Voters are asked to consider the XIs featured as remakes of classic teams, and to consider to what extent the manager has succeeded in re-creating both the individual roles and the overall functionality of the original. THIS IS NOT A FANTASY MATCH BETWEEN TWO SIDES, but rather a comparison of remakes.
Please feel free to tag the managers if you require more information about their set-ups/players etc.
Defensive:
Catenaccio predicated itself on always having a spare man in defense. It accomplished this by using man-marking; each Inter player knew who he was meant to be keeping tabs on in his half of the field. The spare man was the sweeper, for those Inter teams, Armando Picchi, cleaning up anyone who slipped their marker long enough to provide a threat.
Offensive:
“In attack, all the players knew what I wanted: vertical football at great speed, with no more than three passes to get to the opponent’s box.”
“A small number of short, very quick passes to get to the opposition’s goal in as little time as possible. There is almost no place for dribbling. It’s a tool, not a system. The ball always moves further, and more quickly, when there isn’t a player behind it.”
- Herrera
These quotes from Il Mago himself gives us a fair idea, of how the attacking system is supposed to work.
Stay deep, soak the pressure, win the ball back in their half and launch the ball forward with speed and directness. Directness is the key here and this along with the ability to play the counter attacking system has weighed heavily in my picks.
Style -
Counter attacking, Direct, Long passes. Defend deep as a team and employ a lot of time wasting when leading.
Defense:
Defensive line - Deep. Di Stéfano described Picchi to Lowe as - “one of those sweepers who played so deep that, if there was a bit of fog and you thought you’d gone past all of them, another one would appear. ‘Where did that guy come from? Are they playing with 12, or what?”
This is exactly how I want my sweeper (Carvalho) to play.
Marking - Strictly man marking with a free sweeper.
Off the ball - Drop deep to own half, with each man sticking to his player, while the free sweeper stays further back to provide last line of defense. Win the ball with tough tackling.
On the ball - Pump the ball into the box with long passes from deep and direct runs.
Midfield:
Midfield's roles are specialized, Pirlo is the main conductor, his job is to get the ball to forwards and onrushing Sorin, with his impeccable long range passing. Kante's role is to often man mark the opposition playmaker and tackle everything that moves. Silva provide extra creativity from the left, can go either to the middle or wide left. Finally Di Maria's role is to own the right wing, while he is more of a right forward
Attack:
Attack is spear headed by Ronaldo and supported by Tevez. Two main attributes we're looking from our attack are lethal finishing - to finish off any little half chance we create - and direct strong running toward opposition defense, to start and finish counters. Ronaldo and Tevez fits the bill perfectly, both have played for counter attacking teams throughout their careers, both are fast, great finishers and can create their chances as well.
More on team and tactic:
Much like the grande Inter our team is built on the principles of a team effort and strong work ethic. Organization is of prime importance whereby the team set out in the shape of 4 levels. These are: first level of a sweeper, two/four defenders depending upon the possession, five/three midfielders and two forwards.
The forward line of 2 is amorphous in which Tevez plays a vital role, that of the ‘fantasista’. Blessed with a great touch and explosive pace and finishing to match, Tevez is the man responsible for netting every half-chance, especially away where he’d often be stuck on his own, but equally importantly, setting up his more advanced partner. He is paired with the lethal Ronaldo. In the midfield, the architect named Andrea Pirlo is the playmaker responsible for finding the men upfront.
But true wonders of this team and Herrera’s system are the two players on the wings. On the right, Di Maria plays the right wing forward role which he played for Mourinho's slick counter attacking machine in Real Madrid and now plays for PSG. His role is to charge forward whenever possession was won. Di Maria would be the outlet for Pirlo, Silva, Kante and Carvalho whenever they won the ball. Of these, Pirlo & Silva are particularly accomplished passers known for their range. This perfectly complements Di Maria's ability to drive forward. On the left we have Juan Pablo Sorin, a left wing back who loves to attack and go forward at every chance, especially to utilize the space vacated from Silva, when he cuts in. Sorin and Di Maria are the two players which provided balance and thrust to this machine. They make sure that the team stayed organized with men behind the ball when the opposition had the ball, but also that this does not impede them when deciding to go forward.
How defensive was catenaccio ? -
Debate has also enveloped the nature of catenaccio. Several contemporaries say it was more constructive than its reputation suggests. Herrera claimed his system was misunderstood, because others had copied it and left out several attacking principles. This is supported by Mazzola, who believes the misconception is rooted in the European campaigns that served to establish Inter’s notoriety. “When I hear about Inter playing catenaccio, I have to say we played about six matches with catenaccio and 40 matches with attacking football,” Mazzola told FIFA.com. “I remember my team-mates Picchi and Guarneri, two centre-backs, who during San Siro home games could spend 60 minutes looking into the stands, trying to spot a girl to take out that evening, because the opposition only played in their half. But then, when we played abroad – and I guess this was a mistake – we didn’t feel very comfortable and secure, and stayed back more.”
He added: “We had five attacking players in the side, six if you include Facchetti, who used to get forward a lot, something that no one else did at the time. It’s true that we sometimes employed a very defensive system away from home, but we regularly played 4-2-4, and everyone worked really hard.”
Our squad has the right amount of attacking flair in Ronaldo, Tevez, Di Maria, Pirlo, and Silva to adhere to the attacking principles of Grande Inter.
Final thoughts:
I believe our squad remake the Grande Inter squad closely both in personnel and tactically. Ofcourse there are some players who are impossible to replace such as Facchetti and there are some players who could be a bit better, but were chosen by other managers. The fact that most of our squad (really all of them except Puyol and Silva) have played in counter attacking teams is very important to our tactical set up. I'll write more on individual players and their suitability to the role in the game thread.
