Soccer theory: A game product of ideas
Rule 10 of the FIFA Laws of the Game states that “the team that has scored the most goals during a match will be the winner.” Based on this statement, it could be affirmed that football, in its original spirit, forces teams to develop strategies that bring them closer to the rival area. However, over the years, some great coaches understood that this single goal advantage also gave the alternative of developing collective defensive mechanisms that would limit the opponent’s progress.
Both currents of thought are united by the intention of obtaining a victory and for this, they train and imagine different ways of occupying useful spaces in the field and taking advantage of them. Herbert Chapman and Johan Cruyff, for example, shared the same goal: for their teams to compete for and maximize their chances of overcoming the opponent. However, their ideas, strategies, and forms were different: the Englishman was the greatest revolutionary in terms of identifying these free and useful spaces, while the other, the Dutchman, placed the ball as the gravitational center of his model.
At this point, a window opens onto the inexhaustible wealth of football
When a coach, whether with proactive or reactive intentions, develops a style of play, he does nothing but imagines; Endless possibilities converge in his mind that later, given the abilities of the footballers he directs and his ability to accompany them in the process of optimizing his virtues, he must recognize as probable or viable. This process of reflection is what is known as a debate of ideas.
There are plenty of examples of intellectual debates in football that led to major changes in the game. We will see some of the changes at the upcoming 2022 World Cup. However, the superficiality with which this sport is talked about in the big media invites to discredit this type of exchange; It is these same protagonists who reduce a triumph to intangible values such as epicness, history, or the weight of the shirt.
A recent example of this that is narrated here was the conversion of Lionel Messi in false 9, an episode that the vast majority know but that for some reason they prefer to associate with the genius of their coach and not with the hours of reflection and exchange of ideas.
It is essential to remember that football regulations do not establish how this sport should be played. It is inflexible regarding different aspects such as the duration of a match, the measurements of the field, the minimum or the maximum number of soccer players, or that, as we read in previous paragraphs, a match is won by whoever has scored one more goal than their opponent. On the other hand, it does not limit styles or establishes defined roles, except in the case of the goalkeeper.
In turn, the regulations affect more aspects, for example football betting. In football betting, every detail of the rules matters and with knowledge of all the details about the latest football rules, a bettor can maximize the chances of winning and at the same time minimize the risk of losing. Today there is a lot of help online for every football bet, for example provided by Footballant, a great site that provides all things football predictions and tips, including livescore today that can be a guide for every bettor to plan their next steps better. Every feature that Footballant has is useful for achieving real money wins as long as it can be optimized properly.
After all, it is not enough to identify whether this or that team is reactive or proactive; it is the ideas and their execution that distinguish each team and each proposal. The richness of football, although they tell us otherwise, does not lie in positional schemes but in those who play and those who think about it. Playing is putting into practice what was imagined, what was thought. Playing football is bringing ideas to life.
Note: For everyone who wants to bet on football matches, downloading the Footballant app can be very helpful.
