A Brief History of Tactics - The Danubian School

The Danubian School of Football

On the continent it took much longer for the significance of the changes to the off-side rule to be understood. While in England most clubs followed Chapman’s lead within a few years of his innovations, the majority of Europe remained married to the traditional pyramid formation. Ironically it was two of the continent’s greatest anglophiles who most resisted any move to the “third back” system.

Hugo Meisl of Austria was arguably the most significant figure in helping to develop continental football in the pre-WW2 era. Acting as a referee, and administrator and a coach his love for the game showed itself in a desire to be involved in every facet of its organisation. It was as the manager of the Austrian Wunderteam though that his impact was most keenly felt.

Football enjoyed a popularity in Austria in the 1920s which matched that of any nation outside the British Isles and under the guidance of Meisl they constructed a fantastic attacking team. Although they retained a broad allegiance to the classic 2-3-5 formation, their use of centre-forward Matthias Sindelaar in a slightly withdrawn position was extremely effective. Having destroyed Scotland 5-0 in Vienna (admittedly the Scots fielded a weakened team and were badly affected by injuries) they embarked on a string of results which shocked the rest of Europe. Such was the movement of the team (and in particular Sindelaar) that their system became known as the “Danubian whirl”. Indeed the progress of the game in Austria, Czechoslovakia and Hungary (all quarter-finalists at the 1934 World Cup) gave this school of football its name.

At the heart of the rise of the Danubian school was the influence of English coach Jimmy Hogan. Having left England he coached in Switzerland, Hungary, Holland, Germany and Austria and everywhere he went he instilled in his players the importance of passing and movement. His emphasis on technique was far more welcome on the continent than it was back in England, where the emphasis remained more on stamina and physicality than it did on prowess with the ball. By incorporating Hogan’s teachings, the Danubian school were able to make up for any physical weakness with superior skill.



Austria (below) v. England, 1932

The other great anglophile operating in Europe at the time was Vittorio Pozzo of Italy. Having lived in Manchester during his youth he was hugely impressed by the play of Charlie Roberts, Manchester United’s attacking centre-half. This had great influence on Pozzo’s footballing philosophy and he was never fully converted to the merits of the third back despite his great friendship with Herbert Chapman. Instead Pozzo looked for a compromise between the systems. Rather than playing with a genuine third back, Pozzo moved his centre-half deeper, but still had him play in front of the full-backs. In order to make up for the withdrawn centre-half, he moved his two inside forwards deeper so that rather than playing with a WM formation he effectively played a WW.

The success of this system was evident at the 1934 World Cup where Italy ended as champions, with Luis Monti, the naturalised Argentine, playing as the centre-half. Although numerous complaints could be made over Italy’s victory at home in 1934, there were few faults with their 1938 victory as Pozzo’s formation triumphed over the Danubian school.

The one place in Europe which was torn between the movement of the Wunderteam and the effectiveness of the WM was Germany. Schalke 04 were the dominant side in German football in the 1930s with a style that mimicked that of the Austrian Wunderteam. Their team was known as the “Spinning Top” on account of the constant movement of the players. As with the team managed by Meisl, the Schalke side’s greatest attribute was not what it did with the ball, but the movement of its player off it. Their greatest strength lay in finding space to receive possession, and then looking for a better placed teammate. Their coach, an Austrian named Gustav Wieser, based his team around two star players, Fritz Szepan and Ernst Kuzorra, but it was the understanding among all his players that led to such electrifying football being played.

Given their success domestically one might have expected the German national coach Otto Nerz to have modelled his own team on Schalke’s successful style. Instead he was a great advocate of the WM. Nerz saw the Spinning Top as a pretty style, that ultimately went nowhere. Chapman had shown in England that it was not necessary to have a lot of possession, but it was what you did with the ball when you had it that really counted. Not only did Nerz adopt the WM for the 1934 World Cup in Italy, he took the inconceivable step of playing Schalke’s greatest attacking star, Szepan, as the stopper centre-back! In fairness to Nerz the system proved highly successful for Germany, as they reached the semi-finals where they lost to Czechoslovakia, and then beat the Austrian Wunderteam 3-2 in the third-place play-off. 

