Soccer fans love flash. Discussions about “the greatest player in the world” invariably end up being about the flashiest player in the world: Is it the graceful and nimble Kaká, dynamic and devastating Cristiano Ronaldo, or speedy and stylish Lionel Messi who is the “greatest”?
It’s not just the fans. In 2007, the Ballon D’Or judges went with Kaká, whose flashiest performances last season took place on the biggest stage (the Champions League). And since 1956, when the award was first given, just four defenders and one keeper have won it.
So fans, experts, pundits, maybe even the managers and coaches are all impressed (blinded?) by beauty.
In a New Yorker book review published last May called The Wages of Wins, Malcolm Gladwell argues that sports fans, analysts and commentators too often use their eyes to measure a player’s worth. “All we learn is to appreciate twisting and turning and writhing,” he writes. “We become dance critics.” In a game like soccer, the dancers are the players who are most involved in putting the ball in the net, and the finest dancers are the ones who do it with flare. So when we talk about the greatest players, we tend to elevate the strikers and trequartistas, and ignore the defensive full-backs and rugged midfielders.
Gladwell argues that statistical analysis can take us closer to the truth about which players are truly “the best.” He writes about a book called The Wages of Wins by economists David J. Berri, Martin B. Schmidt and Stacey L. Brook, which uses stats to calculate the merit of professional basketball players. “Weighing the relative value of fouls, rebounds, shots taken, turnovers, and the like, they’ve created an algorithm that, they argue, comes closer than any previous statistical measure to capturing the true value of a basketball player. The algorithm yields what they call a Win Score, because it expresses a player’s worth as the number of wins that his contributions bring to his team.”
Eduardo Galleano would probably disagree, but isn’t winning what it’s all about in the end? When the tables are counted at the end of the season, after all, the 1-0 grind-outs count for as many points as the 5-0 smashings.
“Berri, Schmidt, and Brook argue that the arbitrary algorithms of basketball experts elevate the number of points a player scores above all other considerations,” Gladwell goes on to note. Soccer experts take it a step further: they elevate the quality and the beauty of goals scored above all other considerations. Messi, Ronaldo, Kaka—it’s not just the fact that these guys score goals and make plays, it’s the fact that the goals they score and the plays they make are pleasing to the eye. We don’t call it “the beautiful game” for nothing.
Are Gladwell, Berri, Schmidt and Brook way off or is there some truth to what they are saying? Are we dance critics?
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1 comment:
This is a tough one.
I really don't see myself as someone who proclaims players as my favorites by a) the number of goals they score, or b) the amount of style or flair they can display.
I mean, how many step-overs will I be impressed by if the resulting pass is easily picked-off. Will I really applaud five or six feints if the shot goes wide? I mean, I'm supportive of creative offence of course. But I never neglect the midfield engines that keep a team in check. Central defenders that are first to the ball. Fullbacks that never seem to tire. Goalkeepers that may be bored for 89 minutes then be called upon to deliver brilliance in the 90th. And of course, the coaches who have to deal with all the 'shit'.
FIFA seems to reward the offensive players more maybe because they feel they are the players that attract the most fans. In that respect, they have to keep the fans happy and must recognize the player whom the fans keep chanting about.
Example: Zidane being chosen over Cannavaro as MVP in Germany '06. Zidane did a lot for France, but Cannavaro did more. But who was more entertaining from a neutral fan's point of view? The 'Mastermind' of course, who literally moves like a ballet dancer.
Finally, who are these people that are talking down about Gennaro Gatuso and his role for A.C. Milan and Italy? I want names.
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