The Death of the Winger

Best, Garrincha, Matthews, Finney. Some of the greatest players of all time have been those who patrolled the touchline during their illustrious careers. In recent years the likes of Figo, Overmars, and the incomparable Ryan Giggs have tormented full backs and delighted supporters in equal measure. 

However, will the evergreen Giggs prove to be the last great Winger?  

The rise in significance of the holding midfielder (either in a defensive capacity, such as Claude Makelele and Gennaro Gattuso, or as a creative force, like Xavi Hernandez or Andrea Pirlo), has had an impact on the game the extent of which is yet to be fully determined.

The importance of retaining possession through midfield dominance has already done away with the traditional strike partnership. It may also irrevocably change the role of wide players on the football pitch.

A key feature of Sir Alex Ferguson's early title winning teams was attacking flair, with wing play the key component. In the early nineties, Giggs, Kanchelskis and Sharpe supplied many of the goals that took United to successive titles.

Giggs has remained a constant presence while other wide talents (including the less natural but hugely effective right midfielder, David Beckham), have come and gone.

Other entertaining wingers graced the Premier League throughout the same period, the likes of McManaman at Liverpool (and later Real Madrid), Ginola (Newcastle, Tottenham, and Aston Villa), and Overmars and Pires in title-winning Arsenal teams. As late as 2005 Mourinho took Chelsea to the championship with Damien Duff and Arjen Robben providing pace and invention from the wing.

By this time the winger had become more of a rariety. Following the departure of David Beckham to Real Madrid in 2003, Cristiano Ronaldo struggled to make the impact we now know he is capable of, while Giggs suffered a rare loss of form for several seasons.

Many suggested his days were numbered, but Giggs was reinvented as a central midfielder, using his technique and experience to compensate for his decline in raw pace. Luis Figo did likewise at Real Madrid and later Internazionale.

At the same time, Claude Makelele was showing Real Madrid the mistake they had made in allowing him to depart to Chelsea, as he proved a crucial, if at first unheralded, element of Mourinho's grinding title winners.

Milan dominated the Champions League in this period with the combination of Pirlo and Gattuso both sitting deep, the former dictating play while the latter shielded the back four and broke down opposition attacks. 

This trend quickly became the norm at the highest level, with two holding midfielders becoming the common denominator in the most important games. Playing two deep midfielders necessitated the selection of a lone striker, supported by three more attacking midfielders.

In order for this tactic to be successful, the lone striker required pace to stretch an opponent's defence and the strength and technique required to hold the ball up and lay it off to the supporting midfielders. Once selected almost entirely for their ability to put the ball in the back of the net, these new requirements have changed the traditional role of the striker. 

Consequently, the necessity for supporting players to win possession and advance quickly to exploit the opportunities created by the lone striker have changed the requirements of the midfielder.

There is still room for flair and invention, but it is no longer enough by itself, as in the days of the touchline hugging luxury player. Modern creative players are no longer the pigeonholed "fantastista" or "Wing Wizard" prized in equal measure in Italy and Britain in days gone by.

The archetypal attacking midfielders in the modern game are Cristiano Ronaldo and Steven Gerrard. Neither wingers, strikers or central midfielders, they are athletes, capable of covering a great amount of territory with or without the ball, turning defence into attack at great pace, while possessing the technique to create opportunities for team mates and more often than not weighing in with decisive goals.

Many other players perform this box to box, fluid role. Essien, Ballack, and Lampard at Chelsea, Kaka and Seedorf at Milan (the former now with Real Madrid). Barcelona's recent title winning teams have been overflowing with flexible, athletic, and technically gifted midfielders, Andres Iniesta in particular impressing in this role for club and country.

Of the best players in the world currently, perhaps only one could be said to possess enough devastating creative ability to warrant his selection on skill alone: Lionel Messi. No one could argue that Messi shares the physique of a Ronaldo, Gerrard or Essien.

But Messi is capable, more so perhaps than Ronaldo or Kaka, of annihilating the opposition defence single-handedly, in the manner of the truly great players in the history football. This being said, Messi can scarely be described as a winger. Slotting into the supporting midfielder role on the pitch, but largely spared the defence duties expected of his team mates, Messi would best be described as a 'forward'.

So if very the best players in the world today cannot afford to be allowed to roam at their leisure on the touchline, what chance the less gifted players at a lower level? If pace and strength are prized as highly if not higher than skill and creativity, how will we see the next Ryan Giggs emerge? The truth is that we may never.