A Brief History of Tactics - The WM

The WM

One of the sharpest tactical practices of the early 20^th century was the creation and perfection of the offside trap. With three players needed to be between the goal and the opponent (as opposed to two in the modern game), it was very easy with the pyramid system to catch attackers offside. The first team to realise this was Notts County whose defenders Montgomery and Morley would use the trap to prevent opposing attacks. The masters of the trap though were Newcastle, with Bill McCracken and Frank Hudspeth as full-backs.

The result of the offside trap was a decease in the number of goals, and to remedy this the International Football Association Board (IFAB) took action. In 1925 they made the change to the modern offside law under which only two players (including the goalkeeper) need to be between a player and the goal for a player to be onside. Not only did this make it harder for a team to catch players offside as it needed greater coordination of the defensive line, it also made it much more risky as a failed attempt would see an attacker clear in on goal.

In the years after the change the number of goals rocketed. In the 1926-7 season George Camsell of Middlesbrough scored 59 goals in the league in just 37 games, the next season Dixie Dean scored 60 league goals in 39 games. Clearly the actions of the IFAB worked, but for coaches it presented a new problem: how to stop the opposition scoring.

Herbert Chapman was the greatest manager of his day. At Huddersfield he had created a team which would win 3 league titles in a row, with a system which seemed to run counter to all footballing orthodoxies. In the past the league’s best teams had been those who enjoyed the majority of possession and made this pressure count by converting it into goals. Chapman turned this thinking on its head and became the first manager to use counter-attacking as a genuine strategy rather than a mere response.

Chapman’s Huddersfield would defend deep and then launch quick counter attacks, before their opponents could reorganise their own defence.

In 1925 Chapman accepted the chance to move south and manage an Arsenal team who were less than successful at the time. In exchange for leaving the best team in the country Chapman requested full control of the team and warned chairman Henry Norris that he would not win anything for 5 years. Chapman’s pedigree forced the normally overbearing Norris to agree, and there began the beginnings of Arsenal’s success.

Chapman’s first signing at Arsenal was the great Sunderland inside-forward Charlie Buchan, a man who himself had a definite opinion on the impact of the new offside Law. What Buchan realised was that to combat the new Law it would be necessary to move the centre-half into defence and slot him between the two fullbacks. This new centre-back would provide much greater cover for the full-backs and give the team a stronger base from which to build. If Chapman was to continue his counter attacking policy it would be necessary to have a strong defence on which to base it.

The WM system though did not see just one radical change, but two. In order to make up for the loss of creativity suffered by the withdrawal of the centre-half, it was necessary to force one of the inside-forwards deeper to link the play between defence and attack. Buchan himself was too valuable a goalscorer to allow to play in such a deep position, so at first Chapman tried Andy Neil in the role with significant success. It was in 1928 though and with the arrival of Alex James from Preston that the withdrawn inside-forward really came alive.



Arsenal (below) v. Huddersfield, 1930



By 1930 the system was fully evolved, and it marked some radical changes for each position. With the arrival of the centre-back he was now charged with marking the opposing centre-forward, the full-backs now marked the opposing wingers, while the wing-halves would mark the inside forwards. For Arsenal, both inside-forwards were now playing in deep positions as David Jack arrived to play alongside Alex James.

The results were remarkable, as Arsenal won 3 titles in a row (though Chapman died suddenly mid-way through the second season) and dominated English football in the 1960s. As he had at Huddersfield, Chapman relied on counter-attack and made special use of his wingers, Joe Hulme and Cliff Bastin who were expected to score plenty of goals in contrast to the majority of wingers in the league.

A Brief History of Tactics - The Pyramid

The Pyramid

The next great change in football tactics was a move to the formation which would endure for over 50 years, and in some nations much longer. While the Scottish formation provided greater balance than the chaos which went before, it still saw the attack overloaded and resulted in each attacker having little space to play in.

In the 1878 Welsh Cup final Wrexham faced Druids and for them EA Cross (previously a centre-forward) was deployed as a centre-half. By withdrawing one of the forwards into the half-back line, a team could bolster its defensive strength and provided a better balance to the team. Wrexham were vindicated for their innovation, as they defeated Druids 1-0 to claim the cup and before long other teams were following them.

The newly created centre-half soon became the most important player in the team. Acting as the focal point of the side, the centre-half was expected to link the defence with attack and was consequently involved in the game probably more than any other player.

The addition of the centre-half also radically changed the roles of the other players behind the forward line. As the centre-half slotted in, the right and left-halves (wing-halves) were pushed wider from a previously central role. When out of possession the wing-halves were expected to defend against the opposing wingers, as modern defenders would do. With the wingers covered by the wing-halves, the full-backs were now only expected to defend against the two inside-forwards and the remaining centre-forward.

