2018 World Cup: Luka Modric was the artist Croatia needed

Thinking of Luka Modric, who won the World Cup Gold Ball after leading Croatia to a place in the final, it's hard to focus on something that he's doing particularly well.

Modric does everything right. Well, it does everything besides headers – it's listed at 5 – 8, which is probably generous. But other than that, there's nothing Modric does wrong on a football pitch.

He is fast even at the age of 33. He can run all day. (He ran 40 miles in the tournament before the final.) He is an underappreciated tackler. He can play under pressure, use his agility and speed to get the space he needs to make a pass, and he can do it again and again, no matter who defends him.

But what always strikes me about Modric is his decision-making on a field. For Real Madrid, for Croatia, Modric has always been for me a person who always makes the right decision. The intelligent game

And then, once or twice a game, it will not make the game intelligent. And that's what makes him so dangerous

Photo of Clive Rose / Getty Images

Football is a sport terribly confusing. Even for the best in the world, it can be confusing. Twenty-two people run at a time, constantly moving around a large field. Areas of the field may seem wide open one second and collapse in no time a second. A clear path to the goal can suddenly be filled with defenders. Everyone moves, takes thousands of individual decisions in every game, and all this happens in real time.

Many coaches try to simplify the game for this reason. Players learn where to look for passing angles. The forwards learn the path to take. Midfielders are instructed to form small triangles around the field in relation to their teammates, so as to provide passage angles that are difficult to defend.

The goal is to limit the decisions to take in real time, to make the next easy pass. It's about taking these 22 bodies moving in space and trying to make it as easy as possible for a player who may have a half-second to make a call. Sometimes it can be really simple, especially if you play, say, in Scotland or the United States. If no one is open, kick an attacker who is running towards the corner. Striker, restore it to a midfielder. If you are in trouble, kiss the ground. Simplify. Simplify

Again, this is true even at the highest levels of the game. Players learn where defenders usually concede the space, then they make the game smart to get the ball into that space. Find the open man, move him. If there is no open man, find free space and play safe.

But that can only help you. To really be a brilliant team, you need someone who does not make the game smart. On the contrary, you need someone who takes the flow of the game and undoes it. Who sees through the mass of bodies and does not just make the right decision but, sometimes, makes a decision that nobody previously thought about.