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There are a few positions which you can get away with playing a 17-year-old in a high-level soccer game: winger, for instance, or even fullback. Center back, however, is a different story. Center back relies almost entirely on guile and experience. This is why players tend to move back there as they age and cannot run like a midfielder anymore.
Youthful athleticism is nearly useless compared to, say, the ability to step up at the proper moment to spring an offside trap. Youthful exuberance is worthless at the back, where more often than not the right move is patiently staying in front of an attacker, slowing them down long enough for reinforcements to arrive and not doing anything stupid.
If there is one segment of the population prone to doing stupid things, it is 17-year-old boys, which is why you shouldn't start one at center back during a World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria. I understand this. You Understand this. Danny Blind does not understand this, and that is why Danny Blind is out of a job.
The former Netherlands manager was fired Sunday after losing a World Cup qualifier 2-0 to Bulgaria on Saturday. Both goals were made possibly by mistakes from 17-year-old center back Matthijs de Ligt, who has 13 first team appearances so far in his career. That is mightily impressive for a 17-year-old but not what you should look for in a staring center back in a high-level international match. Blind yanked de Ligt at halftime, but the damage was done.
It isn't de Ligt's fault he was put in a situation to fail. It is Blind's fault. And now Blind is fired, and I hope de Ligt goes on to a successful international career. He's not ready to start at center back for the Netherlands yet, but he will be someday.
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