As passing increasingly came to be accepted there was a gradual change in the role of the forwards. The outside-forwards became more and more providers for the centre-forward, who in British football would be expected to challenge keepers for headers and, if necessary, charge them into the goal. Wingers such as Billy Meredith of Wales, a prolific goal scorer, were increasingly the exception to the rule.

Inside forwards also became more creative as well, and were less and less relied on for goals. Great dribblers such as Nuts Cobbald remained admired, but the new style of inside-forward was more like that famous passer GO Smith than his predecessor.

What the game also began to see more and more was movement to aid the passing. Even under the classical Scottish passing style most players were static when the gave and received the ball. In the early 20^th century that style was built on as teams played in triangles, constantly moving into a better position to receive the ball and then play it on. The first team to do it well were Sunderland whose “infernal triangle” would see the trio of Buchan, Mordue and Cuggy gradually progressing further up the pitch by passing the ball between them. Spurs in turn improved on the system, but it was overseas that it was taken to the highest level.

Uruguay (below) v Argentina, 1930

The Uruguay team which dominated world football in the 1920s added even greater movement to the passing style and used their half-backs to dictate periods of possession. With half-backs like Andrade, Gestido and Fernandez they had the most capable players and used inventive inside forwards Scarone and Cea to leave the opposition constantly trying to win back the ball.

Such was the success of the pyramid that it remained in place the world over until the 1930s. In nations such as Austria and Uruguay it remained the system of choice into the 1950s and it was only in the 1960s that printed formations were no longer often shown in that style.

A Brief History of Tactics - Early Days

Early Days

When the game began tactics were basic. In fact it would be little exaggeration to suggest that there were no tactics in the earliest days of football. Emerging as it did from a mob game, often played by hundreds of participants early football was little short of chaos. Before the Laws were codified in 1863 football had been enthusiastically embraced by many of England’s premier public schools, but even there it remained little short of anarchy.

At almost all the schools the primary part of the game was dribbling. Players would effectively take it in turns to dribble towards the opposing goal until they were stopped or scored. Deliberate passing was unheard of, though in some cases the ball might ricochet off a defender to a team-mate who would continue the charge forward.

The reasons for this style of football were numerous. Firstly football was encouraged at these schools because of its manly nature, and to pass was considered unmanly. Secondly a number of schools either prevented any passing forward (as is the case in rugby today) or made it very difficult due to prohibitive offside laws. Thirdly at a number of the schools, the games were played in narrow cloisters (corridors which surrounded an open quadrant) and consequently there was little advantage gained from passing.

The old boys of a number of the most famous public schools gathered in 1863 to form the Football Association and later codify the Laws of the game. The dominance of the public schools had a dramatic effect on early tactics as they largely followed those that had applied at schoolboy level. As in modern school yard football there were large numbers of attackers and very few midfielders or defenders.

The earliest games under the official Laws saw the standard formation played with 9 forwards, and 2 defenders. The strangest point about these early games was that there was no designated goalkeeper, as the position was not laid down until 1870.   By the time of the first international in 1872 between England and Scotland, the English had made little progress in terms of tactics. Their Scottish rivals however, had made two notable innovations.



England (above) v. Scotland, 1872



The first of these was a change of formation. The Scots had moved to an organised structure of 2 full-backs, 2 half-backs, and 6 forwards. In this system the full-backs acted as central defenders, though given that there were no other defenders, they were expected to cover the whole back-line. The half-backs (modern day midfielders) were used to link the defence and attack, while the forwards were expected only to attack. The forwards were though given fairly strict roles which they were expected to perform. The outside-forwards (outside-right and outside-left) would hug the touchline, the inside-forwards (inside-right and inside-left) would act as providers, and the centre-forwards would be expected to score the goals.

The second innovation was really a natural corollary of the first as deliberate passing was introduced for the first time. In the game’s earliest day brute strength had been as much an element of dribbling as skill. Many of the best player of the day relied on their physical size to outmuscle opponents. In 1872 Queens Park (the first Scottish club) faced Wanderers in the semi-final of the FA Cup, and immediately noticed that that they were significantly smaller than the English side. To overcome that problem the Scots realised they would need to use more brains than brawn. To that end the Scots exchanged quick passes to get past their larger opponents. When England met Scotland later that year, the Scots employed the same stratagem and in both cases the games ended a draw. Given that the Scots had been playing for a much shorter time it was clear that there was something in this passing game. The next time the two nations played, England had adopted Scotland’s formation, but it would be some time before they would introduce passing.

