Nations style of play

[Bravehart3]

I have only recently discoverd the great world of soccer (typical american) and have been learning all I can about the beautiful game for a couple of months.

I have read that different nations have different styles of play. Can anyone fill me in on the styles of some nations?

[junjunforever]

countries in warmer climate tends to play more technical soccer (south america, spain, portugal) , and countries in colder climate (rest of europe) put more emphasis on physical aspects.

notably, italy plays good defense but always gets screwed up for being too pessimistic. dutch probably has the best mix between tech and physic. england plays long balls. i guess america plays really "normal" solid soccer.


as for my team korea, they like to outrun and frustrate the other team into making mistakes.

[AFCA]

Actually, the things that made Dutch football famous are the tactics and the amount of tactical thought behind it, the resulting 4-3-3 variations and never winning anything except in 1988.

For years Dutch football was tactically superior. Those years are long gone though.

[El Buki]

Bruce Arena's soccer= zzzzzz nap time.

[Prenn]

Originally posted by junjunforever
countries in warmer climate tends to play more technical soccer (south america, spain, portugal) , and countries in colder climate (rest of europe) put more emphasis on physical aspects.

notably, italy plays good defense but always gets screwed up for being too pessimistic. dutch probably has the best mix between tech and physic. england plays long balls. i guess america plays really "normal" solid soccer.


as for my team korea, they like to outrun and frustrate the other team into making mistakes.

Hey look everyone, a genius.

If someone told you the sky was green you'd believe them too, right?

[The Double]

Originally posted by Prenn
Hey look everyone, a genius.

If someone told you the sky was green you'd believe them too, right?

Haven't seen you around lately Prenn, whats up?

[Green Tabasco]

It's quite simple really.

It's all about maturity, size, strength and speed.

Europe:

England: Offensive minded, Medium Maturity, Mid Size Players, very strong, very physical, medium speed, tactically regular, brilliant long passers and brilliant long shooters, above average scorers. Good style of play.

Germany: Offensive minded, Medium Maturity, Tall players (generally over 5,10"), Very strong, very physical, above average speed, brilliant Long passers, below average shooters and scorers. Boring style of play.

Italy: Midfield minded, Medium Maturity, Below average height, Very quick, Strong tactical formations, Very physical, Excellent Defense, Excellent Speed, below average shooters and scorers. Boring style of play.

Spain: Midfield minded, Below average Maturity, Average height, Brilliant tactically, Semi physical, medium defense, above average passers, shooters and scorers, average speed, overall a pleasant style of play.

Holland: Offensive minded, Bad Maturity, Above average height (6'0 on average), Strong Tactically, Semi Physical, Excellent Overall players tactically, Above average shooters and scorers, below average defense, Beautiful style of play.

I know I missed France but Im too lazy to get into the other european teams.

America:

Brazil: Offensive minded, Good Maturity, No measure for height, Very fast, Brilliant tactical players, poor defense, brilliant shooters and scorers, bad passers (they all want the ball), Good style of play.

Argentina: Mid field minded, Average Maturity, above average height (although, the forwards are on average, 5'5" or so), Semi Physical, Above average tactically, above average defense, excellent scorers, shooters, average passers. Good style of play.

The rest of America is too lengthy to get into right now...

Next, Africa and Asia, but I'm too lazy to get into that. Maybe tomorrow.

[Ombak]

Originally posted by robincd
Brazil: bad passers

WTF?

[Green Tabasco]

Originally posted by Ombak
WTF?

I'm not talking about a wall (pared) or a back pass (taquito), but generally they are poor to average passers. watch a game man, with complete objectivity, can you do that?

[Wolves_67]

Originally posted by Tecos
Bruce Arena's soccer= zzzzzz nap time.
And it seems to put Mexico to sleep almost every time! :)

[Bauvafa]

Originally posted by robincd
It's quite simple really.

It's all about maturity, size, strength and speed.

Europe:

England: Offensive minded, Medium Maturity, Mid Size Players, very strong, very physical, medium speed, tactically regular, brilliant long passers and brilliant long shooters, above average scorers. Good style of play.

Germany: Offensive minded, Medium Maturity, Tall players (generally over 5,10"), Very strong, very physical, above average speed, brilliant Long passers, below average shooters and scorers. Boring style of play.

Italy: Midfield minded, Medium Maturity, Below average height, Very quick, Strong tactical formations, Very physical, Excellent Defense, Excellent Speed, below average shooters and scorers. Boring style of play.