Please feel free to tag the managers if you require more information about their set-ups/players etc.
Team Tuppet
Philosophy/Ideology of tactical set-up
Defensive:
Catenaccio predicated itself on always having a spare man in defense. It accomplished this by using man-marking; each Inter player knew who he was meant to be keeping tabs on in his half of the field. The spare man was the sweeper, for those Inter teams, Armando Picchi, cleaning up anyone who slipped their marker long enough to provide a threat.
Offensive:
“In attack, all the players knew what I wanted: vertical football at great speed, with no more than three passes to get to the opponent’s box.”
“A small number of short, very quick passes to get to the opposition’s goal in as little time as possible. There is almost no place for dribbling. It’s a tool, not a system. The ball always moves further, and more quickly, when there isn’t a player behind it.”
- Herrera
These quotes from Il Mago himself gives us a fair idea, of how the attacking system is supposed to work.
Stay deep, soak the pressure, win the ball back in their half and launch the ball forward with speed and directness. Directness is the key here and this along with the ability to play the counter attacking system has weighed heavily in my picks.
Style -
Counter attacking, Direct, Long passes. Defend deep as a team and employ a lot of time wasting when leading.
Defense:
Defensive line - Deep. Di Stéfano described Picchi to Lowe as - “one of those sweepers who played so deep that, if there was a bit of fog and you thought you’d gone past all of them, another one would appear. ‘Where did that guy come from? Are they playing with 12, or what?”
This is exactly how I want my sweeper (Carvalho) to play.
Marking - Strictly man marking with a free sweeper.
Off the ball - Drop deep to own half, with each man sticking to his player, while the free sweeper stays further back to provide last line of defense. Win the ball with tough tackling.
On the ball - Pump the ball into the box with long passes from deep and direct runs.
Midfield:
Midfield's roles are specialized, Pirlo is the main conductor, his job is to get the ball to forwards and onrushing Sorin, with his impeccable long range passing. Kante's role is to often man mark the opposition playmaker and tackle everything that moves. Silva provide extra creativity from the left, can go either to the middle or wide left. Finally Di Maria's role is to own the right wing, while he is more of a right forward
Attack:
Attack is spear headed by Ronaldo and supported by Tevez. Two main attributes we're looking from our attack are lethal finishing - to finish off any little half chance we create - and direct strong running toward opposition defense, to start and finish counters. Ronaldo and Tevez fits the bill perfectly, both have played for counter attacking teams throughout their careers, both are fast, great finishers and can create their chances as well.
More on team and tactic:
Much like the grande Inter our team is built on the principles of a team effort and strong work ethic. Organization is of prime importance whereby the team set out in the shape of 4 levels. These are: first level of a sweeper, two/four defenders depending upon the possession, five/three midfielders and two forwards.
The forward line of 2 is amorphous in which Tevez plays a vital role, that of the ‘fantasista’. Blessed with a great touch and explosive pace and finishing to match, Tevez is the man responsible for netting every half-chance, especially away where he’d often be stuck on his own, but equally importantly, setting up his more advanced partner. He is paired with the lethal Ronaldo. In the midfield, the architect named Andrea Pirlo is the playmaker responsible for finding the men upfront.
But true wonders of this team and Herrera’s system are the two players on the wings. On the right, Di Maria plays the right wing forward role which he played for Mourinho's slick counter attacking machine in Real Madrid and now plays for PSG. His role is to charge forward whenever possession was won. Di Maria would be the outlet for Pirlo, Silva, Kante and Carvalho whenever they won the ball. Of these, Pirlo & Silva are particularly accomplished passers known for their range. This perfectly complements Di Maria's ability to drive forward. On the left we have Juan Pablo Sorin, a left wing back who loves to attack and go forward at every chance, especially to utilize the space vacated from Silva, when he cuts in. Sorin and Di Maria are the two players which provided balance and thrust to this machine. They make sure that the team stayed organized with men behind the ball when the opposition had the ball, but also that this does not impede them when deciding to go forward.
How defensive was catenaccio ? -
Debate has also enveloped the nature of catenaccio. Several contemporaries say it was more constructive than its reputation suggests. Herrera claimed his system was misunderstood, because others had copied it and left out several attacking principles. This is supported by Mazzola, who believes the misconception is rooted in the European campaigns that served to establish Inter’s notoriety. “When I hear about Inter playing catenaccio, I have to say we played about six matches with catenaccio and 40 matches with attacking football,” Mazzola told FIFA.com. “I remember my team-mates Picchi and Guarneri, two centre-backs, who during San Siro home games could spend 60 minutes looking into the stands, trying to spot a girl to take out that evening, because the opposition only played in their half. But then, when we played abroad – and I guess this was a mistake – we didn’t feel very comfortable and secure, and stayed back more.”
He added: “We had five attacking players in the side, six if you include Facchetti, who used to get forward a lot, something that no one else did at the time. It’s true that we sometimes employed a very defensive system away from home, but we regularly played 4-2-4, and everyone worked really hard.”
Our squad has the right amount of attacking flair in Ronaldo, Tevez, Di Maria, Pirlo, and Silva to adhere to the attacking principles of Grande Inter.
Final thoughts:
I believe our squad remake the Grande Inter squad closely both in personnel and tactically. Ofcourse there are some players who are impossible to replace such as Facchetti and there are some players who could be a bit better, but were chosen by other managers. The fact that most of our squad (really all of them except Puyol and Silva) have played in counter attacking teams is very important to our tactical set up. I'll write more on individual players and their suitability to the role in the game thread.
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