Posted on 07/11/2010 6:04:13 AM PDT by Perdogg
I was disappointed in how dirty the Netherlands was. Spain earned the cup.
Cindie
About as bad of a final as the 1994 Final. But at least it didn’t go to PKs, and in the end the best team did win.
I was rooting for Holland, but I was disappointed with all of their fouling, “Total Football” this wasn’t.
Can we now proclaim Holland as the “Buffalo Bills” of World Soccer?
or the Minnesota Vikings
“How cold is it there? The entire stands are all wearing coats and the coaches and players all have blankets?”
Earlier when I was watching the game, I went to weather.com and typed in Johannesburg.
It said that temp was 45 degrees. Earlier in the day, the daytime temp was only 65 degrees.
Oh my. We’re stuffed with salpicón de mariscos and sangría down here. Ole, ole, ole, ole...ole, ole oleoleo, le!
In general, the defender and midfield chains today are so efficient that, when played well, the safest way to score is to counter, or hope for a set piece, IMHO
You can try to overload it via the wing defenders, but you run the high risk of getting burned on a counter yourself.
Spain, specifically, does an incredible job with their midfield chain. They are coordinated enough to be able to close down all passing angles and they are able to gang up quickly on a one on one artist as the situation requires.
Spain has years of experience playing together, including club teams. There are a lot from Barcelona, I think.
Nonetheless, Holland had more than enough chances to win. They applied their strengths to the Spanish weakness but came up short.
Some of the criticism after the German loss here was that the Germans didn't go after the Spanish defenders and midfielders aggressively enough. If Spain has a weakness at all, it's that they are mistake prone when put under pressure. I think the Dutch read the writing on the wall after the first few minutes and realized their salvation was in leaving their calling card after every duel.
As good as ball control looks, however, it doesn't put the ball in the net, so you might as well save your energy, and hope for a breakaway, a set piece or penalties.
As far as the Dutch style goes, my opinion is that if you want to beat the chains you have to send your front wings inside to shrink the width of the chain and to force cover ups, then bring wing defenders up to tilt it. At that point you can look for a shot through the gaps, a diagonal give and go pass through the tilted chain or use the wing defender in space to hit the opposite wing on the far side of the penalty area.
That requires wings who will run laterally without the ball and who have adaptable first touch control.
Assuming classic wing forwards in a 4-3-3, i.e. good one on one players who can beat the wing defenders to the touchline, I agree with your assessment, I don't think that will be effective.
That's why the 4-5-1 is so prevalent. The striker draws a defender, the midfielders move laterally inside to pull the rest of the chain into their cover ups and the wing defenders use the sideline to force the tilt.
All in all, I think the era of the one on one player is over. Required is a striker who can be a penalty area presence, i.e. strong in the air and who can clean up mistakes on the ground and midfield players who can pull the trigger quickly when in possession in a seam.
JMO.
Thanks for your post, I enjoy these strategical disscussions.
We had Chorizo El Ebro con Queso de Bola Holandés...
HWAT A GLORIOUS DAY FOR SPAIN!
HWAT = WHAT
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