I keep thinking back to the 2013 (?) U20 World Cup.

Craig Foster was waxing lyrical about how Australia performed. He seemed to think it was the best Australian youth side in ages. He argued that, even though they didn't get results, style-wise they matched European and South American teams. It was an exceedingly proactive style of play with Australia having stacks of possession. The passing and movement were great (and I agreed). They were breaking through opposition lines and moving the ball around fast. I agreed that, stylistically, it looked so much better.

But nobody showed much inclination to take on defenders on their own. It was as if nobody had the combination of technical skill and speed. Nobody wanted to try. There were some outstanding goals from distance from Josh Brilliante and Daniel de Silva (iirc). But again, nobody demonstrated the ability to take on defenders effectively, thereby getting nearer to the goal on their own, and then either unleashing or playing the ball through to an unmarked teammate in a good position.

And it was like - they can execute a plan beautifully, keep possession and move it around (for the most part) effectively. But if the wingers and strikers don't have individual ability, that's going to make it very difficult for them to succeed in Europe. I think Adam Taggart and Jamie Maclaren were in that side. Unfortunately, they've seldom demonstrated the ability to make something out of nothing, imo.

In terms of those kind of x-factor players, we looked as if we'd gone backwards.

Using the most extreme of examples, even Pep Guardiola prefers to have an Arjen Robben, Leo Messi, etc.. He wants his sides playing a particular proactive brand of football. But he wants guys in his side who can create scoring opportunities on their own. And for that, 1 vs 1 ability, speed, agility and confidence are needed. I fear that we focus too much on only specific aspects of Pep's success.