Wednesday 22 February 2012

Two-Footedness - the ultimate fairytale

Ghosts, fairies, monsters - many people claim to have seen them, people write books about them, maybe they exist. People enjoy the idea of the supernatural, they like to get lost in imagination; and why not, its a break from the tediousness of reality. In football we have our very own special creature that people claim to have seen, that are accepted as commonplace in the game: the two-footed player! Countless times I have heard people talk about world-class players such as Cristiano Ronaldo being two-footed, but in my opinion you have nearly as much chance of spotting a ghost, fairy, or monster as you do a two-footed player.

Now I am expecting lots of people to disagree with me here, but I think two-footed players are extremely rare. Before outright disagreeing, or disregarding this blog as utter nonsense, here is the logic behind this: many players CAN use both feet, and some with little difference between the two, but practically every player has a stronger foot - if he was to take a penalty he would use this foot, if he was to take a freekick he would use this foot, if he was to take a corner he would use this foot. Now for a player to be considered truly two-footed he would not have a preference, you would see penalties and freekicks taken with both feet, but ultimately most players will rely on their stronger foot.

The ability to use both feet does not make you two-footed, it makes you a better footballer, but being able to do EXACTLY the same things with both feet makes you two-footed. There are countless players who nearly fall into the bracket of two-footedness, for example the aforementioned Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo has exceptional ability, and has a left foot better than a lot of left footed players - but without doubt he is a right footed player! Ronaldo has taken countless penalties and freekicks, and every single one has been with his right foot, surely if he was truly two-footed we would have seen him take one with his left foot if the angle dictated.

This would be my definition of a two-footed player: a player who is able to perform actions of equal measure with both feet, without preference.

Using this definition to identifiy a two-footed player I can think of only one - Wesley Sneijder - and for proof of this check out his YouTube videos where you'll see left and right footed free kicks and corners. Now if you still disagree, give me a better definition/logic of a two footed player.

No comments:

Post a Comment