Yamal, Kvara, Saka – the fabulous flankers on fire this Champions League season | Football News
From fabulous false nines to magical midfielders, the centre of footballing universe is gravitating to the wizardry wingers. The wingmen in the game, constantly evolving with the tactical motifs of their time, always injected a wild and raw excitement with their pace, movements and the whipped crosses. A new wave, combining the old-fashioned virtues of pace and guile with new-age functions of play-making and goal-scoring. The Champions League first leg was a theatre for the modern wingmen, and the fortunes of the second bout too could be influenced them, with quick brains and quicker feet. The blazing beacon is Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal. At 17, his recent feats bolster the argument that he has transformed from being one of future greats to being one of the best footballers around. Spotting blond-dyed hair, he kept Barcelona in the semifinal tie with a virtuoso exhibition of attacking football against Inter Milan.
His virtues had been extolled since he zipped into football’s collective conscience with a spate of wonder goals in the European Championship last year. He has the blinding pace of the extinct touchline hugging species of wingers, the controlled dribbling gifts of the late 90s variants, the skill to decongest narrow channels and find the best man in the best position with a range of eagle-eyed passing. He can score, create, defend, disrupt and dribble, besides possessing an unputdownable appeal. His catalogue of howitzers is swelling the day, but his most telling quality is his intimidating command on the field, belying his scrawny frame and a face yet not out of adolescence.
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Wingers, their natural disposition, like to linger with the ball for sometimes far too long. But Yamal has an economy of touches, precise and perfect ones, that keep defenders constantly guessing the passes. Try to man-mark him, he could effortlessly wriggle out with a couple of dinks, crowd him out, he could thread a pass through the maze of legs. It is as though he sees just the ball and the man he wants to pass, and not the flailing limbs blocking the destination.
After his monumental performance against Inter Milan—an outrageous goal, an ingenious ass and several shots that hit the crossbar—the Italian club’s manager Simeone Inzaghi hailed him as a talent that comes once in 50 years. “I said it, often before, he’s a genius. During the game, when I look at the match from the outside, it’s not like when you see after. You see all the details and it is unbelievable how he does it. At 17 years old, he’s an unbelievable player,” he would say.
Even a classically well-pressed Italian backline could not contain him, just as Arsenal failed to throttle the multifaceted genius of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (pronounced Khhh-khveecha kavaarutzkelia) of PSG. He is not a magician like Yamal, who pulls a rabbit of his boots every time his teams need something special, but has the sweetest feet in Europe, those that could pickpocket the ball from the opponent in the wink of an eye. The Georgian’s end-to-end ball-carrying is special, the ball eternally glued to his feet as though it is phantom limb, as are the end products. It’s often a deft pass from the outstep of Kvara’s left-foot, or a precise cut back from the instep, but he has the vision of a mendicant to conceptualise perfection—direction, man, time and weight.
Before Arsenal, this ‘Kvaradona’ had stung Liverpool. He dribbled an unbelievable 246 yards in that game, reducing one of the tightest defences in the Premier League to a bunch of novices. His start-and-stop dribbling style, draws fouls and chaos. His passes pass the press. Former Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti once explained what makes Kvaratskhelia a nightmare for defenders: “He has this sensibility when he dribbles, in the way he caresses the ball and dummies opponents, it makes him so hard to defend.” His haul of nine asss and as many goals picture just half the story of the despair he could inflict on full-backs. Jurrien Timber, Trent-Alexander Arnold and Andy Robertson would all confess. In Ligue One, he has drawn the most fouls (2.1 a game). Story continues below this ad
Like Yamal, he is an immensely enjoyable player to watch, not as explosive but more graceful to behold. The six-foot frame with the elasticity of a gymnast swans on the field, leaving defenders hypnotised in his spell. The tws, turns, the swivel of the hips, and dexterity with either feet make him a delightful experience in the world of structured tactics.
The third in the holy trinity of wingers remaining in the Champions League—outside of it, there is Vinicius Junior and Mohammed Salah—is Bukayo Saka. He has neither the inexhaustible wiles of Yamal nor the feet Kvaratskhelia, but has mastered simplicity of wing-play like few others. Nothing is accidental or wasted, every move has a purpose, orchestrated with clarity and vision. The second he receives the ball, he looks for spaces behind the defender, and often finds it. He is exceptional off the ball too, always presenting a passing outlet for the teammate on the ball.
Among them, he is the best crosser and a master of cut-backs. He would be running upfield with a defender, or perhaps two, trailing him. Then he suddenly stops, taking out the defender, then pirouettes, some times dummies another onrushing defender and then rolls the perfectly weighted ball to an advancing teammate. He is Arsenal’s heartbeat and their strongest bet to defeat PSG in Paris.
There is so much burden piled on them too—PSG and Arsenal in pursuit of the maiden European crowns, Barcelona setting their eyes on a treble. And at the heart of their quest is man on the flank.
