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The five great tactical masterstrokes of World Cup 2010
The best match-winning and game-changing moves from managers
12 Jul 2010 08:27:00
By Steven Saunders
Many expected World Cup 2010 to be about individuals, a stage for Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, amongst others, to make their own.
Instead, the successful teams were those who married tactical astuteness from the coaches with technically able and adaptable players.
In short, it proved that football is very much a team sport. Goal.com UK gets the chalkboard out to take a look at five tactical masterstrokes…
However, the States had identified the centre of the pitch as absolutely vital in the encounter. A 4-2-2-2 system was deployed that challenged England to spread the ball out wide and attack the Americans down the flanks.
It also had the added benefit of forcing Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole to come infield to mark Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, which curbed the attacking instincts of each full-back and forced England’s wide midfielders to do much of the spade work alone.
Granted, the 1-1 draw owed much to Robert Green’s howler, and there’s no planning for something like that. But the Americans displayed a tactical nous that night that eventually helped steer them to the top of the group.
Spain’s World Cup began with a stunning 1-0 defeat to unfancied Switzerland in Durban. Ottmar Hitzfeld’s masterplan worked to perfection – he hasn’t been named World Coach of the Year twice for nothing, after all.
A 4-4-1-1 formation was well-drilled to close down the space that the likes of Xavi and Xabi Alonso like to operate in between midfield and defence, but just as impressive was the speed and numbers with which Switzerland were prepared to break. That was the reason behind the key moment in the match, as Gelson Fernandes bundled the ball home from close range after a rapid counter-attack.
What should not be underestimated in this, though, was that Spain had by far their poorest performance of the tournament in this game. If it was as simple as keeping space to a minimum and the likes of David Villa a safe distance from goal, then everyone would do it.
This is bound to rile those England fans who would like to lay the blame for their failure at the World Cup firmly at Capello’s door.
But the fact is that had Capello not made a brave and intuitive call for the must-win game against Slovenia in the final group match, the soul-searching could have been a lot worse. An exit at that stage would have done for the Italian’s reign, and he gambled his future on a forward partnership that had never delivered before.
It worked. James Milner – playing on the right, rather than the left as had been the case to underwhelming effect in the opening draw with the USA – swung in a perfect cross for the predatory Jermain Defoe to volley in for what proved the only goal of the game.
England’s performance was much improved on the whole, and that owed much to Milner providing the width they had lacked in previous matches, and Defoe playing on the shoulder of the last defender and allowing Wayne Rooney to become more involved from a deeper position.
No team at the World Cup struck a more perfect alchemy of managerial awareness and player sensibility than Germany. Their performances in the last 16 match against England and then Argentina in the quarter-finals brought similarly emphatic scorelines, but in very different ways.
Central to each game were the triumvirate of Lukas Podolski, Thomas Mueller and Miroslav Klose. Against England, Klose was the attacking fulcrum, his movement pulling Matthew Upson here, there and everywhere and causing match-up problems across the English defence as Podolski and Mueller raced ahead of the central striker from out wide. Klose scored the first, Podolski the second and Mueller the final two.
While Germany forced the issue against England, particularly in the deployment of Podolski and Mueller, they were far less aggressive against Argentina. Instead, the wide midfielders sat deeper and broke forward with exceptional alacrity. This meant that Javier Mascherano was overrun as the one sitting midfielder for Argentina, while Lionel Messi, Maxi Rodriguez, Angel Di Maria and Carlos Tevez were starved of space when they had possession.
It was a perfect storm as far as Germany were concerned, but only achievable because of the tactical awareness of the players.
So far these have all been plans that were laid before the game and worked out to perfection, but Spain’s Vicente Del Bosque has made the most dramatic and effective changes during matches.
Against Portugal in the last 16 encounter, a labouring Fernando Torres was sacrificed early in the second half, with Fernando Llorente brought on in his place. Almost immediately Llorente had a gilt-edged chance that was well saved by Eduardo, and shortly after Spain scored the only goal of the game through David Villa.
In the quarter-final against Paraguay, Del Bosque decided to replace Xabi Alonso after the midfielder had a retaken penalty saved, with Pedro coming on. Seven minutes later, Pedro got in on goal and struck the post, and the rebound allowed Villa to score the only goal of the game again.
Perhaps it is easier to take off players of the calibre of Torres and Alonso when their replacements are so good, but Del Bosque still made brave calls that brought immediate rewards.
Many expected World Cup 2010 to be about individuals, a stage for Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, amongst others, to make their own.
| Bet: | Returns: | Spain £10.50 | Draw £90.00 | China £260.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Spain £11.00 | Draw £90.00 | China £230.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Spain £10.83 | Draw £100.00 | China £210.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Spain £10.80 | Draw £100.00 | China £260.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Spain £10.70 | Draw £122.00 | China £270.00 |
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Instead, the successful teams were those who married tactical astuteness from the coaches with technically able and adaptable players.
