Players

When looking at bad behaved footballers, there are two ways of doing it. Some footballers have been relative angels on the pitch but have done monstrous things off it. Cheating on wives, beating people up, drunk driving, and actual murder are all on the rap sheet of the football player. However, we wanted to keep things firmly on the pitch, so our list looks at the worst behaved players on the field of play.

Furthermore, there are some players in the bowels of football’s lower leagues who have thrown punches, headbutts, and more on the field. Those players have done bad, for sure, but we want our list to be footballers you may actually have heard of. With that in mind, here goes and in no particular order.

Eric Cantona

To Manchester United fans, Eric Cantona is The King. A catalyst player who propelled the club to its first league title in nearly thirty years and a pivotal focal point in creating a near two-decade era of dominance. Even opposition fans will acknowledge Cantona as an amazing player and an intriguingly enigmatic character.

However, the Frenchman was also something of a dirty player. Nine career red cards (6 in the Premier League) suggest Cantona struggled to keep himself to himself on the pitch. What happened following one of these red cards cemented the striker firmly on this list. After being sent off, Cantona propelled himself studs first into an abusing fan in the now infamous Kung Fu Kick incident that saw him banned form the game for nine months.

Sergio Ramos

Sergio Ramos is one of the best defenders in the modern era and also the most successful. With Real Madrid and Spain, he has won everything… literally. On Ramos’ honours list are multiple league titles, Spanish cups, Champions Leagues, and Club World Cups. For Spain he has lifted the World Cup and European Championship.

Still, through his career Ramos’ huge success has been diluted by his attitude on the pitch. Not dirty in the strictest leg-breaking sense, Ramos is instead a sneaky, cunning, sly, and tricky player who has managed to get sent off 24 times in his career, the third highest in history. His reputation proceeds him, and Ramos is among the most disliked footballers currently playing.

Paolo Di Canio

Paolo Di Canio was a dynamic and skilful Italian forward who was capable of sublime skill and goals. Perhaps an inconsistent player, Di Canio had the ability to be a leading name in European football but preferred to be difficult to work with and frankly lazy. He was also prone to the odd lapse in discipline, as you will see below.

While Di Canio was not a repeat offender on the scale of Ramos or Cantona, he achieved something neither did. When playing for Sheffield Wednesday (proof enough he was a somewhat wasted talent), Di Canio made the odd decision to push the referee. Despite the shouting at refs footballers engage in, touching the official is a definite no-no. Di Canio ignored this to create one of the most shocking and oddly hilarious moments of football bad behaviour.

Vinnie Jones

Unlike the others on this list, Vinnie Jones was not a mercurial talent, unless talent is punching and kicking your way around a football field. Dirty sums up Jones, who to many is probably better known as that Englishman with a tough guy accent and demeanour who shows up in Hollywood movies such as Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, X-Men Last Stand, and Gone in 60 Seconds.

To football fans of a certain vintage, Vinnie Jones is instead the quintessential football “hard man”, someone who would bully opposition and actually hurt them with tough tackles. Wreckless and uncaring, Jones never tried to hide what his game was about. It’s no wonder he was sent off 12 times in his career.

Here’s the thing, when I first started thinking about the very subject that sits above as the title of this article, I almost instantly thought, “are South American forwards really the best”? I doubted my own thought process before concluding that yes, they are the best. To prove my point, I am going to show you why.

Before going anywhere with this, it is probably a good idea to remember there have been amazing forwards from other continents, most notably Europe. However, looking back over the history of South American football, the list of legendary talent is truly impressive. Perhaps the best way to convince you South American forwards are the best is to simply do this:

(in no particular order)

• Diego Maradona
• Ronaldo (the original one)
• Lionel Messi
• Pele
• Ronaldinho

Ok, right there we have arguably named the five best players to ever play the game. Yes, you can take out one or two and throw in a Cruyff here or a Cristiano Ronaldo there, but few disagree that Messi, Maradona, and Pele are the best footballers of all-time. They just happen to be forwards from South America.

This is not a limited list either because I could also add Romario, Neymar, Luis Suarez, Socrates, Batistuta, Cavani, Rivaldo, Aguero, Kempes, Crespo, Forlan, Sanchez, Tevez, and so many more that I have either ignored or forgotten.

Here’s the question that inevitably arrives from all this… why are South American forwards the best?

Development

Development is hugely important in any career, and in football it is arguably the make or break of a player. Simply put, South American players are developed differently to other nations. At least differently to how other nations used to do it. Over recent decades, we have seen European nations embrace South American development techniques to great success (more on that soon).