A Brief History of Tactics - Positional Terminology Part Three

ForwardsCentre forward: Clasically used to refer to the central forward in the pyramid and WM formations, regardless of their style of play. Later a generic term to describe all central forwards, now commonly used to refer to a target man. (Example: Tommy Lawton)



Centre Forward: Tommy Lawton

 Striker: Often used generically to refer to all forwards, specifically a clinical finisher whose primary purpose it to score goals. (Example: Michael Owen)



Striker: Michael Owen

 Withdrawn centre-forward: Prior to the Danubian school of football all centre-forwards were out and out goal scorers who led the line. Following the example of Matthias Sindelaar some centre-forwards dropped deeper in order to confuse their opponents and retrieve the ball. In modern parlance often referred to as the "false nine". (Example: Nandor Hidegkuti)



Withdrawn Centre Forward: Nandor Hidegkuti

 Outside left or right: In a four or five man attack, the widest players on the pitch. Essentially wingers with even greater license to attack, and no defensive responsibilities. Rarely heavy goalscorers these were primarily creative players who would stick to their flanks. (Example: Garrincha)



Outside-right: Garrincha

 Wing forward: The outside forwards of an attacking trio. Often very attacking wingers who will cut inside to shoot or seek to dribble past their markers, they can be heavy scorers but will also act as creators for a central striker. (Example: Pedro)



Wing-forward: Pedro

 Target man: Centre forward of a more physical nature. Normally they will be tall, strong and good in the air, allowing long balls and crosses to be played in their direction. Sometimes prolific scorers they are often used more to lead the line and allow others to play off them (Example: Jan Koller)



Target Man: Jan Koller

 Support striker: A forward who plays off the main striker, but in front of the midfield (commonly said to be “in the hole”). They are primarily providers and link men for the team, but in some cases can be prolific goalscorers as well. Often they will play in a very similar style to the playmaker, but in a slightly more advanced position. (Example: Alessandro Del Piero)

Support Striker: Alessandro Del Piero

Inside left or right: In the pyramid and WM the forwards who played in between the outside left and right, and the centre-forward. These were traditionally goalscorers themselves until Alex James dropped into the midfield in the 1930s and acted as another creator. Later a generic term to describe any central forward, though the inside left tended to operate deeper than the inside right. (Example: Omar Sivori)



Inside-left: Omar Sivori



A Brief History of Tactics - Positional Terminology Part Two

Midfielders
Half-back: Generic term to cover all of the midfield line under the pyramid and WM formations. This terminology continued into the sixties, well beyond the use of the formations that went with it.

Centre-half: Although the term has now been bastardised to mean a central defender, it originally meant the central player in the half-back line. They acted as the key link between the defence and attack, and as such played an instrumental playmaking role. (Example: Ernst Ocwirk)

Centre-half: Ernst Ocwirk

Right or left-half: In the pyramid the lateral members of the half-back line, who would be charged with marking the opposing wingers as well as providing a link to the attack. Under the WM these were generic terms to refer to central midfielders. (Example: Jose Leandro Andrade)



Right-half: Jose Leandro Andrade

Central midfielder: Generic term to cover all central midfielders. In these lists a term to cover an all round midfielder who has elements of each of the other central midfield positions. (Example: Michael Ballack)



Central Midfielder: Michael Ballack

Anchor: A defensive minded midfielder who often sits deep and looks to break up the opponents’ play. Likely to act as a holding midfielder and look to incept passes, and cut off passing lines. (Example: Claude Makelele)



Anchor: Claude Makelele


Destroyer: A defensive midfielder who plays at a high tempo and actively seeks to break up play by hunting down opponents and making tackles. They are likely to have limited attacking responsibilities and will normally look for more talented players once they have won the ball. (Example: Gennaro Gattuso)



Destroyer: Gennaro Gattuso


Box to box midfielder: A midfielder who covers the length of the pitch and is as likely to be found in the opposing box as his own. They require great energy and stamina to cover every blade of grass (Example: Michael Essien)


