ANPGerald Vanenburg, in action for Ajax
NOS Voetbal•vandaag, 10:13
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Rens Went
editor NOS Sport
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Rens Went
editor NOS Sport
The marker has the power to freeze the ever-accelerating football for a moment.
In a fit of creativity, the football player slides his toes and quickly rubs under the ball. Player, goalkeeper and fan watch breathlessly as the curved ball flies into the goal. Memorable markers came from the foot of Johan Cruijff against Haarlem, Marco van Basten against Feyenoord and Dennis Bergkamp against RKC. Finesse won over beech.
What is the place of the marker in modern football? “A soft, if not whispering, response to many fools.”
The player
A marker was the only option for Theo Janssen against PSV in 2011. After a rush he had ended up to the left of the goal when he saw the goalkeeper standing slightly away from his line. “If I had shot hard, he would certainly have been saved by the keeper,” says the left-footer. “The only option for me to score was to score.”
Janssen didn’t think much else about it. “It’s something that happens spontaneously. You see a moment and you act on it.”
The difficulty is in the finesse. “The feeling you have to put into it. It has to get the right speed, sometimes very quickly up, sometimes slower. A marker is much more difficult than shooting a ball hard with your instep.”
‘That is a very nice one’, an ode to the marker goal
“You see fewer people trying it nowadays. In the past, you had several players who could do it very well. Bergkamp is ‘Mr. Stift’. Rafael van der Vaart did it sometimes. Robin van Persie. Today’s footballers are generally strong and fast, with a good basic technique. But that extra, that special, that crazy, you don’t see that as much.”
Janssen hopes that the marker will not become extinct. “That would be a shame. The marker is something special, it’s almost art.”
Data analyst
Data analysts record every pass, run and duel, but ask for figures about pins and lobes and the large data agencies in football cannot help you. It is simply not maintained.
“We still did that until a few years ago,” says data agency Opta. “But given the little interest in that specific data point and the somewhat difficult definition – because when is a marker a marker? – we subsequently chose to exchange the marker for other metrics.”
By keeper
The marker will continue to exist, even in evolving football, thinks Harald Wapenaar, the goalkeeper coach of FC Utrecht. But he does see it less often. Wapenaar has two explanations.
“The Neuer technique”, the former goalkeeper mentions as a reason for fewer markers in 1-on-1 duels. “Goalkeepers remain standing for a very long time. Almost in a split, with their arms wide. Like handball goalkeepers. This means that the attacker has a much more difficult time marking than when the goalkeeper attacks the ball by diving on it.”
This diving technique is a thing of the past, says Wapenaar. “In the 1990s we attacked balls a lot.” That technique, he explains, has diminished due to the risks of penalties and red cards. “Now goalkeepers are more likely to ‘go into the block’. Look at Timon Wellenreuther and Lars Unnerstall.”
ANPHarald Wapenaar as goalkeeper coach at FC Utrecht
Does a goalkeeper still allow himself to be penned from a greater distance? “We goalkeeper coaches think about positioning and reaction time. Previously, we stepped in to reduce the goal. Nowadays, we step back to the line sooner for shots outside the box to increase reaction time.”
But when a technically skilled player is in front of them, “goalkeepers keep their options more open.” The marker still remains an option.
The (individual) trainer
You can train the marker, says Gerald Vanenburg, former technique trainer at Ajax. “But it is a kicking technique that is hardly used anymore.”
“Players who find themselves in a situation where they have to score often just shoot, because they do not have the ability to score. They have never practiced it. Clubs hardly train on it anymore.”
If you want to be able to perform it, you have to train it. “Repeat a lot. Only then do you start looking for, seeing and recognizing the moments.”
ANP1988: Gerald Vanenburg at the European Championship against Ireland
Due to an increase in tactical and physical training at clubs and a decrease in individual technique training, Vanenburg notices that something like the marker is used less often.
“I train with a lot of players and they don’t even know how to use markers. It’s strange. It’s a shame, a player must have the ability to solve everything,” says Vanenburg, who sees the marker as a lost weapon. “You can not only place a marker over the goalkeeper, but also behind the defense.”
The psychologist
“Football is about observing, making decisions, implementing decisions,” explains sports psychologist Afke van de Wouw.
The pressure of a competition makes those actions more difficult. “It turns out that your vision narrows under pressure, you become more chaotic and execution is difficult because your muscles are more tense.”
In the ideal world, the footballer reaches a state of “unconscious competence”. “You are then so well trained that you no longer have to think about the execution during the match. And so you have plenty of room to look around you to see whether the situation calls for a marker.”
ANP1983: Van Basten passes Feyenoord keeper Joop Hiele in a duel in which he scores a marker goal
Van de Wouw calls for creativity to be brought back to football players. “Creativity is really hard to find. That’s because we (youth trainers, ed.) chew it up so much.”
“Put the player in situations where he is provoked to do it. In a 1-on-1 situation with the goalkeeper, for example. It can benefit creativity and self-solving skills.”
The romantic
“The unexpected” is what the marker delights fans with, says Hugo Borst. “We want to be surprised. We paid for that. We want to admire.”
Calling the marker an art form is going a bit far. “More pragmatic. There is no other solution. It’s nice to see this pragmatic approach. It’s the opposite of ramming. Caressing. A soft, if not whispering, answer to many fools.”
Does the marker still have a place in modern football? “Of course. This solution will never die. It’s like a pair of scissors, a ‘Zidane’. The following applies to everything: it has to work.”
