It struck me while watching the Jamaica-U.S. game that the U.S. is producing many more "total footballers" than in the past. By total footballer, I mean a player that could credibly play any of the 10 field positions (or at least 8 of them). Which is only possible if a player is fast, sufficiently strong and/or brave, technical, and tactically intelligent. The current generation of U.S. players, the '98/'02 crowd, tended to have 2 or 3 of these 4 attributes but not all 4. Consequently, as I once wrote (and accurately, I think), the U.S. team consisted basically of role players. Examples - Hejduk (can't attack) Sanneh (not really skilled enough to be in the midfield) Reyna (too small to be effective on defense) McBride (too slow to be on the wings) Joe-Max Moore (too small to be effective on defense) And so forth. Some of these guys are pretty good players, but you wouldn't really call them total footballers. But today ... the reason that we can't figure out some of the young guys' positions are that they really can play anywhere. They're strong, fast, and skilled. They can win a play, pass a ball, and make a dribble. Total footballers. Examples - Spector Dempsey Eddie Johnson (has the size & skills to play wherever he likes) Gaven? (big & fast enough to play fullback, at least) I think it's fair to put Beasley and Convey on that list, too. Yes, they're small, but they're also tough. They could play up top, they can play midfield, and they can play outside back, at least according to Bruce Arena. I don't want to oversell this notion. I don't think of Landon Don't Touch Me Donovan as a total footballer, or Gooch, or Cory Gibbs, or Conor Casey. It's not like all the younger guys fit this mold. But certainly more than in the past. It gives Arena more flexibility in making out his roster, although more headaches, too.
Really? I remember him at right back. But I believe you. I saw him play midfield once for Nurnberg, too. He was utter crap. But that's beside the point ... if his coaches played him at midfield, I gotta take that one back.
I moticed more or less a similar thing. What I noticed was that on the field at the same time: Johnson Donovan Dempsey Spector McBride All five of these players were full time forwards within two years ago. Add Twellman who came in for Johnson, and potential midfielders in the pipeline who didn't play like Beasley, Mullan, Gaven, Adu, Mathis and Arnaud and it does seem to be that we're developing a pool in which any one of maybe 6 players on the field at one time can get heavily involved in the attack and possibly contribute goals.
Is this like shortstops and center fielders in baseball? For those who don't follow baseball, the best kids are always put at these positions by their youth coaches. As they rise through the ranks they get moved elsewhere.
I think there's even the possibility that we might eventually have a libero in Spector. I think you might say that there is a trend toward developing footballers. Total footballers is a pretty lofty term reserved for cryuff-esque geniuses, but I think we're developing footballers indeed. And I like it.
I saw Sanneh play midfield aganst Germany in 1999 in Jaksonville,FL and Sanneh was all over the midfield. I dont understand how CLAUDIO REYNA and TONY SANNEH are not considered "total footballers".......im at a loss for words....just dont get it.
Spector and Dempsey both seem to have great versatility. Onyewu is supposed to be versatile too. And don't forget the great last-second goal Friedel scored for Blackburn. Sanneh always played right wing for DCU and I don't ever recall him ever playing defense for DC.
Rangers didn't think he was to small when they tore throught the irish leage. In my opinion, Reyna can play in the central midfield, out side, and outside back. I think he is losing his effectiveness w/ age, but i certanly do not think he is to small to play defense.
Reyna is too slow to play on the outside of defense and too small to play in the middle of it. Sanneh, however, had once shown the ability to play a decent mid, libero and a defender, making him a fairly versatile contributor. But universality aside, let's first pray that players who can play no position - aka Chris Armas and Ramiro Corrales - are not to be found on the US roster.
Scotch - Irish - it's all the same right? Just kidding... but be careful... Glasgow Rangers play in Scotland... not Ireland. Big difference. Also remember, in Scotland, playing for Rangers or Celtic means you really only have 1 team you have to beat. The rest of the league is relatively weak.
I think the trend is just that we're getting better players. Our defensive guys are no longer so much in the big lug with no skills class and our attackers are better athletes to compliment their skills. Just because a kid played forward on youth teams and then gets transitioned elsewhere doesn't make him a total footballer. Most pros were goal scorers when they were kids.
