As a woman – I am sure all of you with a wife or daughter will know this – I am never wrong. It is simply my prerogative as a woman to be always right. Yet I am about to admit the unthinkable and say I have made a mistake. And no, before the Cult of Messi members get too excited, I still rate Ronaldo more – this is about another Real Madrid player, and one Premier League fans will be very familiar with – Lassana Diarra.
Now at the start of the season, and in fact when the lad was in England I never really paid much attention to him, and certainly did not feel he was worth a place in Los Blancos starting line-up, yet he has proved me wrong, and his sheer versatility alone has made him one of the first names on the team sheet, and close to a Mourinho ‘untouchable.’
With the defensive injury issues at Real Madrid, Ramos has spent most of the season so far at centre half with Pepe, and left the right back spot vacant. Lass when needed has played there and been nothing short of fantastic. Not to gush too much about the player, but he has also put the rest of the defensive midfielders to shame, fitting in wherever he is needed and rarely putting a foot wrong with as stray pass or a mistimed tackle.
Why do I tell you this? Well not to admit I was mistaken – that is not something I do often – but to illustrate how valuable versatile players can be. Now by versatile I do not mean squad players – they too are valuable but not in the same way. I mean a first team player who can slot in a few positions if it is needed throughout the game, and do a stand up job.
It is a common thing these days to see a player who can perhaps play as a full back and also slot in as a centre half – Ivanovic can do this well, as can my defender of the year Sergio Ramos – and this is a key thing to have in your locker especially in a top side where the competition for places is immense.
Now no disrespect to players such as Ivanovic, but there is also a new breed of player who can not only play in the back four, but can anchor the midfield and even have a go up top if things got really desperate. Take Phil Jones, who rightly deserves each and every plaudit coming his way. The youngster can do a stellar job near enough anywhere on the field, and if you wouldn’t have him on your team sheet for this alone you are either roughly as intelligent as Rooney, or you are lying.
Look at how much Chelsea have missed the train himself Michael Essien this season. Whilst Essien is rehabbing by what seems to be watching the darts live on sky sports, the Blues midfield lacks drive and the passion Essien brought. Not to mention he is fully capable of filling in at centre half and could almost certainly do a better job at right back than Ferreira or Boswinga can.
A player like Jones is such a precious commodity, and the thing that makes him all the more special is the fact that he loves the game so much that he will play wherever is asked of him with a smile on his face and give it everything.
In an age with players such as Van Der Vaart who need to be played in what seems the specific inch to which he has requested or all hell breaks loose, this is a welcome sight and one fans love to see.
The games are now coming thick and fast, and injuries and suspensions are beginning to tot up, making the players who possess that little bit of versatility all the more valuable. Managers lucky enough to have such players know how important they are, as do their team mates and it’s about time the media and fans did as well.
Written by Rebecca Knight for FootballFanCast.com
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