While Real Madrid squabble among themselves, Barcelona have managed the transition to a new coach smoothly. Indulged individuals may be able to keep things together long enough to win occasional trophies, but egotism will eventually breed discontent. José Mourinho might at last have won the psychological battle against Pep Guardiola last season but he has probably lost the tactical war. Passing and pressing dominates at the top table The leader in strikerlessness, though, remains Barcelona and Messi. That complicated opponents' marking structures and also meant that Corinthians could pin in the opposing full-backs, something that was vital to their fine defensive record. Nothing, perhaps, could have expressed the modern Spain's disdain for orthodox centre-forward play, for their disregard of goalscoring as a measure of ability, than the fact that Fernando Torres won the golden boot – a moment of high-concept satire to rank alongside Henry Kissinger winning the Nobel Peace Prize.Īlthough Corinthians signed Paolo Guerrero in the summer and moved to a 4-2-3-1, their side that won the Copa Libertadores earlier this year operated with a different kind of strikerlessness, the front two of Jorge Henrique and Emerson often drifting wide to turn 4-2-2-2 to 4-2-4-0. In that, of course, he sounds very like an old-fashioned target-man it is just that his hold-up play was not done after battling for high balls pumped from the back but from short low passes played from midfield. His job was to hold the ball up and lay it off, to serve as a board for other midfielders to bounce the ball off. He played in the centre-forward's position but he brought to the role the skill-set and mind-set of a midfielder. Where Messi drops deep, leaving space that disconcerts defenders and that his team-mates can exploit, Fábregas's deployment was far more like that of an orthodox centre-forward. Most seemed happy enough to call him a false nine but he was a very different false nine to, say, Lionel Messi. Del Bosque, of course, often used Cesc Fábregas as his centre-forward. Most recent tactical innovations have been designed with ball retention in mind. Although Chelsea's success in the Champions League shows that exceptions still occur, and that the dogged and the disciplined and the hyper-motivated can still prosper under certain conditions, at the highest level the majority of games are won by the team that best controls the ball. For a long time football was about dribbling, then it became increasingly about pace or physical strength now, thanks to law changes that have made tackling more difficult and less brutal and have increased the effective playing area by all but eliminating the offside trap, football is about passing. Spain's triumph in Poland and Ukraine may come to be seen as the zenith of the age of the pass. And who, really, was to blame if Spain's games became sterile: Spain, who were winning, or the teams who packed defences against them and when asked to come and get the ball could not do so? Del Bosque said his side would look better if teams allowed them "profundidad" – depth of field of play – and as soon as an opponent made the mistake of doing so – Italy did in the final – they were hammered 4-0. Some people moaned it was boring but Del Bosque did not care, his priority being winning games rather than satisfying the whims of a neutral audience. It might not have been especially exciting, but it was effective. If others wanted to defend deep against them – as sides have increasingly been doing as Spain have dominated the world game – they were happy to keep the ball, knowing that chances would eventually present themselves by process of attrition. 140 years later, Vicente del Bosque's Spain won Euro 2012 using passing football to control games. And so was invented passing and possession football.
0 kommentar(er)
