MANCHESTER UNITED, INTERNAZIONALE MILANO AND FC BARCELONA – WHAT´S DIFFERENT?

Introduction: Although football is considered a universal language, there are particularities that characterize the way it is practiced in several countries. Overall, the style of English football is known as “Kick and Rush”, the Italian as “Catenaccio”, and the Spanish as “Fúria Española”. This stu...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hugo Sarmento, M. Teresa Anguera, Jorge Campaniço, Rui Resende, José Leitão
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Montenegrin Sports Academy and Faculty for Sport and Physical Education 2014-06-01
Series:Sport Mont
Online Access:http://www.sportmont.ucg.ac.me/clanci/SportMont_40-41-42_p50-56.pdf
id doaj-2c040608c8e243149ee15782d22b2f22
record_format Article
spelling doaj-2c040608c8e243149ee15782d22b2f222020-11-24T23:46:10ZengMontenegrin Sports Academy and Faculty for Sport and Physical EducationSport Mont 1451-74852337-03512014-06-01XII40-41-425056MANCHESTER UNITED, INTERNAZIONALE MILANO AND FC BARCELONA – WHAT´S DIFFERENT? Hugo Sarmento0 M. Teresa Anguera1 Jorge Campaniço2 Rui Resende3 José Leitão4High Institute of Maia (Maia, Portugal), Centre for the Study of Education, Technologies and Health - Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (Viseu, Portugal), The Adaptation, Performance and Human Development: Research Group – APHD (Braga, Portugal) University of Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain) UTAD (Vila Real, Portugal) Centre for the Study of Education, Technologies and Health - Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (Viseu, Portugal), The Adaptation, Performance and Human Development: Research Group – APHD (Braga, Portugal) UTAD (Vila Real, Portugal) Introduction: Although football is considered a universal language, there are particularities that characterize the way it is practiced in several countries. Overall, the style of English football is known as “Kick and Rush”, the Italian as “Catenaccio”, and the Spanish as “Fúria Española”. This study aims to understand which aspects in the characterization of playing styles of the different teams (Manchester United, Internazionale Milano and Barcelona) are the most important for coaches. Methods: We chose 8 expert high-performance Portuguese first league football coaches (Coach 1 to 8) with a professional experience (as first coach) ranging from 2 to 30 years (14.9 ± 8.6 years). Semi-structured interviews were carried out and the data analyzed trough content analysis using the software QSR NVivo 9. Results and discussion: The data were grouped in four mainly categories: i) game culture/identity (n=18); ii) strategical-Tatical factors (n=17); iii) player characteristics (n=14); iv) coach philosophy (n=14). When analyzing the specific characteristics of the three teams, the coaches mainly referred to aspects related to a playing/identity culture of each team that is influenced by their history, their tradition and a set of values underlying the different clubs. Our coaches described each team’s differences based on strategic and tactical aspects. Overall, all coaches recognized the quality and merit with which Barcelona plays, basing their views on a ball possession that is very difficult to equal by any other team in the world. In contrast, Manchester United plays in a way where strong ball possession is primary, but also their ability to play quickly and offensively, through a more "direct" playing style. Finally, Inter Milan’s style is defined essentially by their defensive tactical rigor and the capacity to develop effective offensive sequences of quick attacks and counterattacks. The players that form these teams are only one element that can explain the different ways of playing. As described elsewhere (Kuper & Szymanski, 2010), our coaches feel that the strong and stable economic situation these teams have allows them to have players who are perfectly suited to the game’s model, whilst also contributing to an enrichment of the game shown through extremely high playing skills. The interviewees also mentioned the philosophy hat the coach possesses is another aspect that can also influence a team’s playing style. Understanding the factors that contribute to the different playing styles in different countries and teams may provide useful information for coaches who want to more efficiently. References: Kuper S, & Szymanski S (2010). Why England lose & other curious football phenomena explained. Fulham: HarperSport.http://www.sportmont.ucg.ac.me/clanci/SportMont_40-41-42_p50-56.pdf
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Hugo Sarmento
M. Teresa Anguera
Jorge Campaniço
Rui Resende
José Leitão
spellingShingle Hugo Sarmento
M. Teresa Anguera
Jorge Campaniço
Rui Resende
José Leitão
MANCHESTER UNITED, INTERNAZIONALE MILANO AND FC BARCELONA – WHAT´S DIFFERENT?
