How do you define technical ability?

[Styles 9,790]

So two questions:

1) How do you define technical ability?

2) How many of our players from the current squad would you say meet that criteria?

[mybodyisready 155]

ball control, vision, awareness etc

Hazard, Mata, Oscar

[BlueSunshine 672]

Technical ability can be defined by the quality of a player's technical skills, namely dribbling, ball control, first touch, shooting, passing, crossing. It also depends to an extent on the player's position, i mean you can't have the same standards for a cb and a midfielder.

For me the players that can be included in this category are Luiz, Mata, Hazard and Oscar.

ball control, vision, awareness etc

I don't think that vision and awareness are technical skills, they have more to do with the mentality of the player.

[Ollie 4,400]

First touch, ball control, close control, dribbling being able to turn direction quickly etc. Mata and Hazard are the main guys for us along with Luiz, Oscar and Torres to a certain extent (i.e 4 years ago!). I'd even put Mikel in that too.

[Styles 9,790]

Technical ability can be defined by the quality of a player's technical skills, namely dribbling, ball control, first touch, shooting, passing, crossing. It also depends to an extent on the player's position, i mean you can't have the same standards for a cb and a midfielder.

For me the players that can be included in this category are Luiz, Mata, Hazard and Oscar.

I don't think that vision and awareness are technical skills, they have more to do with the mentality of the player.

There are anomalies and you will tend to find them more at bigger clubs who have a bigger collection of better players. So it's not weird that a CB like Luiz will have very good technical ability. What's weird is that a striker like Torres will have rubbish technical ability.

[Styles 9,790]

First touch, ball control, close control, dribbling being able to turn direction quickly etc. Mata and Hazard are the main guys for us along with Luiz, Oscar and Torres to a certain extent (i.e 4 years ago!). I'd even put Mikel in that too.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

You cannot be serious.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Very difficult to define. I would say John Terry is one of our best players technically, because of his first touch and range of passing, whereas other people may believe technical ability = flamboyance, hence naming Mazacar and only Mazacar as our 'technical' players, and maybe David Luiz...

[BlueSunshine 672]

There are anomalies and you will tend to find them more at bigger clubs who have a bigger collection of better players. So it's not weird that a CB like Luiz will have very good technical ability. What's weird is that a striker like Torres will have rubbish technical ability.

I don't think it's weird, i just wanted to point out that to call a player technical or not you have to also take into consideration his position, for example Luiz is not as technical as Mata but that is natural since he is a cb.

[Styles 9,790]

I don't think it's weird, i just wanted to point out that to call a player technical or not you have to also take into consideration his position, for example Luiz is not as technical as Mata but that is natural since he is a cb.

I understood mate, I was just adding to your point. Different positions require different levels of technical ability. What's weird is that arguably the most technicaly demanding position (striker) we have arguably the player with the worst technical ability in the squad in Torres.

[Madmax 9,219]

1. Different for different types of players :

Goalkeepers - handling, kicking, aerial prowess

Fullbacks - tackling, marking, crossing

Centrebacks - heading, tackling, marking

Wingers - crossing, passing, dribbling/ball control, first touch (more for the slower wide players), finishing

Centre mids - passing, tackling, first touch, marking, long shots

Attacking midfielders - passing, first touch, dribbling, finishing, long shots,

Strikers - finishing, first touch, heading, dribbling

2. In our squad I think Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Luiz, Hazard, Mata and Oscar are technically gifted players in their positions. Just

realized what a sea change that is from say 2-3 years ago when we were a squad of athletic, powerful, physically-imposing

players.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Technical ability is the how well players can execute skills on the ball such as passing, shooting, ball control, first touch...etc according to certain references that have come to be defined as the perfect way to execute those skills like how to execute a half-volley, or first time control or long pass..etc For example, Ramires does not have 'traditional' goo technical ability but he can still execute stuff, even at full speed but in his own style. (Tbf, Ramires is an exception to the rule because he was never part of an academy when he was young).

Naturally, any player at this level must have good technical ability, but the players that have overall world class technical ability in our squad are for me Mata, JT, Lampard, Luiz, and to a lesser extent Oscar and Cole. Hazard has world class technical ability when it comes to ball control and dribbling, but I can't say the same for his passing. Mikel has world class technical ability when it comes to passing, but I can't say the same about his shooting and dribbling.

PS: For all his faults, Torres still has excellent technique on the ball.

[Styles 9,790]

1. Different for different types of players :

Goalkeepers - handling, kicking, aerial prowess

Fullbacks - tackling, marking, crossing

Centrebacks - heading, tackling, marking

Wingers - crossing, passing, dribbling/ball control, first touch (more for the slower wide players), finishing

Centre mids - passing, tackling, first touch, marking, long shots

Attacking midfielders - passing, first touch, dribbling, finishing, long shots,

Strikers - finishing, first touch, heading, dribbling

2. In our squad I think Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Luiz, Hazard, Mata and Oscar are technically gifted players in their positions. Just

realized what a sea change that is from say 2-3 years ago when we were a squad of athletic, powerful, physically-imposing

players.

