How important is IQ/EQ in football?

[DeGea]

How important is your average intelligence in the modern game? And I am not talking just IQ, but EQ too. I remember reading somewhere that Frank Lampard had a very high IQ and you can see how he is not just a player with skills but is also a thinking footballer. Able to translate manager's instructions well, reads the game, and always comes across as someone with a good temperament. It is no surprise he is doing quite well with Derby.

So for example, if you have someone with ridiculous skills but less than average IQ/EQ, would he be a better player to have or would you opt for someone who might be less skillful (but trainable) but is very intelligent and understands the game well?

I always feel like the German players for the national team for example, tend to come across as quite an intelligent group of players and rely less on their skills but instead have a greater understanding of how formation/tactics/systems work and adapt. Opposite is true for some other teams, lots of passion, but completely one-dimensional and cannot think on their feet.

Thoughts?

 

[Samid]

Never heard of EQ so can't be that important.

 

[DeGea]

Never heard of EQ so can't be that important.

EQ is emotional intelligence.

 

[SirAF]

Never heard of EQ so can't be that important.

Emotional intelligence, it’s very important in leadership.

 

[Samid]

EQ is emotional intelligence.

Shouldn't that be EI?

 

[André Dominguez]

In IQ, I must specify that having a great spatial intelligence and a very good muscular memory will give you an edge.

EQ is actually the most important thing in terms of decision making, since if your EQ is too small you will be too much affected by emotions to take your decisions.

 

[SirAF]

Shouldn't that be EI?

That is also used, yes.

 

[Ducklegs]

Massively important, name one thick as pig shit world class player.

 

[adexkola]

How important is your average intelligence in the modern game? And I am not talking just IQ, but EQ too. I remember reading somewhere that Frank Lampard had a very high IQ and you can see how he is not just a player with skills but is also a thinking footballer. Able to translate manager's instructions well, reads the game, and always comes across as someone with a good temperament. It is no surprise he is doing quite well with Derby.

So for example, if you have someone with ridiculous skills but less than average IQ/EQ, would he be a better player to have or would you opt for someone who might be less skillful (but trainable) but is very intelligent and understands the game well?

I always feel like the German players for the national team for example, tend to come across as quite an intelligent group of players and rely less on their skills but instead have a greater understanding of how formation/tactics/systems work and adapt. Opposite is true for some other teams, lots of passion, but completely one-dimensional and cannot think on their feet.

Thoughts?

Very important.

I hear Xavi talk and although he thinks a bit too much of himself at times, you can tell he had a view of the game more talented players just did and do not have. And you would hope some part of training is devoted to improving players on this aspect.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Messi's EQ is the greatest ever. He has an unearthly equilibrium that translates into consistent brilliance. Ronaldo's EQ is exceptionally high as well but seems to come more from a place of tension.

 

[Samid]

That is also used, yes.

Googled it, quite a few professors are calling the whole concept of EQ a scam.

 

[Big Andy]

Massively important, name one thick as pig shit world class player.

Wayne Rooney was one...

 

[Art Vandelay]

Massively important, name one thick as pig shit world class player.

Gazza was one...

 

[Ducklegs]

Wayne Rooney was one...

So the general consensus on a forum that thinks Wayne was a busted flush by 27 and never realised his potential, is now that he was world class?

 

[Ducklegs]

Gazza was one...

Pull the other one.

 

[SirAF]

Googled it, quite a few professors are calling the whole concept of EQ a scam.

The concept is well established within human resources management and industrial psychology - I remember being taught about it at uni.

 

[pascell]

I feel apart from leadership, we lack players with a high IQ. Our players look void of ideas most of the time when attacking and constantly do the same thing, we need people with high IQ on and off the pitch to show them where they're going wrong and how to change it up if one attacking move isn't working.

 

[BigRon1985]

Wayne Rooney was one...

You beat me to it!

 

[Keeps It tidy]

Googled it, quite a few professors are calling the whole concept of EQ a scam.

And IQ tests are BS.

 

[Keeps It tidy]

Wayne Rooney was one...

He was a good decision maker on the pitch.

 

[VorZakone]

Footballing IQ is immensely important. It's what separates the best from the rest, independent from technique and physicality.

Lallana for example is a good technical midfielder but he's not as intelligent as Iniesta on the pitch.

 

[Rossa]

Googled it, quite a few professors are calling the whole concept of EQ a scam.

As do some IQ. Both are legitimate for their own reasons. EQ is harder to pin point than IQ.

 

[FlawlessThaw]

Bloody hell I just walked into one of my work mentoring meetings

 

[Xeno]

Massively important, name one thick as pig shit world class player.

Aguero.

 

[Keeps It tidy]

Footballing IQ is immensely important. It's what separates the best from the rest, independent from technique and physicality.

Lallana for example is a good technical midfielder but he's not as intelligent as Iniesta on the pitch.

Lallana is nowhere near as technical as Iniesta. This is like when Gerrard said Joe Cole could do whatever Messi does if not better.

 

[Big Ben Foster]

Shouldn't that be EI?

Always wondered this too. What the feck is the Q supposed to stand for? Probably just a load of pseudo-scientific bullshit.

 

[youmeletsfly]

This thread is a bit of a sentimental theory.

 

[lsd]

Wayne Rooney was one...

