n the aftermath of Chelsea's two ultra-defensive
displays against Liverpool and Atletico Madrid, Goal recalls some other
sides who were loathed for their 'anti-football'
By Miles Chambers
Jose Mourinho was universally panned for
rolling up at the Vicente Calderon on Tuesday and parking the proverbial
bus as Chelsea earned a valuable 0-0 draw in their Champions League
semi final first leg.
And the Portuguese has been on the
receiving end of even more criticism on Sunday following the incredible
2-0 Premier League win against Liverpool. Mourinho placed 10 men behind
the ball for much of the game but Liverpool struggled to break down the
Chelsea wall, and goals from Demba Ba and Willian on the counter attack
blew open the title race.
Some critics have labelled Mourinho a genius, others have described him as a proponent of 'anti-football'.
However,
the Portuguese is far from the first to adopt such tactics with a top
team and he certainly will not be the last; the footballing history
books are filled with clubs who opted against attacking altogether for
large swathes of matches.
Below
Goal looks at
some of the most famous examples of teams shutting up shop - and not
just for one-off matches, but for entire tournaments, seasons or even
decades.
World
Cup 1990 saw just 2.21 goals per match - the lowest in the history of
the tournament - which goes some way to explaining how Argentina reached
the final despite scoring less than once a game.
Four years after their Diego Maradona-inspired triumph, the
Albiceleste opted for the cynical approach and went tantalisingly close to lifting the trophy again.
Argentina,
led on the sidelines by Carlos Bilardo, scored just five goals in seven
games. They defeated Brazil 1-0 in the second round despite being
outplayed from start to finish and then progressed via penalties in the
next two matches versus Yugoslavia and hosts Italy. It took West Germany
until the 85th minute to score in the final and put the anti-attackers
to the sword.
The
chant "boring, boring Arsenal" became synonymous with the Gunners in
the early 1990s thanks to George Graham's intent on grinding out results
whether they had goals in them or not.
Graham took charge of the
north Londoners in 1986 but it was not until 1992 that he threw his
attacking plans in the bin. In his final three seasons his team averaged
40 goals per league season compared to 66 goals in his first six
campaigns.
Although Graham did not taste league success again
with his new defence-centric Arsenal, he did make them the first team to
do the FA and League Cup double in 1993. Graham's famous
offside-playing back four of Lee Dixon, Tony Adams, Steve Bould and
Nigel Winterburn is regarded as one of the best backlines English
domestic football has ever seen.
Greece's Euro 2004 victory remains arguably the most remarkable underdog story in the history of top level football.
Otto
Rehhagel realised his team were far from the best in the tournament,
and he had no flair players to rely on, so he carved out a formidable
defensive plan which saw them play patiently (or painfully, for the
attack-loving neutral) and only commit men forward for corners and
set-pieces.
Greece might not have set the continent alight with
their style but, as Rehhagel himself put it: "People tell me my tactics
are not modern, but modern football is about winning."
Inter's side in the 1960s were the most successful to use the
Catenaccio style - which means 'bolted door' in Italian.
Grabbing
a goal or two on the counterattack was the name of the game, leaving
opposition forwards frustrated with the cautious defenders surrounding
them.
Iconic Inter coach Helenio Herrera guided his
Nerazzurri
ranks to two European Cups and three Serie A titles with the system -
world class defenders such as Giacinto Facchetti, Tarcisio Burgnich and
Armando Picchi ensuring misery for all opposition attackers.
Turning
Catenaccio into the mockingly named
Watenaccio, Walter Smith had his fair share of critics during Rangers' 2007-08 European endeavours.
Lionel
Messi, yet to hit his unplayable prime, grumbled "Rangers didn't want
to play football, they practised anti-football from the first minute"
after Barcelona were held to a goalless draw in the Champions League by
the Scots.
Away from the big guns after demotion into the Uefa
Cup, Smith ploughed on with his ultra-defensive approach and it almost
paid off: they clawed their way to the final by scoring five goals in
eight games - only to be beaten 2-0 by Zenit St Petersburg.
It
took Stoke City 116 Premier League games to record possession
statistics of over 50 per cent in a Premier League match following
promotion in 2008 - a baffling statistic considering they had never
really been threatened by relegation.
Tony Pulis imbued a brand
of direct football that took no interest in flowing, fluid or even fun
football and the Britannia Stadium was frequently a fortress because of
it.
Only once in Pulis' five full seasons in charge of the
Potters did they score more goals in the league than games played and
eventually the fanbase and club craved more creativity, leading to his
departure last summer.