Teams must opt for balanced approach, cautions Cunningham

The only thing flowing more readily than goals at the World Cup are the did-you-know stats from did-you-know-it-alls.

“Did you know Portugal had conceded just one goal in six first- round games over two World Cups before losing 4-0 to Germany?”

“Did you know in the first 14 games in 2010 there were only 23 goals, and 44 this year?”

Thanks to Twitter and more statistical data providers than you can shake an iPhone at, nobody is short of an opinion or a figure to help them construct an argument around the great goalscoring flood of the 2014 World Cup.

Expectations are so high that when Nigeria and Iran forced the world to endure a goalless draw on Monday evening, the caustic fall out on social media would have made Ahmadinejad dig out the Prozac.

Perhaps, most surprisingly, the Iberian peninsula has been hardest hit, with nine of the 44 goals going past Iker Casillas or Rui Patricio and their trophy-laden defenders.

Two teams with different levels of expectation going into their respective opening games; both were seen as worthy of their place as top-eight favourites for most pundits before the tournament kicked off.

No more.

So what’s gone wrong? Pure coincidence? A surplus of attacking talent or a counter to possession football, above all else?

Perhaps it’s a lack of balance when it comes to constructing a team, according to former Ireland defender, Kenny Cunningham.

“Playing out of defence is expected these days, but maybe it’s expected a little bit too much, with some coaches sacrificing too much, in terms of the defensive qualities of players,” he argues, with some obvious targets in mind.

“Maybe a player is great on the ball, with a great touch, or he’s got a great free kick on him, but yeah — what about his defensive attributes? I don’t think some teams get the balance right.”

David Luiz ticks some of the boxes mentioned, but perhaps symbolic of what Cunningham sees in top-level football today, the Brazilian last week signed for Paris St Germain in a stunning €60 million deal.

“If you look at Luiz, he is probably the greatest example, he’s moved for big money, but he wouldn’t get anywhere near my best back four, he probably wouldn’t make the squad because I can’t trust him,” Cunningham says.

“I think he’s a very talented footballer, he looks an inspirational type of figure, but I wouldn’t trust him in the middle of my back four, I wouldn’t trust him in midfield, to be honest.”

If common wisdom suggests the best defence usually wins a league championship, what of a tournament?

Cunningham believes the champions will come from the side best equipped to exploit their strengths, rather than focus on stopping the other team.

“I don’t think necessarily the team with the best defence will win the competition — and I think the Spanish were a great example of that in the past,” he said of the defending champions, who were torn apart by a rampant Dutch attack on Friday, conceding five goals for the first time since 1963.

“I look at the Fifa team of the year every year, and you see the likes of Gerard Pique in that team, or Sergio Ramos, who’s highly regarded, but I wouldn’t regard him as highly as others.

“I don’t think Spain have had the strongest back four in any of the previous three tournaments, but they came out as champions.

“I can understand the logic to people thinking winning teams are built on strong defence, but I think you play to your strengths too.

“If you look at a defence that has some fragility, you have to ask yourself ‘how’s the best way to counteract that?’ and logic dictates that to do that, you need to get the ball and spend more time in the opposition half of the pitch, and that means you get on the front foot.”

Spain had 58% possession in their 5-1 defeat to Holland, but it mattered little. The stats keep coming, just like the goals.