Two Rays of Sunshine Gone Out

Within the last week Ray Wilson and Ray Wilkins passed away. Two more good uns gone.
Ray Wilson was the second-best defensive fullback that I ever saw and the best that I've ever seen live (when he played for Everton). The best was Bixente Lizarazu. (All-around, the honour goes to Piero Maldini.) Wilson has never been given his due. He was fast, a superb tackler and positionally sound. He only tackled when he had to and went in like a cobra. On the rare occasions that he missed his recovery was almost supernatural. Lizarazu was the same only more so. Both were tagged by unfortunate incidents that have colored their greatness. Wilson made a poor clearance header to set up Germany's first goal in the 1966 World Cup Final. Lizarazu was beaten by the Greek winger on the edge of the box to set up the winning goal in the 2004 Euro semifinal. No footballer is perfect. Even the very best make mistakes. When defenders make mistakes it can look bad. The punditry have been very unkind to both of these great fullbacks but none of the pundits ever got to wear a World Cup Winner's medal. Ray Wilson I salute you!
Ray Wilkins also took undeserved stick during and after his playing career for supposedly "sideways" passing. One of the positive development since Wilkins retired is the general appreciation of possession football. The acknowledged great Andres Iniesta passes back or sideways far more than Wilkins did but that was before such stats were recorded. Wilkins was a superb midfielder. Brian Clough once said that speed in football is important in two respects: the speed in knowing what to do do with the ball before you have it and then the speed of doing something with it. Wilkins had both of these types of speed. If he passed back or to the side it was because that computer in his brain knew that was the best play for that situation. If he saw the chance to stick a forward pass between two defenders then the pass that he gave would be perfectly measured. Wilkins always seemed to have time because he knew everything going on around him. He was also, like Michael Carrick of the current generation and Pat Crerand of mine, always in the right position on the field. Ray Wilkins, I salute you!