Down in the Newbies an insightful poster named RN007 brought up the topic of what exactly is a footballing brain. This is a topic on football which has the most polarized opinions.
Is a footballing Brain having an eye for the killer pass like the one Rooney gave to Carrick in our controversial demolition of Spurs or is it the ability to time runs to perfection and know where to pop up to score a goal like Cristiano Ronaldo, Henry or a certain Ruud
Does it come into the Category of being able to utilize Space when dribbling to help you beat defenders effortlessly, leaving them incompetent to stop you as you glide past them with effortless ease like a certain Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Ricardo Kaka or how Zidane used to do it in slow motion or how R9 used to do it at extreme pace.
For me having a footballing brain is encompassed by any of these 3 criteria and a few more which are all different yet equally important characteristics. A thread like this can be useless without videos to help analyze so I would like to explain the 3 different aspects in a bit more detail.
1)The Killer Pass/Vision
This is an extremely important component when discussing a footballing brain and mid-fielders are usually the best at this attribute. It consists of the ability to split defences and make balls nobody in a packed stadium could have envisaged. An example from this season would be Rooney's brilliant through ball to Carrick or Messi's little dink to Henry against Madrid's flat back four in the 6-2 historical victory. They are the kind of balls that make you get up on your feet and applaud. Nobody in the stadium or those watching at home see it coming; only the player does. At times it can even confuse the players’ team mate on the pitch who just can not think on the same level.
Something clicks inside the players’ brain as the opportunity presents itself and out comes a sublime ball that the defence is powerless to stop.
This is one of my favourite ones from Ronaldinho when he was still in his prime:
It is absolutely staggering, after a wrestling match with Gattuso, who is one of footballs genuine hard men he still has the composure and vision to pick out what can only, be described as the 'perfect' ball. I remember getting up holding my head in disbelief when I first witnessed this audacious ball. Back then I really could not think there was a better player than Ronaldinho in world football as this just seems to come natural to him.
The whole stadium does not see the pass coming as he fools everybody causing the Italian media to praise him after the game despite their representative team losing. There are many examples of this including Scholes audacious chip to Rooney in our 3-2 win against Ac Milan. Something that lives forever in your memory and you cold tell your grandchildren about the day you witnessed it.
Another good illustration for me has to be Kaka's turn and pass that curls around the helpless Liverpool defence in the Champions League Final 2005. A piece of glorious skill that is simply world class:
There are many more fantastic examples but then we would simply be here for a whole year if I could show them all.
Where did he come from?
This next part is all about being at the right place at the right time and making runs that drive the defenders crazy. For me Ruud was a legend at this skill as was Van Basten and may other great strikers. When utilized to its full effect it can be just as devastating as the two amazing passes I have just shown you and just as unexpected. Sometimes it is hard to express what one means in words so I have the perfect example:
This has to be one my favourite goals I have ever witnessed at United. Not because he has beaten 100 men or because it is a rocket from 40 yards but just because that he ran 35 yards just to get on the end of that ball and the defence did not expect it neither the surprised commentator and neither did I! It shows how making runs or being in the right place at the right time is also an extremely part of the enigma that is 'the footballing Brain.'
Nobody can question the footballing brains of players like Ronaldo, Henry, Ruud or to a certain extent Michael Owen because they know where to be at the right place at the right time which can be an absolute nightmare for opposition defenders and nothing is sweeter than when this skill takes the opposition by surprise leaving them scratching their heads.
How many times had Henry been wrongly called offside when he played in the Premiership just because the linesmen could not keep up with his perfectly timed run. The way he would stand in an offside position them quickly come back onside to escape in one sweet,fluent motion was footballing intelligence at its finest.
Hack Him Down!/The art of dribbling
These are the words of Manchester United icon Roy Keane who realizes the difficulty of beating people on the football pitch but some players do it with such ease that you can only scratch your head at how they do it. This skill mostly belongs to wingers, strikers or attacking mid fielders.
In my opinion, in this current generation the best player at beating people with relative ease and grace goes to a Certain Lionel Messi. One on one, he is a defenders nightmare. What am I saying? 5 ON ONE he is defenders nightmare.
