In futsal, you see whether a player is really talented. You notice the small details in quality, class and tactical understanding.
Interpretation
Futsal reveals a player's true skills and understanding of the game.
This quote by Xavi emphasizes the unique attributes that futsal can highlight in a player's abilities. Unlike traditional football, the smaller playing field and faster pace of futsal require players to exhibit a higher level of technical skill, tactical awareness, and nuanced understanding of the game, thus laying bare the talents that might be overlooked in larger formats.
In practice
In a coaching clinic to highlight the importance of skills development.
In the last 15 to 20 years the best central midfielder that I have seen β the most complete β is Scholes. I have spoken with Xabi Alonso about this many times. Scholes is a spectacular player who has everything. He can play the final pass, he can score, he is strong, he never gets knocked off the ball and he doesnβt give possession away. If he had been Spanish then maybe he would have been valued more.
In football, the result is an impostor. You can do things really, really well but not win. There's something greater than the result, more lasting - a legacy.
In England, footballers are respected more, the game is more noble, there's less cheating. Every Spaniard who goes loves it - and comes back a better player. If I had ever left, it would have been to England.
I spend the entire 90 minutes looking for space on the pitch. I'm always between the opposition's two holding midfielders and thinking, 'The defence is here, so I get the ball and I go there to where the space is.'
Once, players came to football expecting to be wealthy when they retired. Now, they expect to be wealthy before they've played their first game!
The only great English midfielder in my career was Paul Scholes. He had elegance in him. Others were pretenders.
Athletes are still exploited. If they blow out their knee, if they somehow don't meet the mandates of a coach, they lose their scholarship. They don't get their degree.
The only thing 'championship' about Wimbledon is its prestige.
Millions around the world see Formula One as the pinnacle of motorsport, and I firmly believe that we should do whatever it takes to keep this accolade. Traction control, automatic gear changes, and launch control isn't my definition of the 'pinnacle of motorsport.'
In baseball, there is something electrifying about the big leagues. I had read so much about Stan Musial, Ted Williams and Jackie Robinson. I had put those guys on a pedestal. They were something special. I really thought they put their pants on different, rather than one leg at a time.
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