Calcio & Football

[Nentsia]

So I came across this football match between Juventus and Inter Milan in 2004 and realized both teams were lined up in a 4-4-2 formation, often associated with the English game, but very common in Italy in the 1990's and early 2000's. All the more interesting to pick an English game and compare that to this one. So I picked a match between Liverpool and Manchester United in 2003. Especially Manchester was one of the best products of English football in that era, under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson, known for the English hallmark 4-4-2, and having arch-typical British players like Rio Ferdinand - the defender who excells at heading balls away, Gary Neville and his long balls forward, the ever-hard-working Irishman Roy Keane, and the crossing/long shot experts such as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, and David Beckham.

Liverpool, under a French manager, is more of the French foreign legion, but also possesses Steven Gerrard in midfield whose long passes and presence across the entire pitch made him a top player, even to continental European standards.

It's truly remarkable how sharp the differences suddenly are when you actually compare the two games. I began watching Inter vs Juventus and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Then I switched too Liverpool and United, and noticed it was from a different planet almost. I tried to capture the main differences in screenshots, and I think its fairly obvious from the pictures alone just how different these four teams play with the same system.

A Different Ball Game

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(Nedved, Juventus' left midfielder, continuously drifts inside, so often that he practically plays as central attacking midfielder)

The first thing I noticed is that the Italian teams both had at least one of their side midfielders tuck inside, and have the full-back overlap on that side. So Juventus had its left midfielder Nedved drift inside and play behind the two strikers, with their left defender Zambrotta making overlapping runs. Inter Milan did something similar. Their left midfielder, Edgar Davids (originally a central defensive midfielder) sits mostly in the center of the pitch when the team is out of ball possession, and Inter Milan's left defender, Favalli, makes occasional overlapping runs. Both teams clearly have one defensive central midfielder, and a central midfield partner moving forward. Inter has Cambiasso who stays back, while Stankovic roams forward. Juve has Blasi to stay back, and Emerson to do the running.

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(Inter's variation: Davids (LM) almost playing as a third central midfielder, allowing Van der Meyde (RM) to play as a much more attacking winger)

Other than that, nothing special. The English teams were, as expected, fairly straight to the point. Originally, the 4-4-2 was intended to be exactly that, and therefore the English liked it. It accompanied the ''Kick n Rush'' game, which was all about getting the ball as often as possible into the opponent's box, because it statistically increases the chances of scoring. United's 4-4-2 is exactly that, with Neville (full-back) or Silvestre (central defender) knocking almost exclusively long balls towards the two strikers, trying to lay the ball back to one of the midfielders, who swings it in front of the goal. Nine out of ten times, they even fail to reach the striker, and get the ball straight back because the Liverpool defender tries exactly the same. Another frequent play is the full-back advancing with the ball to the halfway line, attempting a diagonal pass to the striker, and then trying to reach the flank for a cross. In the end, everything they do is aimed at trying to cross the ball. For Liverpool is Kewell and Diouf on the flanks, with Gerrard staying in midfield to switch the ball from one flank to another or knock it to their attackers Smicer and Heskey. The Liverpool full-backs (Traore and Finnan) are both visibly scared to death to have the ball on their feet. Aside from Gerrard and Giggs, its perhaps best that the midfielders are skipped often: Phil Neville, Keane, Fortune, Murphy, Kewell, and Diouf... In Dutch we call such players ''Home-garden-kitchen players'', meaning ordinary players you could find anywhere.

Despite that, it can be nice to watch. Especially when Gerrard launches those enormous passes to switch the play, or Gary Neville swinging the ball into Liverpool's box from his own half - it can be pleasing to watch when these balls are given with accuracy and skill. A pity that it's most of the time the Traore's, Hyypia's, Diouf's, and Phil Neville's of this world that are knocking around the long-balls into the stands.

