Why Pogba and Modric were key to success at World Cup
A new report from Fifa’s Technical Study Group has highlighted the importance of the role of playmakers in World Cup success.
The study group, which was headed by former World Cup winning manager Carlos Alberto Parreira, and also included Fifa’s chief technical development officer Marco van Basten, picked out Croatia’s Luca Modric and France’s Paul Pogba as key players in its World Cup 2018 technical report.
The pair met in the final where Modric “stole the show” according to Fifa, while Pogba was on the scoresheet as France went on to be crowned winners.
Fifa observed that there were less of the so-called playmakers this time around and highlighted that the three previous World Cup winners all had prominent playmakers – namely Andrea Pirlo, for Italy in 2006, Andres Iniesta and Xavi for Spain in 2010 and Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger in Brazil four years ago.
“We are eager to see who the next great playmakers to emerge will be and how they will stamp their mark on their teams,” the report said.
Elsewhere in the report, Fifa revealed that Spain had the highest average possession per match in the tournament at 69 per cent, although this failed to take them beyond the last 16.
They were followed by Germany, with 67 per cent, Argentina with 64 per cent and Saudi Arabia, all of whom has disappointing World Cups. France were down in 19th place.
France were also ranked lowly on distance covered in the matches, as the better sides focused on conserving energy for key moments.
This point was highlighted by former Croatia and AC Milan midfielder Zvonimir Boban, now a Fifa deputy secretary general. He wrote: “At a tournament of the magnitude of the World Cup, energy levels and mental sharpness need to be conserved as far as possible and teams must focus on being consistent and having the ability to read matches better than the opposition.”
Fifa also discussed the changing role of the full-back and its relationship with holding midfielders.
It said that previously, the leftand right-sided midfielders almost exclusively occupied the wide areas, operating as wingers, but the game has evolved and this is no longer the case.
Parreira said: “Holding midfielders have such an important role as they give the team balance, allowing you to release both full-backs at the same time.”