The hard men who can play football

 

Roar Guru

By David V., 23 Mar 2009 The Crowd is a Roar Guru

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 English Premier League, football, Kevin Muscat

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Football has always been awash with hard men who though uncompromising and even dirty in their defensive work, are also footballers of great ability, even class, whose mastery of the skills of the game is often overlooked.

Whatever the well-deserved reputations of Kevin Muscat and Danny Tiatto, they fit well into this category. Muscat possesses an excellent football brain whose passing range has been absolutely critical to the success of Melbourne Victory- in both of their championship triumphs this was exploited to the fullest to the benefit of their front two.

The midfield destroyer role is a long-established tradition in Uruguay and Argentina, almost always wearing the number 5 shirt, and combining ruthless tackling with sound distribution.

Perhaps the classical hard man who could play was Dave Mackay, in old speak a defensive left-half- with changing formations moving from midfield to the back later in his career- who married his powerful, uncompromising defensive qualities to excellent distribution skills. With Danny Blanchflower and John White, two intelligent ball players, he was one of the beating hearts of the double-winning Tottenham side of 1961- a side widely considered to be one of the forefathers of Total Football.

Johan Neeskens, an integral part of the Golden Age of Dutch “Total Football”, was a player in similar vein. A player who combined sound technique with an ability to run all day and get into the physical side of the game, he formed outstanding midfield partnerships with Arie Haan and Gerrie Mühren at Ajax, and with the Feyenoord duo of Wim Jansen and Wim van Hanegem for the national side, and later with Juan Manuel Asensi at Barcelona.

The “hard men who can play a bit” quality is commonly found in left-backs, possibly more than most positions. Especially since natural left-backs, and natural lefties of any kind, are by nature harder to come across.

Few personified this better than Stuart Pearce. “Psycho”, a wonderful servant to Nottingham Forest and England, was one of the true hard men and heroes of 80s and 90s football. His uncompromising (but never dirty) defensive qualities made him one of the toughest opponents for opposing wingers. But he also boasted exceptional attacking qualities- his surging runs down the flanks were devastating. His left foot delivered accurate crosses to head and feet, and he could take wicked free-kicks.

Two more uncompromising left-backs of yesteryear also fit the bill- Mark Dennis and Julian Dicks. Both men established fearsome reputations the equal of anybody, but both were excellent left-footers of considerable ability. Julian Dicks in particular became known for scoring plenty of goals for a full-back, especially from penalties and free-kicks.

These nuances of the game are too often obscured by reputations.