I’m not too familiar with soccer/football, but I’ve watched Ted Lasso for the second time and I still don’t fully grasp what total football is. Can anyone break this down to barney level for me? What exactly is total football? What are the pros and cons to it vs other styles of play? It just does not compute in my head.
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Total football was a concept generally credited to Dutch coach Rinus Michels in the 1970s.
Briefly, the concept focussed on all players being able to play in any position. This allowed a fluid formation, where a defender could take the ball forward and attack while another player, a midfielder for example, could fill in behind and cover the empty space.
This has advantages against man-marking defending, where the opposition could be easily pulled out of their formation and introduce mistakes.
The biggest disadvantage was actually finding enough players with the skill level to cover any position with ease, and the practicality of having players shifting from position to position.
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