Everyone knows that TV isn’t the best place to learn life lessons, however, that doesn’t stop viewers from trying to adapt to the messages of popular shows. With Blue Lock coming out and making it clear that in their paradigm egoism is the most important aspect of soccer, it is important for impressionable viewers to take a step back and approach this concept neutrally to make the best decision about it that they can. Traditionally, most sports tout teamwork as being the most important aspect of a sport, but the first episode of Blue Lock took quotes from some of the most famous soccer players that strongly suggest that they disagree.
Blue Lock intends to be soccer crossed with Squid Games. 300 of the best high school strikers in Japan are recruited into an elite training program with the singular goal of putting Japan on the international soccer map. The boys are lured in by both the threat of never representing Japan if they refuse, and the promise that they will be able to compete with the soccer greats.
The Claim Made in the Episode
In order to convince the boys to agree to the Blue Lock training program, Ego gives them quotes from real-life players. For example, “I don’t care about my team. I just want to stand out.” - Eric Cantona. Or Pele’s quote regarding being the best at every position. While it is difficult to pin down one quote in particular it is very likely that these men said these things. Other quotes from Cantona that support this idea are: “There can only be one King in Manchester.” and “I fear the day fans stop chanting my name.” So it is clear that Ego is correct at least in the idea that these soccer greats do have extreme egos.
However, Ego also claims that this ego must come at the cost of teamwork. He claims that the team mentality is what is costing Japan international titles. His goal at Blue Lock is to train any sense of camaraderie out of the young men in favor of extreme egoism and selfishness.
How Does This Relate to Real Life Sports
While those quotes may have a ring of truth to them it would be unfair to take isolated statements as the entirety of a player's attitude. Pele also gave a fair bit of credit to teammate Edson in his autobiography. Or another quote from Messi regarding teamwork specifically. “When the year starts the objective is to win it all with the team, personal records are secondary.”– Lionel Messi.
There is no argument that the greats of any sport have an ego, but perhaps it would be better to call that ego confidence instead. Perhaps Pele wasn’t trying to say that he didn’t need a team and that he could do everything himself. Perhaps he was simply being confident that no matter what role he had to fill he could do it best.
If this interpretation were what Ego was pushing then there is no doubt that the majority of viewers would agree. To be the best, you must believe that you are the best. But where Blue Lock seems to lose its tenuous hold on reality is when it takes that idea to the extreme that not only must you believe that you are the best, but you must believe that you are the only one that can do something. That you must never rely on others.
Messi in his career has scored 748 goals, but he also has 315 assists. 164 of his solo goals were penalty or free kicks, where he was inherently alone and had no option to pass to a teammate. Ego in his speech specifically states that he wants to train a striker who will not pass to a teammate, even if a goal is guaranteed from such a move.
Messi from those stats passes to a teammate about one-third of the time. Ronaldo for his part did so about a quarter of the time, Pele is much harder to pin down with reports on his recorded goals ranging from 757 to over 1000 depending upon unknown metrics. But regardless, with nearly 350 assists he was passing to a teammate somewhere between a third and a quarter of the time as well.
It is clear that having confidence in one's skills and a certain amount of well-earned egoism is a staple among soccer greats. But there are two things that strongly imply that Ego is wrong. Firstly, those men likely had the skills and built up their egos instead of cultivating an ego and then skills as he is attempting at Blue Lock. Secondly, the men he quotes and bases his theories on didn’t ignore their teammates entirely, they relied on them and were supported by them. One man cannot win a soccer game alone regardless of his skills. But unless he believes that he is the best player on the field he will have no chance of being the best player on the field.