Recently, there have been a series of debates on whether teamwork or having individual star players is the best thing for a football team. While this argument is relative, it’s widely known that football is a team sport, and teamwork cannot be underemphasized. Having star players in a team tilts it towards success. However, it’s pertinent to note that a tree doesn’t make a forest.
Football lovers bank on their passion, making money through soccer betting by predicting the outcome of football matches of their favorite teams while engaging in trolls, bants, and arguments which makes the sport more entertaining. As stated above, one of the discussions that usually emerge is the question of “teamwork or star players; which would you rather have in your team?”
A lot of people would go for teamwork. Everyone would love a team that works together, digs deep during games, suffers together when things aren’t going well on the field of play, and then grind out wins during favorable or unfavorable circumstances. It’s not to forget that for a team to compete fiercely against top opposition and win, there’s a need for star players.
Teamwork or Star Players
The irony of soccer is that while it’s been regarded as a team sport, every year, individual awards roll out to star players who are regarded as the best over a particular time, laying bare the hypocrisy behind the clamor for teamwork ahead of star players in a team. The annual Ballon d’Or award winners’ list does much justice to the claim.
For a team to succeed, it needs teamwork and star players within its rank. However, if it becomes compulsory to pick either, having star players is the better option for the team. Although this may seem disputable, it’s essential to know the impact of these two criteria in every area of play that gives rise to the conclusion mentioned above.
Before that, you need to understand the true definition of star player(s) and teamwork, as against what it’s perceived to be: a star player doesn’t necessarily mean a famous footballer but someone extremely talented with an exceptional contribution to the end goal of the team.
In contrast, teamwork is the collaborative effort to achieve an expected result.
Let’s examine the importance of teamwork and star players in every position on a field of play:
- Goalkeeping
Goalkeeping is one of the most important positions in soccer, where you must be error-free to avoid being a calamity to the rest of the team. Players who occupy different positions on the field are allowed to make mistakes, but not a goalkeeper, especially in a 1v1 situation when teamwork amounts to nothing. In this situation, you’d prefer to have a skillful player, a star goalkeeper, between the sticks.
- Defense
It’s said that the best form of attack is defense. Having talented defenders at the back means a team won’t be susceptible to too many errors, and others won’t lose shape while trying to cover up for one another, breaking the defense line. In modern soccer, numerous teams play from the back, and once the backline becomes vulnerable, the team suffers the consequences.
- Midfield
The midfield position is a crucial area where star players are needed; it’s a very technical role. Midfield players must break opponents’ attacks, initiate their teams’ attacks, and provide defense-splitting passes to forward players to create goal-scoring opportunities. The battle in the midfield position decides if a team wins, loses, or ends up sharing the spoils, albeit in some usual cases based on luck.
- Forward
Average soccer players are widely known to be wasteful in front of goals. A team that doesn’t score goals wouldn’t win games. Hence, the need to get star players who are extremely good at finding the back of the net, converting more than 60% of their chances. Teamwork may create the chance, but scoring depends on the individual’s quality.
Key Takeaway
This article looks at the lingering debate on whether teamwork or having star players is the best thing for a team. While both options have much relevance in modern-day football, the latter is unarguably the better option.
Calling them star players in the first place means that they have all the qualities needed to carry out their duties, of which teamwork is inclusive.
The need to have star players in a team; in every area of the football pitch is evident in how many top clubs spend annually to acquire the service of the best legs in the sport who can bring glory to their respective clubs.
A team with star players without teamwork is primarily the management’s problem or cases of internal strife that can be solved. However, mediocrity has no cure; you can’t give what you don’t have.