Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season
flamini has such a high wage coz milan got him for free (flamini let his contract with arsenal expire, remember?). that's how it usually works; when u sign a player with no contract ties, u save money on the transfer, but u're gonna have to give the player a very high wage... it's absolutely normal.
anyway thanks for the link, stef. really appreciate it. i knew the gazzetta would have pubblished this season's wages today, but i forgot to buy it
Abhishek said:
Anyways, you seem to talk about Del Neri's 4-4-2. Be really interested if you could elaborate on what exactly it is, and how Juve's transfers are gonna fit into it, as I've never seen a Del Neri side.
Jumbo said:
wow! u guys really never saw del neri's teams?! boy that's a real shame. seriously i can't understand why foreign broadcasters insist on showing the italian top 4 matches... how are people gonna like this league if they miss the very best serie a has to offer!
anyway, del neri's 4-4-2 has gone through an evolution throughout the years. his first version, the chievo-version was the most "extreme" but also the most fun to watch. they used to call it "il chievo dei miracoli" (miracle chievo) because during del neri's era (from 2000 to 2004) that chievo was the most entertaining team in europe along with arsenal and milan.... and it was amazing how del neri turned a group of (nothing more than) very good players into such an amazing goal machine.
del neri is obsessed by sacchis "fastest zone". he always loved it. that chievo was a perfect replica of sacchi's zone (and probably that's the main reason why that team was so much fun to watch)..... but through the years he calmed down a bit.
mind u, his zone setup is still one of the fastest in europe, but now he's slightly more cautious (as cautious as a “sacchiano” like del neri can be, obviously).
anyway, even though del neri's zone is a bit less "radical" nowadays, u're still gonna see many sacchi's schemes in his football.
now, i don't know how familiar u guys are with sacchi's football, so i'm gonna make an example, mentioning one of the sacchi's most basic movements, one del neri tends to use pretty often: "
l'elastico difensivo" (the defensive spring).
the elastico difensivo is a defensive line basic movement... the whole defensive line adjusts his position according to the ball position and rushes ahead as soon as the ball moves forward.
that's a visual example of what i'm talking about
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDemUP1wwwU
u see how the whole defensive line rushes ahead as soon as the goalkeeper throws the ball? u see how "high" the defensive line tends to stay? well, that's a very "toned down" version of the elastico difensivo. it's called "elastico" ("spring") because the defensive line must act like a spring, continuously moving back and forth, accordingly to the ball's position.
that's a very risky expedient to keep the offside line as high as possible and to prevent the opponents from stretching the pitch (as the forwards can't go further than your defensive line coz they would get caught in offside).
when the defensive line is well syncronized, this movement becomes a real pain in the ass for the opponent team, coz it forces the opposite forwards to drop back and moves the possession line in the opponent's midfield. it makes impossible for the opponent to try any fullbacks overlap, it also makes impossible for them to use the pitch in all its length, and since the opponent's forwards have to drop back to the 3\4 pitch, long passes cease to be an option for them.
but in order to work, this movement requires a perfect sync and absolute concentration by the entire defensive line. that's why del neri's team players are usually labelled as "soldatini" (the little soldiers).... coz del neri demands continuous concentration, perfect application of his directives and flawless execution of his schemes.
that's just one example of his defensive movements.. i'not gonna mention any others as that would take way too much time.
anyway del neri's football can be summed up like this:
DEFENSE
the defensive line has to push the possession line as far from the box as possible,
the sidebacks are the real engine of the team, as they have to constantly push and overlap with the wingers (who are also very important in his game). in every del neri's team (samp, atalanta, chievo) the sidebacks are a key element, as del neri's football flows mainly along the sidelines. motta and de ceglie are absolutely PERFECT FOR THE JOB!
MIDFIELD
he usually works with 2 specific kind of central midfielders.
one has to be a
regista. he's the ones who drops back to get the ball from the centerbacks and then goes for a through ball for the sidebacks (as soon as the regista drops back to get the ball, BOTH the sidebacks litterally fling themselves ahead to let the play begin. the regista is as important as the sidebacks in del neri's game. without a great passer at midfield, del neri's football ceases to exist. that's why he always had high quality players for the job (corini, cigarini, palombo).
i'm afraid that's gonna be a problem at juve, coz i don't see aquilani as a regista.... and anyway the regista is supposed to be an untouchable starter in his football, and given aquilani's injury record......
the other midfielder isn't a real defensive midfielder... he's more of a
box to box midfielder. he must have great stamina very good technique and, most important, an amazing ability in running through the channels (perrotta was that man in chievo, poli covered that role in sampdoria).
juve has 2 players that suit pretty well in melo and marchisio. actually running into channels is the only thing melo is really good at.
that means that with del neri, melo will finally do only what he's good at. and that also means that if melo fails this season too, then there's no hope for him!.
when the regista drops back to receive the ball from the cbs, the other midfielder (perrotta at chievo, poli at samp, and now melo or marchisio) has to move ahead, in order to become the third available target for the regista (after the 2 sidebacks).
but usually the regista doesn't pass the ball to the other central midfielder. he passes it to one of the sidebacks, who will push along the sideline and then make a "passaggio a rimorhio" (hook pass) to the central midfielder, once he's on the edge of the box.
so that's how the whole thing usually plays out.
