Club’s form has declined after brilliant start but their risky possession game was at its thrilling best against TottenhamAs Johan Cruyff pioneered the use of the sweeper keeper with Stanley Menzo at Ajax, he argued that he didn’t care...

Club’s form has declined after brilliant start but their risky possession game was at its thrilling best against Tottenham

As Johan Cruyff pioneered the use of the sweeper keeper with Stanley Menzo at Ajax, he argued that he didn’t care if his side conceded a couple of goals a season from lobs into an empty net with his goalkeeper caught upfield; far more important were the gains made by being able to play a higher offside line, squeezing the play, in the knowledge that Menzo was there to mop up behind. It made it harder for opponents to attack, and meant that Ajax more regularly won the ball back higher up the pitch in dangerous areas.

The problem, said Cruyff, was that football culture was too obsessed with the obvious and with apportioning blame. A goalkeeper being caught out of his goal looked bad and so drew criticism, whereas the incremental gains, which outweighed the small handful of glaring losses, were ignored. It’s not just a football issue. It’s a truism in spread-betting that punters’ fear of occasional big losses means their tendency is to overlook the small regular gains to be made on the other side of the spread.

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