Football Manager
Copy & Paste Merchant
I knew how benetiz’ teams are going to set up in different phases. I know how they play like in transitions. How they pass the ball. The horizontal and vertical distance of his team. How his players occupy space and what their movements are. Which space are they going to attack and how they are going to defend. What are the strengths and weaknesses of his players. And what players suits his tactics. It’s not hard to observe these. I understand all that. Why can’t I find his style boring?What I mean is that if you'd truly appreciate the tactical side of the game you wouldn't bash a manager like Benitez. No matter what you think of the tactics he employs
And you take it to an extreme when you say Gerrard and Lampard were ****. I guess I do the same when it comes to stats, but I'll allow myself a bit of hypocrisy here. Saying those players are **** isn't showcasing any credible knowledge of football. They were brilliant players in the right set up - which brings us back to appreciating the tactical side of the game. Tactics isn't about admiring Guardiola's way of splashing the cash to get the exact profiles to suit his style and then doing it over again when a €40m+ player wasn't exactly what he was hoping for. Admiring tactics is appreciating Chris Wilder's way of making that Sheffield Utd team survive for a year (and thrive for parts of it) by having the RCB and LCB overlapping the wing backs and in that bringing something to the table the opponent is prepared or set up to defend against.
I like Arsenal because I was attracted to the beautiful combination play of Henry, Pires, Vieira and others. And then I develop an interest in tactical analysis. Analysing teams in different styles are the same, you observe with the same principles. What they do in different phases. Their movements in transitions....etc. And observe how they are all related.
Its like analysing music. What’s the harmonies/chord progression/voice leading? What key/mode is it in? Are there and modulation? The arrangement/interaction of sounds or instruments...It can be an simple average 4 chord pop tune. You can analyse it with different musical aspects. And come up with a detail analysis with it. But it doesn’t mean you have to like it.
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