Dribbling

Everyone can name a Dribbler. They are such a memorable part of the game we love. The reason we remember them is the excitement they bring. They literally drag us off our seats and onto our feet. Few kids want to be the next Xavi or Scholes but thousands want to emulate Messi and Ronaldo, Ronaldinio and DeBruyne.

Recently it's been commented that dribbling is a dying art and England in particular have stopped producing this type of player. I wasn't so sure.

With help from the stats guys at Whoscored.com I've taken a closer look to see if we can find out what's going on.

In this blog I've simply asked a number of questions and tried to find the answers. In part two of the blog I'm going to try to look at the development of Dribblers.

So, what can we find out?

Is Dribbling a Dying Art?

Here's the first stumbling block. No one in the Sixties or Seventies ever thought about keeping statistics on successful dribbles. It seems they were too busy taking mind bending substances and enjoying Free Love.

So, we only have anecdote to go on and this creates a huge problem. As dribbling is such a memorable part of the game, it sticks out and becomes the bit we hark back to. I asked older players and family members and they feel that dribbling was much more prevalent in days gone by. In fact, most tell me they feel it was an important part of the game. Almost a tactical tool.

These comments led me back to one of my favourite books on Football. Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson. This excellent book tracks the evolution of Football tactics so I scanned it for any clues to the prevalence of Dribbling. 

Unfortunately, there is nothing specific but the tactical set ups of the past do allude to the possibility of more Dribbling. Mainly because these systems of yore used width and wingers much more and as we know, the wide areas of the pitch is where most Dribblers like to hang out.

Many more teams employed players that would "hug the touchline" or "get white on their boots" which would in turn lead to many more 1V1 encounters between them and the opposition. These Wide men were tasked with getting to the byline as often as possible and crossing into the box for swarthy centre forwards to head home. This requires a certain type of player with who can beat his opponent and retain the ball.

Does this mean dribbling was more prevalent in the past? I'm happy to say yes but I can only deduce this and don't have any empirical data. The playing systems encouraged wide play which necessitated players skilled in this way of playing.

As we all know, the use of "traditional" wide men has reduced to the extent were we lament its demise leaving us with a feeling that Dribbling has died out. I think a better description would be it has evolved and altered. 

To see how its altered I think we need to look at how a fan sees Dribbling and how its used now in current football.

When I asked people to describe Dribbling most came up with a romantic, evocative description of a long mazy run with a player (usually in a wide position) beating not one, not two but numerous opponents with pure skill, trickery and pace. Of course they'd describe it like this. We can all describe the outstanding moments we see. Rooney's overhead kick, Scholes' volley, Beckham's free kick and Owen's run against Argentina. We remember them because they are memorable. They take us off our seat and tie themselves to us emotionally.

One thing that can't be argued is that we see that type of dribble less and less. However, I'd argue that the Dribble has just altered. Rather than three or more players being beaten, the Dribbler will now beat one or two then move the ball on rather than retain it themselves and go again. This again will be dictated by tactical changes over the years.

The main tactical change here is that Wide Players are now playing as Inside Forwards and even if they start out wide they are asked to drive inside. This is because very few teams now play with static Centre Forwards that require an aerial cross.

Dribblers are no longer required to go outside a full back to deliver a cross from close to the byline. They need to move in field to try to break defensive lines with a Dribble or to combine with a team mate. Think Iniesta, DeBruyne and Hazard not Giggs, Waddle or Coppell.

As the Dribblers are now running into far more congested areas, the chances of beating three, four or five reduces. Space is at a premium and the opposition is more compact and organised.

So, the Dribbling we see is different now. The mazy run still happens but not nearly as often. Just watch what its been replaced by though. Dribblers with just as much skill, flair and pace making different decisions due the different tactical requirements they need to fulfil.

The Dribbler will always be a sought after player. The Dribbler isn't dying, its evolving to find a niche in a game that has changed drastically in the last thirty years.

