prbiker15
Blue Crack Addict
No fucking way. This game is much more exciting than Brazil vs. Croatia.
I would imagine so. Casillas hasn't played lots the past two years. Pique doesn't look fit, Albiol instead I guess, but he is the only other central defender they took with them, though Javi Martinez can play CB. Fabregas for Xavi. I would scrap Costa as the team clearly have no idea how to use him best and just have Mata or Pedro start instead.
"Worst loss by a defending champion in World Cup history", per ESPN. Ouch. Let the memes begin.
Australia push and push and push for an equaliser, goes down the other end for a goal outside the box. Tough.
Surely France 2002 was worse?
The end of tiki-taka ?
Rejoice !
Spain had over 60% of the possession and only scored one goal. That's typical of tiki-taka, last WC they only averaged one goal per game. It's every bit as defensive a strategy as Catenaccio.
Hopefully it will join Catenaccio and we can see some real football again.
Watching a team playing keep away is not what the game is about.
That's because the other team's response to tiki taka was to park the bus. Honestly there is no such thing as 'real football'. The problem with Spain's tiki taka compared to say Guardiola's Barca is a lack of variation in pace ie. no Messi. They currently are not doing tiki taka well enough. Euro 08 they had the good Torres and a fit Villa that provided more pace and penetration.
It's not about not getting it. It's about it just being painfully boring to watch. I know it's technically brilliant and you need a set of brilliant players and tactics to execute it but that doesn't make it exciting. Football is fun when teams take risks. And tiki-taka is the most risk averse tactic there is. When they go one goal up, the game is basically dead.The other thing that casual fans completely don't get is that short passing is only 50% of the Guardiola philosophy. The other 50% of it is relentless defensive pressure when you lose the ball so that the other team can't counterattack easily and so you can keep the other team pinned in their end. Spain/Barca did this masterfully from 2009-2012 but have fallen off as key players have gotten older/worse and less able to put on this kind of two-way pressure.
It's not about not getting it. It's about it just being painfully boring to watch. I know it's technically brilliant and you need a set of brilliant players and tactics to execute it but that doesn't make it exciting. Football is fun when teams take risks. And tiki-taka is the most risk averse tactic there is. When they go one goal up, the game is basically dead.
The pressing is great. I love teams that press permanently. But I really love teams that actually try to score a goal immediately after they win the ball by taking some risks. Dortmund is of course the best recent example of this.