Coaching career started as a college team coach

Wei Le had seen a video before, and its content roughly said that football has reached the end.

Since the birth of modern football, the sport of football was just a game in which a group of people chased the ball. From the football rules of the ignorant period, the extreme 3-7 tactics were born, with seven forwards piled in the opponent's backcourt, and then relying on the defenders to pass the ball forward.

Then, the passing and controlling football represented by Tiki-taka became popular, and a group of people could pass the ball forever.

People wear different jerseys, and even the colors and designs of the jerseys have a closed loop of trends. What's next? Will there be something new? Or has football reached the end of its history?

Such a statement is not without reason.

Now some teams like to play a pressing style, such as Klopp's Dortmund and Liverpool, and Leverkusen and RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga also have similar genes, flowing with the blood of oppression.

Sarri created the "Sarri football" based on passing and controlling in Naples, and Guardiola's contribution to the development of passing and controlling football is needless to say.

Three defenders, four defenders, five defenders.

Mourinho's defensive style can also lead to threatening attacks, and Liverpool's all-out defense is not unheard of.

The team that used to play with four defenders all year round has suddenly changed to three defenders recently. Football is as ever-changing as playing chess, but most of the changes have been tried.

The creator of the video put forward a point of view that every few decades, humans will undergo a revolution that shakes the world.

Steam engines, electricity, cars, television and the Internet, the football world has similar periodic revolutions that continue to change the sport.

In 1872, the first international football match was held in the UK. England played a 1-1-8 formation, and Scotland responded with a 2-2-6 formation, with 14 forwards gathered together.

In the early 1930s, Arsenal coach Herbert Chapman was very successful with the WM formation. At that time, Arsenal was almost invincible. They may have thought they had found the best tactics.

At that time, the telegraph was still considered the most convenient way of communication.

The WM formation was all the rage in the first World Cup, and the Hungarians dominated the world with this style of play. The retreat of a center forward made opponents who had not yet formed the concept of man-to-man marking feel uneasy.

This is a bit reminiscent of Firmino's retreat in Liverpool's Red Arrows.

The same center forward retreat and wingers inward were also very successful.

Then, the rise of catenary defense and the Dutch all-out attack and defense concept became popular. Many tactics that seem very common today were produced from it, such as high pressure and overall pressing.

Then, Sacchi proposed the concept of space. His AC Milan in the 1980s created a dynasty by relying on a very short three-line distance. But some people also say that after Sacchi, there are no more football masters.

The creator of the video put forward a "violent theory". He believes that contemporary football coaches are more about superimposing, slightly modifying and plagiarizing the achievements of their predecessors at the tactical level.

Sacchi's four-back parallel formation and radical offside trap are undoubtedly amazing. The era of "man-to-man" defense has passed, and the name of the next era is "zonal defense".

The changes brought by Sacchi are subversive.

But what about after this? Are there any subversive ideas?

It seems that there are no more.

When Wei Le watched this video for the first time, he was still in college. He was very shocked and lost hope for the development of football for a while. But now Wei Le has a more complicated view on this.

Will there be new tactics? There will definitely be.

As long as football is still played and there are 22 people fighting for the final victory, tactics will continue to innovate. But perhaps just like basic science, blowout, epoch-making, subversive changes may not come easily.

But does this mean that football is repeating the same mistakes?

No, of course not.

If you look at it casually, the formation of the team today is actually very similar to the version decades ago.

The reason is very simple. If we think in terms of permutations and combinations, the existing football tactics are just to permutate and combine 11 people on a field.

After more than a hundred years, almost all the tactics that can be used have been used.

But again, the formation is just a representation, the tactics are the core, and winning the game is the ultimate goal. Just like the same 4-4-2, AC Milan in the 1980s and Ferguson's Manchester United are different.

The same 4-3-3, Liverpool with a retreating center forward and the Netherlands in the 1970s are different.

Based on the 4-2-3-1, Manchester UnitedCity made full use of the front players through 2-3-5. They formed many small triangles in the front court and formed an absolute numerical advantage.

Is this the same as the 2-3-5 in the 1900s?

Wolves changed from 4-3-3 to 3-2-2-3. The final result may be more retro. That was the beginning of everything, the MW formation in the 1930s.

But does this mean that Wolves' 3-2-2-3 is a step backward?

The answer must be no.

Wolves' innovation in tactical play comes from Wei Le's new ideas about midfield control while watching the game. Wolves have always been a team that values ​​midfield, and they have always wanted to achieve numerical advantage in the midfield.

At first, they used 4-2-3-1, so there were two defensive midfielders and one attacking midfielder in the midfield, three people. Next, Wolves started to play 4-3-3, and there were still three people in the midfield.

But then, the problem arose. What would happen if one more person could be put in the midfield?

This style of play has not been seen before. Ferguson's 4-4-2 is essentially a diamond midfield formation, a 4-1-2-1-2.

When the opponent attacks, they often need to rely on a single defensive midfielder to assist in defense.

Wolves put two people in the defensive midfielder position, and the shape of the midfield changed from a diamond to a rectangle. In the encirclement of these four people, it may be difficult for the Wolves' opponent's frontcourt players to get the ball.

This also requires the right back who comes to the defensive midfielder position to be a role that can pass the ball and defend. In the Wolves town, Doherty is such a role, and Kounde is also suitable for the defensive midfielder.

So why not?

"In the frontcourt attack phase, we must expand our arsenal. We need to find loopholes in the opponent's defense line through continuous vertical passes. If necessary, we also need to repeat the old method."

"For example, long pass?"

"Yes, we can let the central defender serve the ball, take advantage of Maguire's advantage, and use a wide range of transfers to achieve a quick attack."

The eyes of Celars and Gianluca Conte became brighter and brighter. They found that Wei Le did not just come up with an idea, but directly came up with a complete set of tactical play!

"Starting tomorrow, we will practice like this!"

"Start with Footbonaut?"

"Yes, start with Footbonaut!"