As old favorites Skinner and Baddiel used to say in football’s finest TV show ever, ‘here are a few things we noticed while watching football this week’. In the same direction I have noticed this; what in the world has happened to my favorite role in football? Having always had a passion for the beautiful game on the continent, I grew up looking forward to James Richardson’s cheeky adjectives one Saturday morning with Gazzetta Football Italia on Channel 4.
I went to Calico from the start of the stations’ weekly broadcast (mostly provoked by Paul Gascoigne’s move to Southern Europe) when Gazza’s new side Lazio lost in a 5-3 thriller to the then conquering Milan on the opening day of the 1993/94 Series. A season I was already hooked on this seemingly ‘boring’ football brand. In any case, it soon became clear that Italian sides, and later I would realize that this was the case on much of the continent; everyone had a ‘number 10’. The first to catch my attention was the great Roberto Baggio, then Juventus. The divine ponytail (which he was nicknamed by fans) would run in and out of the game, apparently at his own whim, and played the game as if he were painting a picture.
It looked like he almost saw the game as a spectator on the pitch, only ‘getting involved’ when he saw that the match required his presence when it had to be lifted to a higher level. As my football education progressed, I discovered that Turin’s favorite son was not alone. Milan had Gullit, Sampdoria had Mancini. Further afield were Gheorghe Hagi, Hristo ดูบอล, Ariel Ortega. Ridiculously talented individuals who controlled the game, connecting midfield and attack, both creating and scoring goals. They were the icons of their clubs and countries. And this trend continued during the nineties, until more recently something seems to have changed this.
Players who had previously given the freedom to walk in the park are now placed in more rigid formations, possibly to the extent that the idea of the ‘free role’ is almost dead. Take Barcelona as a good example. Ten years ago, the string puller on the side would have been the great Ronaldinho. He would have put in wherever he saw fit, and exercised his magic as he saw fit. But fast forward to today and you will find the Brazilian out on the left wing and football is dictated entirely from another source.
Seeing the Catalan giants over the last year or so, and it has become clear that it is Deco who is actually controlling the pace, the masterminds piece, and from where? He sits deep in midfield, almost the same position as you find an enforcer like Claude Makalele at Chelsea. Ronaldinho may be the magic, but Deco is the brains.
If we go back to where we started in Italy, we visit Milan and see a similar trend. Although, like Barcelona, they have a magician in the form of Riccy Kaka ‘, they also have a conductor through Andrea Pirlo. Kaka ‘has found himself employed broadly to the right, left and as a center forward as Ancellotti tries to bring a structure to rossinieri. When I lived on this inactivity, it dawned on me that this has been in the water for some time.