The way he manipulates Space leaves defenders helpless as he attacks it and shields the ball at the same time. He apparently has the best dribbling success rate in the world as he has perfected the art. There is even a video on you tube of the diminutive Argentine beating players left right and centre at only 5 years old. He was born to dribble; nothing comes more natural to him.
This skill is an essential part of what creates a footballing brain because it can open up spaces, chances and opportunities when there was none before. It is a very important component to have in my opinion. Carrying on with the tradition of this post here is an example of the many thousands there are out there.
With a bit more luck this could have been a serious contender for the goal of the season. Just a little shimmy and defenders are taken out of the picture which shows how important intelligence is required for this skill. The ball is consistently glued to his foot whilst beating people conveying how he always knows what he is doing and is in complete control at all times. It is very significant because it can lead to goals and scoring chances in the same way the other two important criteria I have listed earlier can. When utilized properly it can be deadly as or even deadlier than having fantastic vision or being at the correct place at the right time.
For me the greatest at this of all time was Diego Maradona who used to make defenders look compltely clueless.
The best of the rest
To summaries these factors are what I think are the most significant toward making up the footballing brain but there are many others including the much underrated art of defending. In this sense Rio Ferdinand has one of the best footballing brains in the world. A defenders ability to shift creative players out of games can be a essential. Another great example of this is defenders that do not particularly depend on pace but can deal with the very fastest of attackers.
Making crucial interceptions or just refusing to be beaten by a pacy winger can be one of the hardest skills in football and is also a very important factor in what makes a footballing brain. It is no wonder that most players that become managers are ex-defenders.
We also tend to underestimate what goal keepers do, the ability to decide whether to come off the line to collect crosses or the ability to make the right decision when shot stopping like Victor Valdez in the champions league final 2006 against Henry is a much underestimated part of the discussion. Goal Keepers have a very large responsibility and their reading of the game must be spot on for them to be good at what they do.
Is a footballing Brain having an eye for the killer pass like the one Rooney gave to Carrick in our controversial demolition of Spurs or is it the ability to time runs to perfection and know where to pop up to score a goal like Cristiano Ronaldo, Henry or a certain Ruud
Does it come into the Category of being able to utilize Space when dribbling to help you beat defenders effortlessly, leaving them incompetent to stop you as you glide past them with effortless ease like a certain Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Ricardo Kaka or how Zidane used to do it in slow motion or how R9 used to do it at extreme pace.
For me having a footballing brain is encompassed by any of these 3 criteria and a few more which are all different yet equally important characteristics. A thread like this can be useless without videos to help analyze so I would like to explain the 3 different aspects in a bit more detail.
1)The Killer Pass/Vision
This is an extremely important component when discussing a footballing brain and mid-fielders are usually the best at this attribute. It consists of the ability to split defences and make balls nobody in a packed stadium could have envisaged. An example from this season would be Rooney's brilliant through ball to Carrick or Messi's little dink to Henry against Madrid's flat back four in the 6-2 historical victory. They are the kind of balls that make you get up on your feet and applaud. Nobody in the stadium or those watching at home see it coming; only the player does. At times it can even confuse the players’ team mate on the pitch who just can not think on the same level.
Something clicks inside the players’ brain as the opportunity presents itself and out comes a sublime ball that the defence is powerless to stop.
This is one of my favourite ones from Ronaldinho when he was still in his prime:
It is absolutely staggering, after a wrestling match with Gattuso, who is one of footballs genuine hard men he still has the composure and vision to pick out what can only, be described as the 'perfect' ball. I remember getting up holding my head in disbelief when I first witnessed this audacious ball. Back then I really could not think there was a better player than Ronaldinho in world football as this just seems to come natural to him.
The whole stadium does not see the pass coming as he fools everybody causing the Italian media to praise him after the game despite their representative team losing. There are many examples of this including Scholes audacious chip to Rooney in our 3-2 win against Ac Milan. Something that lives forever in your memory and you cold tell your grandchildren about the day you witnessed it.