Sport Mont
author_facet Hugo Sarmento
M. Teresa Anguera
Jorge Campaniço
Rui Resende
José Leitão
author_sort Hugo Sarmento
title MANCHESTER UNITED, INTERNAZIONALE MILANO AND FC BARCELONA – WHAT´S DIFFERENT?
title_short MANCHESTER UNITED, INTERNAZIONALE MILANO AND FC BARCELONA – WHAT´S DIFFERENT?
title_full MANCHESTER UNITED, INTERNAZIONALE MILANO AND FC BARCELONA – WHAT´S DIFFERENT?
title_fullStr MANCHESTER UNITED, INTERNAZIONALE MILANO AND FC BARCELONA – WHAT´S DIFFERENT?
title_full_unstemmed MANCHESTER UNITED, INTERNAZIONALE MILANO AND FC BARCELONA – WHAT´S DIFFERENT?
title_sort manchester united, internazionale milano and fc barcelona – what´s different?
publisher Montenegrin Sports Academy and Faculty for Sport and Physical Education
series Sport Mont
issn 1451-7485
2337-0351
publishDate 2014-06-01
description Introduction: Although football is considered a universal language, there are particularities that characterize the way it is practiced in several countries. Overall, the style of English football is known as “Kick and Rush”, the Italian as “Catenaccio”, and the Spanish as “Fúria Española”. This study aims to understand which aspects in the characterization of playing styles of the different teams (Manchester United, Internazionale Milano and Barcelona) are the most important for coaches. Methods: We chose 8 expert high-performance Portuguese first league football coaches (Coach 1 to 8) with a professional experience (as first coach) ranging from 2 to 30 years (14.9 ± 8.6 years). Semi-structured interviews were carried out and the data analyzed trough content analysis using the software QSR NVivo 9. Results and discussion: The data were grouped in four mainly categories: i) game culture/identity (n=18); ii) strategical-Tatical factors (n=17); iii) player characteristics (n=14); iv) coach philosophy (n=14). When analyzing the specific characteristics of the three teams, the coaches mainly referred to aspects related to a playing/identity culture of each team that is influenced by their history, their tradition and a set of values underlying the different clubs. Our coaches described each team’s differences based on strategic and tactical aspects. Overall, all coaches recognized the quality and merit with which Barcelona plays, basing their views on a ball possession that is very difficult to equal by any other team in the world. In contrast, Manchester United plays in a way where strong ball possession is primary, but also their ability to play quickly and offensively, through a more "direct" playing style. Finally, Inter Milan’s style is defined essentially by their defensive tactical rigor and the capacity to develop effective offensive sequences of quick attacks and counterattacks. The players that form these teams are only one element that can explain the different ways of playing. As described elsewhere (Kuper & Szymanski, 2010), our coaches feel that the strong and stable economic situation these teams have allows them to have players who are perfectly suited to the game’s model, whilst also contributing to an enrichment of the game shown through extremely high playing skills. The interviewees also mentioned the philosophy hat the coach possesses is another aspect that can also influence a team’s playing style. Understanding the factors that contribute to the different playing styles in different countries and teams may provide useful information for coaches who want to more efficiently. References: Kuper S, & Szymanski S (2010). Why England lose & other curious football phenomena explained. Fulham: HarperSport.
url http://www.sportmont.ucg.ac.me/clanci/SportMont_40-41-42_p50-56.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT hugosarmento manchesterunitedinternazionalemilanoandfcbarcelonawhatsdifferent
AT mteresaanguera manchesterunitedinternazionalemilanoandfcbarcelonawhatsdifferent
AT jorgecampanico manchesterunitedinternazionalemilanoandfcbarcelonawhatsdifferent
AT ruiresende manchesterunitedinternazionalemilanoandfcbarcelonawhatsdifferent
AT joseleitao manchesterunitedinternazionalemilanoandfcbarcelonawhatsdifferent
_version_ 1725494353168695296