Attack and defence

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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.