........................................ TEAM HARMS ................................................................................................. TEAM JIMOGA ....................................................
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TEAM HARMS
I go into the final with an enormous addition — Der Kaiser himself joins my side to lead them to victory. Obviously, the inclusion of Beckenbauer means that the personnel around him has to be adjusted accordingly to maximise his influence:
- Claudio Gentile starts as a left back. «But harms, he was a right-back that could play as a stopper, don’t you know?» Just to clarify this — Gentile was equally comfortable all across the backline, often starting in different positions throughout a season, but he had a few seasons where his main starting position was on the left. Most notably — 1976/77 and 1977/78 seasons, and the former is rated as his best season by an Italian press (he was also the highest-rated Juventus player that season in a team that won Serie A & UEFA Cup). The reasoning behind this decision is quite simple — he provides additional cover to Beckenbauer so that the latter can join attack as much as he feels necessary
- Edwards starts ahead of van Hanegem. It pains me to bench the Dutchman, but tactically it makes the most sense. Beckenbauer provides playmaking from deeper areas and Sívori’s skillset makes him invaluable in that attacking midfield role. Edwards may not give me the same exquisite passing, but he’s more or less a complete package with no flaws whatsoever (and van Hanegem was painfully slow, even though he mostly made up for it by his work-rate and positioning)
The rest is straight-forward enough — Czibor plays as a proper winger, compensating for Gentile’s conservative role at the back. He’s used to doing it — he rarely had an overlap runner next to him, his crossing with both feet was exemplary & although that doesn’t mean that we should forget about his knack for goalscoring. Jairzinho starts ahead of Carlos Alberto to replicate their partnership from 1970 and he’ll be the more forward-like of my two wide attackers. Sívori & Seeler keep their roles — Sívori as a nominal number 10, Seeler as a nominal line-leading striker, but both are free to roam & interchange if they feel the need to.
In focus: Jean Tigana
In this interesting match-up I want to highlight Jean Tigana — one of the most unique players that I’ve had a pleasure to watch, a tireless runner and a fantastic playmaker to boot. They only thing he couldn’t do was score goals — he really couldn’t. I’ve compared him to Kanté multiple times during this draft and now it looks like he’s going to be facing the original version, so I wanted to showcase the aspect of his game that puts him ahead in my eyes. Kanté has the same never-ending source of energy inside him, but you can argue that his defensive awareness is even better than that of Tigana’s — he really maxed out on both of those parameters. But the biggest difference between them is their ball-playing ability. Kanté is quite good on the ball, but if he had Tigana’s ball-playing skills he would’ve been hailed as the greatest box-to-box to ever play the game — and for a good reason. Here’s a quick statistical overview of Tigana’s involvement in the build-up of the legendary France 84’ side — all of that as the main ball-winning midfielder with more dominant playmakers ahead of him:
TEAM JIMOGA
A TRIBUTE TO HOLLAND WORLD CUP TEAM 1974
We come a long, long way together...♫♪
Tactics: 4-3-3 with rapid interchaging movement and fluidity being key elements of the side
Mentality: Aggresive and attacking
If this sentence sounds familiar, you are right because that was our intro for the first match, presenting the Danish dynamite team of the 80's who were ranked among top 20 sides in the above mentioned selection. On the very top, as the greatest and most influential side in the history came Holland of 1974, arguably the greatest side never to win the World Cup.
It is no wonder we arrived at this side in the end, because the whole team was built with possession based football in mind, with our players being adept with the ball and versatile enough to play multiple positions, with immense pressing ability.
At the start, the strong Danish core allowed us to explode forward with the famous ultra-attacking and all-action ethos, which was the trademark of the greatest Danish side ever. That vintage had the principles of total football highly ingrained throughout the team (spatial awareness, ceaseless movement and imagination of passing came right to the fore).
So, it is quite appropriate to conclude this draft with our own tribute to one of the greatest sides that ever graced a football pitch, and with Johan Cruyff at the very heart of it, leading the team in a manner which has not seen since Di Stefano's Real Madrid side (or ever after).
Johan Cruyff with iconic number 14 on his back representing his unique status in the team while being the manager on the field
What formation did Holland's Total Football team played?
