I was watching a Messi and Zidane interview on YouTube. Zidane said the number 10 is not as important as it used to to be. The place and position of the number 10 are gone. He used 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 as an example, which are perhaps the two most used formations in football. Messi then agreed by saying there aren’t many 10 left and the position that shows such player is the leader, the midfielder, and the link player is gone.

It seems like the number is being handed to the superstars and to promote and advertise such players. Ansu Fati had no business wearing 10 for Barcelona. While Mabappe wears 10 for France, Griezmann is actually their 10. Rashford in Man United is not a 10. I could go on.

When Messi and Neymar retires from national team duty, Jude Bellingham seems to be the only young player to fill that void.

What do you guys think?

  • eioioe@alien.topBEnglish
    0·
    11 months ago

    The T of Truth, the E of the Elegance in their EQ, and the N of their Natural Nimbleness define them both as the perfect 10s to have such a conversation (that Ronaldo could never, as he would trip over his Superiority, Ego, Vanity & Exaltation Neediness, in short: over the number he does on himself). Truth always carries the h of real, unique, true humbleness at the end (radically undoing tormented haughtiness).

    The ease and confidence with which Zidane delivers brilliant assists and tricks and shots and dribbels in a language that was foreign to him in his youth is impressive. He carried the conversation and was the one who got Leo to open up and engage while wholly in flow and letting down his guard. He brought out the real Leo. It’s not many soccer players who are good convo couch material. They tend to eye a different type of couch.

    I’d like to see follow-up meet-ups with different participants, but alas for many great pairings you’d need an interpreter, which would take away quite a bit of the potential for rapid vibe creation and convo flow. For example with Messi and Weghorst (/s). And after this they’d all become forced exercises and attempts at premeditated emulation of what happened here, in an effort to look good. Such efforts are subliminally frantic and spasmodic, but present as cool and in control. The players got too much to lose, when they’re out of their league. In their quest to match, they’d fix (or will be heavily coached, lead on and chaperoned to fix) the match and turn it into a slick p.r. show with only few and brief piercings of the BS clouds, if at all.

    So this was a unique one-off; a seldom masterclass.

    We’re not going to see anything comparable for a long, long time.

    10/10 would watch again.