In short, it proved that football is very much a team sport. Goal.com UK gets the chalkboard out to take a look at five tactical masterstrokes…
USA stifle England midfield
It was all supposed to be so easy for England in the group stages, as depicted famously on the front page of a tabloid newspaper after December’s World Cup draw. Their campaign began brightly enough, captain Steven Gerrard scoring after only four minutes in the first game against the USA.However, the States had identified the centre of the pitch as absolutely vital in the encounter. A 4-2-2-2 system was deployed that challenged England to spread the ball out wide and attack the Americans down the flanks. It also had the added benefit of forcing Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole to come infield to mark Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, which curbed the attacking instincts of each full-back and forced England’s wide midfielders to do much of the spade work alone.
Granted, the 1-1 draw owed much to Robert Green’s howler, and there’s no planning for something like that. But the Americans displayed a tactical nous that night that eventually helped steer them to the top of the group.
Switzerland catch out Spain
Spain’s World Cup began with a stunning 1-0 defeat to unfancied Switzerland in Durban. Ottmar Hitzfeld’s masterplan worked to perfection – he hasn’t been named World Coach of the Year twice for nothing, after all.A 4-4-1-1 formation was well-drilled to close down the space that the likes of Xavi and Xabi Alonso like to operate in between midfield and defence, but just as impressive was the speed and numbers with which Switzerland were prepared to break. That was the reason behind the key moment in the match, as Gelson Fernandes bundled the ball home from close range after a rapid counter-attack.
What should not be underestimated in this, though, was that Spain had by far their poorest performance of the tournament in this game. If it was as simple as keeping space to a minimum and the likes of David Villa a safe distance from goal, then everyone would do it.
Capello banks on Milner & Defoe
This is bound to rile those England fans who would like to lay the blame for their failure at the World Cup firmly at Capello’s door.But the fact is that had Capello not made a brave and intuitive call for the must-win game against Slovenia in the final group match, the soul-searching could have been a lot worse. An exit at that stage would have done for the Italian’s reign, and he gambled his future on a forward partnership that had never delivered before.
It worked. James Milner – playing on the right, rather than the left as had been the case to underwhelming effect in the opening draw with the USA – swung in a perfect cross for the predatory Jermain Defoe to volley in for what proved the only goal of the game.
England’s performance was much improved on the whole, and that owed much to Milner providing the width they had lacked in previous matches, and Defoe playing on the shoulder of the last defender and allowing Wayne Rooney to become more involved from a deeper position.
German trio deliver knockout blows
No team at the World Cup struck a more perfect alchemy of managerial awareness and player sensibility than Germany. Their performances in the last 16 match against England and then Argentina in the quarter-finals brought similarly emphatic scorelines, but in very different ways.Central to each game were the triumvirate of Lukas Podolski, Thomas Mueller and Miroslav Klose. Against England, Klose was the attacking fulcrum, his movement pulling Matthew Upson here, there and everywhere and causing match-up problems across the English defence as Podolski and Mueller raced ahead of the central striker from out wide. Klose scored the first, Podolski the second and Mueller the final two.
While Germany forced the issue against England, particularly in the deployment of Podolski and Mueller, they were far less aggressive against Argentina. Instead, the wide midfielders sat deeper and broke forward with exceptional alacrity. This meant that Javier Mascherano was overrun as the one sitting midfielder for Argentina, while Lionel Messi, Maxi Rodriguez, Angel Di Maria and Carlos Tevez were starved of space when they had possession.
It was a perfect storm as far as Germany were concerned, but only achievable because of the tactical awareness of the players.
Del Bosque rolls the dice
So far these have all been plans that were laid before the game and worked out to perfection, but Spain’s Vicente Del Bosque has made the most dramatic and effective changes during matches.Against Portugal in the last 16 encounter, a labouring Fernando Torres was sacrificed early in the second half, with Fernando Llorente brought on in his place. Almost immediately Llorente had a gilt-edged chance that was well saved by Eduardo, and shortly after Spain scored the only goal of the game through David Villa.
In the quarter-final against Paraguay, Del Bosque decided to replace Xabi Alonso after the midfielder had a retaken penalty saved, with Pedro coming on. Seven minutes later, Pedro got in on goal and struck the post, and the rebound allowed Villa to score the only goal of the game again.
Perhaps it is easier to take off players of the calibre of Torres and Alonso when their replacements are so good, but Del Bosque still made brave calls that brought immediate rewards.
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