Winger

I always find winger as one of the most fascinating position in football. To be able to play as a winger is a gift. You must time your run, you must anticipate better than others, and you must be at the right place, at the right time. Which are things that are cant be learnt. Thats why I said it's a gift. And yes, you must also have a lethal foot/feet to dribble past opponents, shooting for glory, and make a pinpoint crosses for others. This position has developed more into a more complex function over time. An orthodox winger only attacks. He sits deep by the touch line waiting to be fed and work on his magic.

But now in modern football things are different. Wingers have to track back and help the team defend. He cant just hang out by the touchline like last time. He must provide dimensions and dynamics to the team in order to create a fluidity in attack and also in defends. From my observation there are two types of wingers. One being the conventional winger who is very direct but effective like Giggs, Figo and Bale and another being that trickster winger who has tons of tricks up in his sleeve and uses it efficiently like Ronaldo and Messi. One emphasizes on effectiveness and another one emphasizes on efficiency.

Yes being a football fan, we usually are more thrilled watching the trickster winger do their magics. However those conventional wingers should not be belittled. I always enjoy watching those conventional wingers making direct runs at the opposition, using their speeds cutting in and out of defences. Another thing I like about being a winger is how much the fans put so much hope and faith in him. When the ball is passed to a winger by the third quarter of the field, the fans will rise from their seats, excited and all restless at the same time. Is he going to bottle it? Is he going to screw up? Are we going to score?

End product from a winger is crucial. A winger performance is not evaluated with how many people he can beat by dribbling or how many tricks that he can do. He is evaluated by his end products. What is meant by 'end product' is the quality of his final touch, whether its a cross, a pass or a shoot. Botoi pi la sepuluh orang pun kalau final touch lingkup tak guna jugak. For example, Nani is a great winger but usually his end products are frustrating. All the hard work splitting the opposition defence should not go wasted. A winger have to make sure that his work counts or at least mean something. Ok enough of being a football pundit. Laters