Having watched the Champions League final in my lounge room with my jaw somewhere near my ankles, I began to wonder, is the method of playing football starting to drastically change?
Teams like Liverpool in the seventies and eighties employed a style that was typical of their days, except nobody could match it.
It involved extremely quick, strong and fast players interchanging intelligent passing with expert finishing. Every time the ball was won instantly, players burst forward, creating options for that killer attack.
The nineties saw a significant increase in the usage of classic speedy wingers to try and get around the back of teams or down the flanks to cross the ball into the strong, composed centre fowards. It was a period where players such as Paul Gascoigne and Alan Shearer would dominate teams with their power and deadly finishing.
The later nineties and early 2000s saw an increase in the tactics of expert defending, closing down of teams and counter attacking football, with Italian sides of that era deploying such tactics to expertise, such as the highly successful AC Milan of the early 2000s. Greece also won Euro 2004 from such tactics.
Over the last couple of years it appears that the game of football is changing for the better on the field. In all honesty, diving actually seems to be decreasing.
Although many may counter this argument after watching the first leg of the Barcelona versus Real Madrid semi final, this was a rare case.
There are considerably less controversial moments involving diving, and having watched many of Europe’s top league’s week in week out, all of the matches contain far less theatrics than they did six or so years ago.
A team which probably best displays this is Argentina – a team which I wholeheartedly despised for many years during the late nineties and early 2000s. Who could forget the infamous over-reaction of Simione after Beckham tapped him on the leg? I can remember screaming with joy after they were eliminated in the group stage of the 2002 World Cup.
At the 2005 Confederation Cup, they were hardly better.
In their game against Australia, they managed to get away with countless fouls and dived throughout the match.
The moment which truly forced my hatred was when one if their players pulled a Socceroos player down on top of him, winning a penalty – ridiculous cheating. Followed by their antics after being eliminated by Germany in 2006, I continued to dislike them.
At the World Cup in 2010, however, they played it clean.
They didn’t cheat, they didn’t dive and they didn’t start a fight after being eliminated. I think this can largely be credited to Messi and his attitude of not diving. When Messi gets fouled on a run, he often stumbles to stay on his feet then continues uninterested in settling for a free-kick. Hopefully this trend continues.
However, the biggest change is in the style of football. Barcelona are pioneers of a new breed of football, a style which revolves around complete team cohesion in attack and defence, keeping the ball for as long as possible, playing passes on the ground and working triangles. Playing out from the back instead of kicking it long is also an important aspect of the style of play. To be able to play the ball out from the back, while under pressure and without losing the ball, is a very difficult task.
This advanced and beautiful style of play employed by Barcelona is started to be copied around the world. It was played by Spain in the World Cup (of course with a similar squad), Chile, Brisbane Roar and lately Swansea.
The fact that this football is being replicated in South America, the English Championship (at the time) and, low and behold, Australia, seems to suggest that the style of football is in a transition period.
Not only is the football of Barcelona being attempted because it is successful, but also because it is lauded by critics, although non-regular watchers of the beautiful game often label it is boring. This is only because their knowledge of good football is typically restricted to long shots and over-head kicks instead of outstanding team play.
This quality of football is been examined and often referred to as the benchmark by Holger Osieck and the FFA, which is why it is been included in the National Curriculum. It is seen as a globally as a yardstick for what good football stand for. This is the kind of education that our young players need.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting a young coach who is working with young teenage players in teaching them how to try and play this level of football. Although they don’t always win, they are always congratulated on their style by both sets of coaches.
We need to adopt a mentality of style before results. I have often witnessed this team go down to teams which contained a striker who scored a bagful of goals because his team would kick the ball over the defence and he would run onto it and score.
He would always be first to the ball as he was more physically developed than the other teams players.
Yes, this football may be successful at the age, but what happens when everyone grows up to his size? The beauty of this new style of football is that size doesn’t matter. Look at Barcelona, an average height of five foot six.
From what I can see, we are entering a new chapter of the style of football, and it can only be for the better.