Spain: Midfield minded, Below average Maturity, Average height, Brilliant tactically, Semi physical, medium defense, above average passers, shooters and scorers, average speed, overall a pleasant style of play.

Holland: Offensive minded, Bad Maturity, Above average height (6'0 on average), Strong Tactically, Semi Physical, Excellent Overall players tactically, Above average shooters and scorers, below average defense, Beautiful style of play.

I know I missed France but Im too lazy to get into the other european teams.

America:

Brazil: Offensive minded, Good Maturity, No measure for height, Very fast, Brilliant tactical players, poor defense, brilliant shooters and scorers, bad passers (they all want the ball), Good style of play.

Argentina: Mid field minded, Average Maturity, above average height (although, the forwards are on average, 5'5" or so), Semi Physical, Above average tactically, above average defense, excellent scorers, shooters, average passers. Good style of play.

The rest of America is too lengthy to get into right now...

Next, Africa and Asia, but I'm too lazy to get into that. Maybe tomorrow.

great analysis, interested to hear more about other continents, thanx.

[Quaresma]

u forgot portugal who undoubtily have one of the best midfields, if not the best in the world..why u did not include htem i do not know

[Ombak]

Originally posted by robincd
I'm not talking about a wall (pared) or a back pass (taquito), but generally they are poor to average passers. watch a game man, with complete objectivity, can you do that?

Yes, and the notion that a Brazilian national team has poor passing is absurd. I don't care about wall passes or back passes (WTF is a pared or taquito?).

I'm talking about simple, efficient, ball on the ground, played to feet passing. That they're capable of throwing in accurate 40, 50, 60 yard passes is just a bonus.

Seriously, Brazil = poor passing? That's a disturbing notion.

[classicalmusic]

Originally posted by Wolves_67
And it seems to put Mexico to sleep almost every time! :)

And also Portugal in the biggest stage of them all -- I will never forget the surreal feeling that I experienced when the scoreboard read (temporarily):

USA 3 Portugal 0

Or maybe it was Jack Edwards's commentary.

[usscouse]

Originally posted by Wolves_67
And it seems to put Mexico to sleep almost every time! :) Now that's a great benchmark, Mexico...!

[DoyleG]

Canadian Soccer: Same as Canadian hockey.

[Bob Morocco]

Well here it goes.
The US seems to normally play a 442, they try to pressure the ball in the middle third of the field and back that up with a well organized defense. Once the ball has been won they try to quickly counter. Personally it seems that they try to attack like an EPL team, long direct passes far to often, but currently the Nats, other than the consensus starters, lack the technical abilities to add variety to their attack. I do like pushing the wingbacks forward, unless it's Frankie he should pass it to Bocanegra and let him go forward whenever possible. Build up through the center of midfield is non-existant unless Obrien, Reyna, and hopefully Convey and Martino are playing. Lots of high balls are played to the forwards, in the midfield and the box. So without a target forward on his game they have trouble scoring.

The players are generally good athletes with better than average speed and strength to compliment the counter attack. Overall the team seems above average in height, for soccer players. Many of the key players from 2002 will be too old for 2006. So there is a growing youth movement (Donovan, Beasley, Convey, Howard, Bocanegra, Gibbs, Martino, Clark, Dunivant, Buddle, Adu, Spector, Szetela) who have much better technicall skills than current players possess. Also, no solid RM and no solid LB. Long range shooting and creativity are limitted to a few players. Good finishers on headers. Goalkeeping awesome. From what Arena has done I have faith in his tactics and their implementation. Not the best looking soccer but they keep improving, they win against teams they should but almost always fall short against better opposition. And they rarely/never field their best team outside the world cup.

[Spartak]

Originally posted by robincd
Italy: Midfield minded, Medium Maturity, Below average height, Very quick, Strong tactical formations, Very physical, Excellent Defense, Excellent Speed, below average shooters and scorers. Boring style of play.

Yes, your right. Vieri, Pippo, Totti, Del Piero, Corradi, Cassano, Miccolli, etc. are all bad shooters and scorers :confused:

[Elninho]

Originally posted by Bob Morocco
Overall the team seems above average in height, for soccer players.

That's NOT true. It was in 1994 and 1998, but the 2002 World Cup squad was one of the shortest in the tournament (only Costa Rica, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia had lower average height).

[Green Tabasco]

Originally posted by Spartak
Yes, your right. Vieri, Pippo, Totti, Del Piero, Corradi, Cassano, Miccolli, etc. are all bad shooters and scorers :confused:

Your right, they are all brilliant Club scorers, but don't seem to Gell when playing on the National Team. That's what I meant.