- the regista drops back and gets the ball from the cbs
- both the sidebacks start running along the flanks, towards the midfield line, while the other central midfielder stays at the center of the midfield.
- the regista passes the ball to one of the sidebacks with a very powerful ground pass. it's a very fast through ball, almost a shot (hence the need of a terrific passer with great accuracy).
- as soon as the sideback receives the ball (on the sideline pretty much at the midfield line), the other sideback drops back in coverage, while the box to box midfielder starts running towards the edge of the box.
- the winger (del neri's side midfielders are basically wingers) cuts on the inside to allow the sideback (who is carriyng the ball) to perform an easy overlap.
- the cf stays deep inside the box, trying to attract on himself the cbs (and leaving some space to the upcoming box to box midfielder.
at this point, the sideback (who is now close to the goal line) has 3 available targets: the supporting striker, the winger (who made the inside cut) or the box to box midfielder (who remains on the edge of the box).
that's just a very basic idea of a typical del neri's play. as u can see, it's nothing fancy. infact, del neri's football is pretty simple (simple, but not "flat")... but then again, del neri's football has to be simple, because (and that's the most particular aspect of del neri),
he demands his players to perfectly execute his schemes. his tactical training sessions are exhausting. he has his players repeating the same movements again and again and again, until it becomes "second nature" for them to execute those schemes.
there's no room for improvisation in del neri's football. the players must always be where they're supposed to be.
watching del neri's teams is like watching a machine. now this is, at the same time, del neri's strenght and weakness.
it's a strenght because, since his players have to learn his schemes to the perfection, they execute them with unbelievable accuracy. it's extremely hard to stop del neri's teams plays.... once his players get the ball, chances are u won't get that ball back... most of the times the play unfolds itself until the very end. prandelli once said "
the problem with del neri's teams is that once the regista begins the play, u know that the next player of yours team who's gonna touch the ball is gonna be your goalkeeper... so even if the ball is still at midfield, u find yourself thinking to yourself... let's hope the goalkeeper will get the ball! because u know it's gonna be hard to interrupt his plays, once they begin"
so event though is football is pretty simple, it's extremely nice to watch, coz it's fluid.... there are very rare interruptions and the plays flow naturally from the beginning to the end (the shot on goal).
mario sconcerti (an italian journalist) compared del neri's schemes to a "wave"... u don't fight a wave, coz there's no way to stop it... so u just close your eyes, hold your breath and hope it won't crush u.
but this perfect execution of the schemes is also a weakness of del neri. because it makes him predictable.
u won't survive in serie a, unless u change your football every 2, 3 seasons tops. because every coach in this league spends most of his time watching his opponents and studying them. and it doesn't matter how great your football is. sooner or later a coach will find the right countermeasures... and then u will be screwed, as every other coach will study those countermeasures to and use em against u. ancelotti's milan, spalletti's roma, prandelli's fiorentina, all those teams had to go through a "tactical restyling" every 2 seasons, even though their football was absolutely awesome to watch.
that's what del neri has been doing in the last few years. at the beginning (the chievo era) he was a great innovator, he had some crazy tactical ideas.... and all those idea turned out to be great ones.....but such an "extreme" coach can work only in a small team, not in a top class team... so, throughout his carreer he reivented himself many times.
when he signed for atalanta i thought he would have failed.... how is he gonna display his football with a team which has so many trequarstisti and advanced midfielders?... yet he proved me wrong. that atalanta team was absolutely wonderful to watch and, from a tactical point of view, very "non-del neriesque".
then he signed for sampdoria and once again i thought he would have been a disaster..... mainly because of cassano.... infact not only cassano is a fantasista like diego (hence not really suited for his football), but he also had some very serious issues with cassano in roma. and yet, once again he proved me wrong.
now, in theory, i should have many doubts on this del neri's experience in torino.
first of because of the lack of a proper regista
then because of the fact that he will have to build a new team with so many new players and dealing at the same time with juventus' fans (huge) pressure.
and finally because, although he is beyond any doubt a great coach and a tactical genius, i'm not sure he's cut for a top class team. working in a top class teams means dealing with different kind of players... small and midclass teams' players might be willing to accept del neri's football and the idea of becoming his "soldatini"... the "small soldiers" who execute his schemes.... but top class teams are usually filled with primadonnas.... and a primadonna is pretty much the opposite of an "obedient soldatino".
those are all pretty valid reasons to believe he's going to fail in torino.....
.... but i'm not gonna bet against del neri again!