Few South American countries have what we would think of as youth football in Europe. There is no structured league system like in the United Kingdom. For kids in say, Argentina, to play football they invariable do it on the streets where the hustle and bustle develops close control, skills, and excellent short passing abilities.

Keeping it Small

Following on from development is how young girls and boys in South America play the game. 11 a-side contests on large pitches (or even small ones) is unheard of in countries like Brazil. Instead, small futsal and beach soccer pitches let players hone their skills, with smaller balls and smaller goals often used.

Spain and Portugal also develop in this way, which explains a lot the way players from those European nations play compared to the other giants on the continent (France, Germany, Italy, England, etc.). Futsal and beach soccer help promote pass and move football paired with great skill and ball control, letting kids develop strong positional and possession sense.

Interestingly, all this emphasis on small spaces helps to develop flair and forward-thinking but not necessarily the guts of football. For example, while there have been many excellent South American goalkeepers, defenders, and midfielders, I could easily write an article why Europe has had the best players in those positions.

And that lets Europe Hit Back

European nations slowly but surely caught on to this style of playing on smaller pitches to promote development and placing an emphasis on short passing and close control. By combining South American styles with European schools of thought, such as the Dutch Total Football concept and good-old traditional European girt, nations like Germany and Spain have achieved great success.

It is worth noting that more European nations (12) have won the World Cup than South American countries (9). This shows that the emphasis South American nations put on skill and attack does not necessarily translate to undisputed success. But hey, it does create excellent forwards.

Every year, a crop of youngsters are tipped to become the next big thing, but the truth is only a small handful of these future stars actually become, well, stars. When looking for our 5 new football players to watch in 2019, we wanted to find those gems who really do look destined for the very top. As the title suggests, we really are looking at players who may be unknown to many football fans. That means already established wonderkids such as PSG attacker Kylian Mbappe, Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt, Real Madrid winger Vinícius Júnior, Borussia Dortmund playmaker Jadon Sancho, and Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford are not listed here.

Hamed Junior Traore (Empoli, Serie A)

18-year old Hamed Junior Traore has been making a splash in Italy over the last two seasons. A hot prospect at youth level, the midfielder has transitioned seamlessly to the rigors of top-flight football this season for Empoli. An all-action presence in the heart of midfield, it was no surprise to see Fiorentina purchase Traore in the January transfer window (he was loaned back to Empoli to see out the campaign). Next season, expect the Ivorian to continue his progression and possibly even attract the attention of bigger clubs around Europe.

Mason Greenwood (Manchester United, Premier League)

While Mason Greenwood has only played a single game for Man Utd (during the club’s recent historic Champions League win against PSG), he has been explosive at youth level. So much so, many inside the club and in the Premier League predict the 17-year old will be a leading talent for England in the future. Capable of playing anywhere across the forward line, Greenwood scored 17 goals in 17 games at the age of 16 and 13 goals in 12 games in the Premier League youth league this season. An exciting English prospect, we expect Greenwood to further his reputation as he transitions to the first team next season.

Moise Kean (Juventus, Serie A)

Moise Kean has already started to carve a reputation in Italian football. Currently on load with Serie B club Verona, Kean will return to Juventus next season and will be seeking first team action. The 19-year old has represented Italy throughout youth level and already made his full international debut, making him hotly tipped as a future star for Gli Azzuri.

Houssem Aouar (Lyon, Ligue 1)

A product of Lyon’s youth setup, Houssem Aouar has been with the French club since he was 11. Now 20-years old, the midfielder is attracting admiring glances from some of Europe’s biggest clubs, such as Manchester City, Barcelona, and Liverpool. Known as a luxurious midfield player, Aouar is already firmly established in Lyon’s first team, where he has gained a reputation as a versatile attacking option in the middle of the park. The French playmaker is now coveted outside of Lyon and it would not be a surprise to see him leave the club during the summer.

Luka Jovic (Eintracht Frankfurt, Bundesliga)

Jovic is something of a curveball because he is 21-years old (the oldest on this list) and has come into the spotlight recently. However, he has been an explosive goal scorer throughout his career and many people still don’t know who he is. Tipped to move to Barcelona in the summer, the Serbian striker has scored 15 goals in 22 games for Frankfurt this season. Strong and a fantastic finisher, Jovic also possesses a deft touch in the final third. It is no surprise to see him being linked with the giants in Spain and England. Like Aouar, we expect Jovic will have a new home next season and we will watch with interest to see if he can take his scoring exploits to the very top.