Do we see as much Dribbling in the Premier League as elsewhere?

Short answer: yes!

But it wasn't always this way. I looked at the stats for 2010 and 2016 for the Premier League, Bundesliga and La Ligue.

In 2010, the Top Ten Dribblers in those leagues Dribbled much less than they do now.

PL: 2.18 Dribbles per game

BL: 2.89 Dribbles per game

LL: 2.54 Dribbles per game

This has altered to:

PL: 3.59

BL: 2.55

LL: 2.84

The Premier League sees its best Dribblers doing what they do much more often than the other leagues. The Premier League has also seen the biggest shift.

I also wondered how things would look in Brasil. The country famed for Dribblers.

2010: 1.6 Dribbles per game

2016: 2.2 Dribbles per game.

They are rubbish!

The Premier League sees more Dribbling from its top Dribblers than La Ligue, the Bundesliga or the Brazilian Premier League. I'd love to have been able to see how many George Best was doing per game or Stanley Matthews but like I said statisticians were busy back in the day.

The number of Dribbles also seems to go up as the Competition get keener. Look at these numbers for the last World Cup and Champions League:

2010 CL: 3.64

2016 CL: 3.7

WC 2014: 4.6

So, if you want to see lots of Dribbling don't go to League Two games, get to a World Cup game.

Do English Players Dribble as Much as Others?

Here we go, this is what we've all been waiting for. For years English players have been much criticised in this area. So, is it just the Foreign Imports that are doing the Dribbling we all love to see. Or do our boys get involved as well?

At last count English players account for about 32% of players starting Premier League games. So, you'd expect 32% of the top Dribblers to be English. Let's take a look:

2010: 31% of top 100 Dribblers were English. What?!

2016: 30% of top 100 Dribblers were English. What? What?!

Read that again. English players are Dribbling just as much as anyone. We love it.

In fact, for this season, 4 of the top 10 Dribblers are English.

• Zaha
• Townsend
• Sterling
• Antonio

Don't let anyone tell you we don't produce Dribblers. In fact, here's a whole England team made up of our top Dribblers

What Happens When England Get Together?

OK, I'm fine with that. English players Dribble just as much as other players and the Premier League has more Dribbling than other Leagues but what happens when we get these English players together?

Surely our Dribbling just fades away and becomes as ineffective as the rest of our game?

Well no.

In the last World Cup 2014 when England were abject in their performance, they were the fifth highest Dribblers with 13.7 Dribbles per game. Fifth!

In the 2016 European Championships when England were, blah, blah, blah, they were the top Dribblers in the competition. Bloody Top with 19 Dribbles per game.

As with everything its not what you do but the way you do it. We all saw England dominate against Iceland and fail to create chances to score but we still completed more successful Dribbles than anyone else in that tournament.

In the end, my eyes have been opened. I can't confirm that football today has less dribbling that it used to but I have a nagging feeling that evolving tactics mean it has.

We can see that in today's game the Premier League sees more Dribbling than other leagues but it may look different than it did to our grandfathers. We can also see that English Players in the Premier League contribute as much dribbling as other do. We have no shortage of players with skill and pace to beat a man and retain the ball.

We can also start to wonder why these Dribblers don't create clean cut chances for our forwards when they step up to International Competition. No one Dribbles as much as we do yet it's not leading to a positive outcome.

Dribbling is exciting. Its exciting to do and exciting to watch. When it has an end result, its mesmerising just like the back heel, the overhead and the screamer. The reason we crave it is because 5 seconds of a wonderful dribble is endlessly more exciting than a 20 pass move. Its the beautiful game in its simplest form. Glorious, imaginative and breath taking.

Dribbling should never be allowed to disappear from our game and I don't believe it ever will. Its why we go to the game, why we roar till hoarse and what we talk about endlessly after the game.

In the next part of this blog I'll try to find out how you develop a Dribbler.