Catenaccio
by Herr EdAfter England’s poor showing in the first two games of the group stage, newspapers are replete with suggestions for the rearrangement of Sven’s side. Lennon should start on the right; we should play 4-5-1; Carrick should replace Lampard, and so on. These recommendations are all underpinned by the aim to unlock England’s attacking potential. The rationale, to some extent, being that Argentina have just pummelled Serbia & Montenegro 6-0, so changes have to be made if England are to contend with the best talent in Germany.
However, I think that everyone is looking at the problem from upside down. England need to play to their established strengths: we don’t seem to play with any cohesion when going forward, but at the back we are strong and have not yet conceded a goal in this tournament. It has to be accepted that we’re not going to match Italy, Argentina or Holland in terms of flair or ability, so if England want to win the World Cup they must adopt the ultra-defensive catenaccio formation. Catenaccio means ‘door bolt’ and is associated with Italian football of the 1960s, having been devised by Inter Milan coach Helenio Herrera. This much despised formation places a sweeper behind a back four, with a four-man midfield sitting just in front of the defence, and an isolated lone striker floundering around out of touch with the rest of the team.
England should therefore approach every game with an undeserved 1-0 victory as the ultimate objective. ‘Route one’ is the only attacking strategy, although occasionally the full-backs may break and punt in hopeful crosses for the forward. England’s catenaccio should be realised by playing Carragher behind Terry and Ferdinand in central defence, with Ashley Cole and Gerrard as the full-backs. The hardworking midfield should comprise Wayne Bridge, Owen Hargreaves, Michael Carrick and David Beckham – with Peter Crouch as the lone striker.
England’s performances have been pretty dismal at this year’s World Cup, but there’s no point fighting it! To win the World Cup England need to organise their failings into a definable system: they shouldn’t look to change their ethos, but must harness and shape ‘dismal’ into their most powerful attribute. It is surely better to purposefully choke games into a morass of murky tedium, rather than it merely happening as a corollary of our failure to work effectively as a team. Catenaccio is the answer!
June 20th, 2006 at 2:22 am
An ugly yet good suggestion for results if not interestig games. I have to tell you, as a non-English viewer, I would be hard-pressed to root for a team with this philosophy.
June 20th, 2006 at 10:26 am
Wing-backs should be avoided at all costs. Either play with full backs or wide midfielders. Footballers aren’t clever enough to be able to play a ‘halfway-house’ position.
June 20th, 2006 at 4:09 pm
Vastly over-optimistic. Surely more Gordon-Brown-stylee prudent to play 4-4-1-1: flat back four, auxiliary four in front to provide cover, Crouch alternately jumping up, screaming and crying some miles away, and a floppy-haired Hargeaves/Mcmanaman style figure circling endlessly and pointlessly in midfield in a kind of statement of English angst?
June 21st, 2006 at 1:12 pm
The only problem I can see with this formation is that it may involve playing Sol Campbell.
June 21st, 2006 at 3:06 pm
Is it too late to bring Paul Ince into the squad? I reckon he could do a job for Sven.
June 21st, 2006 at 9:51 pm
The only job Paul Ince could do for Sven is teaching him how to pronounce the word ‘guv’nor’. This is due to Ince’s age and Sven’s hereditary fear of holding midfielders.