son of a teacher man
ianboltz.bsky.social
son of a teacher man
@ianboltz.bsky.social
Maybe Real don’t think he’s good enough?
September 30, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Doesn’t even need to be a prime Gerrard. Teenager Gerrard, LA Galaxy Gerrard are all getting that shirt ahead of Mr Soft Wool
September 29, 2025 at 6:03 PM
If I’m right - and sorry if I’m wrong - but I guess you’re American so think of it as:

10 = the quarterback and is the creative force
4/5 = linebacker / tackle
7/11 = wide receiver
2/3 = cornerback / safety
September 19, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Hope that helps a bit
September 19, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Sometime just be an aggressive nut job who goes round kicking people - either works but one is more fun and the other better to watch
September 19, 2025 at 5:09 PM
The 2 and 3 don’t need to be tall - but need to match up with the 7 and 11 for speed so they can stop them.

The 8 as we said is an all rounder

And the 6 basically needs to stop the 10 from being creative. They can do this with size and athleticism - like a Gravenberch - or….
September 19, 2025 at 5:08 PM
This isn’t always the way - but 10s tend to be small and skilful and 9s big and strong. But I’m sure there are hundreds of examples of small 9s and bigger 10s

Going back to the centre backs - the 4 and 5. They need to be big and quick enough to stop the opposition number 9.
September 19, 2025 at 5:05 PM
As you said - a number 9 is the traditional goal scorer. If we’re talking a typical 9 he needs to be strong enough to hold off defenders, big enough to win headers and quick.

When we say a number 9 you’re talking about the buy who scores the goals and gets the girls
September 19, 2025 at 5:03 PM
A number 10 also traditionally can score and create and is a traditional playmaker. Salah also CAN do this but hasn’t really ever played as a 10
September 19, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Salah - the 7 here (confusingly he wears 11 but squad numbers are basically just whatever is available now) is a winger while Wirtz (who wears 7) is a 10.

Traditionally wingers need to be fast and good a dribbling and crossing. Wirtz obviously CAN do this but…
September 19, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Most centre backs - the 4 and 5 here have grown up playing as either the left or the right side (mainly depending on if they are left or right footed). Van Dijk basically always plays left side - swapping them round would just make the a bit uncomfortable to what they are used to.
September 19, 2025 at 4:55 PM
So of the three what we would call midfields the ‘6’ is the most defensive. The 10 is the most attacking (having at one point been the one playing as a second striker in a 4-4-2) and the 8 as both attacking and defensive - something of an all rounder.
September 19, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Finally - the move to a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 would be
1
2 4 5 3
6
8 10
7 9 11
September 19, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Now - this is different for different countries as football developed - but one of the 4 or the 6 dropped back next to the 5 (traditionally in the UK it was the 6 but in Europe it was the 4). The 8 dropped back a little the 10 didn’t and the wingers did

1
2 5 6 3
7 4 8 11
9 10
September 19, 2025 at 4:49 PM
So you had:

1
2 5 3
4 6
8 10
7 9 11
September 19, 2025 at 4:44 PM
So - 2 and 3 were called full backs
5 was a ‘centre half’ and 9 was a centre forward

Over time the centre half moved backwards to a centre back and the 8 and 10 moved back to be midfielders
September 19, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Oooh. I’ll have a go at the numbers stuff…

Originally soccer teams played a 2-3-5 formation written down as follows ( with 1 being the Goalie):

1
2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11
September 19, 2025 at 4:40 PM
I’d watch this
September 19, 2025 at 2:33 PM
That’s even worse 🫣. Birthday and Christmas, same year, same relative
September 17, 2025 at 6:22 PM
It’s like someone gave him a tie as a present and it’s the only one he owns
September 17, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Make a band singular:

Wing
September 13, 2025 at 6:55 PM
In t-shirt form at least…

www.adidas.co.uk/archive-cutl...
www.adidas.co.uk
September 12, 2025 at 11:02 AM
😂
September 12, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Seedlings in any draw and uncompetitive. Everyone wants to see the bigger teams meet in the first round and a smaller team get a favourable route to the final
September 11, 2025 at 5:47 PM