footballer, and you are one of those handful, if we extrapolate that further, only a handful will go on and become top top class, say an Özil or a Wilshere. This means, obviously, that top class footballers are rare, which is why they are in demand, paid exorbitant amounts of money and idolized to a fanatical degree.
So is the price tag correct?
It seems to me that it’s not the price tag that should be the primary measure of how good a footballer is. The modern day Twitter armchair talent spotter gets excited by a couple of things – seeing a player in a YouTube clip, combined with a massively inflated valuation by a hopeful agent. But it seems to me that football clubs, of which we are one, would be acting with folly if they didn’t do their research and pay due-diligence. Amazingly, some clubs have bought players on the basis of just video evidence. And we know also, that some have paid hugely inflated transfer fees, way over the odds. So it seems to me that the science of evaluating a player, and estimating their worth, must be best practiced by the experts.
One of my favourites is Arsene Wenger.
You can find Muppet’s price tag on Twitter @MuppetGooner
Positively Arsenal 
kallstrom and klose…fantastic …both …exactly what is needed i think… an experienced central midfielder with the right attitude/education and a veteran bomber who knows how to put the ball in the net
BELIEVE!!!
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Wonderful read MUPPET. lots of work.
Enjoyed it very much…
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So Farewell Emmanuel Frimpong
May your career flourish and success come your way in South Yorkshire
If any man deserves a spell free from injury you do
The size of your heart was never in doubt
And nor, unfortunately, was the size of your brain
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Brilliant article, Muppet. Thanks.
Transfer deadline day is nothing but a gratuitous and obscene celebration of all that is wrong with football, and by extension, the world. And I don’t just mean Jim White.
Mankind is doomed. Truly, doomed. Oh, the madness and stinking futility of it all…
Still Klose sounds like a good deal. if true. Swings and roundabouts.
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Yeah, sad to see Frimmy go. I hate to see academy players leave. All the best to him.
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Klose not close then?
You need to check with your sauces Hunter. Frankly, it’s not HP. #ITK#
I’m on tenterhooks here….
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nooooooooooo…they are both coming….excellent choices…make it happen! do it! i can chip in with my 12 pounds 46 pence if neccessary !!!
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gains, I’m foolishly getting dragged into arguments on twitter with donkey bollocks who are slagging down frimmers and other youth players who havn’t quite made it. I know I should stay on here with the warm surroundings but I keep getting pulled back I’m so weak willed.
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frimpong looks happy
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Frimpong needs to play regularly now and unfortunately he will not get a game in our team. It’s a shame because he was really promising at one point, but injuries robbed him of his shot at Arsenal. I hope he does well for himself at Barnsley.
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Muppet,
Cambridgeshire? That’s obviously oop Norf, by gum, tisn’ tit?
Actually, I spent a little time at school in Royston, (Herts, not Vasey, thank gawd, cos dat one’s seriously North. Like, – Geoff (frankly) Boycott country, sod that. Amazing sitcom from R Vasey, though).
I was treated for a broken metatarsal at a Cambridge hossy, though all the attention was splattered on Beckham. What about me? Me meme me me me meeeeeeeee!
Cambridge is Always wet. How do you play tennis up there? (Probably Real Tennis as its indoors, plus, Henry VIII used to go to away games up there, surely?)
Where’s this sub-diatribe going? ****’d if I know.
Yeah, Moving the goalposts. I invite you to London for a spanking and in turn – you invite me to get drowndled in a field in the bloody countryside. Outrageous! I bet you’re thinking, ‘huh, that ranty, but can he play effectively on a cold Tuesday night with no floodlights’.
Well, you might be surprised (and me too). Come Spring – if it ever comes, and if I’m venturing further north than Hackney, I’ll get in touch.
Lucky you.
*chuckling with self-praise for stupid and unnecessary thoughts and ‘wordplay’*
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Bloody hell. This January window transfer malarkey is nonsense and for fool clubs. The media is loving all the chaos. Hits, hits and more hits. Which is what I’m.planning for this weekend. On the pitch of course.
Just close this window forever. Nail it shut.
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Whan Mata letter of resignation:
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Welcome to our new signing – Kim Kallstrom. Probably what we need – some senior midfield cover for the loss of Flamini, Ramsey and Wilshere. I was worried about Arteta having to carry the load by himself having just come back from injury. I wish him well for his sake and the team.
