Chelsea prove that speed is key in modern football Posted by Michael Cox You need to have the Adobe Flash Player to view this content. Please click here to continue. The most significant feature of footballs recent strategic development -- more than possession football, false nines, high defensive lines or inverted wingers -- has been something extremely simple: speed. Football has never been faster. Watch a match from the mid-to- late 1990s, a period recent enough that a few players (Ryan Giggs, Javier Zanetti, Francesco Totti) link both eras, and the play appears astonishingly slow. Gaps open up, but players dont charge into them. Counter-attacks are conducted at a gentle pace; the player in possession pauses to check his options, turning one way, then changing his mind and distributing the ball the other. Pace was a bonus rather than a requisite, often the domain of wingers and maybe the odd striker. Today, pace is everything. Its why counter-attacking is so dangerous, why physical conditioning is so crucial and partly why Italian clubs -- accustomed to playing at a gentle pace -- have recently underachieved in Europe. Its also why when a Manchester United- supporting prankster recently tricked Chelsea fans outside Stamford Bridge , quizzing them about fictional transfer targets, they pretend to know about his speed. Hes quick. Hes got pace on him, definitely, one says. Hes very fast, adds another. Its a reasonable assumption. In todays world, which promising youngster isnt quick?
Posted on: Tue, 04 Feb 2014 16:00:03 +0000
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