Football, the most followed sport in the world, with diverse supports of all ages and race has continued to evolve over time, and even more ...
Football, the most followed sport in the world, with diverse supports of all ages and race has continued to evolve over time, and even more so in the last decade. Innovations like the GDS [Goal line Technology], were previously unfathomable.
It hasn’t only evolved logistically though, even on the pitch, the footballs have gotten lighter, and as a consequence, the game has become faster, with games played at a higher tempo compared to previous generations.
The commercial influence of the modern game has rendered more and more top teams to be more result driven and less concerned about being aesthetically pretty on the eye.
The attacking midfielders or trequartista as they are fondly called, have been most hit by this evolution in pace of the modern game.
Attacking midfielders are required to contribute more and more in the defensive make up of teams, with culprits quickly finding themselves out of the playing squad.
Juan Mata, a brilliant attacking midfielder for many a year, had curiously found himself on the fringes of first, the Chelsea squad, under Jose Mourinho, the ultimate pragmatic, and at his safe haven at Manchester United too.
According to squawka, Juan Mata has averaged one defensive contribution per game in the league this season, and has posted a sub zero defensive score in 10 of his 25 appearances for Man United, and it is easy to see why he’s not gotten a regular place in the starting lineup at Old Trafford.
In his last full season at Chelsea, the 2012/13 season, he scored 18 goals and registered 35 assists, a really phenomenal feat but, he averaged one defensive contribution per game. Chelsea were also seen as a rather unbalanced team with various poor defensive performances that culminated in dropping many points from comfortable leads in games.
Prior to the arrival of Jose Mourinho in the summer of 2013, speculation was rife that Mata could struggle to get into a “Mourinho team”, which is always famed for its pragmatic approach to the game. These suspicions were affirmed as the season went on, as Mata continually saw himself dropped in favour of the more tenacious Oscar. He only lasted 6 months, as he was farmed out to Man United, for a club record £37.1 million.
Although he was able to command such a high fee is testament to his talent and how highly regarded his attacking prowess is, but the game, especially in the premier league has evolved so much so that pace, work rate and physical attributes are required more and more from attacking midfielders.
Players like Eriksen, Coutinho, Lamela are lauded for their attacking prowess, and rightly so, but have often struggled to adapt to the defensive demands of the modern game, and have only been found to thrive when they’re deployed in free roles with little to no defensive responsibilities.
Coutinho in particular has been an epitome of this, and has been lauded in some quarters as the best in the premier league since the turn of the year. Even mega stars like Ozil and Silva have had to bulk up and imbibe noticeable changes in the defensive contributions.
The modern game seems like no place for the old fashioned number 10’s at the moment, but there’s no denying their talent, and if systems are diligently and adequately tweaked, there’s definitely still a place for the so called –Old fashioned- trequartista in the beautiful game.
