I've watched a lot of football over the last few days. Premier League, Championship, SPL, La Liga, live games, highlights. You name it, I've watched it. The thing that always strikes me, when I see matches from so many levels, is that there really is a difference in quality between the top,top players and the ones who never quite reach the heights.
It's hard to define exactly what it is that sets some players apart from the rest. My best explanation would be the better the footballer, the better their touch. Having said this, touch is itself quite a difficult concept to describe. I suppose basically it comes down to the speed at which players can bring a ball under control and make it do what they want it to do. The very best players, the Ronaldos and Messis and Rooneys and Iniestas, can do this instantly. At Championship level, it takes a split second longer. And this split second makes all the difference.
Watching Leicester City for over thirty years, I've seen literally hundreds of players in our colours. Not all of them have had the greatest touch. But there have been exceptions. Keith Weller, Gerry Daly, Gary McAllister, Garry Parker, Neil Lennon, Muzzy Izzet, Stan Collymore, and for the brief spell he had with us in the early 2000s, Roberto Mancini. These lads could really play.
Of course, there's more to being a crowd favourite than having silky skills. At Leicester we're realistic about the sort of players we're likely to see. Every now and then we'll get someone with the magic touch. Sadly, they're usually just passing through on the way to bigger things, but we cherish them while we can. But for the rest of the time we're happy to see hard, committed footballers proud to wear the blue and white.
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