re: Is this blatant stupidity or am I missing something?

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It's clear as day that this is THE best way of playing soccer in current times, so why don't some of these teams that are so close to the top do this?

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Chelsea tried, and found their players completely resistant to it. AVB will go somewhere where he will have time, and do very well, because the system he is proposing puts so much pressure on opposing teams that it can't not work.

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darkhorse

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means they have a shot.

below favourites, above also-rans.

As 10 years ago 3 of the 4 were Spanish, and many a time since, there have been 2.


I believe the Italians have also had three in the past decade as well.


What's your point?

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Or does everyone think Spain is about to go 60's Boston Celtics on Europe?

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if RM or BCN win it all again this year, you could safely apply said moniker to La Liga in my opinion.

another Euro Cup, and the national side is definitely up there in GOAT talks.

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Which is why Bilbao raped ManU?

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While I understand and agree with the Spanish boys' point, to claim Bilbao is better than United is laughable.

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This year, to claim maure is better than Bilbao is just as laughable.

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I certainly hope this is a joke. Bilbao are good this year. Maybe on par with current form Tottenham. But are you honestly saying the 7th ranked team in La Liga is equal to the best English team in the EPL? A team 40 points off pace with the league leaders and having a grand total GD of 4?

Come on dude.

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A team 40 points off pace with the league leaders

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shows how superior La Liga is, doesn't it?

I realize that not many posters here follow Serie A but there's also some interesting changes happening.

In regard to the original post, AS Roma's current experiment with Luis Enrique bears watching as it's precisely what's being suggested. As most are aware, Enrique was the Barca B manager and came to Roma this year with the promise of a long term commitment from management to implement a possession, 4-3-3 based style similar to Barca's.


The jury is still out on how well this style will translate to Serie A.

The main criticism of it is that without a Messi-like talent in the false 9 it's too susceptible to dropping points against the type smaller clubs that are extremely well organized defensively and have pace up front to make one pay on counters against an extremely high line with fullbacks fully engaged in the attack. Of course, these are the type mid to lower table clubs that Serie A has in abundance.

So far, this has been the case, but LE's still playing with a very young group of players that are new to the system and at least one transfer window away from having a competent defensive back line.


Also of note has been the growing trend in Italy toward 3 man back lines with the success of Napoli, Udinese, Catania etc. . . Here, as crazy4lsu points out, much of the success of the system is dependent on width coming from a great wing back. In Napoli's case for example, as much as everyone credits Lavezzi, Cavani and Hamsic, I would argue that the most valuable player is Christian Maggio. He's the one player whose absence sees their entire attack fall to pieces. Isla for Udinese is similar.

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I certainly hope this is a joke. Bilbao are good this year. Maybe on par with current form Tottenham. But are you honestly saying the 7th ranked team in La Liga is equal to the best English team in the EPL? A team 40 points off pace with the league leaders and having a grand total GD of 4?

Come on dude.

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are you serious? You're comparing apples and oranges. Bilbao cleaned United's clock, twice. That's all I need to see. Maybe they're lower in their own table because their competition is actually better. Then they get put up against the 'best' English team, and find it easy going. It's very possible and if true would only further highlight my original point.

Anyways, it's been lost in the discussion, but my question was why doesn't a top-3 outsider in the PL implement this system? There really isn't anything to lose, especially if done with say Bielsa at the helm.

As for the 'it takes a long time' argument, that's true, but he's had a lot of success quickly with a club that played a very english brand of soccer.

To me it just seems like such an easy way to build a powerhouse from the outside. Your ceiling will always be limited in Spanish football because you're: playing against teams who have better players and money (while using the same style) and the revenue is shared so disproportionately. In England, you would be playing a style which has proven to be very difficult for english teams to cope with, but with the ability to buy better players because you have more money.

Clubs like Chelsea can't attempt this and we saw why this year. It would even be tough at Liverpool but the right ownership group is in place for something like that. But a team like Villa? Why not.