A brief history of football tactics:
In this thread I want to be able to give a brief history of football tactics throughout time and how they have evolved: from the 2-3-5 pyramid, to the WM, to our modern day 4-3-3’s and 4-4-2’s. Hopefully people will find it interesting and will be able to try and recreate some of these tactics into FM.
In the beginning so to speak football had no tactical structure like today, the first organised games that were played with only feet (and not hands as well) were similar to the games of football you play at school- 1 at the back, 3 in the middle and 7 up front....
The Pyramid:
However by the 1880’s or late 1870’s a formation was invented in England called the pyramid a 2-3-5, with the centre half (not the same position as a centre back in modern times) the fulcrum of the team an all rounder, who would initiate play with long passes to dribblers on the wings. This formation would be used up until 1925 and the change in the offside law.
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The WM- The FA was forced to change the offside law in 1925 due to falling average goals (2.54 goals a game, a similar figure to modern day football, but unheard of at the time when free scoring football was the norm) and due to the low scoring games attendances began to decline. The offside law at this point demanded that three opposing players (usually a goalkeeper and two defenders) had to be between him and his opponents goal. The FA decided on the solution of needing only two players to be in advance of the forward and thus the game changed forever. Because of this change the WM was born here is an explanation of the WM:
It is generally accepted that Herbert Chapman, formerly manager of Northampton, Leeds and Huddersfield and as of 1925 manager of Arsenal, and his captain Charlie Buchan converted what was a central midfield player — the center-half — of a 2-3-5 into a central defender in response a change made in the offside law, which before 1925 had required three opposing players be between an opponent and the goal when the ball was played. The change provided extra coverage at the back — previously two defenders was more viable because both, theoretically, could always play with the opposition in front of them, otherwise that person was offsides.
From this platform, Chapman spent five years assembling an Arsenal squad that fit his vision, a team that could play fast, counter-attacking soccer, getting the ball forward quickly to take advantage of the space left by the gobs of men teams were throwing forward at the time. Which they did quite well, scoring 127 goals in the league in 1930-31. (Nevermind that that was also the year that Aston Villa set the record for most top-flight goals in a season with 128).
Think of the shape almost as an accordion: in defense, the three non-forward lines fall back, defending more or less with seven men at varying levels and with the wing halves – that’s Bob John and Charlie Jones – and defenders only applying heavy pressure close to the 18-yard box. Then when the ball was won, the players expanded, the forwards moving forward looking for the long pass, the middle stretching, until the wing-half line caught up with them and they were attacking with seven men once more. In that sense, they were among the first, certainly in England, to make use of the idea that would spark generations of Dutch teams — that the pitch should be made smaller when your opponents have the ball and larger when you do.
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http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...tion-tactic-3-2-2-2-1-****sticky-week***.html
The WM would be played in various ways up until the 1950’s and 1960’s (depending on the country and the players) including a variant used by the Italian teams of the 1930’s that won two world cups.
Hungary 1953 (The Golden Team): Perhaps the Original total football, in that it was a completely fluid formation in which the whole team played as one (the manager would claim this to be 'socialist football') with the forwards tracking back to defend as well as the defenders getting forward to support the play. The golden team were also the first team to evolve their formation into a 4-2-4 a formation which would become synonymous with the world beating Brazillian teams from the late 1950's up until the early 70's.
The teams most famous victory (even more than winning gold in the olympics in 1952) was against England at Wembley in 1953. England had previously never been beaten at home up until this point, but were comprehensively beaten 6-3 by this great Hungarian side (the score line flattered England).
The Hungarian football team of the 1950’s redefined football, revolutionising the way the game was approached and breaking numerous records. Between June 1950 and the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 the Magnificent Magyars compiled a competitive record of forty-two wins, seven draws and only one defeat. The tragedy is that the defeat came in the final of the 1954 World Cup.
The formation itself was a 3-2-1-4, with a deep lying striker behind the two main strikers, which eventually evolved into becoming a 4-2-4, with the deep lying striker coming deeper and becoming the attacking part of a 2 man central midfield (the same formation which the Brazilians would use in the 1962 world cup final.
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Real Madrid 1955-1960
This is perhaps the greatest club side of all time. It is certainly the most successful - having won the European Cup for an incredible five times consecutively after its
inception. Di Stefano is the common link and the greatest player in this team of a stars - starting as centre-forward but dropping back to midfield, and even helping to organise the defence. Gento was one of best left wingers in history and the team gained a star to rival Di Stefano when Ferenc Puskas joined in 1958 after defecting from communist Hungary. He would play at inside left but frequently moved into space in the box and was a great goalscorer. His arrival forced the legendary French playmaker Raymond Kopa onto the right wing, where he was also superb. Complementing these attacking players Santamaria was the rock at central defence.
