If you think about it, it was kind of naive of Santos to have Ganso’s talent as one of their secrets weapons against Barcelona. Not that Barça reached a level where they’re immune to the potential sweet through balls of Ganso, amongst other things. Or that Ganso is not that good. He’s great, one of the best Brazilian youngsters in the last decade, but, as sad as that may sound, he’s just a “classic” #10. You see, the number 10s have become so outdated of modern football that people are already referring to them as “classical”, which in some social circles may sound like “old”.
Sócrates, who unfortunately passed away a couple of weeks ago, once said something like this, “Top level footballers used to run around 5 km during a match two or three decades ago. That’s half of what modern footballers run. Other sports noticed that kind of change and adapted, but football is still trying to do the same nowadays. Football is getting increasingly based on the physical – and tactical – side, and that is killing the technical side.” Sócrates was one of the greatest examples of what you would call a Brazilian number 10, and also a great football philosopher, let’s say, even in his last years. Sócrates was – mostly, at least – right. Football is certainly changing, and the number 10s are the ones suffering the most.
With just two matchdays left before the winter break, teams are fighting for that title of Winter Champion. The figurative title exists all around Europe and statistically speaking, teams who have finished the first half of the season on top of their respective tables more often than not take home their league titles at the end of the season. Just last season Dortmund found themselves comfortably atop the Bundesliga table at the start of the six week long break. And even though they stumbled towards the end of the season they were able to win the league with time to spare. It’s a little tougher in the Bundesliga this year however. With just a point separating the top three it’s difficult to say who will finish where come the end of the season.
As a fan of the Bundesliga and German national team I wasn’t too happy on hearing that Arsenal were after Per Mertesacker in the summer. Sure he had the height but he was always a far bigger liability, especially for Werder Bremen. To the point where Werder fans laughed at the idea of a club like Arsenal coming in for the big defender. When it actually came to fruition they bid Arsenal a few good lucks and went on their way. Arsenal had been linked with the defender every transfer window for the last few years but most fans just scoffed at the idea and said that the English media was just making up rumours. After all it was easy to see Arsenal’s need for a tall, commanding defender.
Miroslav Klose gets a lot of undeserved hate. Why? Because he’s good. Klose has never been a pragmatic striker but he’s always been an efficient one. And he’s earned every single goal he’s scored. The same goals that put him just two goals within the World Cup scoring record held by the legendary Ronaldo. Or just five goals away from Gerd Müller’s international goal scoring record for Germany.
I remember the day well. Sitting in my college dorm two years ago, classes done for the day and playing Pro Evo with my roomate. And ironically, many games with Germany, with the man himself in goal. A man whose career internationally was just going to take off with the retirement of Jens Lehmann. But instead, Robert Enke tragically took his own life on that evening after a long battle with depression. The situation dealt a heavy blow for the public who had no idea about his depression.
