After watching a relatively dull and uninspiring match on Sunday afternoon, my mind started to wander. After seeing a sumptuous through ball to Kruse end up in the back of the net, I began to thank my lucky stars that we had one of the best playmakers in the league, if not the best, throwing his considerable posterior around the field for the Big V.
This got me thinking about other teams throughout the duration of the A-League who have had success, more specifically those who have won trophies. When looking at the stats, I found a staggering 80% of the trophies on offer over the last 5 years have been won by teams with a decisive, influential number 10 marshalling the attack. Sydney has had Yorke and Corica, Melbourne Fred and Hernandez, whilst Newcastle had Nicky Carle before he set off for Europe.
The only teams to have bucked this trend are the Central Coast Mariners and Adelaide United. In seasons 1 and 3, they won the Premier's plate without any dominant playmaker running the show. Now, despite their success, these two performances were more of an exception rather than the rule, and in this season, we have seen both of these teams try to rectify this, with Adelaide signing Flores and Central Coast fighting hard to hold on to Patricio Perez.
This is not just confined to the A-League either. Both finalists at this year's World Cup were being run by dominant playmakers in the front third, Sneijder for Holland and the dynamic duo of Iniesta and Xavi for Spain.
So, what is the conclusion from this little analysis?
Well, I am of the firm opinion that to win anything in football these days, you need a playmaker. Without one, you risk becoming dull, lifeless and impotent. Of course, there are cases over the years where teams have won without having a single stroke of creative genius in their team, but they are the exception to the rule, and are few and far between.
The teams that do well are the teams that offer that sublime piece of skill that opens up defences, that cracking shot that stings the palms of the keeper on a regular basis. By having a player (or players, if you're lucky enough) that can do this, you can be assured that you'll at least be up at the right end of the table come the end of the season.
As a Melbourne fan, I have been truly blessed that the foresight of the clubs coaching and recruitment staff has meant that we've been blessed by some of the best creative talent this league has seen, and as a result, the silverware that accompanies it.
