There's More to Skill Than Highlights

There’s nothing inherently wrong with highlights. Every time Darwin Quintero chips a keeper or Bobby Shuttleworth lunges just in time to tap a ball away from the mouth of goal, a highlight fairy gets her wings. They’re beautiful, these moments when pure skill and years of hard work combine to give us a brief glimpse at the edges of what’s possible for a skilled athlete.

But they also represent fractions of a second in a 90-minute game in a season with 34 games. That’s 3,060 minutes of soccer — not including stoppage time — and it’s anything but back-to-back highlights.

As Head Coach Adrian Heath replied when asked about Shuttleworth’s second penalty save of the 2017 season to seal a victory…