Useful 8: Colors and numbers

My favorite subject growing up was mathematics. I don’t exactly know how I became a United fan, all I knew was that some of my play shirts were United’s and my dad took me to watch a game or two. The most successful teams in the EPL at the time were Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool and what they all had in common was that their home shirts were red. If you win all your home games, you have a good shot at winning titles. 

Then came along Chelsea, Chelsea wore a blue kit similar to the Warriors, got a new manager and a new owner and won back to back PL titles. Man City did the same with a Sky Blue kit and a new owner. Today Chelsea and Man City are no longer too far behind the red giants and have achieved success in recent years. 

The primary purpose of a school is so that your kids can have playmates when you are off to work, primary education starts from the home. Excellence at home almost always transforms to excellence in school, except for subjects that are linear, like mathematics.

Mathematics is the ultimate leveler. Our entire world runs on numbers. Computers, sports, medicine, engineering, arts, music, chemistry all have numbers in common. If you get numbers right, you can fit in or stand out, whichever way you choose to go. 

There are two iconic numbers in football, the number 7 and the number 10.  I used to idolize David Beckham, he wore the number 7, his trademark play was scoring free kicks and creating assists through corner kicks and long-range passes. Corner kicks are like angles, free kicks are like curved lines. If you can get your lines right, you can score a goal or create a goal. 

Experts argue that the number 10 in football is dying, I believe it’s being replaced by three positions, the false 9 (Messi), the inside forward(Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappe and Mohammed Salah) and by the number 8. 

When Kevin De Bruyne arrived in Wolfsburg, he was a wide player, playing as a 7 or 11, he asked the coach to move him to the middle, where he can contribute more to the game rather than wait for passes. They ended up winning the DFB-Pokal and then the Supercup the following season. Another good thing about the number 8 is there can be two on a pitch, like Madrid does with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, like United did with Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes and like Barcelona did with Xavi and Iniesta.