How A Midfielder With No Speed or Skills OUTPLAYED Everyone

71 players have won the World Cup and the champions league but only one of those players has won the Champions League five times Tony Cruz Cruz wasn't fast strong or a particularly good dribbler he didn't steal the spotlight with Flare or flashy skills so what exactly does Cruz do on the footballing pitch that no matter where he goes his team always wins whenever people talk about the Real Madrid team that won three champions leagues in a row or the treble-winning Bayern Munich squad or even the the 2014 World Cup winning Germany team Cruz's name is rarely mentioned in a world where speed and skill moves often steal the spotlight Cruz possessed something far more important a footballing brain that was better than any physical ability Cruz is able to read the game and see passes others can't see since the 2013 2014 season Cruz's pass accuracy has never been below 92% 92 in fact every season his percentage has gone up his incredible passing ability and intelligence was seen at a young age it was the foundation of his rise showing his passing Talent at an early age Cruz was the youngest player ever to represent Byron in a professional match at 17 years 265 days old at the 2007 FIFA under 17 World Cup it's quite remarkable the composure and maturity Cru was showing at a young age due to his technical ability on the ball on his UFA cup debut Cruz came on as a substitute in the 81st minute providing an assist for closa and then scoring the game-winning goal in stoppage time what a way for you to score your first goal at the club despite showing flashes of the player he could be Byron felt Cruz needed time to develop so they sent him on an 18-month loan to Byer Leverkusen this is where he developed into the player that we see now in the 2009 2010 season Cruz established himself as a starter in the Leverkusen team despite using no skills or speed between Match Day 16 and 20 kW got five goals and four assists in just five Bundesliga matches earning him the player of the month award from kicker for December and January Cruz ended the season with nine goals and 12 assists in just 33 appearances despite being played out of position playing as a left midfielder his precise passing was easy to see he knew where the spaces were how much force to put onto each pass when to move keep possession and when to play a direct through ball his understanding of the game was on another level feeling like he was ready Cruz returned to Byron in the summer despite having no speed or strength yup hes established Cru as a starter in the Byron Midfield yup was the former coach at Leverkusen back when Cruz was there on loan so he knew exactly how to get the most use out of the German Cruz along with Bastion Schweinsteiger formed a strong Midfield duel the two were in a double pivot in a 4231 and complemented each other well they could both do a little bit of everything but Bastion was tasked with winning the ball back while Cruz was responsible for doing what he does best dictating the tempo and finding the right passes the company of equally like-minded individuals shaped Tony Cruz as a footballer who could save his energy but still control the pitch while Cruz showed maturity well above his age he experienced heartbreak early in his career after playing 51 matches in all competitions for Bayern Munich he tasted defeat in the 2012 champions league final Cruz and Schwan shager played well but it wasn't enough as the bavarians lost at their own Stadium on penalties Tony Cruz worked hard on improving his technical ability even more after the loss seeing just how good Cruz was at creating chances yup decided to change the Midfield in the 2012 2013 season bayron switched to a three-man Midfield with Cruz pushing more forward it was a great decision as Cruz scored three goals in the team's opening four matches he also scored his first Champions League goal in Byron's opening group match against Valencia the only thing that stopped the grow grth of Tony Cruz as the technical player we see today was the darkest injury in his career after getting injured in the first leg of the champions of quarterfinals against Juventus Cruz was unavailable for the remainder of the Season missing the tail end of a historical season where Byron would end up winning the treble despite being a massively important player for one of the best byon teams we've ever seen Cruz didn't get much appreciation fans talked way more about flasher players like Robin and Ribery their speed dribbling and statistics made them far more entertaining than Cruz's perfect passes but what's worse is the Byron board had a lack of faith in him as well according to sources Tony Cruz was offered a new contract but byr made it clear that they didn't want to pay Cruz more than 10 million EUR Cruz knew how much other players like new signing Mario gutso were making but the board made it very clear that they thought he was a good player but not a world class one according to Cruz's friends he felt disrespected of the club it wasn't about the money but more about the lack of Confidence from the higher ups even those at the highest level of position in football were overlooking Cruz's talents his ability to make the right decision his vision and tactical intelligence were overlooked because it wasn't shiny Cruz knew it was time for a new chapter despite all the controversy behind the scenes Cruz was named in the Germany squad for the 2014 World Cup in the team's Opening match a 4-n win over Portugal Cruz started in the Midfield and got two assists then in the quarterfinals the only goal scored by Matt hmel against France came from Cruz's free kick a beautiful cross whipped in with Pace set pieces as we will see later in the video is another element of Cruz's game that he does at the highest level considering how good his long passing is it only makes sense that his free kicks are also perfect in the semi-finals against Brazil crw showed his goal scoring ability scoring two of the seven goals Germany put past Brazil first goal Banger with his left foot Cruz does not have a weak foot he is equally good with both feet the second was an easy taping in that same game Cruz had gotone his fourth assist of the tournament after crossing the ball into Müller who had scored the opening goal Cruz was named man of the match Germany had made it to the World Cup final where they would go on to defeat Argentina despite being told that