Football wise though Rooney was intelligent. He knew when to pass when to shoot and how to find space something a lot if players ie our current crop dont have .

I think England puts to much emphasis on pace rather than brains in today's game .

Look at Barcelona vs Liverpool last week . Liverpool way more pace and play fast direct football line to pressure teams . Barca an aging team not a lot of pace but everyone if their players are smart on the ball know how best to use it at all times and dont panic or lose their shape

 

[harms]

I don’t think that IQ is very important, but it definitely plays some role in understanding tactics. But then you hear of some players that have a natural understanding of the game - like Iniesta. There are also players like Rooney or Matthäus who definitely didn’t have high IQ but were enormously successful (and quite smart in terms of the tactics). I’m sure that Maradona is not the brightest either, but he’s arguably the greatest player ever.

I think that the speed of reaction is the most important — it gives the likes of Messi or Maradona that extra moment to outsmart the defender, but the “smart” decisions are more about muscular memories and experience.

 

[WYRM]

IQ and having your emotions in check, is probably useful at everything you could do. In football, I believe that a high intelligence is especially required to become a great ball distributing midfielder. You have to quickly assess the situation, think through the different possible outcomes and then make a decision. Pure box to box midfielders on the other hand probably don't need to be as intelligent to be successful as they usually rely more on physical strength and speed to power through opposition.

Because people talked about the German national team... I think, one of their if not the biggest strengths in the past always has been that they remain calm no matter what. They are far more disciplined than, I'd say, all other national football teams. You can best see that in penalty shootouts, they are just ruthless. This calmness leads to them usually winning all the games they are supposed to win (and translates, bar World Cup 2018, in them usually advancing far into tournaments and only lose when they are clearly outplayed by a better team).

E.g., compare the England squads from 2002 and 2006 with that of Germany. England's squad on paper was one of the best in each tournament whereas Germany's was except for some great players (Kahn, Ballack, Klose) at best a mediocre team. But whereas England went out in the Quarter Finals, Germany placed second and third, respectively.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Football IQ -- most important.
EQ -- important.
(General) IQ -- less important.

 

[Keeps It tidy]

I don’t think that IQ is very important, but it definitely plays some role in understanding tactics. But then you hear of some players that have a natural understanding of the game - like Iniesta. There are also players like Rooney or Matthäus who definitely don’t have high IQ but were enormously successful (and quite smart in terms of the tactics). I’m sure that Maradona is not the brightest either, but he’s arguably the greatest player ever.

I think that the speed of reaction is the most important — it gives the likes of Messi or Maradona that extra moment to outsmart the defender, but the “smart” decisions are more about muscular memories and experience.

I actually agree with all this.

 

[Schneckerl]

What's important is "Football IQ", not general IQ.

 

[Invictus]

I don't know, to be honest — intelligence quotient or other cognitive-task tests might not be the best tools for assessing the in-game intelligence of footballers because it's a very specialized field and you can be a specialists at certain tasks without being a very intelligent individual. Plus, poverty tends lower the IQ of individuals, and a lot of footballers grow up in a harsh, impoverished environment — which should be borne in mind before stigmatizing or criticizing them for possessing an apparently lower level of intelligence. Some that aren't great speakers or particularly intelligent from an academic standpoint might have an innate feel or intelligence for the game in terms of spatial understanding or decision-making, and football comes very naturally to them (like Maradona or a host of Brazilian players that don't seem very smart because they basically grew up in favelas and honed their craft in the streets).

Of course, you have players like Mata who seem to be intelligent and deep-thinkers (a lot of it due to their upbringing), but then you have someone like Valencia, who's not the brightest at first glance or a multi-linguist like Lukaku because he didn't have the same platform in his early life, but was a very good player at his peak. Um...come to think of it, higher IQ/EQ might be more valuable in certain roles where you have to think no just for yourself, but for the entire team/unit: like DLP/regista, where the player has to assess the field and make sooooo many snap decisions or False-9, which is the same in offense — whereas you can get by with mediocre intelligence in roles like stopper (where you take your cues from the sweeper and mark/cover accordingly) or old-school fullback where they weren't asked to do a whole lot and could maybe get by with just concentrating on their (and their wing partner's) game.

 

[Skills]

I don't think it's very important.

I reckon it's probably more harmful to have more intelligent individuals in your squad. Intelligent individuals think for themselves and are more likely to challenge/question things. I don't think most head coaches would like that. For example, look at the type of players Fergie kept around through his career. The likes of Giggs, Neville & Scholes aren't very bright people, but they make great foot soldiers as they would take what he says as gospel.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

It's huge, no doubt.

 

[hobbers]

Assuming we're talking about general footballing intelligence here and not the hand wavey IQ stuff: You dont need to have 11 decently intelligent players on the pitch, but you HAVE to have a few.

Our most/only intelligent players are the Spanish trio, both on and off the pitch. Unfortunately all our English players are catastrophically dumb, every single one of them. And it shows every week in every match, and we constantly suffer for it.

EQ is very important and our squad has absolutely none of it.

 

[captain666]

We seem to be devoid of players with basic IQ,football IQ or any football ability too!

 

[Sterling Archer]

How about the presence of mind to take that corner for goal 4 Tonite?

Not a genius. Not a veteran. Just an eager, motivated kid that wanted to win.

 

[el3mel]

Watching our team playing should be enough to conclude it's important.