Catenaccio Catenaccio or The Chain Is A Tactical System in Football With A Strong Emphasis On Defence

Catenaccio
Catenaccio or The Chain is a tactical system in football with a strong emphasis on defence.
In Italian,catenaccio means "door-bolt", which implies a highly organized and effective backline defence
focused on nullifying opponents' attacks and preventing goal-scoring opportunities.
History
The system was made famous by the Franco-Argentine trainer Helenio Herera of Internazionale in the
1960s who used it to grind out small-score wins, such as 1–0 or 2–1, over opponents in their games.
The Catenaccio was influenced by the verrou system invented by Austrian coach Karl Rappan. As coach
of Switzerland in the 1930s and 1940s, Rappan played a defensive sweeper called the verrouilleur, who
was highly defensive and was positioned just ahead of the goalkeeper. In the 1950s, Nereo Rocco's
Padova pioneered the system in Italy where it would be used again by the Internazionale team of the early
1960s.
Rappan's verrou system, proposed in 1932, when he was coach of Servette, was implemented with four
fixed defenders, playing a strict man-to-man marking system, plus a playmaker in the middle of the field
who played the ball together with two midfield wings.
Rocco's tactic, often referred to as the "real" Catenaccio, was shown first in 1947 with Triestina: the most
common mode of operation was a 1–3–3–3 formation with a strictly defensive team approach. With
catenaccio, Triestina finished the Serie A tournament in a surprising second place. Some variations include
1–4–4–1 and 1–4–3–2 formations.
The key innovation of Catenaccio was the introduction of the role of a libero ("free") defender, also called
"sweeper", who was positioned behind a line of three defenders. The sweeper's role was to recover loose
balls, nullify the opponent's striker and double-mark when necessary. Another important innovation was the
counter-attack, mainly based on long passes from the defense.
In Herrera's version in the 1960s, four man-marking defenders were tightly assigned to each opposing
attacker while an extra sweeper would pick up any loose ball that escaped the coverage of the defenders.
The emphasis of this system in Italian football spawned the rise of many top Italian defenders who became
known for their hard-tackling, ruthless defending. Defenders such as Claudio Gentile and Gaetano Scirea in
the 1970s, Giuseppe Bergomi and Franco Baresi in the 1980s, the famous all-Italian Milan defensive four
of Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta and Mauro Tassotti of the 1990s and 2006 World
Cup winners Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta and many others in 2000s formed the backbone of
the Italian national team and also played vital roles in the success of their respective Series A clubs.
http://xtrahistory.blogspot.co.id/2013/02/Tactic.html
4–4–2
This formation was the most common in football in the 1990s and early 2000s, so well known that it has
even inspired a magazine title, FourFourTwo. The midfielders are required to work hard to support both the
defence and the attack: typically one of the central midfielders is expected to go upfield as often as possible
to support the forward pair, while the other will play a "holding role", shielding the defence; the two wide
midfield players must move up the flanks to the goal line in attacks and yet also protect the fullback wide
defenders. On the European level, the major example of a team using a 4–4–2 formation was Milan, trained
by Arrigo Sacchi and later Fabio Capello, which won three European Cups, two Intercontinental Cups, and
three UEFA Super Cups between 1988 and 1995.
Under Milan's example, it became very popular in Italy in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
More recently, commentators have noted that at the highest level, the 4–4–2 is being phased out in favour
of formations such as the 4–2–3–1. In 2010, none of the winners of the Spanish, English and Italian leagues,
as well as the Champions League, relied on the 4–4–2. Following England's elimination at the 2010 World
Cup by a 4–2–3–1 Germany side, England National Team coach Fabio Capello (who was notably
successful with the 4–4–2 at Milan in the 1990s) was criticised for playing an "increasingly outdated" 4–4–
2 formation.
4–4-1-1
A variation of 4–4–2 with one of the strikers playing "in the hole", or as a "second striker", slightly behind
their partner. The second striker is generally a more creative player, the playmaker, who can drop into
midfield to pick up the ball before running with it or passing to teammates. Interpretations of 4–4–1–1 can
be slightly muddled, as some might say that the extent to which a forward has dropped off and separated
himself from the other can be debated.

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