Tomasz Kuszczak aims to be Manchester United number one

Originally Posted by Argentina

So, if Maradona's lung capacity is less than Peter Crouch's, surely that would mean Crouch would be a superior player. So why isn't that the case? Oh, an innate ability.

not at all. you're trying to reduce everything to one variable for some reason. practice is important. talent is also important. physical characteristics are also important.

to take an example which is banal to the point of absurdity, but which illustrates the oversimplification which you're making, physical shape plays a part and cannot be developed by practice. someone who is 5'5" tall will never be a successful heavyweight boxer, however much practice he puts in. there are physical and mental attributes which are inherent; practice can hone these, it can to a degree replicate them but it cannot completely replace them.

As it says in that particular article, genetics plays a bigger part in what you can't do than what you can do.
So, back to the original point, what is the difference in physical qualities between VDS and #@&%!sack. Very little, so it is purely a case of practice and exposure to certain things, which constitutes experience.

the distinction between what you can and can't do means nothing in this context. it has an influence, not everybody has a mind which is capable of recognising certain patterns on a chessboard and seeing potential solutions. to take an example from my own experience, i know very well a certain autistic (exactly, asperger's syndome) child who is highly gifted at chess. this ability was almost immediately apparent, it had nothing to do with practice. simply put, patterns and possibilities leap out of the board at him not through experience or learning but because that is the way his mind works. will he ever be a grandmaster? not without practice, naturally. but the basis of his excellent will be something more than just practice, it will be a certain disposition that other children do not have.

there have been many experiments showing differences in output from the same input in training or teaching - controlled experiments using animals and humans, giving identical input and watching for differences in development. it is not simply a case of exposure, otherwise players from the same youth teams playing in the same positions would develop along the same lines, rather than developing into scholes or nicky butt.

similarly, from the other side, there have been many studies showing how twins - genetic replicas of each other - develop many similar characteristics even when separated at birth and raised in entirely different environments. it is not simply a question of exposure and practice shaping the individual.

turned down a loan to leicester according to sven

fergie's obviously got big things planned for him

Originally Posted by taff

turned down a loan to leicester according to sven

fergie's obviously got big things planned for him

wondered wtf you were on about for a minute.

forgot this was the kuszczak thread.