History of Positional Play III

“It was like watching cart-horses playing race-horses.” This quote was taken from an injured English National Team Football Player after watching the Match of the Century. The time is 1953. England loses 3-6 for the first time ever at home against the world beaters of the time, Hungary.

It’s good to remember something here. England created the game and Scotland quickly adopted it. Soon, the whole world would play soccer. Every nation adapted a style, and these styles would sometimes change a little and other times a lot. England were champions for some time. They stayed traditional in their gritty, tough, and rugged style of football. Unfortunately, tactics took a back seat to individual gumption. This would cost them. It continues to cost them to this day. 

Back to the 50’s. The question is: How did Hungary get so good? In the 20’s and 30’s, Austria dominated the world. They employed a style of positional play based around one man in particular, their striker, Matthias Sindelar. His nickname being “The Paperman”, he was lanky and not well built like other #9 strikers (more about him in History of Positional Play II).

Hungary sits next to Austria. For a long time, they looked up to the way Austria played the game. They went from a 2-3-5 to a WM formation like the rest of the nations. Even though they upgraded their formation like most of the world, they found themselves without a big, powerful striker. The WM formation requires this. Here’s a picture the formation: 

Without a big striker, it’s hard to score in this system. But, at the time, managers were hesitant to change because of the defensive prowess it offered. Rather than change the entire system, Hungary dropped its talented yet small center forward, Nandor Hidegkuti, into an attacking midfielder position. As he would drop deeper on the pitch, the outside backs and wingers would push up into attack. This formation was known as the MM. 

Mockup based on Gustav Sebesz’s tactics from his notebook, coach of Hungary at the time

This was highly confusing for opponents of the time. Most were used to marking based on numbers which denoted positions on the field. Once Hungary’s players started exploiting space differently than “normal”, their opponents were doomed. 

Six months after the first match, England asked for a rematch in Budapest. The score line is even worse. Hungary wins 7-1 after tightening up their tactics even more. England’s center back, Syd Owen, said, “It was like playing people from outer space.” Hidegkuti drifted around the center of the field with no marker. If Owen stepped towards the “false 9”, he created a huge gap in the middle of the defense. But not stepping was even worse. The players had a numerical and positional advantage throughout the center of the field. 

Hidegkuti had a hat trick and English coaches, players, and fans were amazed with how far the Hungarians had taken soccer, in their technical and tactical game. The Hungarian side went 36 games unbeaten and were favorites to win the 1954 World Cup. They lost, after being ahead 2-0, to West Germany, 3-2. This was the unraveling of Hungary’s glory years, as their return to an enraged nation left their goalkeeper arrested, players banned, Sebesz fired, and other players left. 

Hungary’s players at the time were not bigger, stronger, or faster than their opposition. They had technical skill and needed to change the way they played the game. Sebesz found this through installing a false 9 into a modern system, the WM. Then he changed a lot around. Players began switching positions on the fly to cover space better and support their teammates. Intricate tactical patterns were created to better defend the opposition. Forwards were given reign to do what they do best, score. 

Rather than competing with the literal giants of England, Germany, France, and Scotland, they chose something different. They tried new tactics and trusted their philosophy of possessing the ball with an attacking mindset. This is innovation. This is what moves the game forward. 

Next time we’ll look at Michels, Cruyff, and the invention of Total Football. For more on the topic, pickup Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathon Wilson. Great short documentary on YouTube here.

Soccer Skills to Practice at Home - 15 minutes a day

Juggling a Smaller Ball - 5 Minutes

Wall Ball - 5 minutes

Double L - 5 minutes

See you tonight.

Michael