I didn’t want to derail the “Pro GK vs. Avg. American” thread, so here’s a question on which my friend and I disagree.
I know football (soccer) pretty well, since I’ve been watching the top European leagues and cups, and international tournaments for many years. Unfortunately, I never played since where I grew up in the US, it was a fringe sport so only kids with football cultural backgrounds ever played, while the rest of us played baseball, American football or basketball. I still remember some of my childhood friends talking about why we didn’t play soccer: “It’s too easy”. :dubious: We used to also say the same thing about golf.
Anyway, I digress. If Luis Enrique (the Barcelona manager) was given the option to play the Champions League final against a Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or other top club with 10 men, or with me as the 11th, what would he choose? I’m a pretty good athlete, but have NO experience playing soccer.
I claim that he would rather play with 10 men, since I would probably just get in the way. My friend claims that he would find a small, simple role for me on the field that would help our chances of winning just a tiny bit.
Of course, my friend really doesn’t know soccer, since his first thought was that at the very least, I could sit in a corner in the net behind the goalkeeper, and if the GK had to run out to stop a play, I could then jump out and become a 2nd GK to stop one shot (and then take the red card, but at least give the GK a chance to stop a penalty). I had to explain to him that this would automatically put every opposing player onside for the duration of the match, giving the other team the huge advantage of never seeing an offside flag.
I’d say to play you marking the ref and get the first two yellows for dissent, leaving more time for the rest of the team to take turns trying to intimidate him, as Barcelona are famous for doing.
I’d like to see it, because it would show the world just how lost the average man would be if he stepped out on the field with those guys, I doubt you would even get near the ball.
I would still be tempted to play you though, with the strict instruction to stay in a certain area around the middle of the field and do nothing but harry and chase opposition players. Your teammates would play around you, but there is still value in putting pressure on the opposition and making them use the ball quicker than they might like. You probably won’t be able to actually get the ball from them, but you can make them stay on their toes. Add in the bonus of an extra foot to swing at a ball after a corner and you might even get lucky.
It’s Harry Redknapp and West Ham rather than Pep Guardiola and Barcelona, but an opportune moment to mention this story about a fan playing in a pre season friendly.
I agree with this post, except the part about going up for corners - you’d just be in the way, like what usually happens when goalkeepers go up for last minute corners in desperation.
Barcelona’s best tact would be to basically ignore you, and tell you to stay behind the ball, just getting in the way as much as you could.
If he had half an hour to think about it, and half an hour to give you strict instructions (and I assume you’re smart enough to follow them), then how can it hurt to have one more guy lurking at the edge of the box on penalty kicks? strict instructions to stay out of any teammate’s way, always stay between the midfield line and the last defender (so you don’t commit a foul in the defensive half and always stay onside), how much damage could be done, with a small chance of being able to send a poor clearance back into the box where something good might happen.
I’m well of that and other examples, I just think they are in a tiny minority compared to times when the keeper just gets in the way and/or commits a foul. I must admit I haven’t looked for any stats on this - I doubt there are any. But I do know many managers will wave their keeper back into their goal when they look like they might go up for a last-minute corner, even if they are one goal behind in a cup tie.
ETA: trying to remember if Schmeichel went up for the corner when Man U were trailing Bayern 0-1 in 1999. He did have form, having scored at least two such goals in his United career. I suspect he didn’t but can’t look at videos at work.
I think that Barca will have multiple drills and tactical rehearsals for playing with 10 men. They’ll have very little for a situation when someone is actively making things worse.
I think they’d prefer 10 men.
Although they could sacrifice the 11th useless player by telling him to go in on the opposition’s best player spleen-high and get him subbed. Sure he’d get sent off but…
Or, tell him to stand in the centre circle and don’t go outside of it. Only try to tackle or slow down any opposition that enter it and then let his team-mates come and collect. I wouldn’t even want him back for set-pieces as he’ll ruin the defensive drills.
He could replace Mascherano, who can go back to playing CM rather then pretending to be a Center Back and consign Alves to the bench. Improve the current lot lots.
As it is. I think being the most wide and forward player to eat up the offside trap is the best use you can have.
Schmeichel was up in Bayern’s box for the first Manchester United goal in the 1999 Champions League Final. I know this, as when he came up, I was begging him, specifically, not to score. I don’t care one way or the other about Manchester United but, as a Carlisle United fan, 2 weeks distant from seeing our keeper score to keep us in the league, I knew that if Schmeichel scored, our thunder would have been well and truly stolen - given the game and the magnitude of the clubs involved. We don’t have a lot to hang our hat on and having that moment diminished in any way would have been awful.