Ahhh, Bill James' name pops up on bigsoccer again!! I read here a while back that the Ajax youth system is that if a new left sided player comes in, and he's better than the left forward, the incumbet left forward gets moved to left mid, the left mid moves to left fullback, and the left fullback...well, we don't really know what happens to him. When I played little league football, the crappy coaches had the newbies play running back or end. The good ones had the newbies play in the line. First things first, and the first thing was how to block and tackle. In soccer, first things first, and first thing is, control that ball without using God's/Darwin's own gift, the opposable thumb. After that, then you figure out whether a kid is better off at right fullback or central midfield. The problem with our youth development system, repeated ad nauseum, is that talent is unconcentrated at a crucial time, so the guys who have managed to hit puberty early seem like goalscoring world beaters. (I'm looking at you Chris Albright.) But for many of those kids, their inherent level of soccer skill is more appropriate for fullback. Spector is pretty much what Albright would be, if Albright had been moved to the backline at age 18. Dempsey's another one...he got moved to central midfield early enough in his career. I think about him and Spector pairing in the central midfield, and I get a stiffy. Size, skill, smarts, speed, that has the potential to be a world-elite central midfield.
Right. Sanneh was a forward as a young man. Ditto for Spector. However, I see Sanneh as essentially an athletic lug who can only succeed at roles that require size, speed, and defensive toughness, while Spector as having the technical tools (and other attributes) to be a total footballer. Maybe I'm wrong about Sanneh. Maybe I'm wrong about this "trend." But that's the argument I'm attempting to make. Not about ex-forwards per se, but instead about complete ballplayers.
Dempsey and Spector - in central midfield? Maybe I am misunderstanding. Yes, Spector has the makings of a world-class defender. But midfielder - and more importantly, central midfielder? I don't see it. As to the earlier point made about shortstops and central midfielders - yes, the analogy does fit pretty well. Ajax is the model we look towards, but now you are seeing similar academies that I am aware of both in France and Spain. The development cycle is similar. If your kid is slotted as a forward or central midfielder (or independently, GK) very early on (think around 8-12), then he's been tagged as a kid worth developing. He's been put in that position so that his entire skillset will improve. As the level of play increases, the wheat is separated from the chaffe. Defenders get dropped. Forwards who have obvious skill but don't demonstrate the natural instincts and qualities around the goal (think Chris Albright) are dropped back into the midfield, most of the time out wide, and sometimes back as either center or outside backs. Central midfielders tend to either make the cut or get put back into a defensive role. If they've got enough speed, they may get some time out wide, but only if they've shown a knack at taking players on and beating them. And this is where I have always disagreed with John Ellinger. If I am the U17 coach, it is a snowy day in Yuma, AZ, before I go out and select a kid playing as a defender on his club team. It may happen, but it's going to be a very rare occurence. Instead, I am going to get the best forwards and midfielders in the country into camp, and I am going to let them sort out who is good enough to hang up top as a forward, who drops back to the midfield, and who becomes the next Jonathan Spector. It is because of this training model that a lot of the world has so many players who are seemingly comfortable at whatever position you put them in - total footballers. They've been there. They've done that. No big deal.
The USWNT has adopted the same philosophy to some extent -- two of their starting defenders (Brandi Chastain, Christie Rampone) were forwards early in their careers. Maybe Chris Albright as a fixture in the future backline isn't such a ludicrous thought after all.
Actually its zuh-TEL-ah As for the total footballers...my buddy and I were watching the game and at halftime were talking about what the eventual style of play will be for the US. My theory is that it will be a mixture of the Dutch and German systems our own American intensity.
I can't think of a team that plays with a sweeper/libero these days---gone the way of the dodo. I guess it be akin to trying to run the option in the NFL, players are just too fast/gifted for it to have any affect.
I think the evolution of American soccer has been less a move towards "total football," than a general increase in the skill level of the American players. In the past the US has only had 3 or 4 players on the field with the creative skills required for attractive play at the international level. Because of this, the US was forced to concentrate these skilled players in the middle, and use players at many positions (but especially defense) who got by on athleticism and hustle. As the American talent pool gets deeper and more skilled, the Nats suddenly find themselves with the ability to replace these (relatively) unskilled athletes with true "footballers." For the first time, the US can expect significant offensive contributions from some of their defensive players and quality distribution from some of their forwards.