he wasn't world class that he wasn't shiny enough that he didn't have the speed or the skills crw still help Germany become world champions he was named on the 10man Shor list for FIFA's Golden Ball and according to the castal performance index which was the official statistical analyzer of the World Cup Cruz had the highest rating out of all the players in the tournament with a 9.79 rating out of 10 despite all of these achievements Cru wasn't the main topic of discussion obviously players like noer GZA and even Müller were getting far more praise I guess being the common composed Central midfielder isn't exciting but man what a player after a fantastic World Cup performance and a solid season at Barron before his injury Real Madrid announced that they had reached an agreement to sign Cruz for25 million even the transfer fee for him was low because people knew he was a good player but they thought he had invisible stats the transition from Bayern Munich to Real Madrid wasn't just a change in leagues but it was a new Battlefield where Cruz's football IQ would be tested again forming a Midfield Trio with Rodriguez and Luca Modric Cruz showed exactly just how valuable he was in the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup he led the tournament and assist he was named in the UEFA Team of the Year as well as the thief Pro World El Cruz's game elevated to another level when zidan was appointed as manager and we all know how technical zidan was when he played with this partnership Cruz became a regular and provided 13 assists in all competitions in the 2015 2016 season he was vital for Real Madrid winning the champions League That season helping control the speed of play from the center of the park he had the most chances created in the Champions League with 31 in The Following Season Cruz got three goals and 12 assists to help Real Madrid win La Liga as well as yet another Champions League all eyes were on Cristiano Ronaldo Gareth Bale and Luca modri but there's a reason that Cruz was the most used player under Zan at the time Cruz had created the most chances out of any player in the Champions League since the 202 12 2013 season having a player who always makes the right decision is so valuable imagine being able to play the ball to toan Cru knowing that he will never make a mistake and will always find the right pass imagine knowing that whenever Cruz has the ball he's never going to lose it even if the team is parking the bus Cru will find a way to break it down Cruz doesn't need to outrun his opponents he outthinks them every touch and pass from him has a meaning a lot of people like to make fun of Cruz calling him a side to side pass Merchant in fact there was a nickname they used for him in Germany called qu paser which is German for side to side passer even in the video game FIFA Cru is never used by kids because he has like 50 Pace he is fodder in the game but Cruz has historically always been at the top of the charts when it comes to Progressive passes and chances created no player has had more passes into the final third in the Champions League than Cruz not only does he have the most passes but he has also done it with the highest efficiency with a success rate of 8 9% which is the highest of all time you would think that after winning his third Champions League in a row in 2018 Cruz would have started to get a little bit more appreciation but he was still the unsung hero during the 2017 2018 UEFA Champions League Cru made 12 appearances the perfect partner next to Luca Modric and casemiro they had become one of the greatest Midfield trios of all time in 2020 Real Madrid as a whole had a disappointing season after being eliminated by Manchester City in the champions league but Cruz had one of his best individual goal scoring Seasons scoring six goals to go along with nine assists this shows the ability of the guy to be able to stand out even in games where his team is losing crw scored Real Madrid's first official goal at the Alfredo DFO stadium in Just 4 minutes in an eventual 3-1 win over iar this was Cruz's first free kick goal for Real Madrid in just six attempts he was on cruise control get it yeah I'll show myself out he finished the next season with three goals and 10 assists notice how many seasons he gets double digit assists despite playing in a deep playmaker role he doesn't score much but when he does it's a banger stats don't do Cru Justice though he is one of those players that you really have to focus on to see his value the way he picks out the perfect pass in every situation it's really a work of art Cruz has been able to stay at the top level for a very long time because he doesn't rely on physical abilities to compete with his passing and knowledge of the game he has continued producing value for Real Madrid by helping them win yet another Champions League in 2022 while he doesn't dominate the stat sheet I think any Real Madrid fan will tell you every attack goes through Cruz there is literally nobody on the Real Madrid team that has the same profile as him as good as a player like Modric is he doesn't have Cruz's range of passing and the ability to do it with both feet Cruz might only be 34 but he has played Top Flight football for half of his life his longevity is impressive and has happened because he doesn't rely on athleticism but rather his footballing IQ his intelligence and worldclass passing have put him in the conversation with the greatest midfielders of all time not only did Cruz conquer Europe but he conquered the world proving that in football the greatest strengths lie not just in your legs but in the mind there is one player who is just as good if not even better than Cruz when it comes to passing and that player is Kevin De Bruno to see how kdb is dominating the premier league right now check out this video right here

Channel: PedTalksSports

Views: 136,026

Keywords: Toni Kroos, Real Madrid, German football, Midfield mastery, Football genius, Tactical intelligence, Passing accuracy, Football strategy, Soccer analysis, Sports analysis, Kroos highlights, Football tactics, Bundesliga, La Liga, UEFA Champions League, World Cup, Midfielder role, Precision passing, Football IQ, Kroos skills, Football legend, Sports hero, Kroos goals, Football inspiration, Soccer tactics, Game analysis, Kroos assists, Football commentary, Soccer legend

Id: zJqUqnnXQg0

Length: 12min 6sec (726 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 23 2024