OK now we can carry on.
Every footballer on earth wishes that they were quicker. Trust me. Even Ronaldo. Having speed is the one thing that can not (when used correctly) be defended against. Speed is so important in the modern game that it is almost the first thing that coaches look for. If a coach sees a fast kid, I'm pretty sure they will feel that he is worth taking a chance on rather than the 10 year old Jan Molby who sits and sprays it. You can coach, the basics, but you can't coach speed.
Players who play the game (think Xavi) will always be the heart beat, the conductor, the lynchpin. The speed merchants (Shaun Wright-Phillips, Babel, Walcott?) will be cast outside to the flanks no matter the level. The quick athletes use their speed to get them out of difficult situations, they are often running in their head before they have control of the ball. They ignore the basics of control and awareness because they can always blast the thrusters. The players (Scholes, Fabregas,) use their superior brain speed to almost never allow these difficult situations to arise.
Sometimes speed and touch combine, and this is the Holy Grail of coaches all over. Messi and Ronaldo are the two obvious picks. But they are the exception to the rule. Normal rule is: Fast = No Brain. Meaning yes, they are athletic but when it comes to knowledge of space, team mates movement, a little tactical nounce, then they are sadly lacking. Good touch, simplicity and guile in the correct area, these traits will always, always trump brute speed.
I hope that the marriage of athleticism and soccer knowledge continue to combine and produce more Ronaldo's of this world, if not I won't worry, I'll be the guy paying to watch the Robert Prosinecki's of the game.
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