If John Lennon played soccer: winger, rated 81

John Lennon as a soccer player: scouting report

John Lennon plays on the wing, and the story starts in Liverpool, where as a teenager he formed the Quarrymen, the skiffle group that grew into the Beatles. A winger in a front three is often the spark, the one who tries what nobody else would, and he spent his career doing exactly that with songs. Passing is the best outfield part of his card, so he is a provider first: the curled ball across the six yard box, or the slipped pass inside a fullback for an overlapping runner.

He studied at the Liverpool College of Art and published In His Own Write, a book of wordplay and drawings, in 1964, and that playful imagination fits a winger who invents a move on the spot. His dribbling lets him take on a defender, and his defending is better than most wide players offer, so he tracks back without complaint. Goalkeeping is actually the single best mark on his card, and keeper is the next best spot, a quirky bit of range for a wide forward. Imagine became one of the most famous songs ever written, which suggests a player who sees possibilities on the pitch that others never consider.

Shooting is the honest weakness, and it shapes how to use him. He is not the winger who cuts in and finishes; he is the one who creates for the striker. His pace is modest too, so he wins with craft rather than speed. Pair him with a clinical center forward and an overlapping fullback, and let him play the decisive pass. Central midfield is a workable fallback where his passing comes to the fore. Draft him in the middle rounds as a creator on the flank.

Plays like A creative inside forward who plays provider more than finisher

Put John Lennon in your lineup

11 rolls, a starting eleven, 38 matches. Can you go 38-0? Free, no account.