Team P-nut/Enigma
Formation: 5-3-2
Style - Counter attacking set up. Sit deep and compact and break quickly.
Philosophy/Ideology of the tactical set up:
We're setting in a counter attacking formation with two no-nonsense defenders as stoppers,
Vasovic sweeping behind and pushing forward in possession boosting numbers in midfield. 2 fast wingbacks, who are also good crossers of the ball and that can overlap in attack and man their flanks. In attack we are going with similar style to Herrera's Inter and using the basics - vertical football at great speed, with direct passes to get to the opponent's box as quickly as possible.
In defence we're staying deep, soaking the pressure, win the ball back in their half and launch the ball forward with speed and directness.
Xabi Alonso or
Vasovic can start an attack from deep and look for space on the flanks for our quick full backs, or either
Signori,
Mazzola or
Vieri up field. All players can move quickly in transition and are used to counter attacking style of football. Directness is the key.
Mazzola has
Vieri and
Signori - two excellent goalscorers with solid link up game and most of all great off the ball movement which will allow him to create space for himself or use his passing and vision to set them up.
Player roles:
GK: Michel Preud'homme - complete keeper with great distribution and excellent at starting the attacks if needed.
LWB: Bixente Lizarazu - Stretch the attack, man his own flank moving vertically through the lines when in and off possession. Cross from deep and get the ball to the forwards.
RWB: Eric Gerets - Same as Lizarazu from the other side.
Libero: Velibor Vasović - last line of defence, start attacks from deep, overload the midfield moving vertically.
LCB: Karlheinz Förster - One of the outstanding stoppers in the pool. Fluent in 5-3-2 system, excellent marker who is also a great overall defender
RCB: Carles Puyol - pacy and good on the ball can cover the right side when Gerets goes forward.
Deep playmaker: Xabi Alonso - look for openings both on the flank and up field, get the ball to the forwards as quickly as possible.
Box to Box: Bryan Robson - An all action box to box midfielder, leader of the 80's United side and a great ball winner in midfield. He brings a lot of energy and never say die attitude in the middle of the pitch.
Central player: Sandro Mazzola - focal point of the attack. Getting the ball to him, playing in a free role and pressing the opposition defenders off the ball.
LWF - Giuseppe Signori - use his pace on counters, stretch the attack wide and more often on his favorite left position.
CF: Christian Vieri - target man, keep the opposition defence honest, make space for Mazzola, use his strength in aerial duels to bring the ball down.
Central player - Sandro Mazzola
Mazzola’s role in the Grande Inter team was particularly tasking.
A wonderfully creative player who combined a glorious touch with dangerous pace and agility, Mazzola was relied upon to bring Suarez and Picchi’s sweeping balls under control and immediately feed Peiro or take a shot on goal.
Inter’s system relied upon maximum efficiency up front, and it was largely down to Mazzola to turn hopeful passes into clear-cut opportunities. Mazzola was a brilliant dribbler and finisher often leading Inter goalscoring charts. The combination of notoriously hard to please and a strict disciplinarian - Herrara, and a perfectionist and hard worker -
Mazzola, was always going to produce scintillating displays of football on the pitch. One where technique, flair and skill meet hard work, determination, tactics and will to win.
Mazzola's role in defending was not to fall back on the pitch when not with ball, but to harry defenders get the ball back.
In this particular set up
Vieri and
Signori will compliment
Mazzola's strengths but also allow him to play his natural game.
Vieri with his strength up field can engage the central defencers in a way Peiro did, whilst allowing space for Mazzola to get the ball and run towards the goal or either look for Signori who will be hovering around the box or at the left wing. He will be overlapped by
Gerets also allowing him to utilize the right flank and a 5-3-2 system will give more space for him to operate with two other clinical forwards around him.
Like Grande inter in this set up we have chosen two very efficient forwards in
Vieri and
Signori, fluent in counter attacking set up and very direct with their movement towards the goal.
The midfield is based on getting the ball as quickly as possible to
Mazzola with two excellent passers in
Robson and
Alonso, who also possess considerable work rate and can stay deep to break attacks.