Ronaldo vs. Messi, it has become one of football’s eternal debates. Who’s better and the reasons why is something fans argue over without reaching a consensus. We thought we would tackle the Ronaldo vs. Messi debate from another angle, by trying to show which player is the best on-field decision maker.

So, this is not your typical Messi vs. Ronaldo debate. Anyone who has taken even a quick glance at the statistics between these two players will know there’s little to separate them. Before getting into detail, let’s look at how Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi compare throughout their careers:

Messi

	Appearances	Goals	Assists
Career	799	650	267
All-time Club	671	585	227
League	442	408	160
Europe	130	106	28
Other Cups	99	71	39
International	128	65	40

Ronaldo

	Appearances	Goals	Assists
Career	950	679	218
All-time Club	796	594	190
League	539	417	134
Europe	651	122	42
Other Cups	92	55	14
International	154	85	28

Plenty can be gained by simply looking at these base-level stats, such as the fact Ronaldo is obviously a hugely prolific goal scorer. He has scored more than Messi in just about every category, but his dominance in this field comes with one huge caveat. The Portuguese legend has played 150 games more than Messi during his career.

Looking closely at Messi’s own goal record, it seems reasonable to presume that by the time he has played those extra 150 games, he will surpass Ronaldo’s record. However, there is another metric shown above that possibly defines why Messi is both a better contributor to overall team play, and indeed why he makes the better decisions on the pitch.

Oh yes, let’s get it out of the way now, we are definitely edging towards Messi over Ronaldo as the better on-field decision maker. Despite playing 150 games fewer than Ronaldo, the Argentine has secured 267 assists, an incredible rate of creativity. Ronaldo is certainly no slouch when it comes to dishing up scoring passes, with 218, but Messi is king in this department. Again, it is worth remembering again the Barcelona superstar has played 150 fewer games.

Performance in 2018 – 2019 Season

Messi’s superior on-field decision making has been evident during this current campaign. Across all competitions, he has averaged 56 passes per game, 3.1 key passes per game, and has secured 14 assists during the season.

In comparison Ronaldo averages 1.7 key passes per game for Juventus, and only passes on average 31 times per contest. However, he has still managed 10 assists, perhaps indicating his point of the attack positioning on the pitch. Incidentally, Ronaldo has played nearly 400 minutes more than Messi during the 2018/2019 campaign.

For the 2017/2018 season, Messi’s average heat map shows he spends most of his time between the halfway line and 18-yard box, creating and influencing play regularly in central positions.

Again, Ronaldo is not an out-and-out poacher, but his maps for the same season shows he spends much of his time on the left wing and up front.

Conclusions when discussing Ronaldo and Messi are hard to come by. Both players have been named the world’s best player five times, both have won similar amounts of individual and team trophies, and both have loyal fans. However, Messi’s creativity and ability to surpass Ronaldo’s goal record suggest the Argentine is more of a creative force on the field.

Players like Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, Bale, Suarez and other top players can change a match with an individual move. They have both athletic and mental skills that enable them to perform a game changing action.

One thing these players do not have in common is physique. Their bodies are completely different, and they don’t have a similar running or shooting technique. These players are completely different from one another, and their only common trait is the ability to change a match in a stroke of genius.

One can simply take a look at Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimović and think that they came from a different planet. PSG’s striker is 1.95 metres tall and weighs 95 kg, while Barcelona’s maestro is 1.69 meters tall and weighs 67 kg. Are there any physical similarities between Cristiano Ronaldo (86 kg of muscles on a 1.86 meters frame) and Andrés Iniesta (65 kg on a 1.70 meters body that looks like a tax assessing officer)? No, there aren’t any, but they are still great football players.

A recent study shows that these physical differences are not something that football clubs completely understand.

It seems that when training both youth players and professional footballers, the variation in physique is not necessarily something that clubs take into consideration when constructing training plans. It seems as though at least some of the great players have become great simply due to chance, as they were able to develop their skills even before they were put into the big clubs’ “assembly line”.

The study, put together by Professor Wolfgang Schöllhorn of Mainz University, might change the face of football. Schoellhorn is working closely with Mainz manager Thomas Tuchel. He also worked with Jürgen Klopp and was instrumental in the success of legendary Barcelona fitness coach Paco Seirul-lo.