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(Typical match scene: Man United forms a deep line of four with Neville having the ball, looking for a long ball to Forlan or Van Nistelrooy)

As a result, the English game is... in a state of permanent turnover. I tried my best to find a screenshot demonstrating the attacking and defensive shapes of Liverpool and United, but it took me too long to find such moments. Both teams play in such a manner that they never get to set themselves up in an attacking shape. By knocking the ball forward, there is no build up, and they lose the ball immediately. If they don't, the next move is to cross it, after which it usually is a goal kick or a lost ball. Then the other team gets to do the same. There is no time to set up for attacks. In the Italian match, there are very clearly distinguishable periods during which one side has the ball on their opponent's half and is trying to break their defense down, and during which they are forced to defend themselves. The Italian teams clearly look to play out from the back, with their full-backs carrying the ball forward, then seeking the combination plays with wingers cutting inside and strikers dropping between the lines. Long balls are reserved for counter-attack opportunities.

Spaces
The most obvious difference on the pitch between the two matches is the available space. It wasn't until I saw the English game until I realized just how small the spaces were, in all phases of the play, of the Italian match. Or the English make things very large. The Italian teams clearly squeeze the center with their wide midfielders cutting inside and strikers dropping deeper, while the opposing defending team tracks their assigned markers rigidly. This makes their game look a bit more... congested and closed. No matter where on the pitch, the players are always surrounded by opponents. They have to act quickly, or lose the ball. This makes the game quick, yet at the same time, not in the spectacular sense, because both teams manage to drag eachother's attack in the mud before a good opportunity arises.

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(Juventus and Inter overload the central midfield)

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(Gerrard has seas of space as United forms lines, awaiting his long pass
Liverpool also sets up in flat, spaceous lines)

The English have their defenses often much deeper positioned. When in ball possession, they have the space to launch those long balls. When they lose it, about 3 seconds later, they're well-positioned to intercept the opposing team's long balls. When the opposing team advances into their half, they retreat into their own box, form a perfect line, ready to head the cross away. The midfielders also tend to set up in very wide flat lines of 4, trying to shield their defenders, forcing the opponent to play around the middle of the pitch and to go wide, which they often do. If necessary, full-backs make overlapping runs. As a result, the English 4-4-2 compared to the Italians are large, wide, with enormous gaps between the individual players and the lines are flat. This works well for them because they serve the type of game theyre playing. But an iron law in football is that flat lines are easily penetrated, and can thus make a team defensively vulnerable to any opponent capable of doing more than crossing from the flanks. When seeing this, no surprise then that in the previous season Arsene Wenger's fluid Arsenal dominated the Premier-League, with highly technical players like Pires, Henry, and Bergkamp roaming between the lines. And no surprise either that in the upcoming seasons, its the dawn of Jose Mourinho's 4-3-3, that almost exclusively relies on players moving between the lines.

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(The flat lines serve United here well in defending against crosses, as they push Kewell as far out to the flank as possible, while the defenders line up in a chain, so that its difficult for any in-coming attacker to jump in front of them. The Italians on the other hand do not form flat lines. They follow the movements of opponents, and get their players as close together as possible in front of their goal. It looks chaotic, but it enables them to deal with the roaming between the lines since there is no space to roam into.)

As a result of how these teams play - one setting up in lines and preparing for the long ball, the others trying to congest the midfield and roam between the lines - the pressing game is different as well. I was rather surprised to see no pressing at all in English game. Despite that, England is known to be the land of ''get stuck in'', hard-tackling, physical fighting game. But as you can guess from these pictures: that's not what they're doing. They simply couldn't even if they wanted to, because the distances to their immediate opponents are too large. By setting up in lines, and parking their tall defenders in their own box, the English teams basically wait for their opponents to play that long ball and they give him all the time and space to do so. They must do so: if they choose to tire themselves by running and charging towards the Neville's and Hyypia's of this world, the space between the midfielders and defenders would only get larger, making the defenders vulnerable.

The Italian teams are making sure that they are constantly close to their opponents, they give them no space and no time, and when someone gets out-played by his immediate opponent he takes them down in a foul. Despite the Italians not being a fan of ''pressing'', perfected by Barcelona in a few years time ahead of these matches, they're exerting much more constant pressure on eachother, forcing their opponents to think quickly and act quickly. Its not a matter of running and chasing the ball, but simply of narrowing the playing field and reducing space. Thats the fundamental difference between how the English and the Italians play 4-4-2 in this case. The English look to expand the playing field, the Italians try to reduce it at all costs.