Quote:
Originally Posted by Pogue Mahone
Why separate skill and ability? It's a meaningless distinction.
This whole (ludicrously protracted) argument started when people tried to claim that Rooney will "never" be a good finisher and I made the point that absolutely every aspect of his game (including finishing) will improve as he continues to mature and develop as a footballer. The harder he works at it the more he will improve.
Whether this improvement reflects a change in his "skills" or "abilities" doesn't really matter, so long as he gets better at finishing. The whole skill/ability/talent crap got dragged into the debate when the Chief got caught up in ever-decreasing circles of logic-free mentalism. If a player gets better at scoring goals it really doesn't matter what words are used to describe this improvement.
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It's not meaningless. Take for example, intelligence.
Some kids back at school used to work day and night and still not get the desired grades. The application is there, but they are limited by their intelligence (ability).
On the other end of the scale, you get the kids that work at a minimal level, yet they'd always acheive high grades. This is because they have a huge level of ability, and it only needs to be worked on slightly.
At the end of the day, finishing is a skill and Rooney can improve that. What Van Nistelrooy has is an ability to be in the right place and that comes naturally and cannot be improved.
Basically, i'm agreeing with you.
