GOM World Cup Diary #21 – Whatever Happened To Playing To Your Strengths?
The race for the Golden Boot is becoming rather interesting.
Kylian Mbappé helped himself to another two goals as France comfortably beat Sweden.
Erling Haaland grabbed the winner as Norway edged past Ivory Coast.
Lionel Messi sits alongside Mbappé on six goals and, with Argentina facing Cape Verde next, you’d never bet against him adding to the tally.
Three great strikers.
Three different countries.
One thing in common.
Their teammates know exactly where the ball needs to go.
Which got me thinking.
Whatever happened to playing to your strengths?
Football doesn’t always have to be complicated.
If you’ve got one of the best strikers in the world…
…give him the ball.
France do it.
Argentina do it.
Norway certainly do it.
Haaland probably spends half the match wondering whether the ball can get to him quickly enough.
The answer is usually yes.
Then I watched England.
We’ve got Harry Kane.
England’s all-time leading goalscorer.
One of the finest finishers of his generation.
Yet sometimes he looks like a man who’s turned up at the wrong training session while everybody else passes the ball to each other.
Now don’t misunderstand me.
Football is a team game.
Nobody wins tournaments on their own.
But every great team knows who their match-winner is.
And they make sure he gets the chance to do what he does best.
Life isn’t so different.
We spend an awful lot of time trying to fix our weaknesses.
We attend courses.
Read books.
Watch videos telling us how to become brilliant at things we were never particularly good at in the first place.
Perhaps we’d all be happier spending a little more time making the most of the talents we already have.
After all, there’s no point owning a grand piano if you only ever use it as a coffee table.
Of course, I should be careful.
I’ve spent years trying to convince myself that I’m getting better at DIY.
Judging by the collection of spare screws left over after every job, I clearly am not.
My real talent is making the tea while somebody else works out which end of the screwdriver to hold.
Perhaps I should have accepted that years ago.
France know Mbappé is their main man.
Argentina know Messi is theirs.
Norway certainly aren’t shy about finding Haaland.
They’re playing to their strengths.
Maybe that’s why they’re still in the tournament.
Perhaps there’s a lesson there for all of us.
Instead of spending our lives worrying about the things we can’t do, maybe we should spend a little more time making the most of the things we can.
Mind you, I’d still quite like somebody to pass the ball to Harry Kane a bit more often.
Anyway, what do I know?
I’m just a grumpy old man.