The team on the left is the strongest line-up in this period - after Puskas arrived and before Kopa left the club, to be replaced by the talented Luis Del Sol. This team would have played in the 1959 European Cup Final but for the surprise last minute omission of Puskas, who was not liked by the coach, Carniglia. Miguel munoz replaced Carniglia the following season and Puskas played in the next European Cup Final: the 7-3 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt which is commonly considered to be the greatest football match of all time. Puskas and Di Stefano were both still playing when the team made the Final in 1962 and 1964. By the time they won it in 1966 it was largely a different team, although Gento was still there, making him the player that has won more European Cups than anyone else. This was a team of stars, an idea which has defined the club to the present day. In that way, this team bears more than a few similarities to the Galacticos side of the early 2000s. However, this team was much better balanced and much more sucessful.
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Birth of pressing... In the USSR
Compressing Space. In todays game this is seen as the ordinary, but in the 50's and the 60's and the teams I've mentioned here; this was not the case. Players had much more time on the ball than in modern times, and would have plenty of time to think. Space on the football pitch is one of the most important aspects of the approach to the game by the best and most innovative teams and managers. Rinus Micheles Ajax (masters of total football) pressed. As do the modern Barcelona of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. The masters of the game understand that manipulation of space on the pitch either creating it with attackers, or by closing it and making it smaller while defending. One of the first managers to encourage this and to undertsand this was a manager called Viktor Maslov (affectionally known as Granddad). He encouraged players to win the ball back higher up the pitch, and to attack the player and space rather then stand off him when defending (Zonal Marking).
The Great Brazil sides of 1958-1962 (and 1970):Two world cups back to back, with perhaps two of the best players ever in Pele and Garrincha. Thought of as better man to man than the Brazil team of the 1970 world cup (they actually had a great defence unlike in 1970) The team was also tactical revolutionaries twice over: with a new 4-2-4 formation in 1958 they then switched to a 4-3-3 in 1962, with Zagallo dropping back they won the World Cup without Pele.
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http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/football-manager-2012-tactics-training/87080-brazil-1970-4-2-4-a.html
Catenaccio and il Grande Inter- Catenaccio was, in the words of Gianni Brera, “The only way to play football.”
Catenaccio predicated itself on always having a spare man in defense. It accomplished this by using man-marking; each Inter player knew who he was meant to be keeping tabs on in his half of the field. The spare man was the sweeper, for those Inter teams, Armando Picchi, cleaning up anyone who slipped their marker long enough to provide a threat.
Man Marking – the key aspect to the defensive phase is that all opponents will be tightly man marked by the central defenders, the wing backs and the defensive midfielders, with the mobile libero double teaming wherever the ball approaches.
Counter Attacking – The main creative thrust of the system were the fantasist (which is a trequista, in Italian- literally someone who excites people with their wizardry, think of Totti and Del Piero in modern times), a central playmaker and sometimes the libero (although in this inter sidethe sweeper Picchi was incredibly defensive and only scored one goal in his entire time at Inter) . Efficiency of the forwards was paramount since very few chances were created, (very surprisingly Inter never had a brilliant striker during this period).
Catenaccio was used by nearly all Italian teams but only one team did it perfectly, Il Grande inter (the Great Inter) of the 1960’s who won two European cups and got to the final only to be beaten by the brilliant attacking force of Celtic in 1967. The formation varies from a 5-2-3, to a 4-3-3. It’s main downfall in the end was a lack of midfield players- only having two midfieilders in the middle was not enough to stop teams getting run over, and the Ajax team of the early 1970’s and total football illustrated this perfectly.
The desired formation would mean having to remove a man from the midfield and replace him with a sweeper, meaning ultimatley that Catenaccio would get overwhelmed in the midfield. The torante, (right winge who tracked back) was supposed to cure this however since most teams did not have gifted enough players as Le Grande Inters Jair this never really worked, and the style of play would seem even more negative than it actually was.
Perhaps one of the other reasons why the formation was so unpopular was due to (apart from accusations of cheating from Herrera's inter, namely in a european cup semi final with Liverpool) the fact that other Italian sides did not have the attacking outlet of Fachetti in the Left Wing Back position.
The players who played in Herrera's il grande inter, accounted their failure in the European final in 1967 due to tiredness and over exhaustion. This was because Herrera would push his players mentally and physically to the limit, and by 1967 many admitted they could not carry on anymore.
