Talent

as far as football is concerned, talent referring to technical skills is all how much work you`ve put into ball work. how much time you have spent repeating the same skill over and over. hence, why you see people like streetballers or juggle experts perform incredible skills.

HOWEVER, in football there is a such a thing as applying it into a game situation. i think there are 3 parts from my current and limited knowledge.

1) part of this is learned, for example from youth such as `La Masia`or other good youth coaches. this would include teaching players basic decision making and what players should emphasis within the context of a game, such as short passing, long passing, positioning, etc.
2) this second part of thinking is that certain players have a tendency to think a certain way and/or focus on certain things about the game that have not been taught by coaches. so this would be natural. it`s why you can have 2 players learn the exact same philosophy from the exact same coaches but one players level of play is significantly better than the other. for example, barcelona can try and coach as many messi`s, xavi`s, and iniesta`s as possible but it`s not enough to just put players in the same system and come out with a new xavi or iniesta every year.
3) another part which i have learned through a certain book i was reading is that certain players have a natural tendency to be more drawn to the sport than others. it`s why players like messi and ronaldo will spend more time perfecting their game than any other player. it`s like an `ìnner calling`. and certain players feel this inner calling more strongly than other players. this applies to all professions were expertise can be developed and distinguish yoursef from others. a perfect example i always refer to is Cristiano Ronaldo and Quaresma. 2 players at 18 years old, with high level skill and athleticism but Ronaldo just had a hunger to become an expert at the game and become the best player in the world. he felt it was his duty and he felt it very strongly. this is why he was reportedly the hardest worker in every training. it`s why he became so obsessed with staying after training and arriving before training to hone his technique.

 

When people talk of talent within sports, I associate it with technical ability and finesse first and foremost, and in the case of team sports like football or basketball, also vision and understanding of the collectiveness of the game. There are many other factors that make a player of any sport, mentality, professionalism, grit, courage, leadership, physicality, etc. Of course, to reach the elite levels you will need more than mere talent.
I am a big fan of a racket sport called padel (originally paddle), very popular in Argentina and Spain. The Diaz brothers' story has to do with this. The older one, Mati, is currently around the 5th or 6th place in the ranking and has been there pretty much always since I can remember. He is short and stocky, very strong. They wall him "Warrior", he is a great player, but he is mostly noted for his focus, effort and never give up attitude. The younger one, Godo, physically weaker and visibly a lesser athlete at first sight, has been in and out of the top ten, usually out but around there. He is considered one of the players with greatest touch. They are both kind of veterans now anyways. They both started with tennis and were tought by their father. There is a rather recent interview with him on youtube where he says that for Godo it was always "easier". Whatever he wanted to teach them, Godo had it down right away and it took Mati much longer and more practice to incorporate. "Godo siempre fue mas talentoso", he said. Nevertheless, in their professional careers Mati reached much higher and stayed there longer than Godo.

 

I've been working on a statistical system for a video game simulation, a part-time job that I've entertained for around 5 years now, and over the years I've watched a lot of great players with the aim of identifying the fundamental differences that make them unique, etc.

If I could've chosen, I would've preferred to have validated my original theory about some form of 'special talent' that was mostly a mental-creative ability, but now that I have gone through the experience of watching so many great players, I think that that 'special talent' is more physical than it is based on footballing IQ. As it turns out 'footballing IQ' is not rare, in fact, it's arguably a requirement for the average world class player, and even though some players are seemingly uniquely intelligent compared to the average world class player, I mean I think that unique physical ability or 'physical uniqueness' is the dividing line between legendary world class players and ordinary world class players.

Some players are born with the type of athleticism that is uniquely great for very specific but very recurring normal game situations, and that specific type of athleticism allows those players to practice in that specific medium that is that specific situation, and perfection and practice seemingly always come hand-in-hand... So practice is essential, but physical ability is arguably more important, because you can only really practice to the point of arguable perfection, but only inside the boundaries or limits of the specific medium/situation that your body or physique is naturally built for.

Zidane is perhaps the best case study for my theory... Zidane was great at technical skills when not standing still, but when standing-still or when not running with the ball he consistently looked out of his natural element, his feet were too slow and even seemingly too incoherent to execute what his mind clearly intended to do. His technical form was correct and it is easy to tell that his mind is doing the correct thing, but simply his feet cannot execute what his mind intended to do. Compare that to players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Dennis Bergkamp, Roman Riquelme, Ronaldinho, Francesco Totti, Carlos Valderrama, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Andrea Pirlo, Santi Cazorla -- all of whom are naturally very comfortable in the type of situations where Zidane looked not only not talented but noticeably not talented. (Of course Zidane was so great and so impressive at the skills that he was talented at, that most fans cannot even begin to identify the fact that Zidane consistently looked very untalented in very normal - but unspectacular in the classical sense - game situations.)

Which brings me to the next point: in theory it should be easy to imagine Carlos Valderrama and Santi Cazorla easily adapting to Barcelona's modern-day philosophy... Because even if it takes one full year to adapt to the defensive philosophy, their technical-physical ability is almost perfectly made for Barcelona's system, so much so that the defensive aspect of Barcelona's game would become a considerably easier learning process.

https://elpais.com/deportes/2018/01/08/actualidad/1515368650_150263.html

Xavi Hernandez: "The way I understand the game, the football players who make the difference do it because of talent more than because of physique. Neither I nor Iniesta were physical players. We were pure talent and nothing more. The truly lucky ones were blessed with both extraordinary talent and a physique to match that talent: Maradona, Pele, Ronaldo Nazario, Messi, Neymar, and Mbappe also is talented enough."