The set up is aimed to get the best out of Mazzola in a way that it would highlight his dribbling and creative talent by being our focal attacking point and would allow
Alonso,
Robson and
Vasovic to find him into space while
Signori and
Vieri occupy the opposition defenders. In the same time we have very direct and fast players on both wings and up front
who will give a lot of passing options for him to link up and combine in the attacking third.
Defence - Our defence is made up of 2 stoppers combined with a sweeper. A classic 5-3-2, composed of one of the best stoppers in history in
Karlheinz Förster and
Carles Puyol who slots perfectly into the RCB role. Both CB's will be tasked with no nonsense defending. When they win the ball they will simply shift it to either the sweeper in
Vasović or play a simple ball to
Alonso if it is on.
Vasović will be tasked with deciding when to step into midfield and when to drop off so that our defence always has the numbers to deal with any threat.
Both wing backs will provide the same roles of manning their flanks and providing outlets out wide.
Defensive Line - Deep
Marking - Custom (1 stopper to pick up the striker, other sliding wide to help the wing back, sweeper following any strikers that drop deep)
Off the ball - Standing off
On the ball - Rapid transitions through sweeper (or
Alonso)
Midfield roles:
Robson will be playing as a complete box to box midfielder. His energy passing range and strength will be a huge boost. Both
Xabi Alonso and
Robson will be deeper when off the ball then either move vertically into space and shoot from distance, combine with
Mazzola or get the ball to the attackers.
Vasović in his libero role will be pushing up when needed to overload the midfield and keep things tight.
Attack - Three pronged attack all designed to give
Mazzola space to work and options to link up with.
Vieri will occupy the centre backs whilst
Signori keeps the pitch stretched to afford maximum room. Attack can expect to receive the ball quickly and will stay high up the pitch in order to gain ground on quick counter attacks.
Team Skizzo
Style - direct
Central Player - Gianni Rivera
The 1969 Balon D'or was awarded to Rivera after his outstanding performances in the European Cup, in which he led Milan to the final, and a dominant win over Cruyff's Ajax team. His performance in that final is considered one of his greatest, most dominant performances, playing in the number 10 role, and assisting in 2 of his team's goals in that final.
In that final, Milan were set up in the same manner we have here, with a sweeper stopper combination (Tresor-Vidic to Malatrasi-Rosato), a midfield two behind Rivera who are able to allow him to concentrate on the offensive side of the game by doing the "dirty work" for him, and also offer outlets for his passing (Clodoaldo-Jansen to Lodetti-Trapattoni), flanked by two wingers who would offer a balance of stretch the play with genuine wing threat, and also cutting inside to offer a direct goalscoring threat (Gadocha-Lato to Hamrin-Pratti) and a striker who could lead the line with his physical play, but also his capability to take part in the build up play with his passing (Careca to Sormani).
Defence - Stopper with a covering defender. With the ball, Tresor will look to play it out from the back, or use Amoros/Bossis to bring it forward when available. Vidic comes in for the stopper role.
Midfield - Jansen and Voronin will look to win the ball back quickly, doing their usual defensive job in front of the defense. When they have the ball, they will look to quickly play it into Rivera who will dictate the play and use the space available created by the movement around him. Voronin will tend to hold his position a little more, Jansen will look to drift when in possession to open space and offer another outlet for Rivera.
Attack - Gadocha will look to offer more of a genuine wide threat, stretching play, and looking to deliver balls into the box. Lato offers the more direct threat, cutting in and making runs in behind for Rivera to pick out. Careca comes in and will look to get involved in the build up, linking up with Rivera, but offering another runner in behind, playing off the shoulder of the defender at times and using his movement to find space for the vision of Rivera to pick out.
Rivera is obviously the player intended to build around, and we've set him up here in a very similar style which led to him winning the Balon D'or. Everyone around him is tasked with freeing him up, and offering him the best possibly platform to shine and thrive, pulling the strings as he did at his very best.
KEY POINT: As i made mention of in the first round..all key players around Rivera thrived in a set up where they played with a similar central figure. Lato and Gadocha with Deyna, Jansen with Cruyff, Bossis/Tresor/Amoros with Platini, and Careca's all around play helps with the link up of the unit. All of them were part of very successful teams and part of a bigger unit which was led by a top-tier central playmaker/figure.