Schöllhorn is known for his support of short training sessions, focusing on quickness, agility and flexibility. His training methods allow the coaching staff to quickly communicate instructions to the players in a more exciting way than the usual ways of training. Players are encouraged to focus on positive things that happened during the training sessions and to forget about the mistakes they have made.

The managers who come to learn from the professor are asked to incorporate an idea called “differential training”, meaning that when working on tactics, the training should be tailor-made for every individual player.

This is a way of thinking that is slowly gaining more and more supporters in the world of football – every player is different, therefore they should be treated and trained differently.

Recently, another related study by Schöllhorn has the potential to revolutionize European training methods. He wrote: “Through diverse individual training, the player finds the technique that he feels is best suited for him. Differential training gives more advantages to more players, and is beneficial to players at all ages”.

Mark Wertheim Ph.D, head of the Israeli center for coordination, is a close friend of Schöllhorn . According to him, Schöllhorn’s recent study is “simply put – a proof that technique is a skill that can’t be duplicated, meaning that ball control is not entirely teachable”.

Schöllhorn compared the way different players kick the ball, and found that world-class football players each have a different way of kicking and passing. Furthermore, every kick or pass is different, even when made by the same player, as the way the players approach the ball is different every time. The technique changes in accordance with the conditions surrounding the player.

This means that when kicking the ball, there isn’t really a “right” way or a “wrong” one – it’s more about how the body responds to movement and the happenings on the field.

These findings might have a dramatic influence on the methods of training.

According to Dr. Wertheim, almost every manager and coach regarded each touch of the ball as a 3-step process: Approaching the ball, making contact and the movement that follows (follow through):

“Coaches tried to explain each of these steps, and ran exercises to improve them. The coaches felt that their suggestions would help all the players in the team, but now there are new factors in play – who is the player we’re trying to improve? How tall is he? How agile is he? How quickly can he absorb new information?”

Dr. Wertheim also adds::

“We can’t teach a tall kid to kick the ball the same way a short kid does. It’s up to the player’s coordination levels. A highly coordinated child has a greater chance of learning fast the right way he should kick or pass the ball. Coordination is his infrastructure for his unique skills and technique”.

Coordination is not an easy thing to learn. It’s only recently that trainers have decided to make a concerted effort to improve a player’s coordination levels.

However, it’s safe to say that coordination has had an integral part in the development of football players, even before professionals were able to pinpoint coordination as a factor in those players’ success.

Almost every major football star is a product of chance. These players were pushed to their limits by their parents (coaches, ex-players or simply football fanatics), but the real influence came from the matches and training they went through. According to research, there’s another major factor, as it’s been proven that in almost every sport (especially team sports), successful players have had high coordination levels.

A player’s technique is based on his coordination – football players who have not developed high levels of coordination will never be elite players, regardless of how many hours of repetitive training they have gone through.

“Many top clubs in Germany, Spain and Italy have understood these things“, says Wertheim. “More and more programs are dedicated to coordination. The German FA has decided that they will dedicate 50% of all basic-level training to the development of coordination. These skills are now becoming the focus of clubs’ scouting systems, and they help us determine which players have more potential to succeed in the game”.

Clubs are now more likely to hire coordination coaches than another fitness coach.

“Coordination should be “a part of every club’s training regimen”, says Wertheim. “Clubs should train their players to develop these skills using the most cutting-edge information in the fields of neuroscience and scientific training. They need to be wary, however, of unprofessional imitations and ’YouTube scientists’. Every club should hire a professional that will aid in creating a training program and educate the training staff. Clubs shouldn’t look to attend a one-time seminar on coordination training, they need to look for serious, long-term plans”.

The only true obstacle in the way of this revolutionary form of training is tradition. The older coaches (and the close-minded ones) are struggling to accept that technique can not be duplicated – they had been used to thinking that all you need to do is train hard and long enough, and eventually you’ll be able to kick and pass properly.

Fitness specialist Raymond Verheijen claimed on twitter that the managers who stick to their traditional ways of training are “dinosaurs”, and that their inability to embrace innovations in scientific training hinders the development of their players, and football in general. After Robin van Persie got injured in Manchester United’s recent trip to Japan, Verheijen took to his Twitter page to attack United manager David Moyes: “It really makes you wonder how these prehistoric training methods can still take place at the highest level. The only way to solve this problem in Jurassic Park is to improve education of these dinosaur coaches, fitness clowns & scientific cowboys”.

It might take a while, but eventually all these “dinosaurs” will be gone.

Coaching staffs around the world are slowly realising that training methods need to be radically transformed in order to realise their players’ full potential.