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Other Notable teams who used a form of Catenaccio
AC Milan
Perhaps a more attacking side than il grande Inter were Nereo Rocco's Milan from 1962- 69 (two different sides, of which Gianni Rivera was the star in both sides)
In the 1960s a new Milan team won the prestigious trophy twice, equalling the success of their city rivals Inter. Nero Rocco's team, like Inter, was based on a solid sweeper system but perhaps offered more attacking intent. Prati and Hamrin were the flying wingers; Sormani was the centre-forward (in 1963 it was the great Brazilian Altafini); but the real talent behind both teams was Gianni Rivera their attacking midfield maestro. The personnel was almost completely different in the two European finals (World Cup stars such as Hamrin and full-back Schnellinger joining for 1969) but Rocco remained in control, the system was the same with the same player roles and, above all, Rivera was the playmaker in both teams.
Ironically AC Milan beat Cruyff's (admittedly young, it would be another two years until they would win the European cup) Ajax in the 1969 european cup final.
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In Modern times, sides have been compared with Catenaccio style football. Notably- Jose Mourinho's Inter in 2010, and of the time of writing this La Gazzetta dello sport compared Chelsea's semi final win in the Champions league to catenaccio.
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England 1966: "There's not much to add that you probably don't already know. England's finest hour; made all the brighter due to her relative lack of success since. Alf Ramsey was a tactical revolutionary, inventing the 4-4-2 and the hardworking, versatile midfield, which has since become a staple of the game since. Maybe England's association of that system with glory continues to hold back necessary evolution." While loved in England and thought of as revolutionairy by English people, in Europe and South America this tactical revolation was merley seen as a catch up for the British game- that would soon be surpassed by Total Football. However many English sides would win European cups with the 4-4-2 due to their hard working attitude not seen abroad. This is not to detract too much from English football's achievements with the 4-4-2, Brian Clough's provincial Nottingham Forrest side is very respected abroad for the great football they played, and this was made possible by England's 1966 side.
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Total Football: This Ajax side changed football. Rinus Michels, with the help of the brilliant on-field orchestrator Johann Cruyff, developed the famous Total Football system with this Ajax side. Players interchanged positions and supported each other in an exciting fluid foootball style. It took the team to three consecutive European Cups. Michels left to coach the Dutch national team, where he used the same system and the same core players.
What’s interesting is how that position switching worked: Not so much the fact that it asked the forward, midfielder, and defender on each wing and through the middle to interchange but that they were able to do so and maintain any semblance of shape — especially midfield solidarity. A big part of this is the way Ajax manipulated space with their shape: They expanded when they had the ball and contracted when they didn’t. The midfielders played as wide men as they moved the ball down the field and would come inside toward goal as they moved to the attacking end. When the other team had possession, they’d tuck in more narrowly, so it wasn’t a lone central midfielder getting passed around in the center of the field. Wingers would chase the ball from their zone into the center of the field and back, and once they regained possession, the whole squad would nova outward to create the maximum amount of space on the field.
These Ajax squads did not tiki-taka up and down the field. They moved the ball forward with a vengeance, constantly pushing their opponents. Players who had won the ball would pass to the man moving into space whether he was five or ten or forty yards ahead, and he seemed to be forty yards ahead a lot, especially on the moves that resulted in shots on goal. As David Winner quotes winger Sjark Swaart, “In four passes we would be in front of goal. Nowadays they take twenty passes — backwards, sideways, backwards. We didn’t play like that. We went for the goal.”
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...9-ajax-1971-73-recreation-tactic-updated.html
A variant of this system was used in the USSR by the dominant Dynamo Kyiev team who would play very fluid football and press hard to get the ball back.
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...92-recreation-tactic-ussr-total-football.html
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Zona Mista: The Zona Mista was a tactical solution devised by the Italian coaches to marry the best features of both Zonal Marking and Catenaccio. In this system, the primary defensive tactic was Zonal Marking, however the libero was assigned to man mark dangerous opponents. This new system was incredibly potent, and the”real” reason today’s generation hear stories of “Italian Defense.” From the late seventies onwards, under the guidance of Giovanni Trapatonni the Italian giants Juventus started a cycle of dominance both within Italy and in Europe. The culmination of the Italian Football dominance was in the 1982 World Cup victory. For the Zona Mista defensive system, the consecration came in the form of Maradona’s tears and Gentile’s immortal words – “Football is not for ballerinas.”
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Juventus circa 1984
The Italians ruled the world with this tactic for several years before there was another shift in tactics that again helped shape modern tactics.
The 3-5-2,: and the birth of the deep lying forward, the fifth member in midfield.
From the accounts I’ve read there is nothing particularly brilliant about the tactical change by Argentina in 1986 and they perhaps would not have won the World Cup if it were not for Maradona, or if teams decided to attack them with wingers... What the tactic does show is the use of wingbacks not used previously in a formation. And also most importantly in the case of Maradona using a deep lying forward almost an extra man in midfield instead of a second out and out striker a phenomenom that would carry on until today. This 5th man in midfield instead of a striker was also used with Michael Platini who would drop deep and collect the ball as well as going after goals.
