Mapping the Pitch : Football Formations Through The Ages

306 Pages·2015·23.509 MB·English

E
d
This book takes an informal and entertaining look at some of the most influential football coaches w
ForMaTions kEY
and teams in the game’s history as well as exploring some of the origins of football’s more well- a
r
d
known formations and the players who were an integral part of them.

C
By taking an informative yet informal and entertaining look at the history and evolution of football o
u
GK Goalkeeper
formations and tactics, the author identifies just a few of some of the pioneering figures in the z
e
FB Full Back/Right (or) Left Back early years of the game, people like Jack Hunter, the visionary coach of Blackburn Olympic who n
s
HB Halfback (L/C/R=Left/Centre/Right Halfback) prepared his team for a crucial match by taking them to the seaside for a few days of “...hard -
L
running on the towns famous sands as well as a regular diet of oysters, and, very strictly, no beer” a
CB Centreback (Centre Half)
k
and the players of Queens Park FC who conceived and played tiki-taka football over a century e
W Winger (LW/RW=Left/Right Winger)
before Pep Guardiola and his all-conquering Barcelona players were even born.
Edward CouzEns-LakE, the author
IF Inside Forward
Mapping The Pitch also looks at some of the great international sides in the games history, including
of Fantasy Football and Gossy: The
CF Centre Forward (Striker) M
the Hungary team which so astonished and captivated the sporting world in the 1950’s, not least
Autobiography of Jeremy Goss, also
LM Left Midfield because of the role played by and exceptional ability of a player very few people will have heard of
a contributes as a feature writer and
CM Central Midfield today, Nándor Hidegkuti, one of the forerunners of the position that made players like Pelé, Cruyff
weekly blogger to a number of both
RW Right Midfield and Maradona so revered in the modern game. p
print and digital publications as well as
DM Defensive Midfield It also explores the contemporary theme within the game that sees teams enter matches with a p
several high profile websites. These
mentality of looking not to lose rather than to win, a telling but subtle difference between football
AM Attacking Midfield (also known as “Hole”)* i
include lifestyle and music magazines
today and how it was half a century and more ago, one typified by an emphasis on midfield n
WB Wingbacks
domination and possession–one that is not so dissimilar to the priorities teams adopted in mob as well as both sport and business
g
football in the middle ages. websites.
* Domain of the ‘false’ number nine or playmaker.

Edward Couzens-Lake
t
h
Mapping
e

P
i
t
$ 14.95/£ 12.95
the Pitch
c
ISBN 978-1-78255-060-0
h
Football Formations Through the Ages
www.m-m-sports.com
15_05_19_Umschlag_Mapping_the_Pitch_ar.indd 1 19.05.15 15:04
E
d
This book takes an informal and entertaining look at some of the most influential football coaches w
ForMaTions kEY
and teams in the game’s history as well as exploring some of the origins of football’s more well- a
r
d
known formations and the players who were an integral part of them.

C
By taking an informative yet informal and entertaining look at the history and evolution of football o
u
GK Goalkeeper
formations and tactics, the author identifies just a few of some of the pioneering figures in the z
e
FB Full Back/Right (or) Left Back early years of the game, people like Jack Hunter, the visionary coach of Blackburn Olympic who n
s
HB Halfback (L/C/R=Left/Centre/Right Halfback) prepared his team for a crucial match by taking them to the seaside for a few days of “...hard -
L
running on the towns famous sands as well as a regular diet of oysters, and, very strictly, no beer” a
CB Centreback (Centre Half)
k
and the players of Queens Park FC who conceived and played tiki-taka football over a century e
W Winger (LW/RW=Left/Right Winger)
before Pep Guardiola and his all-conquering Barcelona players were even born.
Edward CouzEns-LakE, the author
IF Inside Forward
Mapping The Pitch also looks at some of the great international sides in the games history, including
of Fantasy Football and Gossy: The
CF Centre Forward (Striker) M
the Hungary team which so astonished and captivated the sporting world in the 1950’s, not least
Autobiography of Jeremy Goss, also
LM Left Midfield because of the role played by and exceptional ability of a player very few people will have heard of
a contributes as a feature writer and
CM Central Midfield today, Nándor Hidegkuti, one of the forerunners of the position that made players like Pelé, Cruyff
weekly blogger to a number of both
RW Right Midfield and Maradona so revered in the modern game. p
print and digital publications as well as
DM Defensive Midfield It also explores the contemporary theme within the game that sees teams enter matches with a p
several high profile websites. These
mentality of looking not to lose rather than to win, a telling but subtle difference between football
AM Attacking Midfield (also known as “Hole”)* i
include lifestyle and music magazines
today and how it was half a century and more ago, one typified by an emphasis on midfield n
WB Wingbacks
domination and possession–one that is not so dissimilar to the priorities teams adopted in mob as well as both sport and business
g
football in the middle ages. websites.
* Domain of the ‘false’ number nine or playmaker.