If we are to follow suit as a nation and preach this style, we need to start putting style ahead of results and for our youngsters so that they can develop into the next breed of Brisbane Roar-like footballers and future Socceroos.
k77sujith
Roar Guru
Hi Roarlover A very interesting read about how the global style of the beautiful sport is changing. You're right - the game has evolved over the years and at the moment Barcelona has set the benchmark. I'm a huge fan of the Barcelona team, but like all teams, the Catalans have weaknesses too. However I differ with you on the subject of having style over results. And, for this, we need to look no further than the Arsenal side; high on flair and style, but nil on trophies and results. In their quest to play 'perfect' football, on numerous occasions, they take one touch too many in front of goal, therefore, flattering to deceive. I remember a quote by William Gallas a few seasons back when the team had hit one of it's routine lean patches during his Arsenal days and he said," It's ok to win ugly at times". No wonder he was offloaded the following season! And look at the fans of Arsenal who are losing their patience in Mr Wenger, one of the top coaches in the sport. Style is definitely an essential ingredient of the beautiful game and that's why millions watch the game. But, to emphasize totally on that aspect and foregoing the results..I'm not too sure about that. Long live the beautiful game!
roarlover34
Roar Pro
to be honest, your probably right in the regard that i focused largely on England. This article would have gone on for far too long if i was to discuss the Holland's of the 70's and 80,s. Argentina of a similar time. Real Madrid in the 90's.... The main point was to highlight that mass changes occur in the style of football throughout history and we are entering a positive transition at the moment
brisbaneman91
Guest
This is a truly awful summation of the evolution of football tactics. You're just listing the English progression, don't even mention the most influential tatical change in the history of football, 'Total Football' or Barca's tiki taka. When their is discussion about the greatest European sides I have never heard anyone discuss the Liverpool side from the 80's. Then to see people in the comments rambling on about the technicalities of throw ins (which is dead wrong, mind you). The thing that is most concerning is that it took you this long to acknowledge that total football is the best form of football, both tactically and aesthetically. It rewards players with the greatest technique and not gigantic, barbaric dimwits to which you reference as some previous greats. Although Shearer and Gazza were solid technical players had nothing on the all time greatest british technical players, George Best and Glenn Hoddle.
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
Whoops!! This asks the question as to whether the Netherlands were robbed by refereeing. Although there are some partisan answers, it shows that I was not the only one that thought the Spanish team indulged in plenty of on-field shenanigans to win through to the final, and to win it. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100711142936AAQxlDe
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Where's the link?
The Cattery
Roar Guru
I'm with Uncle Bob here. There is a vast difference between today's game and the game of the 70s and 80s, and there is no doubt that in the modern game, there is too much reward for players that go too easily to ground - it's an absolute blight. Thirty years ago, players could go shoulder to shoulder in trying to win the ball.
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
There's a nice link here that has a lot of discussion from disgruntled Dutch fans, and a few video links.
Davo
Guest
Correct about Messi, there is no harm in teaching our youngsters this style from a young age, this is where the clash of parents wanting their children to win matches regardless of style. Messi also said that La Masia taught him to 'sprint at full speed with a ball' incredible skill to possess
Griffo
Roar Guru
Wasn't it the '60's where Pele retired for two years after barely being able to walk off a field in the World Cup because the refs would not penalise a player for kicking and rugby tackling a player out of the game? That wasn't a good look for football. One thing I noticed at the 2010 World Cup was that the defensive/counter attack system had become the baseline of any team wishing to be competitive. New Zealand were the best example of this, as were North Korea until it came unstuck for them against a rampant Portugal. Dare I say it that it was Australia's system until we changed for Germany? I enjoy the way Barça play; most of the time under pressure they one touch pass around out of trouble and into attack. It seems they have become a bit more vulnerable defensively this year so interesting to see who they get to strengthen that area Wasn't it Messi who said that they taught him 'no touch' passing at La Massa? No harm in our kids learning to do that at a young age.
Titus
Guest
Sorry Bob, you are completely wrong. Did you watch the game last night? Plenty of contact, no diving. The result was a fast, flowing, skillful game of football.That is what most people want, a balance between the physical and the skillful. People in Australia get hung up on this diving idea as though it is a constant in every game. You should check you bias and allow yourself to enjoy the game. Trust me it's worth it.
Uncle Bob
Guest
There was plenty of diving from the Latino countries, it's in their culture. Problem is now, if you do not dive, you are instantly at a disadvantage. It is like playing with only 10 men if your team is not prepared to dive at every chance. This is the culture that FIFA has bred. It would never have happened if the English were still running the game they actually invented. Soccer has mutated from the man's game it was up until the mid 1970s.