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Arrigo Sacchi, Zonal Marking, and the death of the libero
In the 1960's Milan was one of the Italian teams who defined Catenaccio and the use of the libero to amazing effect- the idea caught on across Europe, and was used heavily up until the 1990's. It was Sacchi with Milan who was the main change in this- Using his Zonal marking system, a Zonal system so effective, that its no ones ever really managed to get close to it again. Marking was moved from player to player through different Zones, he also introduced the modern pressing game- unlike total footballs pressing game it was not based on superior athleticism. Sacchi's side had probably the best defence the world has ever seen, but the team was not defensive, destroying barcelona and real madrid to go on to win back to back European Cups
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http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...reation-tactic-sacchis-milan.html#post1369360
France 1998-2006- 4-5-1, No wingers, expectancy on modern fullbacks-
The next tactical surge forward came in 1998 with the French National team:
Jacquet unveiled a tactical revolution in 1998 which has changed the game since. Playing without wingers and with a target man in Guivarc'h, not a natural goalscorer, whose job was simply to hold the ball up, the attacking talent came from midfield. The innovation was the return of the two-tier midfield, a separation of attacking and defensive midfielders that harked back to the W-M formation in some ways. Since this innovation few teams now play with less than 3 players in the central midfield area (certainly in international or European football), for risk of losing control of the game, and 2 attacking midfielders often shuttle between attack and midfield. Full-backs are increasingly relied upon to provide width from now on.
The configuration of this midfield varied depending on the personel available and the opponents. In 1998 it was mostly 4-3-2-1; by 2002, with the emergence of the great Vieira it was more 4-2-3-1 (today's default formation). The great Henry was also a regular in the team by 2002. Despite these talents the team underperformed and slumped badly in both the 2002 World Cup and in Euro 2004. In 2006 however they had one last great flowering. Led by great performances from the veterans Zidane, Vieira and Thuram they reached the Final.
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Roma 2005-2007- A hint to the future of football: Strikerless Formations
After the millennium, football has evolved dramatically. Its gotten faster, with more pressing of possession than anyone could have imagined in the 1960's in the days of Catenaccio (see above). Also something that has developed over the early 2000's was the reduction of strikers from the traditional 2, to 1 striker. However AS Roma in the 2005-2007 seasons hinted at the future of football, 0 strikers. Strikerless formations. Instead of having a traditional target man, or poacher, football could be played entirely in the midfield in the future, with a Treq or Fantasia as the furthest forward man. Totti enjoyed this role during these seasons, as the main focal point of attacks. All we can do is speculate whether the dominant formations of the future will be 4-6-0's and 3-7-0's, but Barcelona below hint at this. As did Australia in the 2006 world cup, holding possession against better teams with their 3-6-1 formation.
Barcelona 2006-present
The current side is simply one of the best that the game has ever seen. They play breathtaking possession-based attacking football based on movement and great technique, leaving ample space for flair players to express themselves. But, most impressively, this is coupled with a strong work ethic that sees all players press the ball, run hard for 90 minutes and support each other. In this season and last we've seen brilliant sides in jose mourinho's real madrid and alex fergurson's Manchester United made to look like part timers by this side.
This side started to take its shape under Frank Rijkaard who followed Johan Cruyff's example of playing a 4-3-3 (which cruyff had done with the barcelona "dream team" in the 1990's) and mixed brilliant international stars like Ronaldinho and Eto'o as well as emerging catalan talent such as Puyol, Xavi and Iniesta. This team ended Real Madrid's dominance of Spain and won the 2006 Champions leauge beating arsenal.
His successor, the former player Pep Guardiola, tackled the star culture at the club by removing talented but egotistical players such as Ronaldinho, and later Eto'o, and further emphasising work-rate and teamwork
At the heart of this team and most of its moves is Lionel Messi, who is already being compared to the best players of all time, and could well be the best ever. In the 2010-2011 season he topped the assit tallys for Barcelona (24 in all competitions) and scored 53 goals in 55 games.
Barcelona have won their third european cup title in six years, and fourth overall.
Tacticly- interestingly this season Barcelona have switched to a 3-4-3, or a 3-3-4 with a diamond in midfield and 3 at the back, with cesc fabregas playing as a false no. 9 as well as messi. However in my own opinion, this switch was too attacking, and led to their defeat in the league and champions league.
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UPDATED: Catenaccio- and continuation of catenaccio in modern times
Would be excelent if you could leave a comment, so the thread dosent get lost- I understand it might not be to everyones tastes but I spent quite a lot of time writing this all up and finding images.
