TOPIC ON ADVANCED FOOTBALL… The piece below is from Michael Cox’s accurate Analysis of Modern Football - after 2014 Brazil World Cup. It is a ‘reward’ for all those who understand what modern game is today and where it is going. (M Cox is the editor and renowned analyst of ‘Zonal Marking’) “Football today is, by and large, Spanish. Spains success has shaped the playing philosophies of almost every major European nation. Italy coach Cesare Prandelli unashamedly based his reign around the Spanish method of ball retention. Germany were inspired to press higher up the pitch following their defeat to Spain in 2010. France are now using a holding midfielder, Yohan Cabaye, who cites the Xavi theory that a player in that position should touch the ball 100 times per game. Dutch football was Spanish because the reverse was true, while Portuguese football has always been closely aligned with its neighbours anyway. Cesc Fabregas, Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla will lead the attacks of three Premier League title challengers in 2014-15. Even England, notoriously conservative and inward-looking, has drawn upon Spain in playing a more proactive style. The Premier League, meanwhile, will feature a title race between contenders featuring Juan Mata, David Silva, Santi Cazorla and Cesc Fabregas as playmakers, plus a Liverpool side whose manager frequently cites Spain as his greatest influence. This is the blood-and-thunder, 100 mph, ultra-physical Premier League. Granted, Spains precise style of passing football has sometimes been frustrating, but it has changed football. Those who claim Spains passing isnt anything new and is simply an evolution from the Dutch school of football are woefully misguided -- every style of football is influenced, in some way, by what came before it. Spain have rewritten the rule book -- theyve helped persuade everyone that good football is possession football, and good football is required to win matches. Its their greatest achievement. Think back to 2004, a decade ago, when Pep Guardiola was forced into retirement because no club wanted him -- no one wanted a midfielder who was about passing rather than physicality. The tactics are different now; you have to be a ball-winner, a tackler, like Patrick Vieira or Edgar Davids, he complained. If you can pass, too, well, thats a bonus. But the emphasis, as far as central midfielders are concerned, is all on defensive work and that’s not exciting Then think about football today, where passing has been re-popularised dramatically following years of Spanish success, and try to say tiki-taka is dead with a straight face. This generation of the national side is dead, but Spains influence will live on for decades”.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 09:40:23 +0000
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