Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season
oh come on edmundo! that's an extremely misleading post (and i'm sure u know that). the players u mentioned are bench warmers.... actually some of them don't even sit on the bench on sunday.
everyone knows inzaghi is a backup in milan today...and he has been for quite a few years now. according to wikipedia oddo played only 2 matches this season! and jankulovski played 1 single game!!! zambrotta played 13 matches, and i'm quite sure none of them as a starter. yepes was signed as a backup, a "utility player" for when nesta gets injured..... and as for nesta, well he might be 34 but name 1 team in europe where a fit nesta woudn't be an unquestionable starter (seriously i challenge u to do that!).
and are u seriously mentioning Flavio Roma (milan's 3rd gk) to prove the point that milan is an old team??? really? i mean should we even consider roma as part of the team??? according to wikipiedia he's played only twice with a milan shirt... only 2 matches ever since he was signed by milan (2 seasons ago).... and u're using him to establish milan's average age...... that's hardly fair
and finally u can't use a 33 years old goalkeeper (abbiati) to increase milan's average age, as each role has different standards. a 33 years old forward is old, a 33 years old midfielder is old, a 33 years old defender is not necessarily old and a 33 years old goalkeeper is absolutely NOT old!!!
if u really wanna figure out how old\young this milan team is, then pick the real milan team. nesta (34), thiago silva (26), abate (24), antonini (28), gattuso (33), flamini (26), pirlo (31), ambrosini (33), boateng (23), seedorf (34), pato (21), ibra (29), strasser (20), robinho (27), cassano (28).
this is by all means NOT an old team. actually milan has probably one of the youngest defensive lines among the top teams in europe..... and certainly one of the youngest offensive setups.
neoexodus said:
Spot on and something i actually find amazing about Italians. The before game for them must be something ridiculous, in a studying and analysing point of view. The staff of each manager must work their ass off just for that single game. Analysing it as if it was a final.
Something that is also interesting to watch is when the other team studies the other side carefully and then they come to the pitch with a different strategy then they expected and therefore have to adjust to it or else they lose the game. This as been quite common around Italy, that element of surprise that you guys add with the "will they play the same way or will they change?" makes it so much more interesting.
Another thing that you guys are fantastic and which amazes me the most is your ability to not lose your pose and concentration even when you don't have the ball. Your off the ball defensive movement, your positioning, the concentration and composure you have is superb. Its something that really makes me wow. That sure must be characteristic of your history as the "catennaccio guys
all very good points, and yes, all those factors come straight from our conception of the game (just like catenaccio).
like i said, spanish consider football as an "artistic essay" (you have to prove "your art is better"), in the spanish conception of the game, the single match is just a tool to prove their point, a scenario where they can show their better ability and supremacy.... the italian conception of the game is completely different.
for the italians, the single match is not just a tool, an instrument to prove a point, a way to reach a purpose or a scenario to display their art..... for the italians the single game is all it matters!
for the italians there's no bigger purpose in football, u don't have to prove any supremacy.... u just have to win a single match.
even the approach is different; while english and spanish tend to focus more onthe big picture (the "season", the league table), for the italians "season" is an abstract concept, and they also disavow any knowledge of the league table (and i'm serious here.... ask any italian coach about his team position in the league table and they will all reply the same way... "
i don't know. i don't even bother watching the table. i don't care about that. the only thing i care is our next opponent, our next match"). for the italians the league, the season, is just a "series of single matches". they have a completely different perspective. the single games are what matters, not the final results (the season, the table league).
it might seem just a silly irrilevant difference in the way italians approach football, but actually it makes all the difference.
because u see, if a league is nothing but a series of single matches and if all that matters is the single match (each of them), well since every match implies a different challenge (because u face a different opponent every time), then u have to change your tactical approach every time according to the opponent u'll face.
to sum that up, we might say that
the spanish school is a bit dogmatic; they believe there's an universal formula to win football games. that's why they don't strategize; because in the spanish school, a coach's duty is not to win single games... it's to find out that "sacred formula". winning will just be a natural consequence, once u found that formula.
