Joga Bonito
The Art of Football
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2014
- Messages
- 8,270
In other words, an old school left back (left fullback, that is) is not an obvious choice for an LB berth in a more or less modern style back four.
That said, the purely defensive capability (the marking ability, if you will) of an old school LB should obviously not be underestimated. Nor the fact that these old school fullbacks by necessity operated in a wider area than a certain kind of pure (modern) stopper: They defended, primarily, against inside forwards - who often worked the channels, as the phrase goes, i.e. who operated wide-ish as well as purely centrally.
Agreed. Curious about Mascheroni's game, I reread 2 sources on the net and they do reiterate the points made by you and anto.
Although you have to give Ghiggia the edge here as it isn't exactly Mascheroni's ideal position in a back 4, he won't necessarily be hapless on the flank either.
The turbulent context of the match, Uruguay relying on garra for their rousing second half turn around, Monti being a pale shadow of himself ("standing, literally, soulless, without being the great playmaker that in normal circumstances he would have been, in the middle of the park"), the ref requiring protection for himself and his family with a boat waiting ready to take him back to Europe once the match was over and the aftermath of the match definitely do make for interesting reading.
Part of me also wonders, to what extent the different balls being used in final (Argentinean ball in the 1st half and Uruguayan one in the 2nd) impacted the flow of play, with Argentina being the better side in the first half and Uruguay coming back into the second with a strong showing. @antohan might probably have more info on the differences between both balls, or maybe it was all just a political gimmick which wouldn't be surprising given the fierce rivalry between Argentina and Uruguay.