Ivanovic? That's a very strange one. Personally wouldn't put him anywhere near that list.

I think it's telling that from a full squad you can only name 6 or so players and no central midfielders! Football has evolved from having 7 or 8 hard workers and 3-4 good technical players. I was watching the Champions League final last night and marvelling at how almost every player on the pitch was technically competent and was able to pass the ball/recieve it under pressure. I look at our team and we're nowhere close to that level.

[Styles 9,790]

Technical ability is the how well players can execute skills on the ball such as passing, shooting, ball control, first touch...etc according to certain references that have come to be defined as the perfect way to execute those skills like how to execute a half-volley, or first time control or long pass..etc For example, Ramires does not have 'traditional' goo technical ability but he can still execute stuff, even at full speed but in his own style. (Tbf, Ramires is an exception to the rule because he was never part of an academy when he was young).

Naturally, any player at this level must have good technical ability, but the players that have overall world class technical ability in our squad are for me Mata, JT, Lampard, Luiz, and to a lesser extent Oscar and Cole. Hazard has world class technical ability when it comes to ball control and dribbling, but I can't say the same for his passing. Mikel has world class technical ability when it comes to passing, but I can't say the same about his shooting and dribbling.

PS: For all his faults, Torres still has excellent technique on the ball.

Absolutely flabbergasted at that. He is one of, if not the, worst when it comes to technical ability in the squad. His first touch is embarrassing.

Hazard is a very good passer. Maybe his final pass isn't what we want but generally he's one of our best at keeping the ball under pressure and keeping the ball moving. He plays on the half-turn which is very difficult to play against. Technically he's by far one of our best player.

[English Freak 456]

Mazacar & Luiz are the obvious technically gifted footballers in our team.

If De Bruyne gets a chance at Chelsea, he could probably be considered...and Chalobah will be part of that list once he's ready for the first team.

[BlueSunshine 672]

1. Different for different types of players :

Goalkeepers - handling, kicking, aerial prowess

Fullbacks - tackling, marking, crossing

Centrebacks - heading, tackling, marking

Wingers - crossing, passing, dribbling/ball control, first touch (more for the slower wide players), finishing

Centre mids - passing, tackling, first touch, marking, long shots

Attacking midfielders - passing, first touch, dribbling, finishing, long shots,

Strikers - finishing, first touch, heading, dribbling

This is just my opinion, but i don't think that tackling and marking can define a player's technical ability. If that was the case then all good defenders could be called technical players, for example Walter Samuel was a good defender in his prime but you can hardly call him technical.

[Madmax 9,219]

Ivanovic? That's a very strange one. Personally wouldn't put him anywhere near that list.

I was debating it with myself a little while writing that down too, but he won it for me over Cahill or Terry because of the skil set he's improved upon since being played at right back. All three are strong headers of the ball, Cahill and Terry are good last ditch tacklers but weak markers (except against slow lumps like Carroll and even he embarrassed JT in the FA Cup final last year) while Ivan is a more rounded defender. He's comfortable performing just about every duty against most types of opponents. Terry's midfield past has given him a very good passing range though.

[Madmax 9,219]

This is just my opinion, but i don't think that tackling and marking can define a player's technical ability. If that was the case then all good defenders could be called technical players, for example Walter Samuel was a good defender in his prime but you can hardly call him technical.

I tend to view the term 'technique' in relation to the player's position and the duties that position entails, so for me, those two are an absolute must for centre backs but less so for a central midfielder, even though I think a CM is a technique-heavy position because of its location on the pitch. If you leave out tackling and marking, you're left with ball control, touch, etc which are too standardized. What, then, separates a good technical defender from a good technical midfielder?

[Styles 9,790]

Maybe I wasn't specific enough in my opening post. I really meant technical ability in terms of passing, control, technique ON the ball under pressure etc.

[Spike 12,049]

Passing

First touch

Dribbling

Shooting

FKs

Crossing

Corners

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Absolutely flabbergasted at that. He is one of, if not the, worst when it comes to technical ability in the squad. His first touch is embarrassing.

Hazard is a very good passer. Maybe his final pass isn't what we want but generally he's one of our best at keeping the ball under pressure and keeping the ball moving. He plays on the half-turn which is very difficult to play against. Technically he's by far one of our best player.

The problem with Torres's first touch is more mental. He shows that he can have a great first touch when he gets the ball on the wing or in the half way line, it's just that when he's close to goal he shits himself and messes everything up. Even his passing and dribbling are technically excellent when he does them right.

I never said that Hazard is not a good passer, just that his technique in passing is not perfect which are two different things as I attempted to explain in the Ramires example. You are mistaking technical ability for flamboyancy. For example, Claudio Marchisio and Niko Kranjcar are for me two of the best players I've ever seen when it comes to technical ability, but they are by no means the 'fanciest' players around.