In this thread I want to be able to give a brief history of football tactics throughout time and how they have evolved: from the 2-3-5 pyramid, to the WM, to our modern day 4-3-3’s and 4-4-2’s. Hopefully people will find it interesting and will be able to try and recreate some of these tactics into FM.
In the beginning so to speak football had no tactical structure like today, the first organised games that were played with only feet (and not hands as well) were similar to the games of football you play at school- 1 at the back, 3 in the middle and 7 up front....
The Pyramid:
However by the 1880’s or late 1870’s a formation was invented in England called the pyramid a 2-3-5, with the centre half (not the same position as a centre back in modern times) the fulcrum of the team an all rounder, who would initiate play with long passes to dribblers on the wings. This formation would be used up until 1925 and the change in the offside law.
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The WM- The FA was forced to change the offside law in 1925 due to falling average goals (2.54 goals a game, a similar figure to modern day football, but unheard of at the time when free scoring football was the norm) and due to the low scoring games attendances began to decline. The offside law at this point demanded that three opposing players (usually a goalkeeper and two defenders) had to be between him and his opponents goal. The FA decided on the solution of needing only two players to be in advance of the forward and thus the game changed forever. Because of this change the WM was born here is an explanation of the WM:
It is generally accepted that Herbert Chapman, formerly manager of Northampton, Leeds and Huddersfield and as of 1925 manager of Arsenal, and his captain Charlie Buchan converted what was a central midfield player — the center-half — of a 2-3-5 into a central defender in response a change made in the offside law, which before 1925 had required three opposing players be between an opponent and the goal when the ball was played. The change provided extra coverage at the back — previously two defenders was more viable because both, theoretically, could always play with the opposition in front of them, otherwise that person was offsides.
From this platform, Chapman spent five years assembling an Arsenal squad that fit his vision, a team that could play fast, counter-attacking soccer, getting the ball forward quickly to take advantage of the space left by the gobs of men teams were throwing forward at the time. Which they did quite well, scoring 127 goals in the league in 1930-31. (Nevermind that that was also the year that Aston Villa set the record for most top-flight goals in a season with 128).
Think of the shape almost as an accordion: in defense, the three non-forward lines fall back, defending more or less with seven men at varying levels and with the wing halves – that’s Bob John and Charlie Jones – and defenders only applying heavy pressure close to the 18-yard box. Then when the ball was won, the players expanded, the forwards moving forward looking for the long pass, the middle stretching, until the wing-half line caught up with them and they were attacking with seven men once more. In that sense, they were among the first, certainly in England, to make use of the idea that would spark generations of Dutch teams — that the pitch should be made smaller when your opponents have the ball and larger when you do.
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http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...tion-tactic-3-2-2-2-1-****sticky-week***.html
The WM would be played in various ways up until the 1950’s and 1960’s (depending on the country and the players) including a variant used by the Italian teams of the 1930’s that won two world cups.
Hungary 1953 (The Golden Team): Perhaps the Original total football, in that it was a completely fluid formation in which the whole team played as one (the manager would claim this to be 'socialist football') with the forwards tracking back to defend as well as the defenders getting forward to support the play. The golden team were also the first team to evolve their formation into a 4-2-4 a formation which would become synonymous with the world beating Brazillian teams from the late 1950's up until the early 70's.
The teams most famous victory (even more than winning gold in the olympics in 1952) was against England at Wembley in 1953. England had previously never been beaten at home up until this point, but were comprehensively beaten 6-3 by this great Hungarian side (the score line flattered England).
The Hungarian football team of the 1950’s redefined football, revolutionising the way the game was approached and breaking numerous records. Between June 1950 and the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 the Magnificent Magyars compiled a competitive record of forty-two wins, seven draws and only one defeat. The tragedy is that the defeat came in the final of the 1954 World Cup.
The formation itself was a 3-2-1-4, with a deep lying striker behind the two main strikers, which eventually evolved into becoming a 4-2-4, with the deep lying striker coming deeper and becoming the attacking part of a 2 man central midfield (the same formation which the Brazilians would use in the 1962 world cup final.
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Real Madrid 1955-1960
This is perhaps the greatest club side of all time. It is certainly the most successful - having won the European Cup for an incredible five times consecutively after its
inception. Di Stefano is the common link and the greatest player in this team of a stars - starting as centre-forward but dropping back to midfield, and even helping to organise the defence. Gento was one of best left wingers in history and the team gained a star to rival Di Stefano when Ferenc Puskas joined in 1958 after defecting from communist Hungary. He would play at inside left but frequently moved into space in the box and was a great goalscorer. His arrival forced the legendary French playmaker Raymond Kopa onto the right wing, where he was also superb. Complementing these attacking players Santamaria was the rock at central defence.
