I say that there's something called soccer IQ. Or have it your way--football/ calcio/ futebol IQ. I am not talking about the sort of intelligence that makes a person, off the field, a winner at Jeopardy or a PhD in some thorny field like philosophy. I'm talking about players who make good decisions on the field, are clever, punish their opponents' mistakes, influence referees, know how to handle themselves, et cetera . . . And by contrast there are very stupid, rash players, even if they are smart off the field. To give an idea of what I mean, here's a short list of players with high/ low soccer IQs IMHO: Low Lucio--easily provoked; poor in his judgments Ibrahimovic--questionable decision-making: often easily and cleanly dispossessed in the middle of a showboat. Has a temper that will land him many cards/ bans in the future. High Zidane--if you're David James, he'll expose your shortcomings. Nobody's fool. Iuliano--No player has ever had less talent, yet managed to play at the top level for so long. By playing cautiously, by avoiding mistakes, by keeping everything simple and neat, managed to make himself a competent defender for years. Your choices for players who fit into these categories?
High: Rui Costa.....He still has amazing vision, and in his hayday, he was the most accurate passer I've ever seen. In a game where you had to hold the lead and keep possession, he was one of the best Low: Roberto Carlos....He's supposed to be a left-back, but he makes runs sometimes that are not needed. His first priority should be to get back on defense, but often takes off up-field and leaves the central defenders alone. He only uses his left foot and rarely, I mean almost never uses moves to get past opponents...he can't do it. He's a one-dimensional player....good at free kicks....that's it.
Low: Wayne Rooney, he's as sharp as a bowling ball High: Micheal Owen, very intelligent player on and off the field
Even as a United fan I would tend to agree with this one, however, when he spotted Lehman slightly out of position in the FA cup final and drilled that shot in low and hard to the near post it made me change my mind a bit. That was great example of on-the-field IQ in my opinion if there ever was one.
High: Nesta Low: Materazzi I know this wasn't the intended purpose of the thread but I think Totti takes the cake in the high on field football IQ/ low off field intellectual IQ category. I don't consider retaliation/acting out to be part of football IQ, that stuff is more common sense. Players like Rooney and Totti who are brilliant on the ball clearly have great football IQ but are obviously lacking something in their brains when it comes to cussing out officials or spitting on opposing players.
High-Paul Scholes Obviously, when he plays well he has great vision, and excellent positioning (which I think is the most important sign of intellegence and good play) and knows when to run into the box for a nice few goals. Low-Lee Bowyer Who punches their own teamates? This guy has got to have one of the worst tempers in the world.
Low IQ- Collocini, Roque Junior & Danny Mills: These players have no control over their emotions on the pitch and act like bloody fools, get easily booked and cause their team nothing but problems, especially Mills and RJ....as for Collocini...well he looks and acts like a complete jackass..... High IQ- Zidane, SRW, Makaay: Three of the most professional players in the world. Not only are they nice but they always keep their cool and do whatever they can to prevent their teammates from getting into trouble or going over the edge. True class players.
Low- Roque Junior, Matteo Ferrari, Marco Materazzi All of them make stupid decisions that lead to disasters. High- Nedved, Ballack Both of them are never rushed rushed into doing something idiotic. Both have no temper.
Sorry this is not a good thread at all. First how do you masure it, 2nd it will be stomp on the game itself. To play soccer jsut by itself takes lots of smarts thinking and a natural athletic ability such us body/eye coordination, balance, anticipation, etc... etc..., one has to be in top of physical and metal ability humanness provides. Just trapping a ball in flight with nothing but with one foot takes so many parts of our body, including the mind to work, let alone to run with with it, dribble, make judgement to pass or not, if so , to who, when, where, Gosh, the list is enless. You cannot test IQ, anywhere, let alone in soccer. Thsi whole IQ thing is B.S. if you ask me. To play soccer, in any capacity, and be good at it takes a whole lot of smarts , period.
He's talking about Soccer IQ, ie good decisions on the field etc. Not actually IQ. And if you think the thread is stupid, that is fine you are allowed your opinion, but this thread is also our opinion that we happily give to those who care.
Did you see Ballack waving Lehman in the right direction on Ronaldhino's pk in the Confed. Cup? Lehman followed his cue, and it was the right direction, but Lehman alas didn't reach the shot. I thought that was a heck of an example of smarts. Ballack is class. The poster who said Nesta has a high on-field IQ couldn't be more correct. Seems he never puts a wrong foot down.
Yea man, I still don't know, to this day, how he knew where Ronaldinho would shoot? And there are still people who still think he is not WC. Tsk tsk tsk Doesn't Nesta get booked often?
