JAKARTA - Besides Lionel Messi, there are Teddy Sheringham, Andrea Pirlo, to Xavi Hernandez who are said to have football intelligence.
When it comes to football intelligence, most fans will mention Teddy Sheringham, Paul Scholes, Andrea Pirlo, and Xavi Hernandez. These players are considered able to stop the game for a moment to observe the action from a 360-degree camera angle.
But this attribute is difficult to define. Unlike traditional strength, intelligence has no measurable metrics. The football brain is often touted by fans and observers, but what exactly is the football brain?
How does football intelligence manifest itself on the field? How does the brain coordinate the extraordinary actions of top-class players? And, do the brains of elite footballers have superior powers compared to amateur players who play football only as a hobby?
Decision MakingWhen he was a teenager, Teddy Sheringham was told he was too slow to reach the highest level of the game. But the young man from east London showed his critics that a lack of speed can be overcome with intelligence.
He silenced the doubters by successfully winning a series of trophies during his 32-year career, including three English Leagues, the FA Cup, and the Champions League.
"People doubted my career, even saying I wasn't fast enough for Millwall's junior team," said Sheringham, who hung up his boots at 42 with 51 caps.
"But there is one thing that was awarded in my life: intelligence in football," he added.
Before delving deeper into how the brain of a footballer works - as well as the 55 to 70 billion neurons that drive the player's actions during a 90-minute match - we need to understand what form of intelligence in the game is like according to those who are at the highest level.
"Wow, that's a hard thing to explain. The point lies in the quality of decision-making and the thousands of decisions that players have to make every second during the game," said former Tottenham Hotspur and Norwich City striker Paul McVeigh.
"The better their understanding of the game, the better their ability to make decisions," he added.
A study entitled Journal of Sports Sciences shows that an elite footballer performs between 150 to 250 intense actions during a match. For each action, there is so much information that must be digested, ranging from visual cues, coach instructions, strength and angle calculations, to spatial awareness of the vast field area.
All this information must be processed by the player in real time, in order to make quick decisions that have the potential to change the course of the game. Chris Ramsey, Technical Director of QPR in 2020, said that to understand this dynamic situation, footballers need to master four aspects.
The first is awareness. "If you're an attacker, how aware are you of the player who is in possession of the ball? You ask yourself, 'Does he have enough time? Will he cross?' or whatever," explained Ramsey.
"Then when you see the ball coming, the key is in the timing, whether you move slowly or quickly? And finally the execution, how will you take advantage of the opportunity, which part of the foot is used to kick, do you need to control the ball first or head it?" added Ramsey.
Scanning CapabilityScanning allows players to create a 3D map of the surrounding environment, then combine it with training materials, tactical plans, and knowledge about the opponent.
No player is able to process all of this information simultaneously, so the brain transfers it to the subconscious which then triggers decision-making.
"Scanning is not a conscious act, but rather a basic process," said Dr. John Sullivan, a sports scientist and clinical sports psychologist who has worked with a number of English League clubs.
"Every millisecond, the players scan about nine bits of important information, this is called 'multi-object tracking' and they take a snapshot to be simulated by the brain about what might happen," Sullivan added.
By studying brain scans, Brunel University researchers found that highly skilled footballers were able to activate more areas of their brain than novice players, when they saw an opponent move towards them, so they were better able to anticipate the opponent's movements.
The study, published in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, found that experienced players seem to have developed a 'checking' system that suppresses the desire to react instinctively, so they tend not to be fooled by misleading tricks.
"The ball is a signal, but it's the movement of the players you need to watch," Sullivan said.
Emotional IntelligencePlayers need more than just a high-speed processor to make smart choices on the field. Emotions, a drive that players are often advised to suppress, actually play a key role in decision-making.
Self-control is emphasized in the game and therefore, venting emotions is considered a sign of weakness.
Lionel Messi might not be able to repeatedly destroy opponents if he can't control his emotions under the onslaught of kicks and kicks. Andrea Pirlo would not have scored a panenkake goal against Joe Hart in the penalty shootout between Italy and England at Euro 2012 without unshakable confidence.
Without emotional intelligence, techniques and athletic ability become useless.
"If athletes are not able to manage their emotions in the moment, no matter what they are able to do physically or cognitively, it's the emotions that control everything," Sullivan said.
Football intelligence is not merely about thinking, but about going through the thinking process and acting immediately. "In sports, if you think too much, you will fail. In the game, there is actually no time to think," he continued.
Quoting the words of Dutch legend Johan Cruijff, "You play football with your head, and your feet help you."
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