The team on the left is the strongest line-up in this period - after Puskas arrived and before Kopa left the club, to be replaced by the talented Luis Del Sol. This team would have played in the 1959 European Cup Final but for the surprise last minute omission of Puskas, who was not liked by the coach, Carniglia. Miguel munoz replaced Carniglia the following season and Puskas played in the next European Cup Final: the 7-3 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt which is commonly considered to be the greatest football match of all time. Puskas and Di Stefano were both still playing when the team made the Final in 1962 and 1964. By the time they won it in 1966 it was largely a different team, although Gento was still there, making him the player that has won more European Cups than anyone else. This was a team of stars, an idea which has defined the club to the present day. In that way, this team bears more than a few similarities to the Galacticos side of the early 2000s. However, this team was much better balanced and much more sucessful.
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Birth of pressing... In the USSR
Compressing Space. In todays game this is seen as the ordinary, but in the 50's and the 60's and the teams I've mentioned here; this was not the case. Players had much more time on the ball than in modern times, and would have plenty of time to think. Space on the football pitch is one of the most important aspects of the approach to the game by the best and most innovative teams and managers. Rinus Micheles Ajax (masters of total football) pressed. As do the modern Barcelona of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. The masters of the game understand that manipulation of space on the pitch either creating it with attackers, or by closing it and making it smaller while defending. One of the first managers to encourage this and to undertsand this was a manager called Viktor Maslov (affectionally known as Granddad). He encouraged players to win the ball back higher up the pitch, and to attack the player and space rather then stand off him when defending (Zonal Marking).
The Great Brazil sides of 1958-1962 (and 1970):Two world cups back to back, with perhaps two of the best players ever in Pele and Garrincha. Thought of as better man to man than the Brazil team of the 1970 world cup (they actually had a great defence unlike in 1970) The team was also tactical revolutionaries twice over: with a new 4-2-4 formation in 1958 they then switched to a 4-3-3 in 1962, with Zagallo dropping back they won the World Cup without Pele.
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http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/football-manager-2012-tactics-training/87080-brazil-1970-4-2-4-a.html
Catenaccio and il Grande Inter- Catenaccio was, in the words of Gianni Brera, “The only way to play football.”
Catenaccio predicated itself on always having a spare man in defense. It accomplished this by using man-marking; each Inter player knew who he was meant to be keeping tabs on in his half of the field. The spare man was the sweeper, for those Inter teams, Armando Picchi, cleaning up anyone who slipped their marker long enough to provide a threat.
Man Marking – the key aspect to the defensive phase is that all opponents will be tightly man marked by the central defenders, the wing backs and the defensive midfielders, with the mobile libero double teaming wherever the ball approaches.
Counter Attacking – The main creative thrust of the system were the fantasist (which is a trequista, in Italian- literally someone who excites people with their wizardry, think of Totti and Del Piero in modern times), a central playmaker and sometimes the libero (although in this inter sidethe sweeper Picchi was incredibly defensive and only scored one goal in his entire time at Inter) . Efficiency of the forwards was paramount since very few chances were created, (very surprisingly Inter never had a brilliant striker during this period).
Catenaccio was used by nearly all Italian teams but only one team did it perfectly, Il Grande inter (the Great Inter) of the 1960’s who won two European cups and got to the final only to be beaten by the brilliant attacking force of Celtic in 1967. The formation varies from a 5-2-3, to a 4-3-3. It’s main downfall in the end was a lack of midfield players- only having two midfieilders in the middle was not enough to stop teams getting run over, and the Ajax team of the early 1970’s and total football illustrated this perfectly.
The desired formation would mean having to remove a man from the midfield and replace him with a sweeper, meaning ultimatley that Catenaccio would get overwhelmed in the midfield. The torante, (right winge who tracked back) was supposed to cure this however since most teams did not have gifted enough players as Le Grande Inters Jair this never really worked, and the style of play would seem even more negative than it actually was.
Perhaps one of the other reasons why the formation was so unpopular was due to (apart from accusations of cheating from Herrera's inter, namely in a european cup semi final with Liverpool) the fact that other Italian sides did not have the attacking outlet of Fachetti in the Left Wing Back position.
The players who played in Herrera's il grande inter, accounted their failure in the European final in 1967 due to tiredness and over exhaustion. This was because Herrera would push his players mentally and physically to the limit, and by 1967 many admitted they could not carry on anymore.