Another good illustration for me has to be Kaka's turn and pass that curls around the helpless Liverpool defence in the Champions League Final 2005. A piece of glorious skill that is simply world class:
There are many more fantastic examples but then we would simply be here for a whole year if I could show them all.
Where did he come from?
This next part is all about being at the right place at the right time and making runs that drive the defenders crazy. For me Ruud was a legend at this skill as was Van Basten and may other great strikers. When utilized to its full effect it can be just as devastating as the two amazing passes I have just shown you and just as unexpected. Sometimes it is hard to express what one means in words so I have the perfect example:
This has to be one my favourite goals I have ever witnessed at United. Not because he has beaten 100 men or because it is a rocket from 40 yards but just because that he ran 35 yards just to get on the end of that ball and the defence did not expect it neither the surprised commentator and neither did I! It shows how making runs or being in the right place at the right time is also an extremely part of the enigma that is 'the footballing Brain.'
Nobody can question the footballing brains of players like Ronaldo, Henry, Ruud or to a certain extent Michael Owen because they know where to be at the right place at the right time which can be an absolute nightmare for opposition defenders and nothing is sweeter than when this skill takes the opposition by surprise leaving them scratching their heads.
How many times had Henry been wrongly called offside when he played in the Premiership just because the linesmen could not keep up with his perfectly timed run. The way he would stand in an offside position them quickly come back onside to escape in one sweet,fluent motion was footballing intelligence at its finest.
Hack Him Down!/The art of dribbling
These are the words of Manchester United icon Roy Keane who realizes the difficulty of beating people on the football pitch but some players do it with such ease that you can only scratch your head at how they do it. This skill mostly belongs to wingers, strikers or attacking mid fielders.
In my opinion, in this current generation the best player at beating people with relative ease and grace goes to a Certain Lionel Messi. One on one, he is a defenders nightmare. What am I saying? 5 ON ONE he is defenders nightmare.
The way he manipulates Space leaves defenders helpless as he attacks it and shields the ball at the same time. He apparently has the best dribbling success rate in the world as he has perfected the art. There is even a video on you tube of the diminutive Argentine beating players left right and centre at only 5 years old. He was born to dribble; nothing comes more natural to him.
This skill is an essential part of what creates a footballing brain because it can open up spaces, chances and opportunities when there was none before. It is a very important component to have in my opinion. Carrying on with the tradition of this post here is an example of the many thousands there are out there.
With a bit more luck this could have been a serious contender for the goal of the season. Just a little shimmy and defenders are taken out of the picture which shows how important intelligence is required for this skill. The ball is consistently glued to his foot whilst beating people conveying how he always knows what he is doing and is in complete control at all times. It is very significant because it can lead to goals and scoring chances in the same way the other two important criteria I have listed earlier can. When utilized properly it can be deadly as or even deadlier than having fantastic vision or being at the correct place at the right time.
For me the greatest at this of all time was Diego Maradona who used to make defenders look compltely clueless.
The best of the rest
To summaries these factors are what I think are the most significant toward making up the footballing brain but there are many others including the much underrated art of defending. In this sense Rio Ferdinand has one of the best footballing brains in the world. A defenders ability to shift creative players out of games can be a essential. Another great example of this is defenders that do not particularly depend on pace but can deal with the very fastest of attackers.
Making crucial interceptions or just refusing to be beaten by a pacy winger can be one of the hardest skills in football and is also a very important factor in what makes a footballing brain. It is no wonder that most players that become managers are ex-defenders.
We also tend to underestimate what goal keepers do, the ability to decide whether to come off the line to collect crosses or the ability to make the right decision when shot stopping like Victor Valdez in the champions league final 2006 against Henry is a much underestimated part of the discussion. Goal Keepers have a very large responsibility and their reading of the game must be spot on for them to be good at what they do.
It was still a sublime piece of improvisation, one for the Pele highlight reel. To be honest I really do not know why he did not score but the accuracy of the shot does not take away from the vision shown by Pele to completely bamboozle the keeper.
