Ryan Giggs calls for return of orthodox wing play and believes football has become 'strangled'
Referencing: Is the 'inverted' winger here to stay?
BBC Sport:
Legendary Manchester United star Ryan Giggs has called for the return of orthodox wing play and believes that modern day football has become ‘strangled’.
“I hope it comes back, left footer on the left, right footer on the right,” said the 51-year old.
“The argument against that is people like [Gareth] Bale, [Arjen] Robben, [Mohamed] Salah, these amazing players, who are playing on the other side and then it is ‘how do you play?’, continued Giggs, who was speaking on a ‘Player Development the Manchester United way’ panel at the Training Ground Guru conference at Old Trafford.
“We used to play with two centre-forwards or a number 10 and try to beat the full-back on the outside and get a cross in. Now it is coming inside and linking.
“But I hope it comes back. I would like to see two wide men beat players on the outside and get crosses in.”
[…] “I am a bit biased,” said Giggs. “I was a winger who liked to make things happen and excite the fans.
“Sir Alex [Ferguson] used to say ‘give the guy who works in the factory something to smile about’.
“I liked to pass it forward, to run and try a difficult ball with the outside of my foot knowing the manager wasn’t necessarily going to have a go at me.”
It does feel like, in England, they will slowly revert back to this way of playing. When you introduce taller center forwards like Haaland, Isak, Ekitike, Woltemade, Šeško, and Strand Larsen into the box—players who should easily be able to win most headers—the focus should be to skip the hard bits of play and get it on their head as quickly as possible. Then have your players who thrive in tight spaces be ready for the second balls.