Attack and defence: Difference between revisions

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{{a|devil|}}It struck the JC while watching the 2022 World Cup Final that there is a large asymmetry between attack and defence. The final will be remembered for Lionel Messi, yes, but also for 23-year-old Kilian Mbappé’s magnificent hat-trick — the first in a world Cup final since Geoff Hurst’s in 1966.
{{a|devil|
 
{{tabletop}}
Compare Mbappé’s performance with his opposite number on the night, Nicolás Otamendi:
 
Here is how the media in the UK saw the player ratings.
 
{| class="wikitable"
|+Caption text
|-
|-
!Newspaper!!'''Nicolás Otamendi'''!!Kilian Mbappé
!Newspaper!!'''Nicolás Otamendi'''!!Kilian Mbappé
Line 30: Line 24:
|'''Otamendi''': His brain-fade moment turned a victory cruise into a desperate fight for survival and opened the door for one of the greatest games of all time.
|'''Otamendi''': His brain-fade moment turned a victory cruise into a desperate fight for survival and opened the door for one of the greatest games of all time.
'''Mbappé''': Zero to hero. Incredible. Was he playing in the first half? Looked like he’d picked the biggest game of his career to have the worst day of his life. Then….remarkable.
'''Mbappé''': Zero to hero. Incredible. Was he playing in the first half? Looked like he’d picked the biggest game of his career to have the worst day of his life. Then….remarkable.
|}
{{tablebottom}}
}}It struck the JC while watching the 2022 World Cup Final that there is a large asymmetry between attack and defence. The final will be remembered for Lionel Messi, yes, but also for 23-year-old Kilian Mbappé’s magnificent hat-trick — the first in a world Cup final since Geoff Hurst’s in 1966.


The common consensus:  
Compare Mbappé’s performance with his opposite number on the night, Nicolás Otamendi:


Until substituted in the 90th minute, Otamendi had a solid game, kept Mbappé quiet for most of it, but made one obvious mistake, getting the wrong side of Kolo Muani, giving away a penalty that brought France back in the game.
How the UK media saw the ratings in the panel to the right.


Mbappé was mostly invisible until ten minutes from the end, when he came to life, scoring an impressive goal and converting two penalties to make the first world cup final hat trick since 1966.
The common consensus — as reflected in the newspaper’s commentary: Otamendi had a solid game, kept Mbappé quiet for 90% of it, but made one obvious mistake, giving away the penalty that brought France back into the game. Mbappé was mostly invisible for 80 of the 90 minutes of ordinary time, but sparked to life ten minutes from the end, scoring an impressive goal and converting two penalties to make the first world cup final hat trick since 1966.


Yet Otamendi’s average rating was around 5; Mbappé’s almost a perfect ten.
Yet Otamendi’s average rating was around 5; Mbappé’s almost a perfect ten.


The point here is not to challenge these ratings, but note how much harder it is to be a defender then an attacker. You can shut the brightest star in football’s firmament out of a world bio final for 80 minutes and get 4; you can ''be'' shut out for that time and get a ten.
The point here is not to challenge these ratings, but note how much harder it is to be a defender then an attacker. You can shut the brightest star in football’s firmament out of a world bio final for 80 minutes and get 4; you can ''be'' shut out for that time and get a ten.

Revision as of 22:42, 23 December 2022

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It struck the JC while watching the 2022 World Cup Final that there is a large asymmetry between attack and defence. The final will be remembered for Lionel Messi, yes, but also for 23-year-old Kilian Mbappé’s magnificent hat-trick — the first in a world Cup final since Geoff Hurst’s in 1966.

Compare Mbappé’s performance with his opposite number on the night, Nicolás Otamendi:

How the UK media saw the ratings in the panel to the right.

The common consensus — as reflected in the newspaper’s commentary: Otamendi had a solid game, kept Mbappé quiet for 90% of it, but made one obvious mistake, giving away the penalty that brought France back into the game. Mbappé was mostly invisible for 80 of the 90 minutes of ordinary time, but sparked to life ten minutes from the end, scoring an impressive goal and converting two penalties to make the first world cup final hat trick since 1966.

Yet Otamendi’s average rating was around 5; Mbappé’s almost a perfect ten.

The point here is not to challenge these ratings, but note how much harder it is to be a defender then an attacker. You can shut the brightest star in football’s firmament out of a world bio final for 80 minutes and get 4; you can be shut out for that time and get a ten.

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