Most Revolutionary/Pioneering teams?

[Tricky Tree]

I'm thinking of those who broke the mould - Hungary early 1950s and Dutch 1970s spring to mind at once. Any suggestions?

[JAIME CHILE]

Holland 1974, the "Totaal Voetbal" in action.

[leg_breaker]

I think the credit for that has to go to Ajax.

[lanman]

The four that stand out are Scotland of the 19th century (employing the forward pass), Herbert Chapman's Arsenal (W-M), Hungary's Golden Team and Ajax/Holland of Michels.

[Cassano]

Sacchi's Milan of the Late 80's/Early 90's. Sacchi perfected the 4-4-2 formation.

[dor02]

Inter's team of the 1960s. They were the perfectionists of catenaccio.

[Excape Goat]

The four that stand out are Scotland of the 19th century (employing the forward pass), .

Didn't they inspire the modern Latin style played in South America?

[dor02]

Didn't they inspire the modern Latin style played in South America?I suppose you could say that but the South American teams and the Austrians, Czechs and Hungarians took the short passing game invented by the Scots to another level.

Argentinians do the tango on the pitch and the Brazilians do the samba. Unfortunately, we have seen Italy doing the tarantella (it's a dance. Don't get confused with tarantula) and the Greeks doing the zorba on the pitch.

[Fiorentina lives!]

Brazil in the 50s for sure!

And (unfortunately) Belgium in the 80s perfected the offside trap... yes there was catenaccio and offisde tactics but those Belgian MFs were too good at it.

[Bertje]

And (unfortunately) Belgium in the 80s perfected the offside trap... yes there was catenaccio and offisde tactics but those Belgian MFs were too good at it.

The offside trap was perfected when those guys were only just born.

[dor02]

The offside trap was perfected when those guys were only just born.Are you talking about the Anderlecht side of 1970?


Brazil in the 50s for sure!How were they revolutionary?

[Bertje]

I don't know if it was done before that, but I was under the impressing using the offside trap for defense was thought of by Rinus Michels. I know Ajax stopped about half of the attacks that were started against them with the offside trap.

[Labdarugo]

"Flat Back Four" by Andy Gray has some interesting chapters on the evolution of tactics. The chapter on the famous Wembley match of Nov 1953 between England and Hungary is particularly good.

W-M meets U-M.


http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/1890946524.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

[leg_breaker]

The offside trap dates back from the early 20th century when they cut it down from three men needed behind the ball to two to stop abuse.

[dor02]

I don't know if it was done before that, but I was under the impressing using the offside trap for defense was thought of by Rinus Michels. I know Ajax stopped about half of the attacks that were started against them with the offside trap.From what I've heard on Anderlecht's 1970 team which lost the Fairs Cup Final to Arsenal, they had used the offside trap quite regularly.

[Bertje]

From what I've heard on Anderlecht's 1970 team which lost the Fairs Cup Final to Arsenal, they had used the offside trap quite regularly.

Yes, but it's very much possible they copied it from Ajax. Don't know though. Anyone can confirm?

[UEFA]

Yes, but it's very much possible they copied it from Ajax. Don't know though. Anyone can confirm?

Well I know that it was either Feijnoord or ajax that first initiated the trap use regularly. The Ajax story is the most plausible since it suggests the reason that the offside was used so much was at first unintentional since in the total football system they(the ajax defense) naturally pressed further up the pitch leaving a (at the time) naturally lone strikers that most teams at the time played with, by themselves un-marked.

[Bertje]

Pressing by defenders was done much earlier. Cor van der Hart influenced Cruijff a lot in this aspect. The off-side trap is supposed to be invented by Cruijff in Michels. Don't forget that those two started working together in 1965, which was quite a few years before Anderlecht played Arsenal.

[celito]

Argentina/Maradona '86 - Perfected the good old give me the damn ball and I will do everything myself. :p

About Brazil in the 50s. From Wiki.

While the initial developments leading to the 4-2-4 were devised by Márton Bukovi, the credit for creating the 4-2-4 lies with two different people: Flávio Costa, the Brazilian national coach in the early 1950s, as well as another Hungarian Béla Guttman. These tactics seemed to be developed independently, with the Brazilians discussing these ideas while the Hungarians seemed to be putting them into motion [3] [2] [4]. However the fully developed 4-2-4 was only 'perfected' in Brazil in the late 1950s.

The relatively empty midfield relied on defenders that should now be able not only to steal the ball, but also hold it, pass it or even run with it and start an attack. So this formation required that all players, including defenders, are somehow skillful and with initiative, making it a perfect fit for the Brazilian players mind. The 4-2-4 needed a high level of tactical awareness as having only 2 midfielders could lead to defensive problems. The system was also fluid enough to allow the formation to change throughout play.

4-2-4 was first used with success at club level in Brazil by Palmeiras and Santos, and was used by Brazil in their wins at 1958 World Cup and 1970 World Cup, both featuring Pelé, and Zagallo who played in the first and coached the second. The formation was quickly adopted throughout the world after the Brazilian success.

[deejay]

The 424 and total football were revolutionary but, in spite of repeated attempts, they were not successfully duplicated. You had to have a special set of genius players to do that.