Football is not Chess
This is 90% bullshit
99% of footballers couldn't understand 99% of any of this frankly
Can you see Suarez Coutinho Moses & Sturridge crouched round a i pad
trying to work out what their supposed to be doing! I din't think so.
You buy top players because they are top players you don't buy them then
tell them how to do it. They know how to do it that's why you bought them.
This is football not chess if it was chess as many people would turn up to watch
it as turn up to watch chess.
The players are players they are men not machines you buy/nurture the best then
put them on the park in or as close to there best position and let them do there thing.
Making out that formations are what wins games is total nonsense players doing what
they do wins games.
Formations are for defenders when they are defending formations are NOT for attackers
They do there sh*t and we can't do that sh*t that's why we love 'em..
One of the most intelligent commentators I've seen was Jimmy Greaves. He said that when he played, managers werren't obsessed with tactics. It was more about "either you can play or you can't" ie there was a lot of responsibility on the player.
The nothing repulses me more than those idiots on Rawk etc(generally American/or plants) who are obsessed with stats and "regression analysis" etc. They fail to realise that statistics, and so many tactical ideas will always be a simplification.
My view is that top teams need quality players. To become a quality player takes years and years.
I think the blend is important with a team. Sports science, squad depth, coaching, training, organisation, all play their part. But often coaching (of the British variety) takes out the ingenuity, the flair and creativity from a player and a team. In fact, I would sometimes say, the "soul" of a team.
So people love the Ratboy Neville and Carragher thing on Sky. Obviously as former PL defenders they know about stuff. But both are very "traditional British" in their outlook. The discussion that I've seen is very British defender-centric (as you'd expect). They talk about keeping tight, numbers, offside etc.
But the fact is, there is another aspect to the game. The attackers side. Tactically, the player who fascinated me the most ever was actually Ronaldinho. The Howard Willkinsons would swear blind "he is a natural" and not even bother to analyse what R does. To me, that is the biggest failing of the game in Britain.
Ronaldinho had 40 or so moves designed to deceive defenders, he would practice them almost like martial arts routines. For instance, shuffle the ball to the right with his heel , drag the ball back with the instep, flick to the right with the outside of the foot and then run forward. Each move had become so instinctive, the defender rarely had a change. So move 1 was to beat the defender, and Ronaldinho was already on the 2 or 3rd stage eg beat another/defence splitting pass/ shooting.
Someone like Kenny doesn't just see 2 lines of players. He sees gaps in the defence flickering open the closing. He sees the backheel that no one else could imagine. He sees a slow defender hoping the angle will be closed off for a defence splitting pass. Or he might see a defending team realise they can only keep closing down at pace for another 5 minutes.
A good manager gets the blend right to allow these players to constantly test the opposition.
A good manager knows that if openings are worked properly, a Suarez, Torres or Sturridge will have an opening where he is virtually unplayable.
So yes, I agree with you that defenders concentrate on tactics. But top creative players see challenges and opportunities, much more dictated by flair than by disciplined adherence to rules.
The top players can cost vastly more than the top defenders. Because they can do so much more. To entertain and to get wins.