Xavi Hernandez: "Y como yo entiendo el juego los futbolistas que marcan la diferencia lo hacen por talento más que por físico. Ni yo ni Iniesta hemos sido físicos. Hemos sido talento nada más. Los tocados por la varita mágica tienen las dos cosas: Maradona. Pelé, Ronaldo Nazario, Messi, Neymar y Mbappé también tiene talento." (Written in its original Spanish form.)

I fundamentally disagree on one thing with Xavi... He and Iniesta would have been bench players if not for the physical factors that made them so unique in terms of ball retention. I mean, as intelligent as they were, they weren't a lot more intelligent than many other players who played similar roles, for example, Sneijder or David Silva or Santi Cazorla, etc. Xavi is arguably a good case study of my theory: Xavi was called "El Pelopo" because of how extraordinary his physique was for the 'pelopina' skill, which is the twist-and-turn pirouette (physical) skill that Xavi used all the time... And isn't it curious that a player as intelligent as Xavi, who was called "El Pelopo" in La Liga by those players who knew him best; I mean Xavi himself doesn't think of himself as a physical player, even though he was literally nicknamed after the 'pelopina' skill which is a physical skill more than it is a mental skill.

And so footballing IQ is obviously very important as it is seemingly always a requirement to be truly world class, but I think that the truly legendary players benefitted from very unique physical abilities.

 

In other words: if a player is nicknamed "The Roulette" would you think that said player is very intelligent (and therefore uniquely talented) at roulette skills but not as intelligent (and therefore not as uniquely talented) at other non-roulette skills, or would you think that said player is physically ideally perfect (and therefore uniquely talented) for the roulette skill??

I think that the latter is much closer to the truth... Xavi was known as 'El Pelopo' not because of his intelligence (albeit his intelligence certainly helped) but primarily because of his physical ability, that is, Xavi was slow enough but physically gifted enough that the pelopina skill intuitively and instinctively and naturally became his calling card, and his innate physical ability allowed him to perfect said specific skill at an early age. A good point of reference might be Claude Makelele, who was a highly intelligent footballer and was actually physically shorter (more of a midget) than Xavi, but he never had that effortless 'pelopina' bounce to his mobility... because you don't get that effortless bounce with practice... you get it if you are born with it.​

 

very well said. and i think this can lead into another sub topic. as a result of this concusion, that brings me to a question. you posted,...

i could be mistaken about your conclusion but this leads me to believe that in football, we think about the 3 greatest players to ever play the game. maradona, pele, and arguably messi. all of the these players are small players ranging from 5`6``-5`8``. i think johan cruyff was maybe 5`9`` or 5`10``. and di stefano was 5`8`` or so. as inteligent as these top 3 players are, would you say that the reason for them being so great is really a result of their physical abilities and stature???

for example, what are the chances you see a player like thierry henry, cristiano ronaldo, bale, pogba, or ibrahimovic with a game similar to that of the maradona, messi, and pele??? there may be an exception to the rule eventually. but if your hypothesis is true, messi, maradona, and pele would actually contribute most of their greatness not to their intelligence or skill but to their physical stature relative to the game of football. am i right???

i also must state, i think there is a lot of truth to your hypothesis. although before i never contributed such a large portion to physical abilities, i did somewhat think that the stature and physical build of players like maradona, messi, and pele allowed them to move in a certain way that would suit dribbling abilties of the highest level and being able to execute passes and speed of passes in a different number of positions regardless of their balance in congested and fast paced situations because of their low center of gravity. this would give players who are much taller to have less reaction time. and given that football is a game that thrives on players being able to play in increments of 3-8 yd movements about 85 or 90% of the time. this therefore would favor shorter players. whereas if football was a game of movements with 40-60 yd movements 85-90% of the time with more air balls, then players like Bale and Ronaldo would be clearly better than messi, Maradona, and Pele.

however, speaking of exceptions, that does bring me to the player, R9. R9 was a player with similar agility movements to pele, maradona, and messi, to a lesser extent of side to side movement but was also able to better incorporate power better than bale and ronaldo in his forward movements. because although he could use power, the ball was never too far out of his reach. at the same time, his body was trained to be able to have quick agile movements that strived in tight and congested spaces.

 

I think that the reason - the primary reason - is physical, yes. At the same time, instinct, intelligence, intuition, are all very important factors, but yes, I think that physical ability is the most decisive factor. Players who are great wing-dribblers tend to not be short. Players who are great at dribbling through the central areas of the pitch, tend to vary in terms of physical build to enough a degree that there isn't an ideal body type for it. Overall, I think that mobility itself is a more defining factor than physical build.

For example, when you look at Zidane, his physical build does not give the impression that he has silky coherent feet that make him capable of producing the roulette or the step over with more precision than most of the short players that are legendary dribblers; that is, Zidane's actual mobility, his actual athleticism, is a deceptive one when you consider how the box/body looks from the surface. Zidane is one of many legendary players who is much more athletic than his body build - on appearance alone - would or could indicate.

6'1 -- Cristiano Ronaldo
5'11 -- Arjen Robben
5'11 -- Luis Figo
5'10 + half an inch -- Joaquin Sanchez
5'10 -- Ryan Giggs

For all the hype about the low center of gravity of short players, the best winger-dribblers are not short players.

Ronaldo Nazario, Zinedine Zidane, Roman Riquelme, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dennis Bergkamp, all have distinctive physical abilities that are rare for players with their physical build and/or physical height. That's part of the reason as to why I think that mobility itself - not physical build - is the most decisive physical factor.

 

The brilliant and oft-quoted American basketball player and coach John Wooden summed it up perfectly when he said: "Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.

"Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."