the italian are absolutely non dogmatic instead. they believe
there's no such thing as a universal formula to play football. there's not a superior truth to discover. each team has its own formula (according to the abilities and weaknesses of its players). and that formula will only work for that team alone. udinese plays some beautiful counter-attacking football. they are indeed very fun to watch (and effective). but that's only their formula, it works with udinese, it won't work with every other team. if u have palermo playing udinese's football, the result will be a disaster (the same way udinese wouldn't be able to play palermo's football as well as palermo does).
and moreover, like u said, having a tactical formula doesn't mean u're gonna play the very same script each and every week. each team adapts and modifies its own tactical formula every week... for 2 reasons.
1- to adjust it to the opponent team distinctive features.
2- to prevent the opponent from strategizing against u (by not giving him any specific tactical benchmark or formula to strategize against).
now, when u look at it this way, the italian school might seem better..... but it's not that easy. because even though all the italian points are valid -
there's no bigger purpose in football; there's not an universal truth, a "right way" to play football (as opposed to a supposedly "wrong way"); it's all about single matches: the tactic has to adjust to each opponent - even if theese are all very valid points, this logic brought us to a very bad conclusion.
think of that.... the spanish school had a very shortsighted starting point, and never really changed. "there's only one way to play football. every other way is dirty, is unfair, is "anti-football".
the italians on the other side, moved on from a very non-dogmatic, open minded point "there's not an universal truth in football. every coach has to study the game to find the most appropriate formula for his own team".
that brought us many good things.
- our coaches developed a passion for "
studying the game", they got to know football better than anyone else. they built the so called "university of football" (Coverciano);
- then they taught football to their players (it doesn matter how well the coach knows the game... the players are the ones who have to apply his ideas, so they have to know everything he knows), and
that created generation of players with an unimmaginable knowledge and understanding of the game (hence our player's great positioning, tactical awareness, sense of rhythm and timing).
-
we developed generations of hugely talented and skilled offensive players, as our mezze punte, our fantasistas and our trequartista had to get used to work in very tight spaces, against the most skilled defensive lines in the world.
but it also brought us 1 single bad consequence..... wich is more important than all those "good aspects" i mentioned before.
our footall became boring and outdated.
the beginning of the evolution of the italian school was completely different from the spanish one. the spanish mentality was dogmatic and shortsighted, while we were more open minded. (there's no universal truth or formula in football).
but at the end of that long tactical-pondering process, we eventually got to the real essence of football; the simplest, most effortless way to win:
a 1-0 result.
so at the end of our study, we eventually found out that the spanish were (almost) right,
that there actually is a "golden formula", a tactical eldorado, a way to get a win wich is more simple and effective of all the others:
and that's how catenaccio was born.
so at the end of this long studying process (a study wich began with a very open minded approach), the italian coaches resolved to play catenaccio..... all of them.
we eventually became more dogmatic, more shortsighted than anyone else in the world.
the catenaccio became our "universal truth". and indeed catenaccio is the closest u'll get to a perfect tactical formula. but that doesn't make it the best formula.
because, u see, what we didn't realise is that football isn't just a sport, it's also a show, an event. the result isn't the only thing that matters. the quality of the football (the "entertaining aspect") is just as important. because a more entertaining football attracts more fans and increase your appeal. more fans equals more money.... and more money means better chance to sign high quality players.
also the appeal of your football will attract more easily high quality players.
so playing some high quality and entertaining football is as important as playing an effective football.
but since we were too focused on mastering our "ultimate tactical formula" we didn't realise that.
our league became the most boring in europe. the goal per games ratio became the lowest in europe and since all our teams were playing the same kind of football, there was no tactical variety anymore. that was probably the darkest moment in italian football.
then sacchi came and saved us all
sorry for the longest post
. He's a good player but I don't know if his game will suit Serie A.
Anyway Thiago Silva has all it takes to become an awesome defensive midfielder. Ancelotti talked in the past about it and now Allegri experimented it in preseason and is implemeting it now step by step.