For all the talk about fluidity, shape, interchanging of that team with everyone running everywhere, the team formation was quite simple in reality and quite evident once they went into defensive shape.
In its essence the team was actually pretty simple acting and playing in Cruyff mantra, reminiscent of his famous quote.
"Playing simple football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing to do"
The team was full of players who stepped out of their regular positions, but it was on their teammates to cover the zones that were vacated in those instances and they were brilliant at it.
On the other hand, it created multiple problems for the opposition who were often dragged all over the place and were extremely vulnerable on the counter if they decided to open and attack.
What were the benefits of playing such a style?
1. Cruyff placed as the central figure of the team putting him in a position where he was pretty much unplayable acting as the "on field" conductor pulling strings all over the pitch. He didn't only scored goals, he started the moves, he created openings and goals for his teammates. He had the license to roam wherever he liked to and his teammates thrived in his unique ability to create space and chances for them.
2. It elevated every single player in that team as they thrived in space that was created for them by the system itself and Cruyff in it;
3. The opposition struggled to get out of their own third, let alone their half at times and if they opted for more adventurous or aggressive approach they were dismantled and overwhelmed once the ball was taken on the counters. As a consequence of such approach the Dutch backline often didn't have much to do during the match because the ball very rarely even came in their area.
Player roles and fits in this system
Johan Cruyff and Rob Rensenbrink reprise their usual roles in the team and they don't need any further explanation. Rensenbrink had one of the all-time great WC performances of his own 4 years later in Argentina, but even in this version from 1974 he was unplayable at times growing as the tournament went further. The only games in which Holland failed to get on the scoresheet was which Rensenbrink wasn't on the pitch (Sweden) and after he was substituted in the last 45 minutes of the final because of an untimely injury.
Preben Elkjaer slots into the right forward role in attack and it is hard to find more fitting players for such a role. Elkjaer thrived playing off Laudrup in that fluid Denmark side and scored 37 goals in 60 matches or 0,61 goal per game. at his peak for that side (which is a brilliant record by any standard). Here he can maximize his relentless energy, constant movement, tendency to drift onto the flanks and predatory instincts to full extent, with a multi faceted attack offering more avenues for the rampaging Dane.
The high octane engine room trio are a great combination with all of them complete midfield dynamos - being extremely agressive and yet, somewhat distinctive in the way they operated (similar to the Holland trio). The irrepressible Lerby who allied sheer physicality with a sublime left foot. Breitner, arguably one of the greatest ball playing B2Bs, whose talismanic impact was pretty much unheard of for a B2B midfielder. It'll be a huge disservice to Kante to portray him as a 'mere industrious defensive presence', when his exploits for Leicester, France & Chelsea at the biggest stages, quite clearly paint a different picture. Never has there been a midfielder who was capable of stifling midfields nearly single handedly, playing alongside the likes of Drinkwater, Jorginho and Pogba, all whilst making his presence felt all over the engine room as a dynamic presence. This midfield, and the rest of the team, will run all day and bulldoze you to the ground.
Wim Jansen's main responsibility was to cover, break attacks, put out fires wherever they went on the field. In one game he won the freekick on the edge of the opposition penalty area and 90 seconds later he broke the opposition counter at the very opposite end. That is the role for which Kante, often named as a one-man midfield, was born for with his relentless energy and remarkable ball-winning nous.
The rearguard is made up of a brilliant pair of cerebral yet physically gifted fullbacks in Philip Lahm and Branko Zebec who are well known for their immense stamina and the rare ability to participate equally in both phases of the game. Laurent Blanc and Paul Mcgrath form a complementary and fearsome partnership - being almost impossible to beat in the air, yet being brilliant on the ball. They blend a perfect combination of winning mentality, leadership, physicality and brilliant positioning which will prove hard to break, but at the same time being able to provide another attacking outlet to this team if the space opens up. Both were also proactive defenders who loved defending, but also to put their team on the front foot once they won the ball. Their job will also be made easier by that immense midfield that is in front of them.
All of the players above excelled and played in multiple positions throughout their careers which is critical to implementing this tactic.
The Mighty Magyar Gyula Groscis who was one of the trailblazers as a sweeper-keeper for that legendary Hungarian side of the fifties will be a formidable presence between the sticks.
Justice for Andrea!
