First thing we need to do is to admit it as it really is happening.
As a top class international side, we are falling behind the new superpowers of the game.
Many nations, have understood over the last few years that in order to be more efficient, disguise your weaknesses and accentuate your strengths, a team must move in a compact way.
The lines must advance and retreat close together, in order to always try to equal or outnumber your opposition.
Football has always been about possession, and as the game modernised through the years, we have seen many changes.
If we go back to the first World cup in 1930, teams played with 5 forwards and either 2 or 3 defenders.
Balls got to the box via long passes or high balls, and the sheer number difference meant attacking teams had greater chances to score goals.
Defenders needed to stay back, so the passes were mainly long for that reason.
We then slowly moved to having some more defenders and more midfielders in order to recover the ball quicker and be able to attack from midfield, instead of having to start always from the back and divide the ball.
The South American number 10’s then become the ones where most of the creativity came from in a team, meaning once the ball was recovered, it was given to them and they organised the attacks.
This created the need to become fitter, for everybody. If you were that number 10, you would be doing a lot of running, so you needed to be better conditioned. If you were marking that number 10 you would be doing a lot of running as he was seeking to be everywhere.
With this increased fitness, the game become faster for longer periods, meaning players started to get tired quicker.
We have reached the end of the fitness circle. You are as fit as you can, but everyone else is as well. There is still so much that you can run, and still be efficient for your team.
In order to combat that, the new development became the capacity of a team to become “short” meaning when they attack all their 3 lines (attack, midfield and defence) moved forward and the opposite when they are defending.
This way, there is no overrunning, no need to divide possession, as most teammates are close by, and they can all play to their strength whilst working more efficiently.
So the teams doing well in recent years are the ones that move together, that keep the ball, and that use that “saved” energy to suddenly change rhythm on the last third.
Barcelona, Germany, Spain, Holland, Uruguay, Manchester United, Chile are some of the flag carriers for this kind of football, and have been the most successful over recent times.
The teams who have not adapted just yet to this sort of game, are suffering and falling behind every day.
Argentina, is one of those nations, together with Brazil, France, and to a certain point Italy and England who are unnecessarily stuck in systems that brought them success in years gone by. But why do I say unnecessarily? Because looking at the players that the albiceleste has for example (you can do it for the other teams I mention here and see that it would work wonders for them too), playing as a compacted unit will benefit them no end and will certainly do the 2 things any Manager wants. Mask your weaknesses and enhance your strong points.
At the moment the defenders are only helped by Mascherano, who is deployed, and has been playing for his country there for many years now very far back to maximise his potential.
To explain that better, el Jefe will always recover balls, that is what he does best. His other good point is getting rid of the ball quickly to a better suited player to initiate an attack.
If he is played just ahead of the defenders, the message sent to the opposition is that our first serious attempt to get the ball away from them is when they get as far as Mascherano’s position.
Once Argentina recovers the ball, that is when their next problem begins. The defenders and Mascherano are too far away from the rest of the team.
Looking at the Venezuela game, the next link from the 3 centrals and the former Liverpool player were Di Maria and Sosa which were around 20 metres ahead of them.
The possibilities here become the long pass towards them and the uncertainty of possession. The next choice is that the defenders or Mascherano run forward with the ball themselves, which is not their strength and wastes energy. The last choice is that Di Maria or Sosa run back to get the ball of them, slowing down the build up and running a lot for no real reason.
If this team was to attack and defend as a unit, then the sheer number of people will disguise the defensive weaknesses of Demichelis, Otamendi and Burdisso, will mean that when Mascherano gets the ball, he can quickly pass it to the Link players ( Pastore, Banegas, Riquelme) and once in possession the incredible change of pace that players like Messi, Higuain, Aguero, Tevez, Lavezzi or Di Maria can bring to that attack it will make Argentina a side to be watched and respected again.
As a top class international side, we are falling behind the new superpowers of the game.
Many nations, have understood over the last few years that in order to be more efficient, disguise your weaknesses and accentuate your strengths, a team must move in a compact way.
The lines must advance and retreat close together, in order to always try to equal or outnumber your opposition.
Football has always been about possession, and as the game modernised through the years, we have seen many changes.
If we go back to the first World cup in 1930, teams played with 5 forwards and either 2 or 3 defenders.
Balls got to the box via long passes or high balls, and the sheer number difference meant attacking teams had greater chances to score goals.
Defenders needed to stay back, so the passes were mainly long for that reason.
We then slowly moved to having some more defenders and more midfielders in order to recover the ball quicker and be able to attack from midfield, instead of having to start always from the back and divide the ball.
The South American number 10’s then become the ones where most of the creativity came from in a team, meaning once the ball was recovered, it was given to them and they organised the attacks.
This created the need to become fitter, for everybody. If you were that number 10, you would be doing a lot of running, so you needed to be better conditioned. If you were marking that number 10 you would be doing a lot of running as he was seeking to be everywhere.
With this increased fitness, the game become faster for longer periods, meaning players started to get tired quicker.
We have reached the end of the fitness circle. You are as fit as you can, but everyone else is as well. There is still so much that you can run, and still be efficient for your team.
In order to combat that, the new development became the capacity of a team to become “short” meaning when they attack all their 3 lines (attack, midfield and defence) moved forward and the opposite when they are defending.
This way, there is no overrunning, no need to divide possession, as most teammates are close by, and they can all play to their strength whilst working more efficiently.
So the teams doing well in recent years are the ones that move together, that keep the ball, and that use that “saved” energy to suddenly change rhythm on the last third.
Barcelona, Germany, Spain, Holland, Uruguay, Manchester United, Chile are some of the flag carriers for this kind of football, and have been the most successful over recent times.
The teams who have not adapted just yet to this sort of game, are suffering and falling behind every day.
Argentina, is one of those nations, together with Brazil, France, and to a certain point Italy and England who are unnecessarily stuck in systems that brought them success in years gone by. But why do I say unnecessarily? Because looking at the players that the albiceleste has for example (you can do it for the other teams I mention here and see that it would work wonders for them too), playing as a compacted unit will benefit them no end and will certainly do the 2 things any Manager wants. Mask your weaknesses and enhance your strong points.
At the moment the defenders are only helped by Mascherano, who is deployed, and has been playing for his country there for many years now very far back to maximise his potential.
To explain that better, el Jefe will always recover balls, that is what he does best. His other good point is getting rid of the ball quickly to a better suited player to initiate an attack.
If he is played just ahead of the defenders, the message sent to the opposition is that our first serious attempt to get the ball away from them is when they get as far as Mascherano’s position.
Once Argentina recovers the ball, that is when their next problem begins. The defenders and Mascherano are too far away from the rest of the team.
Looking at the Venezuela game, the next link from the 3 centrals and the former Liverpool player were Di Maria and Sosa which were around 20 metres ahead of them.
The possibilities here become the long pass towards them and the uncertainty of possession. The next choice is that the defenders or Mascherano run forward with the ball themselves, which is not their strength and wastes energy. The last choice is that Di Maria or Sosa run back to get the ball of them, slowing down the build up and running a lot for no real reason.
If this team was to attack and defend as a unit, then the sheer number of people will disguise the defensive weaknesses of Demichelis, Otamendi and Burdisso, will mean that when Mascherano gets the ball, he can quickly pass it to the Link players ( Pastore, Banegas, Riquelme) and once in possession the incredible change of pace that players like Messi, Higuain, Aguero, Tevez, Lavezzi or Di Maria can bring to that attack it will make Argentina a side to be watched and respected again.