It concerns me how easily such a popular sport is persuaded by the pressure of statistics; I understand that numbers and figures assist clubs in selecting potential candidates as new seasons are ahead, but fans nowadays seem all too heavily swayed by the same. Has football just become about the biggest name in the game? But, furthermore, is Lionel Messi destined to supersede his rivals on every count?
European Football: Statistical Skill vs Genuine Skill
Recently, the CIES Football Observatory, designed to rank players on their general match performance to calculate an overall rank based on six aspects of their skills, voted Barcelona’s Messi the top striker of 2015 to date, whilst Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo slums it down in 29th place. It is likely that Real Madrid’s sub-par season is behind Ronaldo’s crushingly low score, but it still enrages me somewhat that Messi consistently emerges number one. I am aware that many will contest my view here, but he far from wowed me during the World Cup in Brazil; his tenacity was lacklustre, irrespective of how the rest of his team fared, and his visible pleasure for being part of the game was absent. Perhaps my recollections were tainted somewhat by the enhanced performances of others (for instance, certain boots in the Dutch team, Australia, Colombia, Germany… of course), but that is rather the point: Messi was not the man to outshine all others during the tournament.
Interestingly, the CIES scores quite rightly don’t operate on popularity; Bayern Munich’s oh so pacey Arjen Robben is warming second, Bas Dost of Wolfsburg in third, the nightmare of dentists everywhere, Luis Suárez, in the fourth, Diego Costa fifth and Harry Kane sixth. At this point, it’s worth interjecting regarding Tottenham Hotspur’s Kane. Some feel he is overrated, which absolutely baffles me; ex-England striker, Rodney Marsh, has recently confessed that he deems Kane superior to Manchester United’s pricey Angel Di María. I completely agree; the Argentine is not particularly worth his salt, and Kane’s overall performance is far more consistent. His vision during home matches is tunnelled: Harry Kane sees the goal mouth, goes for it, and is rewarded with success more times than not.
However, you can still see how players can be the poster boys of most young lads (and ladies, I probably ought to add) in the country and across the globe, yet still favour dreadfully by CIES standards. The ranking becomes more enthralling still, when favourite, Gareth Bale, sits in 35th and France’s Karim Benzema down even further in 37th. Given the calibre of these Real men, this is not a true reflection of overarching skill and an abundance of footballing experience across Europe.
Although Messi is strategic, focused, and just magical in the box, he constantly manages to tick the right boxes; however, for me, he does not offer the full package. He lacks the look of dedication, something that Ronaldo possesses by the bucket load. It’s just interesting how players can be better than on paper, worse in reality, or even on par, yet Messi still trumps everyone; statistics clearly aren’t always a real portrayal of infallible skill, and CIES has definitely delivered some food for thought.
