History of Positional Play II

Soccer, for one country, goes beyond pastime and into a cultural phenomenon. Crowds numbering over 40,000 spend their Sundays at the local soccer stadiums. Tactics, players, clubs, and managers are discussed throughout coffee houses, each establishment favoring a particular club. 

This transcended socio-economic, religious, and racial boundaries. It unified the country and embedded an excitement under common ground. 22 players, two nets, a referee, and a ball brought a nation together. This is Austria in the 1920’s. 

Why was Austria so football crazy at the time? I’m not sure. It seems as if it was trendy at the time, having those from all walks of life discussing everything soccer, from the intellectuals to the blue collar workers. 

Austria continued to get better in the 20’s, and the level of play peaked with Hugo Meisl’s Wunderteam. This begun after a slow start competing against Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, Italy, and Hungary. The nation tried something different in the early 30’s, going with a slight statured center forward named Matthias Sindelar, nicknamed “the Paper Man”. 

With Sindelar as their playmaker and Meisl’s intricate passing system, the team won 9 and drew 2 of their next 11 games. Their system was to control the ball as much as possible and Sindelar was said to have “a brain in his legs…playing football as a grandmaster plays chess.”

A clever side that competed against the best in the world, Austria became the forerunners of modern soccer, of total football and positional play. When Lionel Messi dropped in between the back and midfield line against Real Madrid in 2009, he made his Barcelona side famous for their tactics. Messi is often associated with this “False 9” position. 

This positioning gave Messi space to create in. Basically, the center forward drops into a center attacking midfield position, giving him time and space in between lines of defense. This was a revolutionary move in modern soccer, where the prototypical center forward, 9, was big, fast, and physical, staying up as high as possible on the last defender. 

Notice a similarity here between the 00’s and the 20’s? 80 years difference and a similar stroke in tactics. The false 9 was an older concept when Messi found his defining role, Austria’s Wunderteam being an inspiration. 

To take us back a bit, why would the concept of short passes and dominating possession of the ball be such a different tactic than other nations in the 20’s? Well, England invented the game. They believed football to be about courage, bravery, and ethics building of the then European military power. They played a “dribble around or literally through everyone” type of play. And this worked for some time. Until their neighbors, Scotland, began to work their passing style effectively. And other nations such as Spain, Hungary, and Austria assimilating a similar playing style. 

This type of soccer was seen as unmanly by many throughout England and the rest of the world. Once its effectiveness became undeniable, it became the “beautiful game, a revelation in football.”

Next time in History of Positional Play, we’ll cover the Hungarian National team of the 50’s. 

Soccer Skills to Practice at Home - 15 minutes a day

Pullback, Cruyff, Stepover, or L-Turn - 5 minutes

Double L - 5 minutes

Toe Touches (one foot, spinning)- 5 minutes

See you tonight.

Michael