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Other Notable teams who used a form of Catenaccio
AC Milan
Perhaps a more attacking side than il grande Inter were Nereo Rocco's Milan from 1962- 69 (two different sides, of which Gianni Rivera was the star in both sides)
In the 1960s a new Milan team won the prestigious trophy twice, equalling the success of their city rivals Inter. Nero Rocco's team, like Inter, was based on a solid sweeper system but perhaps offered more attacking intent. Prati and Hamrin were the flying wingers; Sormani was the centre-forward (in 1963 it was the great Brazilian Altafini); but the real talent behind both teams was Gianni Rivera their attacking midfield maestro. The personnel was almost completely different in the two European finals (World Cup stars such as Hamrin and full-back Schnellinger joining for 1969) but Rocco remained in control, the system was the same with the same player roles and, above all, Rivera was the playmaker in both teams.
Ironically AC Milan beat Cruyff's (admittedly young, it would be another two years until they would win the European cup) Ajax in the 1969 european cup final.
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In Modern times, sides have been compared with Catenaccio style football. Notably- Jose Mourinho's Inter in 2010, and of the time of writing this La Gazzetta dello sport compared Chelsea's semi final win in the Champions league to catenaccio.
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England 1966: "There's not much to add that you probably don't already know. England's finest hour; made all the brighter due to her relative lack of success since. Alf Ramsey was a tactical revolutionary, inventing the 4-4-2 and the hardworking, versatile midfield, which has since become a staple of the game since. Maybe England's association of that system with glory continues to hold back necessary evolution." While loved in England and thought of as revolutionairy by English people, in Europe and South America this tactical revolation was merley seen as a catch up for the British game- that would soon be surpassed by Total Football. However many English sides would win European cups with the 4-4-2 due to their hard working attitude not seen abroad. This is not to detract too much from English football's achievements with the 4-4-2, Brian Clough's provincial Nottingham Forrest side is very respected abroad for the great football they played, and this was made possible by England's 1966 side.
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Total Football: This Ajax side changed football. Rinus Michels, with the help of the brilliant on-field orchestrator Johann Cruyff, developed the famous Total Football system with this Ajax side. Players interchanged positions and supported each other in an exciting fluid foootball style. It took the team to three consecutive European Cups. Michels left to coach the Dutch national team, where he used the same system and the same core players.
What’s interesting is how that position switching worked: Not so much the fact that it asked the forward, midfielder, and defender on each wing and through the middle to interchange but that they were able to do so and maintain any semblance of shape — especially midfield solidarity. A big part of this is the way Ajax manipulated space with their shape: They expanded when they had the ball and contracted when they didn’t. The midfielders played as wide men as they moved the ball down the field and would come inside toward goal as they moved to the attacking end. When the other team had possession, they’d tuck in more narrowly, so it wasn’t a lone central midfielder getting passed around in the center of the field. Wingers would chase the ball from their zone into the center of the field and back, and once they regained possession, the whole squad would nova outward to create the maximum amount of space on the field.
These Ajax squads did not tiki-taka up and down the field. They moved the ball forward with a vengeance, constantly pushing their opponents. Players who had won the ball would pass to the man moving into space whether he was five or ten or forty yards ahead, and he seemed to be forty yards ahead a lot, especially on the moves that resulted in shots on goal. As David Winner quotes winger Sjark Swaart, “In four passes we would be in front of goal. Nowadays they take twenty passes — backwards, sideways, backwards. We didn’t play like that. We went for the goal.”
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...9-ajax-1971-73-recreation-tactic-updated.html
A variant of this system was used in the USSR by the dominant Dynamo Kyiev team who would play very fluid football and press hard to get the ball back.
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...92-recreation-tactic-ussr-total-football.html
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Zona Mista: The Zona Mista was a tactical solution devised by the Italian coaches to marry the best features of both Zonal Marking and Catenaccio. In this system, the primary defensive tactic was Zonal Marking, however the libero was assigned to man mark dangerous opponents. This new system was incredibly potent, and the”real” reason today’s generation hear stories of “Italian Defense.” From the late seventies onwards, under the guidance of Giovanni Trapatonni the Italian giants Juventus started a cycle of dominance both within Italy and in Europe. The culmination of the Italian Football dominance was in the 1982 World Cup victory. For the Zona Mista defensive system, the consecration came in the form of Maradona’s tears and Gentile’s immortal words – “Football is not for ballerinas.”
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Juventus circa 1984
The Italians ruled the world with this tactic for several years before there was another shift in tactics that again helped shape modern tactics.
The 3-5-2,: and the birth of the deep lying forward, the fifth member in midfield.
From the accounts I’ve read there is nothing particularly brilliant about the tactical change by Argentina in 1986 and they perhaps would not have won the World Cup if it were not for Maradona, or if teams decided to attack them with wingers... What the tactic does show is the use of wingbacks not used previously in a formation. And also most importantly in the case of Maradona using a deep lying forward almost an extra man in midfield instead of a second out and out striker a phenomenom that would carry on until today. This 5th man in midfield instead of a striker was also used with Michael Platini who would drop deep and collect the ball as well as going after goals.
