Why do some people think that so-called catenaccio (or whatever defensive minded football is called) like what Westham did to Chelsea (last night), is bad football? Football is not a game - its actually a battle, just like Chess......sometimes you might face an opponent that has more naturally gifted players than yours like if say Uganda Cranes were to face Argentina with Lionel Messi, Aguero, Di Maria, etc......would Cranes also just open up and play their game and attack fwaaaaa? Cranes would have to play with caution - use ndobo, create a bus, attack Messi with say four players whenever he gets the ball, etc. All this would be done to ensure you get a result - either a draw or a win like what Senegal famously did to France in WC2002. For me thats the beauty of the game! And this is where the likes of Mourinho (last night) and Arsene Wenger with his kawowo football brand get it all wrong! Football is a battle where results matter ahead of beauty! Ive heard so many of our radio pundits (like Lumansi) dissing teams that employ defensive tactics the way Greece did to win the 2004 Euros. Greece at that time used one of Germanys most respected coaches Otto Rehaggel to beat the overwhelming odds and won the Euros ahead of the likes of England, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, etc! Catenaccio might not be beautiful but its a strategy (and an art) in itself especially when a team has to face-up to a supposedly superior, technically gifted team! It takes a lot of tactical discipline and planning not to mention communication among the team-mates. So, Westhams Allardyce was right to incense Mourinho that they outwitted him last night! - It was all about frustrating a team thats got world-class players and not to come here and lie down. Tactically we got it right in two areas particularly: one was in stopping (Eden) Hazard, Oscar and Willian and (Samuel) Etoo scoring goals; and the other one was stopping them scoring from set plays. We did a fantastic job.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 11:25:02 +0000
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