I sense the transfer whores will not be satisfied with a stop-gap midfield loanee rather than the £40m super striker they were craving! Prepare for doomer overload!
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Well that was fun.
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My twitter knuckles are bruised to fuck.
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I’ve seen you fighting the good fight on there George – I don’t have the stomach for it.
Kim seems like a good guy – he should fit in well at Arsenal and hopefully not disrupt the team spirit
http://www.gothiacup.se/eng/home/kim-kallstrom-trophy/
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Love it. Such a calculated move.
Gains you play fm at all? Fins ?
Palombo bodmer kalstrom montolivo
You know…..
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HUNTER 13
plz stop talking in tongues. Me no comprender. 🙂
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PASSENAL
what a wonderful charity and tournament to lend your name to.
Allready like this KIM fellow very much. Welcome.
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VALKOMMEN KIM….
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Hehe goonerkam!! I … actually feel very good about kalstrom. Proper pro. Serious midfielder. And the chance given to him… ? Arsene knows !
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Angelo palombo I think from samdoria…bodmer was psg …. kallstrom lyon and ok monto was fiore..well known
You win titles with these guys in fm without cheating ( save – replay)
In the fm ”10 I think I had cesc and bodmer and in front of them 3 amc .. nasri arshavin arteta … silva on bench. My strikers higuain and mylefski. Defence was ansaldi diakhate subotic srna. Goalkeeper was ustari. First season I was 4-5 th all season till february. Won epl and cl. Miracle. Bodmer = boss. And mylefski scored 17 as substitute….. sick
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But next season…I went for de rossi and got fucked.. I agreed to make him highest earner and it messed up my budget
Couldnt renew contracts for tje rest and they got angry. Fucking game….
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That’s why I can’t understand AW. He had a perfectly good chance to unsettle the squad this January by bringing in a high earning place threatener, but instead decided to maintain balance and harmony by issuing a massive vote of confidence to the lads who have taken us to the summit of the EPL. Clearly no ambition.
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He is a freekick specialist HUNTER. And a left footer that can get forward. He cuts in to unsettle the defenders and deadly accurate with his shots. And a mature player to boot. he is going for midfield / winger to help on the right side . love his placement on free kicks. Deadly. No chance for keeper.
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Some Gunners never fail to amaze me… so the team that has gotten us so far is not capable of winning the remaining 14 matches or cup finals of you like and it is only the signing of one striker… ONE. that will suddenly deliver the trophies? really, when Poldi has just come back to fitness and Sanogo has not even kicked a ball…. they are really amazing fans indeed… NOT!
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I was in bed early last night, could not be arsed with Transfer Deadline Day hysteria.
So Frimpong is gone – sold or loaned? Good look to the guy – he needed to grow up.
I don’t know anything about Kallstrom, hopefully he will be a bit like Yossi Beneyoun – a seasoned pro who will help cover gaps from injuries and be a level head in the dressing room.
I’ll get a chance to read Muppet’s post at leasure later.
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I tweeted this last evening: “Can’t see how a 100 cap international on a short loan to cover injuries and suspensions is anything but a stroke of managerial genius.” But of course I didn’t see many similar sentiments expressed. Ironically many on my timeline who had been rounding on the club for not offering Sagna the world on a plate (and yes, I do hope he commits to us for a couple more years – but suspect he has other plans and who could possibly blame him if he did want to secure his pension) took great exception to KK’s age. Too bad for them that none of their friends will have heard of KK so no hope for any banterful preeening on Monday when they are back in school, but they are only young so I guess that is fair enough. But if they are old enough to know better then they deserve utter scorn, and especially the egregious Morgan whose opinions are as vile as you might expect from a red top news hound, at one time solely responsible for “the instant tits and bottom line of art”
I hope there might also be an added bonus to the signing if KK is able to act as mentor to young Kris Olsen, for whom I am told great hopes are held.
Interestingly my boy Daniel (8) was all over the KK youtube video, offering all sorts of sage opinions and drooling (from his keeper’s perspective) over the free kicks. His 10 year old sister who has an insatiable Ozil crush was significantly less impressed, but I suspect that that has been ever thus and at the end of the day is what keeps the world turning.
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@foreverheady, isn’t that the sad reality… glad your young ‘uns are coming up just fine and smart, then again they are proper gunners with a proper gunner dad so not too surprising. LOL
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saw this on twitter (of all places) … http://t.co/guhtItItOJ
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