Interchangeable parts
Congratulations! You've just become the proud owner of a luxurious yacht.
An eccentric elderly relative has gifted it to you, all you have to do is keep is running for a year and it is yours to do whatever you like with.
This yacht is beautiful, no expense has been spared on building or fitting it out.
Unfortunately, some of the parts need replacing.
The third bathroom, currently finished in Italian marble with gold plated fixtures and fittings is looking really dated, the shower is leaking, it smells a bit, and it really needs replacing altogether.
You have two choices; rebuild it to the same quality and expense, or replace it with a much cheaper one. It will still be a useable bathroom whatever you do, it will still be a luxurious yacht.
You decide to go for the cheaper option. It is the third bathroom, who cares?
Then the kitchen worksurface cracks and the pots and pans need replacing. The previous kitchen was custom made, the pans are from a high-end company, precision engineered.
A kitchen is more important than the bathroom but still, you could get away with a cheaper finish and normal pans. Who can tell the difference between solid marble and a veneer anyway?
Then someone spills a bottle of red wine on your white carpet - your £20000 carpet in your main living area. You start googling Carpetright.
At some point in this process your yacht is no longer a luxury yacht but just a yacht.
There must have been a tipping point but you didn't notice it.
The same must be true of a football team.
You can add in less good quality component parts (also known as players) or increase the quality parts (also known as players) and at some point, you'll either fall down or rise up the table, all things being equal.
But knowing where that tipping point is could be the difference between saving and wasting tens of millions of pounds.
Which players are like third bathrooms and which like £20000 white carpets?
Bill Shankly said a team was made up of 8 people who carried the piano and 3 who played it.
You essentially have 8 good solid professionals who can keep a defensive shape, are technically and tactically sound and provide a base for the three match winners to do what they do.
Those 3 players may well then elevate the standard of the players around them, their intelligent movement, clever passing, and vision will see the "interchangeable 8" racking up goals and assists as they enjoy better service and unrivaled finishing skills from the genius 3.
But is that fair? And is it still relevant now talent is far more concentrated at the top clubs?
I'd say the difference makers in a team can be in any position. A great goalkeeper can win as many points for a team as a star striker. Virgil van Dijk seems to have made a huge impact on Liverpool's defence.
I'd say (based on absolutely no scientific testing) that you can probably take a great team - say Barcelona 2011 - keep their 6 key players to their style ( arguably Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Villa, Alves) and then swap in any 5 other good quality hardworking professionals and they would still be the team of the era.
But surely better is always better. Yes, Barcelona could have won with Phil Jones not Pique. But they'd be better with Pique?
And if Real Madrid are getting a new midfielder they are going to want a virtuoso, not some interchangeable generic midfielder.
That doesn't always mean that is necessary though. That pasta tastes as good cooked in a £10 pot as a £500 pot.
And sometimes great individual players don't work well together.
If you go to a concert and 11 pianists are standing around waiting for the piano to get onto the stage it isn't an enjoyable concert.
Likewise, if you do want that piano shifted, and have persuaded 8 of the pianists to shift the piano and let the other 3 play you are wasting the playing skills of the pianists and the may not be able to move a piano as well as a furniture remover.
Maybe you are lucky/brilliant and you get 11 pianists who can move furniture, play beautifully, but crucially in harmony, and without jealousy breaking out.
But for most clubs, you will be able to get away with having a solid, cheap core of good professionals who know their role, buy into the team ethic and provide the framework for your good technical players to flourish.
Even at lower Premier League level, and below, most clubs will still prefer to buy a player for the solid roles in their team rather than just using their youth players or existing squad members. Then people like Sean Longstaff or Wan-Bissaka get a chance due to circumstances and show they can do a great job.
It is probably more fun spending £10m on a player, or commissioning a designer for the third bathroom on your yacht, but from a financial, and sporting, point of view it is probably not justified.
An eccentric elderly relative has gifted it to you, all you have to do is keep is running for a year and it is yours to do whatever you like with.
This yacht is beautiful, no expense has been spared on building or fitting it out.
Unfortunately, some of the parts need replacing.
The third bathroom, currently finished in Italian marble with gold plated fixtures and fittings is looking really dated, the shower is leaking, it smells a bit, and it really needs replacing altogether.
You have two choices; rebuild it to the same quality and expense, or replace it with a much cheaper one. It will still be a useable bathroom whatever you do, it will still be a luxurious yacht.
You decide to go for the cheaper option. It is the third bathroom, who cares?
Then the kitchen worksurface cracks and the pots and pans need replacing. The previous kitchen was custom made, the pans are from a high-end company, precision engineered.
A kitchen is more important than the bathroom but still, you could get away with a cheaper finish and normal pans. Who can tell the difference between solid marble and a veneer anyway?
Then someone spills a bottle of red wine on your white carpet - your £20000 carpet in your main living area. You start googling Carpetright.
At some point in this process your yacht is no longer a luxury yacht but just a yacht.
There must have been a tipping point but you didn't notice it.
The same must be true of a football team.
You can add in less good quality component parts (also known as players) or increase the quality parts (also known as players) and at some point, you'll either fall down or rise up the table, all things being equal.
But knowing where that tipping point is could be the difference between saving and wasting tens of millions of pounds.
Which players are like third bathrooms and which like £20000 white carpets?
Bill Shankly said a team was made up of 8 people who carried the piano and 3 who played it.
You essentially have 8 good solid professionals who can keep a defensive shape, are technically and tactically sound and provide a base for the three match winners to do what they do.
Those 3 players may well then elevate the standard of the players around them, their intelligent movement, clever passing, and vision will see the "interchangeable 8" racking up goals and assists as they enjoy better service and unrivaled finishing skills from the genius 3.
But is that fair? And is it still relevant now talent is far more concentrated at the top clubs?
I'd say the difference makers in a team can be in any position. A great goalkeeper can win as many points for a team as a star striker. Virgil van Dijk seems to have made a huge impact on Liverpool's defence.
I'd say (based on absolutely no scientific testing) that you can probably take a great team - say Barcelona 2011 - keep their 6 key players to their style ( arguably Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Villa, Alves) and then swap in any 5 other good quality hardworking professionals and they would still be the team of the era.
But surely better is always better. Yes, Barcelona could have won with Phil Jones not Pique. But they'd be better with Pique?
And if Real Madrid are getting a new midfielder they are going to want a virtuoso, not some interchangeable generic midfielder.
That doesn't always mean that is necessary though. That pasta tastes as good cooked in a £10 pot as a £500 pot.
And sometimes great individual players don't work well together.
If you go to a concert and 11 pianists are standing around waiting for the piano to get onto the stage it isn't an enjoyable concert.
Likewise, if you do want that piano shifted, and have persuaded 8 of the pianists to shift the piano and let the other 3 play you are wasting the playing skills of the pianists and the may not be able to move a piano as well as a furniture remover.
Maybe you are lucky/brilliant and you get 11 pianists who can move furniture, play beautifully, but crucially in harmony, and without jealousy breaking out.
But for most clubs, you will be able to get away with having a solid, cheap core of good professionals who know their role, buy into the team ethic and provide the framework for your good technical players to flourish.
Even at lower Premier League level, and below, most clubs will still prefer to buy a player for the solid roles in their team rather than just using their youth players or existing squad members. Then people like Sean Longstaff or Wan-Bissaka get a chance due to circumstances and show they can do a great job.
It is probably more fun spending £10m on a player, or commissioning a designer for the third bathroom on your yacht, but from a financial, and sporting, point of view it is probably not justified.
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