Not really--Nesta was more fouled against than fouling in this season's Champions League, and he rarely gets suspended. Extremely clean.
i wonder how can you guys say ZZ has a High IQ, he makes bad decisions and has a really bad temper, nobody remembers in the WC when he headbutted an opponent, he has vision, technique, but cannot control his temper.
I actually think this is a good thread if anyone cares and for me alot of it has to do with awareness. Awareness of where your team-mates and where opposition players are on the field. This is going to be a bit premiership biased so shoot me!! The ability of players like Bergkamp to find space on the field is something truly praiseworthy in my eyes. Why do players like him always seem to have a bit more time on the ball than others? Simple. They have a "picture" in their mind as to just where everyone on the field of play is and know exactly what they are going to do when the ball arrives, they are simply one step ahead of the opposition. I think the same thing could be said for Eric Cantona and Gian-Franco Zola in the past, Di Canio too, imo, and he's still doing it. They are all examples of players who know/knew just exactly where the weak spot was in a defence and always make/made sure they got there. Why does Thierry Henry drift left so often? Maybe because he used to be a winger but I think there's more to it than that. He know's that he can get a 2 on 1 situation with the full-back or can drag a central defender out of the middle and create more space for his team-mates, another good example of footballing IQ if you ask me. I also like the example of Paul Scholes and would throw in Frank Lampard as an example of players who know how to arrive, un-noticed by the opposition in many cases in the box at exactly the right time from midfield or just behind the strikers to put the ball in the back of the net. Don't laugh but I think Gus Poyet was also a good example of this. People have often marvelled at the long-range passing ability and crossing of David Beckham, how does he do that? Well first he has to be aware that the pass is on. Without the vision or awareness that one of his team-mates is on for a pass he wouldn't be able to attempt that pass or cross in the first place. Yes it takes great technical ability to cross and pass the ball like that but technical ability alone won't make you stand out the way he has, it takes a good fotballing brain and he has that despite the fact that he comes across as being a bit thick. So far these have all been 'flair' players and I think this type of player is easier to identify as one with good footballing IQ but I don't think being a flair player alone would allow some into this category. Take Cristiano Ronaldo for example, yes he can run, yes he can dribble but does he sometimes try to take on one too many players? Yes. Does he sometimes run into blind alley-ways? Yes. Does he sometimes not spot a team-mate who is on for a pass? Yes. All this would lean me towards saying he has a lowish on-field IQ. He did improve this a little last season and perhaps it is something that can be learned a little and will come with time but it would be my guess that you either have good "on-field IQ" or you don't. For defenders It's a little harder to assess so I'll keep it brief- Good on-field IQ- Franco Baresi, especially towards the end of his career was not exactly the quickest but was always in the right time at the right place to make a tackle or win a header. Low on-field IQ- Mikael Silvestre, often has lapses in concentration and makes some dangerous passes just outside his own box.
What about Maldini. If I remember correctly, towards the end of his career he was among the slowest in each game, yet knew how to read the game and still made good plays.. or am I wrong?
Currently? Claude Makelele, and its not even close. For someone who's so often dismissed as having no offensive game, he's established himself as one of the best DMs in the world almost solely on his ability to read the game. He's not especially fast, he's not an especially great tackler, and his goal scoring is notoriously abysmal. And yet - he's been vital to all the teams he plays for.
Ever? Pele is so far ahead of anyone. Today... hmmm... Makelele is a smart choice. Anyone with superb passing and positioning is up there, so Juninho Pernambucano should be mentioned too.
I wouldn't agree with that, actually. What sets Pele apart from other players who were also smart on the pitch was his natural ability, which was prodigious.
I exagerate when I say he's "so far ahead of everyone", but he does have arguably the highest soccer IQ. Tostao was an amazingly intelligent player too. Happens to be pretty intelligent off the field too.
I don't think Coloccini belongs in the low IQ list. He is a player who doesn't have much speed but he compensates for it by playing smart, and he usually is well positioned because of the decisions he makes. He is versatile and can play any defensive position as well as defensive midfield. Coloccini didn't have a good game in the Confederations final againt Brazil, but that was not due to low football IQ, but rather due to factors like his lack of speed, fatigue, a poor containment by Argentina in midfield, and an inspired performance by the Brazilian forwards. As far as calling him a jackass, well, If you think playing physical is the sign of a jackass, fine. You can put him in your list of dirty players, but that doesn't make him a player with a low IQ.
As was/is Socrates. My all time pick would be DiStefano who wasn't necessarily the most physically impressive player (he didn't have the insane left foot that Puskas did, for example), but who I think read the game better than anyone I've ever seen.