英文原文如下:
As we Football Managers know all too well taking charge of a team is a tough job. Lose games and you get it in the neck from the fans, but change your tactics to grind out results and you're accused of being boring. It's a no win situation.
The flavour of the month in global football seems to be this fluid 4-3-3/ 4-5-1 formation that enables a team to pack out the midfield and break with three forwards. Everyone is using it - sticking to the 4-5-1 for away games, more often than not.
Only ten seasons ago, though, Kevin Keegan was preaching a version of kamikaze football that very nearly Newcastle the English title, but for the fact it lived up to the kamikaze moniker when KK's side threw away a league-winning lead after Christmas.
Even hardened cynics would argue that the modern game could do with an injection of just such an approach to mix things up in the Premiership. But how would such a side fare against a well-oiled Chelsea machine? At fm.net we've turned to the Beta Demo of FM2006 to find out...
1. The Mission
Play half a season in the Keegan spirit to test an all-out attacking philosophy against the cagey tacticians of England's top flight. We've chosen to manage Newcastle United to give us some sway in the transfer market, but not the limitless funds that would enable us to rival the Stamford Bridge Globetrotters. Another advantage of choosing Newcastle is that the club is still haunted by the ghosts of the Keegan glory years.
2. The Players
It's tough to assemble an entire kamikaze squad on a shoestring. To raise funds we've decided to boot out the club's defensively minded players, with the exception of Parker to hold in midfield (a la Batty) and Bramble and Taylor at the back (sorry Boumsoung) as well as a couple of other bodies to make up the numbers. Here's the full list of casualties:
Players Out...
Celestine Babayaro, ￡1.2m
Craig Moore, ￡750k
Peter Ramage, ￡650k
Robbie Elliot, ￡550k
Jean-Alain Boumsong, ￡1.6m
Lee Bowyer, ￡1.5m
Nicky Butt, ￡375k
Jermaine Jenas, ￡3m
Charles N'Zogbia, ￡3m
Roy Tunks, free
The buying policy is one based solely on a players attacking ability - even down to the full-backs. We've opted for an even more attacking variant of a 4-4-2 diamond formation and looked to fill the positions with players to suit the roles laid out in the tactics, and not vice versa.
Players In...
Salomon Kalou, Feyenoord - ￡1.5 (to play at the top of the diamond)
Rufete, Valencia - ￡4.9m (creative right winger)
Christian Wilhelmsson, Anderlecht - ￡2m (flamboyant attacking midfielder)
Eric Addo, PSV - ￡1.3m (ball-playing, back-up central defender)
Sanli Tuncay, Fenerbache - ￡6.5m (exciting left-winger)
Stan Lazaridis, Birmingham - ￡1.3m (couldn't afford Carlos!)
Tevenet, Numancia - ￡1m (tricky veteran striker)
3. The Tactics
Attack! Attack! Attack! See the formation screen for a breakdown of the first team line-up and positions.
Team instructions were set to all-out attack, with players given 'much' creative freedom and asked to play at a really quick tempo. We also invited wide play to make use of the marauding wing players.
Time-wasting was reduced to a minimum and we opted not to use Shearer as a target man in favour of promoting mixed passing that would result in balls pinging into the middle for the strikers and attacking midfield player.
We took the attacking 4-4-2 diamond and invited the wingers to run further forward. To make full use of pacey full-backs with decent crossing ability we asked them to make forward-runs as often as possible and to overlap with the wingers in front of them.
The wingers were asked to make forward runs often, run with the ball and cross frequently from the by-line into the centre and to continue the overlap with the full back when necessary.
The crucial role of the man behind the front two was treated as a bit of a 'libero' with Kalou asked to try through-balls often and given a free role.
The strikers were left with neutral instructions and, like the team, total creative freedom, to exploit the attacking play around them.
Only the defensive midfielder was given strict instructions to stay in position, with mentality and creative freedom set to 'normal' and strict instructions to tackle hard and rarely run with the ball, in order to bring the flair players into the game.
4. The Results
a) Pre-season
Pre-season match practice was, in theory, taken care of with the Euro Vase. Sadly, preparation for the opening game was not ideal - team selection proved a touch problematic as the transfer wheeling and dealing outlined in section 2 was still very much being played out.
