English Premier League: Fletcher Defends Dutch Style Of Play
There has been a lot of talk after the World Cup final regarding anti football. The Dutch adopted an aggressive, violent and injurious strategy to break down the Spanish attacks. In doing so the men from Holland were hoping to give themselves a fighting chance against the Iberian behemoths.
However, it wasn’t to be, as Netherlands lost the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup to Spain. Spain’s football philosophy is called tiki taka, the main focus of this ideology is to retain possession of the ball by distribution amongst as many players on one’s team as possible. Passing capabilities and off-the-ball movement take center stage in tiki taka and players are trained from a young age to excel in the above mentioned tasks.
Another system which proved more successful for Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan against Barcelona’s tiki taka system in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals during the last season, is being called anti-football. A system which does not requires one’s team to have possession of the ball. Anti football’s hub is defensive organization. Teams organize themselves to contain opposition’s attacks and try to maintain this systematic form of resilience for as long as the match lasts.
Anti football is also associated with an aggressive form of defense which includes fouling the opposition players who make frequent use of the ball. Anti-football has come under attack from more footballing purists and romantics who believe that football is a sport which needs to provide entertainment, something that is not to be found in anti-football.
The Dutch have come under attack from football entertainment lovers after their adoption of anti-football against the Spanish in the final match of 2010 FIFA World Cup but Manchester United’s star midfielder, Darren Fletcher has come out and emphasized the importance of defensive play.
Fletcher was branded as an anti-footballer by Arsenal’s manager, Arsene Wenger after his team had lost to Manchester United at Old Trafford in the last premier league season by 2 goals to one. Fletcher told the press that, physical style of play has always been in football but everyone’s reaction to the World Cup final has been blown out of proportion.
He added that there are different ways to win a football match and that people always look at stars. The Scotsman also said that, every team has one or two defensive midfielders in their starting lineup, for example, Van Bommel for Bayern Munich, Mascherano for Argentina and Nigel De Jong for Holland.
Fletcher, who has become a fan favorite now because of his committed performances over the past two seasons, went onto say that, tackling is a part of the game especially the British game as the fans in England love players who win the ball back. He further said that, teams need different players to win a league championship.
Darren also remarked that, there are players in every team who are capable of winning a match but players who win the ball back and give it to star players who win matches are also important.
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