Every once in a while, I like to get up on my soapbox and preach. Today is one of those days and I'd like to pontificate on the type of soccer I like to watch. More specifically, I want to talk about what I consider to be "stylish" soccer. What follows is a First XI breakdown of what I'm looking for in a soccer team.
11. Possession in defense. Think Lubos Kubik and the '98 Fire. I love teams that can build out of the back with calm, cool passing. I'm not talking about simply knocking the ball around when there's no pressure applied, but rather about defenders who are confident enough to control the ball, get their head up and begin a passing sequence that leads a team into attack. Easier said than done, I understand. There are times when, if you have a rooting interest in a team, the last thing you want to see is your right back doing anything other than playing the ball forward into open space. But when talking about style points, a great starting point for a team is the ability to keep the ball in the back.
11b. Overall possession. The larger whole to the above, I'd call this a building block to great style. Simply, the ability to keep the ball is an art. But in the modern game, where high pressure is applied in all parts of the field, it's becoming harder and harder for teams to commit to a possession style of play. Bottom line, you need players who are confident on the ball. Go back into the vault and check out the old tapes of D.C. United's glory years. The team's overall shape was fantastic, with all 11 moving in unison. Probably the best passing team ever in MLS.
10. Combination play moving forward. When moving through midfield, the ability of players to combine, play the "simple" one-two, limit themselves to one and two touches ... these are, in my mind, things of beauty. The best New England Revolution teams under Steve Nicol have always been adept at moving into the attack with quick precision. Currently, you'd have to rate the Houston Dynamo as the masters of combination play. In fact, I'd say with the Dynamo, it dates back to their days in San Jose under Frank Yallop, and led by Landon Donovan. Playing on that small Spartan Stadium field, I was always amazed at how quickly Yallop's teams could move the ball into the attack.
9. Playing in and out of tight space. The ability to move in and out of tight space is something you see from the best teams in Europe. It's a high-speed game of keepaway that sucks defenders in, and opens up space. To play this way, you need highly-skilled players who are willing to take the ball in tough positions. Of the current crop of teams in MLS, I think you see more of this style of play from Chivas USA (when at full strength) than any other team. Without checking the videotape, it seems to me that Preki's team creates a lot of its best scoring opportunities by playing in and out of double-teams. But when looking for this skill at the highest level, go watch Brazil's national team. Brazil love to suck other teams into tight spaces, knowing that if one of their superstars can slip free and make the next pass, they're off to the races.
8. Forwards who can pass. Obviously, you need forwards who can score, but a forward who can make the killer pass ... now, that's a thing of beauty. I recall Jaime Moreno in his prime as being the best passing MLS forward. With Moreno, it was his ability to wrong-foot multiple defenders, and his impeccable timing when delivering the ball to his partner. Want to know another forward from MLS past who could really pass? How about Diego Serna, during his days with the Miami Fusion. In 2001, when Serna had 15 goals and 15 assists, his passing was simply a cut above. Serna was the main reason that Alex Pineda Chacon (19 goals that season) took home the MVP silvware.
7. Accurate long passing. Hristo Stoitchkov and Marco Etcheverry. Both left-footed. Both capable of opening up the game with laser passes over 50-60 yards. I'll throw Roberto Donadoni's name into that mix too, because I recall during his two years with the MetroStars, Donadoni's amazing ability to switch the ball and open up play. It's a rare skill, something that must be hard to teach and hard to perfect. But when a team has a player capable, there's nothing prettier in soccer to watch.
6. Crossing. Colorado's Terry Cooke and New England's Steve Ralston come immediately to mind as MLS players who serve fantastic crosses, but if you are looking for the guy who hits the most precise crosses in MLS, I'd have to go with Houston's Brad Davis. Whether it's from a dead ball, or in the run of play, I love to see Davis with time and space, because I just know he's going to drive a ball into the box, and more than likely he's going to put the ball right onto a teammate's head. Props here to old pro John Harkes, too, because in the early days of MLS, on those great D.C. United teams, his right-footed in-swingers were among the best in the league.
5. Exchangeability. I will never forget MLS spring training in 2001, watching Ray Hudson's Fusion running around and listening to onlookers say, "I can't figure out what formation they're even playing." Those comments were, at the time, derogatory, but as the season played out, the 2001 Fusion became one of the most fluid teams the league has ever seen. You had Jim Rooney and Ian Bishop sharing work in the center. You had Preki and Chris Henderson in wildly undefined roles. You had Serna and Pineda Chacon up front and Ivan McKinley spraying nice passes here and there. Positions? Didn't matter.
4. Applying pressure. For me, a big factor in style is fitness. Teams that can apply pressure all over the field and force turnovers make the game fast. And for me, fast is stylish. A tape I've watched over the years that brings this point forth is a 2001 playoff encounter between the Fire and Galaxy (won by LA). The speed of the game was blinding. The battles for the ball were fierce. But the soccer was splendid.
3. Speed in the counter. This point goes hand in hand with the previous one. Teams that can cause the turnover and quickly fire into the attack are fun to watch. Remember the 1998 Galaxy? The team that scored goals in droves (85 goals in 32 matches)? Well, that team was so adept at the counterattack it was scary. It took speed. It took ball-winning. And yes, it took a great deal of skill to execute at full tilt. That's how they won 24 games.
2. Honest-to-goodness running. Players that walk a lot are no fun to watch. Players that get up and down the field ... how can you not love them? Has there been a player who's exemplified this point more than Frankie Hejduk? I don't think so. The aforementioned Chris Henderson was another player who never seemed to let up. Ditto Chris Armas. As you can tell, I'm a fan of up-tempo soccer. And that takes a lot of running.
1. Quality finishing. It's great to see forwards who can score in a wide variety of ways. It's also rare. Most of the big finishers in MLS history have had a specialty. Ante Razov (or Roy Lassiter) and the ball on his left foot with time to pick a spot. Raul Diaz Arce and Giovanni Savarese, inside the six. But when I think back to Stern John and his 26-goal season in 1998, I remember a forward who would score from distance and in close. A striker who was deadly with his back to the goal or running at a defender. For my money, for that one season, that was as good a goalscorer as the league has ever seen.
Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Send your comments and complaints (200 words or less, please) to Jeff at jbradleyespn2003@yahoo.com and he promises to read (but not respond to) all of them. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