A makeshift side lost 1-2 over two legs in the first round - a blow to our ambitions, but not enough to sway us from the kamikaze task at hand. A home friendly draw against Sunderland didn't help matters either. A 1 - 2 home defeat against Atletico Madrid, without any sign of the team's attacking style bearing real fruit, meant preparations for the season ended with a worrying, excitement-free whimper.
b) August
Any concerns that the Keegan-style attacking line-up and formation were going to fail to produce excitement were dispelled within 44 seconds of the season opener against Man City. The sides went in 2-2 at half-time in a game described in the commentary as "tremendous so far". The final result? Typical Keegan... 3-4 to Manchester City!
Defeat away to Everton was followed by a home win against Sunderland and an away draw against West Ham to complete a mixed opening to the season in terms of results. For entertainment, August couldn't be faulted however - the first four games producing 20 goals in total.
c) September
With Kieron Dyer brought into the side for the injured Kalou, September saw our band of Kamikaze Casuals record a 100% four game record in September. Proof, perhaps, that the attacking formation and instructions were paying off, but that teenage Salomon Kalou was not quite ready for the pivotal role at the top of the diamond.
?
d) October
A predictable, but far from embarrassing, 1-0 away defeat to Chelsea kicked off October, though faith in the formation was restored with resounding home wins against Wigan (3-0) and Liverpool in the League Cup (2-0) were rounded off with a home draw (1-1), also against Liverpool.
These results left the divisions most attack-minded team in third place and the squad in superb fettle. Clearly, at this stage, it looked like the Keegan spirit was alive and kicking in the Newcastle dressing room. It wasn't to last...
e) November
With several key players injured - most notable stand-in attacking midfielder Kieron Dyer and player of the season so far, winger Sanli Tuncay, an away draw against Blackburn was followed by a humbling away reverse against Charlton (3-0). At home it was a different story, with two more cracking victories - this time against Middlesbrough (3-1) and Southend in the League Cup (3-0). This despite the same injury problems suffered in the previous two games.
f) December
And finally to December. Five games - two wins and three defeats. Both wins came at home - one notably against Arsenal (2-0) and all three defeats were away. There's an obvious lesson to learn there...
5. The Verdict
a) Home advantage
The results speak for themselves - the side won seven out of nine home games and only one out of eight away, leaving the Keegan-esque Newcastle top of the home league and bottom of the away standings.
Obviously it's not just a case of home advantage telling here. It seems that taking the bull by the horns at home with this irresistible attacking play opens up teams that have come to defend - even the top sides.
The problem with a football philosophy based on self-belief that largely disregards the approach of rivals is plainly exposed in the contrasting home and away fortunes. In away games, where sides decided to come out for a fight, matches were exciting, but a naively forward-thinking Newcastle team simply got caught out too often. These games would have pleased opposition and neutral fans, but we had to feel for the Newcastle fans who had to watch their schiozophrenic side flowing at home and failing away.
b) Unprotected defence
Breaking down the failures of this entertaining, attacking side from a tactical point of view is not that tricky. A glance at the chalkboard screen will show you that Parker, as good as he is, has a hell of a job to shield a back four that, for much of the games, was being reduced to a back two by marauding full-backs.
Often the central defenders were putting in great performances, but against teams prepared to throw bodies forward, especially without top players to ease the pressure in front of them, the Newcastle defence was being swamped. If we weren't conducting an experiment here, we'd have quickly come up with a more straight-forward 4-4-2 to incorporate our flair players, but give more solidity, away from home.
c) Conclusion
Overall, the Keegan mentality is still a philosophy with promise and, given our Newcastle side's weakness in key positions - notably at full-back (crucial to this formation) and in a strike partner for Shearer, there was much to admire in this style.
The side played out some exciting matches, pulled off some superb results and optimism throughout the club was running high by the time Christmas rolled around.
Perhaps it really is time us managers heeded the real-life calls for attacking play. It seems an all-out attacking side (with a 'plan b' for away games!) could hammer the best of opposing sides and herald a Return Of The Entertainers...
[ 本帖最后由 绝代单骄 于 2005-11-6 09:06 PM 编辑 ] |
发表于 2005-10-27 19:42:09
置顶卡
变色卡
千斤顶
显身卡