boakyeTaktik of Napoli SSC: 3-6-1
Efficiently, there are more german players in midfield than spanish. And that's where to stop them playing.
13.10.2011
FeriAtsDo any of these players play a 3 men defence in their clubs? Napoli can practice their tactics for months during preseason and early stages of their campaign. National teams on the other hand only train for a couple of days mid-season and couple of weeks pre-tourney.
13.10.2011
JimmyGuitaristNo set of tactics or formations can counter the way this Spanish/Barca team plays. They rise above any set of tactics what's chucked at them.
I mean yeah, maybe put more bodies in midfield to help you keep athe ball a bit more, but it's coping with Spain's pressing and how they win the ball back what's so demoralising. You win it back after an onslaught of 40-odd passes, and they win it back within 6 seconds. No team is unbeatable, but really nothing can beat this team unless they're on a bad day. The reason they can play the way they do is because they've been taught how to do it since they were kids.
13.10.2011
ZolaActually, parking the bus can counter Spain/Barca plays, you just have to be lucky and clinical with your finishes that day. Chelsea with Hiddink, Inter and Real Madrid with Mourinho and Holland in WC final offered quit a bit of resistance. Some got results, some didn't but my point stands.
13.10.2011
JimmyGuitarist@Zola:
Parking-the-bus isn't the way to counter it. Any form of football can counter Spain/Barca in the same way that they counter the way there opponents play. Spanish football is just a brand of football in the same way of English football, defensive football - It's just Spain play the brand of football they play to the maximum.
14.10.2011
ZolaI am not sure I get your point. Can you rephrase?
14.10.2011
JimmyGuitaristI'm saying that any brand of football, if played to its maxmum, can cause Spain problems.
Parking-the-bus, like you said, is -a- way to counter the way Spain play but I actually think that that's the worse route to take most of the time. Mourinho tried the defensive route last season, and he realised that it don't work if Barca are at there supreme best. Mourinho's tried a much more positive approach in the Super Cup matches against Barca, and that proved much more effective and Madrid looked really good sometimes, apart from the fouling.
14.10.2011
ZolaRight, better understood now. I do agree with you on that regard.
I guess the reason parking the bus works better, is that, it is easier to play to a maximum. You don't really need specific talents, if you can stick to discipline, you get a shot at getting a result.
16.10.2011
ArminiusClearly, a number of things need to be addressed first before Germany will have a roughly equal chance of winning against Spain (with luck taken mostly out of the equation)!
First of all, an effective stategy against Spain's possession game (short passing and early pressing) has to be found and implemented. Early pressing is probably best handled by quickly passing the ball to the frontlines (counter attacking) which Germany is capable of playing very well. For Spain's short pass game I would try the following smart pressing (this is nothing new really but often poorly implemented). Starting with a compact central formation force the game to the outsides. Isolate those Spanish players with the ball from the rest of the team by shifting our whole team towards the ball thereby tightening the space and encircling the ball possessing opponents. This would then force a risky long pass or a one-on-one. Both of which Germany can handle reasonably well. But more importantly, this approach is likely to disrupt the flow critical to Spain's game.
Secondly, we need to decide on the base formation that allows us to maintain the required compact center while also being able to shift effectively. Here, I like the idea of playing three players in the defense so that an additional midfielder can help tightening the spaces in the center, instead. In particular, I would like to see 3 defensive midfielders. This defensive sixer block formation should be able to move in sync towards the ball. In front of this defense I see two central offensive midfielder in the half position who also participate in the defense by keeping the middle tight. Once an opposing attact has been pushed to the side one of the two joints the effort to regain ball possession while the other covers the center. Up front, I would like to have two varsatile attacker who retreat back to the outside in the game against the ball such that the safe back passes for the opponent are prevented or at least become risky. These strikers need to have strong runing skills since they may need to cover a lot distance to also be effective upfront. So, I end up with a 3-3-2-2 system.
Finally, a team needs to be put together with the best players available. Especially against Spain, I tend to prefer players who are strong on the ball and have good passing skills. So, focussing only on Spain I envision the following players (in their best form) in the starting formation:
------Neuer-------
Boateng---Hummels---Bartstuber
Schweinsteiger---Kroos---Lahm
---Oezil---Goetze---
--Mueller----Schuerrle--
02.11.2011