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Arrigo Sacchi, Zonal Marking, and the death of the libero
In the 1960's Milan was one of the Italian teams who defined Catenaccio and the use of the libero to amazing effect- the idea caught on across Europe, and was used heavily up until the 1990's. It was Sacchi with Milan who was the main change in this- Using his Zonal marking system, a Zonal system so effective, that its no ones ever really managed to get close to it again. Marking was moved from player to player through different Zones, he also introduced the modern pressing game- unlike total footballs pressing game it was not based on superior athleticism. Sacchi's side had probably the best defence the world has ever seen, but the team was not defensive, destroying barcelona and real madrid to go on to win back to back European Cups
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http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...reation-tactic-sacchis-milan.html#post1369360
France 1998-2006- 4-5-1, No wingers, expectancy on modern fullbacks-
The next tactical surge forward came in 1998 with the French National team:
Jacquet unveiled a tactical revolution in 1998 which has changed the game since. Playing without wingers and with a target man in Guivarc'h, not a natural goalscorer, whose job was simply to hold the ball up, the attacking talent came from midfield. The innovation was the return of the two-tier midfield, a separation of attacking and defensive midfielders that harked back to the W-M formation in some ways. Since this innovation few teams now play with less than 3 players in the central midfield area (certainly in international or European football), for risk of losing control of the game, and 2 attacking midfielders often shuttle between attack and midfield. Full-backs are increasingly relied upon to provide width from now on.
The configuration of this midfield varied depending on the personel available and the opponents. In 1998 it was mostly 4-3-2-1; by 2002, with the emergence of the great Vieira it was more 4-2-3-1 (today's default formation). The great Henry was also a regular in the team by 2002. Despite these talents the team underperformed and slumped badly in both the 2002 World Cup and in Euro 2004. In 2006 however they had one last great flowering. Led by great performances from the veterans Zidane, Vieira and Thuram they reached the Final.
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Roma 2005-2007- A hint to the future of football: Strikerless Formations
After the millennium, football has evolved dramatically. Its gotten faster, with more pressing of possession than anyone could have imagined in the 1960's in the days of Catenaccio (see above). Also something that has developed over the early 2000's was the reduction of strikers from the traditional 2, to 1 striker. However AS Roma in the 2005-2007 seasons hinted at the future of football, 0 strikers. Strikerless formations. Instead of having a traditional target man, or poacher, football could be played entirely in the midfield in the future, with a Treq or Fantasia as the furthest forward man. Totti enjoyed this role during these seasons, as the main focal point of attacks. All we can do is speculate whether the dominant formations of the future will be 4-6-0's and 3-7-0's, but Barcelona below hint at this. As did Australia in the 2006 world cup, holding possession against better teams with their 3-6-1 formation.
Barcelona 2006-present
The current side is simply one of the best that the game has ever seen. They play breathtaking possession-based attacking football based on movement and great technique, leaving ample space for flair players to express themselves. But, most impressively, this is coupled with a strong work ethic that sees all players press the ball, run hard for 90 minutes and support each other. In this season and last we've seen brilliant sides in jose mourinho's real madrid and alex fergurson's Manchester United made to look like part timers by this side.
This side started to take its shape under Frank Rijkaard who followed Johan Cruyff's example of playing a 4-3-3 (which cruyff had done with the barcelona "dream team" in the 1990's) and mixed brilliant international stars like Ronaldinho and Eto'o as well as emerging catalan talent such as Puyol, Xavi and Iniesta. This team ended Real Madrid's dominance of Spain and won the 2006 Champions leauge beating arsenal.
His successor, the former player Pep Guardiola, tackled the star culture at the club by removing talented but egotistical players such as Ronaldinho, and later Eto'o, and further emphasising work-rate and teamwork
At the heart of this team and most of its moves is Lionel Messi, who is already being compared to the best players of all time, and could well be the best ever. In the 2010-2011 season he topped the assit tallys for Barcelona (24 in all competitions) and scored 53 goals in 55 games.
Barcelona have won their third european cup title in six years, and fourth overall.
Tacticly- interestingly this season Barcelona have switched to a 3-4-3, or a 3-3-4 with a diamond in midfield and 3 at the back, with cesc fabregas playing as a false no. 9 as well as messi. However in my own opinion, this switch was too attacking, and led to their defeat in the league and champions league.
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UPDATED: Catenaccio- and continuation of catenaccio in modern times
Would be excelent if you could leave a comment, so the thread dosent get lost- I understand it might not be to everyones tastes but I spent quite a lot of time writing this all up and finding images.
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