Uncle Bob
Guest
Hah, it was never like that. The point is, you could contest, now you cannot or people go to ground at the slightest touch and you know the rest of the story. It is all down to FIFA's attack on there being any contact. This has in turn created the monster, namely diving. What is the biggest problem with soccer, all the play acting or the hard tackling which sorts out the men from the boys?
roarlover34
Roar Pro
i have to agree with you in the regard of the 70's and 80's, there certainly wasn't much if any diving. That's why i am largely saying that diving has decreased in the last 6 or so years, as i stated in the article. I'm not sure about diving from Spain the world cup final, there was certainly niggle from Spain and some nasty fouls but the Netherlands really should have had van Bommel and De Jong sent off. I can't remember any diving from spain really, if my memory is wrong would you be able to provide a link to a video showing it?? because i can't recall any on the night. cheers
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
I don't know as much as Roarlover, but in general terms it seems to be true. A couple of things I have noticed: NOBODY throws the ball in correctly anymore. When did authorities decide that the throw-in rules could be ignored? Possession is so important now because boots, balls and technique have created goal-scoring possibilities that seemed to be non-existent years ago, where players can curve a ball past or over players and keepers from long-range. Attacking moves from a team's own half are quickly snuffed out by defenders in the mid-field by use of professional fouls. Italy was the absolute specialist in this area. Their defence was always so organised because the mid-field would commit a foul and physically hang on to the ball to slow the game down. For this reason, possession is a better option for an attacking team. I'm not sure about decrease in number of dives, but I don't recall seeing anyone in the 1970s or 1980s going down -- and grabbing the ball with their hands in the process, to claim the foul before the ref awarded it. They would have been penalised for handball, but nowadays the ref will meekly give a free kick to the man with the ball in his hands. Finally, there is a bit of mythology about the last world cup final between Spain and Netherlands. I supported neither team, so have no axe to grind, but watched a game where the Spanish team niggled, hacked, dived, tripped all night long -- yet were somehow seen as heroic saints against the vicious thugs from the Netherlands. This undercuts your notion of "advanced and beautiful style of play" -- I think anyone who watches it objectively will see that both teams used gamesmanship, cheating and thuggery throughout the match.
punter
Guest
Enjoy the article Roarlover. It shows that as football evolves & new tactics come in, this particular period of time has produced the teams that have played the best football. While there will be endless debates about who was the best team result wise in the history of Football and even in the history of the A-League. There is no doubt that in 40 years of watching football this Barcelona side is the best side to watch & the Brisbane Roar is the most appealing side (pleasing to the eye) ever in the A-League.
Nathan
Guest
Thats really not true; its not as rough as it used to be but there are certainly still legitimate ways to put in tackles. You just cant "oops, look at that, I killed the opposing player, but I got the ball, shame that" like you used to.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
To be honest, as much as I love watching Barca play, I really enjoyed the 2 legs against Inter Milan last season since it exposed a MAJOR flaw - in my opinion - in Barca's game. Murinho had a team that maintained its defensive structure for 90 minutes and mounted swift and incisive counter-attacks that showed Barca to be quite vulnerable. And, against Inter Milan, Barca demonstrated they do not have a "Plan B". Even when Plan A was clearly not working in the 2nd leg, Guardiola couldn't try anything else. He just persisted with Plan A hoping it would prevail ... and, usually, it does. I love watching the goals from the 1st leg of that UCL Semi Final ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMAiu7xmNQY Barca actually went ahead 1-0, before Inter hit back with 3 goals that exposed Barca's weaknesses: Goal 1: poor positional defending from the right full back, Dani Alves - he's a great attacking player but, in my opinion, very vulnerable as a defender Goal 2: Inter wins the ball deep inside their own half but with 3 simple - but intelligent - passes along the ground Barca's midfield is exposed and the ball is in the back of the net 10 seconds later Goal 3: Barca always wanting to play out of defence, loses the ball in a dangerous spot and again the ball is in the net within 5 seconds
roarlover34
Roar Pro
that's true about Inter Milan. I think there will always be teams who opt for the defensive style of football and stick to the long ball. This is what makes watching teams like barcelona etc so enjoyable.
Johnno
Guest
FIFA those corrupt and nasty administrators, gee i wsh all the countries would form a breakaway organization, a few wanted to join up with the English fa but were sadly outnumbered by corrupt officials who represent these countries the jack warners of this world and bin hammans. they FIFA cant stand them though, are looking at reforming the offside rule more which i think it is good they have talked with field hickey chiefs about how it has worked in the sport of field hickey which has a lot of similarities as well as big difference sot. i hope they eliminate or reform the off side rule even more, so hard to understand even the officials half the matches the players look offside officially anyway.
Uncle Bob
Guest
It is completely non contact now which I am not sure is a great thing and against what the founders of the sport envisioned. Who is to blame, well, 30 odd years of FIFA meddling.