Monday 2 June 2014

THE FALSE NUMBER 9 TACTIC WILL HURT GERMANY AT THE WORLD CUP, WITH DRAW AGAINST CAMEROON



If there is one tactic more annoying than the tic-tac-toe, is the dumb, pointless and annoying FALSE NUMBER 9. In this wonderful "innovation", a team decides that they don't need a striker(you know, the guy who is supposed to be the goalscorer) and instead pack the midfield with different midfielders making runs into the penalty box and ghosting as strikers temporarily only when needed. It's a tactic that only ONE team can play well, Spain..because THEY INVENTED IT. Germany, are playing a dangerous game...






Germany looked very good in an attacking sense, and had Cameroon down on a chokehold. But as the game drew on, and Germany just did not look like putting the ball in the net, Cameroon's "old" striker showed the Germans what STRIKERS do and put the Africans in the lead.

Germany responded well with a that man, MULLER coming in with a header after a great hustle and cross from Boateng and the most underrated "striker" in the world now, Andre Schurrle. He was the one who had that instinct and drive to get in the right place at the right time for Podolski's cross. But then, Germany could not hold the lead and Joachim Low will have to be worried in the way they gave up two avoidable goals. One might say playing Boateng alongside Mertesacker may be the preferred option, with Bart Simpson taking his usual position as the wing back.

Joachim Low must not take the bait and try and imitate Spain and go for this false number nine move. You need to know HOW to play it, and have midfielders who understand the dynamics of the tactic. Del Bosque and his boys practice this EVERY SINGLE DAY to a point where it is second-nature to them.

Germany have two strikers in their team and must use at LEAST one of them. I am sick of saying this so many times but why the hell is Schurrle not just played as a striker? He keeps on showing all the attributes of a finisher as opposed to a winger. Muller, Goetze, Reus and Ozil are midfielders through and through who can occasionally attack. Leave them be and let people play in their natural habitat, with the exception of Schurrle to try and be used as a pure striking man with Klose as a backup (I know he desperately wants that record).

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