World Cup 2010: The dawning of the age of the Defensive Midfielders

[HirsuteBlue]

The USA
The Swiss
North Korea
Three sides off the top of my head that have been happy to run themselves ragged in the middle of the field to protect the defence. I cannot remember a tournament so defensive/negative.

 

[spikeman]

The USA
The Swiss
North Korea
Three sides off the top of my head that have been happy to run themselves ragged in the middle of the field to protect the defence. I cannot remember a tournament so defensive/negative.

USA tied England 1-1
Switzerland beat Spain 1-0
North Korea played tough against Brazil but lost 2-1

It works. The teams dont care about what the fans think. They just want to get any points to get out of the group.

 

[BlueTak]

USA tied England 1-1
Switzerland beat Spain 1-0
North Korea played tough against Brazil but lost 2-1

It works. The teams dont care about what the fans think. They just want to get any points to get out of the group.

Exactly, Paraguay did the same to Italy, if it works then why not.

 

[Phil Neville Superstar]

Many teams play "negative" in order to get a result, just look at any team Mourinho has managed.

 

[quasi modo]

Thats modern day football now, most teams pack the midfield out and have one forward, boring football but effective.

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

greece won a euro that way

 

[ijjysmith]

If only Lee Carsley was English

 

[Matt Damon]

The ball too had significant effect especially in midfield

 

[TX Bill]

I've got no problem at all with my team making sure that we don't get picked apart down the middle.

North Korea was excellent against Brazil and I thought they kept their shape pretty well.