The physical display required in today’s football is much greater than in the past. Running up and down for the entire ninety minutes, until the last breath, so that the opponent does not get the much desired superiority on the pitch.
Everyone likes to attack, it is obvious. Jorge Valdano said it: “An opponent with no attacking interest? It is like making love to a tree”. Although they try to sell us the opposite, football catches hearts from the midfield forward. This is my humble, subjective opinion, but I can reason it out with two impartial arguments. First, individual awards are intended for players with goals and not for those who avoid them. The second, with the exception of the acquisitions of Maguire and Van Dijk, the most abusive amounts on the market have been invested in players of an offensive nature.
There are certain players, it is possible to count them with the fingers of one hand, who by descent are exempt from participating in defensive tasks. I prefer not to give names and give free rein to everyone’s imagination. With them in the starting eleven, the team enjoys undeniable power. However, they expose the defensive plot and cause their team-mates to multiply in order to minimize the shortcomings that including them in the starting eleven imply.
John Gregory said “strikers win games, defenders win championships”. Today’s overdimensioned football with multi-positioned players requires the team’s choral work to achieve success. Everyone defends and everyone attacks, it is that simple.
I therefore join society’s incipient interest in chess to remind you that sometimes it is necessary to sacrifice the queen to win the game.
Foot Renegades 