Edward Couzens-Lake
t
h
Mapping
e

P
i
t
$ 14.95/£ 12.95
the Pitch
c
ISBN 978-1-78255-060-0
h
Football Formations Through the Ages
www.m-m-sports.com
15_05_19_Umschlag_Mapping_the_Pitch_ar.indd 1 19.05.15 15:04
Mapping the Pitch
15_05_18_Satz_Mapping_the_Pitch_ar.indd 1 18.05.15 14:34
Dedicated to Jimmy Hogan
Coaching Visionary
‘He used to say football was like a Viennese waltz, a
rHapsody. one-two-tHree, one-two-tHree, pass-moVe-pass,
pass-moVe-pass. we were sat tHere, glued to our seats,
because we were so keen to learn.’
Tommy Docherty
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Edward Couzens-Lake
Mapping
the Pitch
Football Formations Through the Ages
Meyer & Meyer Sport
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Mapping the Pitch – Football Formations Through the Ages
Maidenhead: Meyer & Meyer Sport (UK) Ltd., 2015

All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, no part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means now known or here-
after invented without the prior written permission of the publisher.
This book may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form,
binding or cover other than that which is published, without the prior written consent of the
publisher.
© 2015 by Meyer & Meyer Sport (UK) Ltd.
Aachen, Auckland, Beirut, Cairo, Cape Town, Dubai, Hägendorf, Hong Kong,
Indianapolis, Manila, New Delhi, Singapore, Sydney, Tehran, Vienna
Member of the World Sport Publishers‘ Association (WSPA)
ISBN: 978-1-78255-726-5
E-Mail: [email protected]
www.m-m-sports.com
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of ConTenTs
proLoguE .......................................................................... 6
inTroduCTion ..................................................................14
CHapTEr onE:
MoB FooTBaLL ..................................................................24
CHapTEr Two:
THE agE oF THE pYraMid ..................................................56
CHapTEr THrEE:
a nEw approaCH ..............................................................74
CHapTEr Four:
wM Vs METodo ...............................................................102
CHapTEr FiVE:
THE TEaM THaT sHook THE worLd ..................................128
CHapTEr siX:
THE BoYs FroM BraziL ..................................................172
CHapTEr sEVEn:
THE CasE For 4-4-2 ........................................................222
CHapTEr EigHT:
ToTaL FooTBaLL .............................................................244
CHapTEr ninE:
swEEpErs and siX-Man MidFiELds .................................262
aCknowLEdgEMEnTs ......................................................302
CrEdiTs ..........................................................................304
5
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PRoloGUe
The Romans were, of course, famous for the military formation
known as the Testudo, or Tortoise, one that Giovanni Trapattoni,
a master of organisation and discipline, would have been proud
to call his own.
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PROLOGUE
Football, like so many things in life, beloved or not, was invented by the
English.
Alas, also like so many things in life, it almost certainly wasn’t. What
they did do for the game was burden it with its very first set of rules and
regulations, applying bureaucracy to a game in much the same way they
had done to the countries in their Empire.
Countries, cultures and societies that exercise a claim to inventing the
world’s greatest game (probably) and its second greatest obsession
(possibly) are numerous. A game that involved using the feet in kicking,
and propelling an object of sorts has certainly been recorded in both
Ancient Greek and Roman history, with the Roman version, known
as hapastum thought to have been a bastardised variant of the even
earlier Greek version. Who knows, perhaps the Romans, style and form
ever to the forefront even on the battlefield, included the first on-field
trequartista in their noble ranks – an early Andrea Pirlo, resplendent in
toga and sandals?
The Romans were, of course, famous for the military formation known
as the Testudo, or Tortoise, one that Giovanni Trapattoni, a master
of organisation and discipline, would have been proud to call his own.
Testudo involved a group of around 36 Roman legionaries advancing
into battle in such a manner that they were completely protected by their
shields. The soldiers at the front held their shields in front of them whilst
those at the sides held them outwards and those in the middle of the
advancing rectangle would hold their shields over their heads. The result
of this was effectively a mobile metal box that contained all of the men
safely within its protective confines.
Not particularly pretty, not particularly fast or exciting, but very
effective. Italian pragmatism in the mould of some of their national
7
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Mapping The PiTch
football teams. Nobody can say they weren’t forewarned. And, as far
as any and all opposing armies were concerned, they couldn’t say they
weren’t warned. Because it’s what the Romans did. In every battle. Time
and time again. Predictable? Yes. Effective? Certainly. They had a battle
plan, and by Mars, they were going to use it.
After all, once you’ve found a battle plan that works, you’re hardly going
to deviate for as long as remains the case.
Thus, on rather more literal fields of physical combat, the leaders of
fighting men continue to redefine warfare. Rome had, with its highly
trained soldiers and tightly disciplined Testudo, turned the art of battle
into a science. Long gone were the days when hordes of fighting men
and women would simply form into two large and unorganised groups
and simply run into one another, pell-mell, a blur of axes, swords and
assorted blunt instruments with no one really sure of what they are doing
or who they are bludgeoning to death. It was bloody anarchy.
Rome helped change all that.
People raved about Testudo. It was the tiki-taka of its day, reliant on close
movement and finding space in the most effective manner. Cassius Dio,
a 1st century Roman consul, historian and forerunner of the modern day
studio pundit (‘Well Cassius, the ancient Britons are getting a mauling
in this battle, can you see any way back into it for them?’) followed
the campaign of Roman general Marc Antony, a very fond advocate of
Testudo and, whilst observing Antony’s disciplined soldiers in combat,
described both its formation and effectiveness with no little excitement:
‘This Testudo and the way in which it is formed are as follows. The
Baggage animals, the light-armed troops and the cavalry are placed in
the centre of the army. The heavy-armed troops who use the oblong,
8
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