Opinion – PVC: The phrases behind modern football tactics

Guardiola defined Atletico Madrid, his opponents in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, in a phrase that also explains defensive football: “They are who they are and they prevent you from being who you are”.

Bingo!

Diego Simeone is today the anti-guardiola, just as José Mourinho, the teacher of Abel Ferreira, was ten years ago. Simeone doesn’t want his team every day in the same way, he just wants to go to the woods because the game is a championship game.

Or it would not have eliminated Barcelona in the quarter-finals of 2014, preventing the Catalans from reaching the semi-finals for the seventh time in a row.

But there are games where you have to admit the difficulty and set up defensive tactics.

Two years before expelling Barça from the Champions League, Atlético won the Europa League, playing a brilliant, offensive semi-final against Valencia. Simeone isn’t a bouncer every day.

The book “Cabeça Fria, Coração Quente”, by Abel Ferreira, has an excerpt in which the author explains the role of the coach: “We have to give the best attack route”. Ironically, Abel said after beating Santos 1-0 that his team is “a bit of a back-up”.

Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp never are. But Klopp needed 42% possession in the 2013 Champions League semi-final and final against Real Madrid and Bayern. Klopp ran a weaker Borussia Dortmund than his current Liverpool.

Fans root for teams, and commentators shouldn’t be rooting for their ideas. Journalist has no friend, except the reader, listener or viewer. It also has no enemy.

Different games have different strategies, coaches and players deserve praise or criticism according to their performances.

There are days yes and days no.

It is very rare to hear or criticize Guardiola, because he is the most creative coach today. Journalist Martí Perarnau, author of the two books that feature the Catalan coach as their face, told sheet that Pep is the most extreme in reinterpreting systems.

It was he who started attacking opponents by playing five men on the last offensive line, against four rival defenders, as in the old WM system from the 1920s to 1950s.

Abel Ferreira does the same in Palmeiras and is called a retranqueiro. Alexander Medina also did it for Internacional, in the 3-0 defeat to Grêmio. You run the risk of being fired. Not for your idea. For your defeat.

You can bet that at this moment, after suffering to make his Atletico Madrid beat Rayo Vallecano by a miserable 1-0, on Saturday (19), Diego Simeone is planning how to defend himself against Manchester City. Attacking the English champion is like going to the registry office and filling out an application to be defeated.

One of the issues inherent to modern football is the ability to create strategies to attack and defend. Treat the ball like gold when you have it, study your rival’s weaknesses and know your strengths.

Raphael Veiga says that the play for Palmeiras’ first goal, against Flamengo, in the Libertadores final, was exhaustively practiced. Abel confirms the information in his book.

Our criticisms make it sound like modern football is about attacking or defending. It’s not like this. Whether it’s Guardiola, Tite, Simeone or Abel Ferreira, it’s about attacking and defending.

THE FINALS

Palmeiras arrives as a favorite in the finals, but the only champion with the best campaign in the initial phase was São Paulo last year. So it will be necessary to pay attention in every game. Abel Ferreira uses his prestige to talk about the calendar and overload on athletes. It’s fair.

WITHOUT THE BIG

The 22nd Campeonato Paulista of the century is also the 17th without the big four in the semifinals. We haven’t even reached the semifinals, and Santos is already eliminated. For the Brazilian, Fabián Bustos wants five reinforcements, and Santos needs to give stability to the coaches and their jobs.