Box to box midfielder: Michael Essien


Deep lying playmaker: A withdrawn midfielder who sits in a deep position to dictate the play. They will commonly pick up the ball from the defence and distribute it with long raking passes. (Example: Andrea Pirlo)



Deep lying playmaker: Andrea Pirlo


Playmaker: An attacking central midfielder, who dictates the style of play of his team. Normally a significant amount of the team’s play will go through them, and they will be responsible for controlling the tempo of the team and generating assists. (Example: Juan Roman Riquelme)



Playmaker: Juan Roman Riquelme


Offensive midfielder: A central midfielder who will look to surge from deep into goalscoring positions. They will often not start as high up the pitch as a playmaker or winger, but will either shoot from long range or use their movement to get into the box unmarked and will typically be a (relatively) heavy scorer. (Example: Frank Lampard)



Offensive midfielder: Frank Lampard


Lateral midfielder: A midfielder who plays on the flanks but is likely to play slightly infield from the touchline and in a deeper position than a winger. They will rarely look to dribble past players and are more likely to play crosses from deep or drift further infield to link play. (Example: David Beckham)



Lateral Midfielder: David Beckham


Winger: A midfielder who hugs the touchline and looks to beat his marker through a combination of pace and trickery. They will be responsible for supplying crosses for the centre forwards to attack. (Example: Ryan Giggs)



Left-winger: Ryan Giggs



A Brief History of Tactics - Positional Terminology Part One

As part of my upcoming history of tactics I've set out below some explanation of the various positional roles that will be commonly used. Most of these are common place and should be easily understood. Some though relate specifically to historical positions which no longer exist in the modern game and where misleadingly the name now applies to a very different role (centre-half and full-back for instance).

In all cases I have anglicised the positional terminology. Zagueiro, Regista and Enganche may add a bit of authenticity to descriptions of footballing formations but they do little to aid basic understanding. Furthermore I've tried to give a famous example for each position to aid the understanding of the role. Where possible these should be contemporary players that everyone should be aware of, where the position went out of fashion some years ago I have selected a classical example.

Hopefully these should be easily understandable and I've not gone overboard in splitting the various roles (the Brazilians have at least 5 different terms to define different types of central attacking midfielder), while still giving appropriate attention to the subtle variations between roles.

GoalkeepersGoalkeeper: Not much explanation necessary for this one. Since the amendments to the Laws of the Game in 1870 a goalkeeper has always been a feature of football. (Example: Gianluigi Buffon)



Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon


Sweeper keeper: A keeper prepared to rush off his line to act like an additional defender and play the ball with his feet. Various disputes exist over who was the first keeper to do this from Gyula Grosics to Petar Radenkovic, but regardless they tend to be the exception rather than the rule (Example: Rene Higuita)



Sweeper Keeper: Rene Higuita

Defenders

Right or left fullback: In the classical pyramid formation, one of two defenders expected to cover all defensive duties. They would generally cover the central forwards of the opposing team. With the move to the WM and the arrival of a third back these players moved out towards the flanks and began to cover the opposing wingers. Little to no responsibility for going forward. (Example: Bob Crompton)

Right Fullback: Bob Crompton

Right or left back: Lateral defenders in a 4 or 5 man defensive line. Some responsibility for going forward but primarily defence minded. (Example: Gary Neville)



Right-back: Gary Neville

Right or left wing-back: Lateral defenders who look to get forward, these will normally be positioned between the defence and midfield. Some very attack minded versions can spend most of the game attacking. (Example: Roberto Carlos)

Left Wingback: Roberto Carlos

Centre back: Originally a term to describe the third back in the WM formation. Now a generic term to cover all central defenders. In these lists a term to cover an all round defender who has elements of stopper and cultured defender to his game. (Example: Carles Puyol)



Centre-back: Carles Puyol


Cultured defender: A central defender who is comfortable on the ball and has good technical skills. They will normally play in a 4 man defensive line and be partnered by a stopper. (Example: Rio Ferdinand)



Cultured Defender: Rio Ferdinand


Sweeper (also known as the libero): A defender who will sweep up behind the rest of the defence and act as the spare man. Commonly, though not always, a cultured defender who will bring the ball out from the back and join the attacks. (Example: Danny Blind)



Sweeper: Danny Blind


Stopper: A central defender who is almost exclusively used to stop the opponents. Commonly they will be less skilful on the ball than a cultured defender and will be unlikely to bring the ball out of defence. (Example: John Terry)



Stopper: John Terry