Palos,
Padnah, I hear what yuh sayin but de bottom line is as much as you want to agree with Beenie for benching Latas at the 2006 WC, I say that was BS! Yuh know why, we wouldah nevah win against Guatemala, and the three games when Latas reach for we to qualify, is because ah he, LATAS, phu*ue Beenie, that we reach 2006. After Beenie and Yorke was there, we were still losing and our way out of 2006 qualification, it is only aftah de Magician reach, we start tuh win and we were given a chance to qualify in 2006.
Same in this campaign, after Latas start tuh play, he scored that goal to put we in the final 6. Now, I agree, from my German way of believing the way football should be coached and played, Latas, I agree with you is ah shithound coach, but please realize that without Latas, we wouldah NEVAH touch de ground in Germany, and without Latas at 40 on de field for 2010 quals, we had no chance after he became coach, he is de greatest footballer we have had and it is only because when Latas arrive for 2006 qualifications, that we start tuh win and he stole Beenie thundah that Beenie start tuh bench him. Doh give meh no tork about weed and thing, without Latas, Germany would not have happenned, end of story.
I do agree that he is too caught up in his way of play and want to put his magic into the rest of the team, impossible, yuh born with that, the minute he start benching Birchall, I had my doubts about him as coach.
Palos, I am in agreement with respect to comments on the defensive posture of the team. However, as to the part in bold, ah charging yuh with elasticity dey ... at least until yuh bring support to defend that assertion. Please explain how Latas being on the field (under a different coaching philosophy) would have stretched to a thorough compromise of our defensive integrity. In responding, please assume I understand his liabilities as a two-way player.
I believe Latas' coaching philosophy is closely aligned to his philosophy as a player. Attacking, creative football. Not to regurgitate this for the umpteenth time, but you asked so I'll respond. I believe the reason why Beenie did not play Latas all that much in WC 2006 is because by him being on the team, he MAY have compromised the defensive integrity of the team.
Make no mistake about it. Our team was structured in such a manner to try and prevent the opposition from scoring. To do so, an emphasis on defensive discipline AT ALL TIMES had to be maintained throughout the 90 minutes. Whatever goalscoring opportunities that would come our way would more than likely come off of a set piece or counter attack. It wasn't likely to come from any creative source that we had. To do so would be to expose an already fragile defensive mindset and given the results in our warm up matches against decent european opposition (comprehensive losses to Slovakia and Czech Republic) it was clear our only chance of relative success was to play "anti football" as Arsene Wenger puts it.
When Latas came on against paraguay, we immediately looked a better team going forward. We were already behind it's true but in so doing, we were increasingly vulnerable to the counter and at that level, you're going to get punished SEVERELY. The team responds to Latas' presence on the field. They lift their level of play....but not in the defensive part of the game and our discipline breaks down because men caught up in feeding off of Latas.
This mindset on creative attacking football neglecting the very important aspect of what needs to be done when playing without the ball is what I'm referring to. We all marvel at Barca and rave about their attacking football. But watch them when the opposition has the ball and see the discipline.
I had the pleasure & privilege to sit with some coaches this past weekend watching the Spain vs Belgium game and they pointed out how Spain had 3 men around the ball everytime the opposition had possession. They said every player buys into the philosophy and the philosophy is simple. They rather run short hard sprints for 5 - 10 yards than run back 50 yards to catch a player in possession. And EVERYBODY does it. From striker to defender. From Torres to Puyol. The training is anaerobic. Short wind sprints. Sharp, Fast. Of course, this is harder to do in very hot climates but it's the way the game is played now. Dem men say Spain play football from a different planet. Their movement was incredible. Belgium had NO CHANCE. And to their credit, they said so before the kickoff.
We don't have anywhere near that level of discipline.
Show Posts