The football tactical trends of 2012

Possession football, strikers' struggles and Barcelona's passing and pressing have dominated the game this year



In 1872, the 11 Queen's Park players who made up the Scotland national side looked at the England team they were about to face in the first international fixture and decided they had to try something out of the ordinary. England were over a stone a man heavier and given the head-down charging that characterised the early game, that was a significant advantage. What Scotland had to do, it was decided, was to keep the ball away from England, to deny them possession and thus control the game.

And so was invented passing and possession football. It was, in origin, a defensive move. 140 years later, Vicente del Bosque's Spain won Euro 2012 using passing football to control games. If others wanted to defend deep against them – as sides have increasingly been doing as Spain have dominated the world game – they were happy to keep the ball, knowing that chances would eventually present themselves by process of attrition. It might not have been especially exciting, but it was effective.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/dec/18/football-tactical-trends-of-2012?CMP=twt_gu