You Can't Win the World Cup With Eleven Strikers

By: Ben Rosbach

The World Cup is here, and for the first time ever it's being played in our backyard: forty-eight nations, sixteen cities across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, and matches happening just down the road at SoFi through mid-July. Walk around L.A. and you'll hear a dozen languages and see flags from every corner of the planet, all sharing that once-every-four-years feeling of the world watching the same game at once. If you've caught any of the group stage, you know the rhythm: the cameras love the strikers, the highlight reels are all goals, and every morning the talk is about who scored.

But here's what every coach knows and every casual fan forgets: tournaments aren't won by the team that scores the prettiest goals. They're won by the team that's complete.

You can't field eleven strikers

Imagine a manager so excited about scoring that he fields eleven forwards. No goalkeeper, no defenders, no one holding the midfield. It sounds thrilling for about ten minutes, until the other team walks in three easy goals while your forwards wait for a ball that never comes.

Portfolios get built this way all the time. When markets run hot, it's tempting to load up entirely on the high-flyers: the growth names, the hot sector, the single stock already up 200%. Each one looks like a guaranteed goal-scorer. But eleven strikers isn't a strategy; it's a hope. The moment conditions change, there's nothing behind them.

A real squad is balanced on purpose. You want players generating offense, but also steady contributors who hold their position when things get chaotic, and a few who exist purely to keep the ball out of your net. In a portfolio, that's the difference between concentration and diversification: spreading across asset classes so no single bad result ends your run.

Defense wins championships

Ask anyone who's lifted a trophy and they'll say the same thing: it's the back line that gets you there. Defense isn't glamorous. Nobody buys a jersey for a well-timed tackle. But the teams that go deep into July are almost always the ones that don't beat themselves.

The financial version of a strong back line is the stuff that never makes the highlight reel: an emergency reserve covering several months of expenses, the right insurance before you need it, and a plan built to absorb a bad year rather than be wrecked by one. None of it is flashy. All of it keeps you in the tournament when something you didn't see coming puts you under pressure: a job change, a market drop, a surprise expense.

This matters even more if your income is streaky, as it is for business owners and folks with equity-heavy or commission-based pay. Even elite forwards hit scoring droughts; the pros plan for them during the hot streak, so a quiet stretch is an inconvenience instead of a crisis.

The midfield does the quiet work

Between the goal-scorers and the back line sits the midfield: the players who don’t always make the highlight reel but run the most miles, control the tempo, and connect defense to attack so the team plays as one unit instead of two disconnected halves. A great midfield dictates how the game is played.

In your plan, that tempo-setting work is cash flow management: deciding when to push toward growth and when to hold possession in reserves, when to accelerate after a strong year and when to slow down. It rarely makes a highlight reel, but it's the engine room, the difference between money that just comes and goes and money moved with purpose toward where you want to end up.

Running alongside it is tax planning, maybe the most underrated player on the pitch. It never shows up on the scoreboard, yet it quietly decides how much of what you earn you keep. Good midfields win by retaining possession over ninety minutes; smart tax planning wins the same way over years and decades, coordinating how and when income, investments, and distributions are taxed so small, repeated edges compound into a meaningfully better result. (Periodic rebalancing lives here too, the same patient, unglamorous work that keeps the team from beating itself.)

Building the whole team

The best plans, like the best teams, aren't built around a single hero. The goals get the headlines, but it's offense, defense, and a hardworking midfield that win the tournament together.

So as the next few weeks unfold, take a look at your own lineup. Are you fielding eleven strikers and hoping nothing comes the other way, or do you have a complete team? If you're not sure what your back line looks like, that's exactly the conversation I love to have with clients.

Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management is an investment advisor located in California. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Registration of an investment advisor does not imply any specific level of skill or training and does not constitute an endorsement of the firm by the Commission. Gerber Kawasaki only transacts business in states in which it is properly registered or is excluded or exempted from registration. A copy of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management 's current written disclosure brochure filed with the SEC which discusses, among other things, Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management's business practices, services and fees, is available through the SEC's website at: http://www.adviserinfo.sec.gov . 

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Ben Rosbach is a Financial Advisor of Santa Monica, California-based Gerber Kawasaki Inc., an SEC-registered investment firm with approximately ~$4.09B billion in assets under management and advisement as of 12/31/25.  The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which course of action may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor. No strategy assures success or protects against loss. Readers shouldn't buy any investment without doing their research to determine if the investments are suitable for their situation. “All investments involve risk and one should consult a financial advisor before making any investments. Past performance is not indicative of future results." Every situation is unique and you should consult a tax professional and a financial advisor before making any decisions.