Creativity: The Role of the Receiver
Creativity. It’s elusive, and in football, it’s expensive. Neymar’s transfer to PSG always the low hanging fruit. It’s also a term that gets thrown around its fair share. But what is it really?
A good place to start when defining football terms is to allow players to do it for you. Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Cesc Fabregas, Mesut Ozil and Juan Mata make for adequate substitutes of an Oxford dictionary. The overriding attribute that ties these players together is the ability to play the ‘final ball’ or the ‘key pass’. But what if the final ball has more contributors than solely the passer? What is the role of the receiver in the final ball? And are they perhaps more than simply the rabbit, who is pulled out of the hat by the magician?
The thing about creativity that is special is that it is not obvious, it must be revealed by the creator to the audience. The creator is the one who sees the creation before anyone else and goes about bringing it into being.
In football, we almost always attribute the ‘creation’ to the passer of the ball. After all, the passer must see the pass, execute it with the correct weight, and have or create space to play the pass. How then, could anyone else possibly be responsible?
The short answer: Movement.
In many instances, it is the movement of a forward player which inspires the passer to play the incredible, disguised, line-breakers which are so rightly applauded. Without the initial movement from the forward player, there can be no pass, perhaps even no conception of the idea of a pass in the mind of the magician. An outstretched arm, a head nod, or simply a burst are the instruments in this trick. Don’t believe me? Cue Erling Haaland, Robin Van Persie, and my personal favorite Timo Werner.
Erling Haaland
In his Premier League debut away at West Ham, Haaland scored a goal that struck fear into the rest of the league with it’s simplicity. Manchester City played out of a press in the first phase, the ball found itself at the feet of Kevin De Bruyne in the second phase, before being played between the center back and full back with such precision and weight that Haaland didn't even need to take a touch before striding onto it and slotting it into the back of the net. De Bruyne was praised for his vision and ball playing, Haaland praised for the clinical finish and his burst of pace.
In the end it seemed like such an easy goal for City to score and perhaps it was. Naturally then, a question arises: “Why do more teams not score goals like this?”
Is it because very few teams have a Kevin De Bruyne, who seems to have the Midas touch regarding through balls? Absolutely. However, it is also because very few teams have an Erling Haaland, who sees the potential for this pass, encourages his midfielder to play it, and bursts onto it with 3/4 strides to spare before any defender can get close to him. Watching the goal back it is Haaland, as much as it is De Bruyne, who inspires this creation.
Robin Van Persie
An all-time favourite of mine, Robin Van Persie just knew how to find the back of the net. His movement was key. He wasn’t the fastest or the most physically dominant, just the smartest. Could strike a ball too. In January 2012 Arsenal hosted Manchester United in a game that ended up going United’s way, courtesy of a Danny Welbeck winner. However, it is the goal Van Persie scored to equalize the game at 1-1 in the 73rd minute that I am interested in.
Here we have a perfect example of how strikers can contribute to the creativity of a team. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain receives the ball on the left-hand side following a turnover of play and drives towards the box. There are three United defenders in place with only Van Persie for support. Van Persie makes an incisive run behind the two defenders nearest Oxlade-Chamberlain who plays him in, before Van Persie slots it clinically into the far corner.
Van Persie is the creator here, though he is also the finisher. His run takes two of the three defenders out of the game, and gives his teammate an option.
It would certainly be harsh to downplay Oxlade-Chamberlain’s part in the move. A nice pass, and an aggressive drive should not be taken for granted. The point is, neither should a goal creating run.
Timo Werner
It's May 29, 2021. Chelsea players and fans are in tears as their club lifts a second Champions League trophy on the back of a decisive Kai Havertz goal. An excellent defensive performance, led by Antonio Rudiger and N’golo Kante ensured they closed out the game. No mention of Timo Werner though, who’s move to Chelsea in the summer of 2020 embodied his ambition to “win the Champions League”.
An interesting concept to consider is his role in Havertz's goal. Interesting because at no point in the move did Werner touch the ball or get anywhere near it really. Even so, it turns out that his involvement was probably the most crucial of any player. The catalyst as it were.
City press high attempting to win the ball back close to their opponents' goal, trademark of a Guardiola side. A nicely clipped ball from Edu Mendy finds its way to Ben Chilwell, who cushions it for Mason Mount in a pocket of space in the second phase. City's press is broken, and they are caught man for man in front of Mount. Dias is in the middle of the pitch, marking Werner. Zinchenko is to his left, assigned to Kai Havertz.
In what is an extremely smart and dare I say creative movement, Werner runs down the near side channel as Mount receives the ball in space, forcing Dias to track him and vacate the center. Havertz fills the space and is left in a foot race with Zinchenko, which he wins comfortably as Mount plays him in.
Ederson comes out, Havertz rounds him, 1-0. Mount is credited with the assist. Havertz the goal. No metric picks up Werner's involvement- save for the “distance ran” tracker. Nevertheless, it is Werner's movement that enables this goal to be scored, the idea to be conceived, the pass to be played.
So What?
That’s all lovely, but what are the practical implications of this theory that forward runners, in particular strikers, are co-conspirators in a team’s creativity?
For one, it gives us a different place to look if a team is struggling to create. We can ask more questions of the striker, such as:
“Could you have done more to inspire creation?”
“Why was there a lack of service, particularly pertaining to you?”
“Did you run for the sake of running, or did you wait for opportunities to create lanes in which to receive the ball?”
It also means that if the striker is making these smart and creative runs but not receiving the ball, the striker has the right to hold the players around him accountable.
In the best-case scenario, the striker is making these runs, inspiring the brilliant players around him to play creative passes, and tucking away the chances. As such, they should be praised and recognized as a creator, as well as a finisher. Equally, in the absence of these runs, they should be held responsible for a lack of creativity, instead of being allowed the all too automatic excuse that is “a lack of service”.