Tag Archives: Chile

10. Chile

Psrhea, Sports,

What Went Right?  Man, did these guys attack! They put the pedal to the medal and ran forward all day long. Utilized a decidedly furious direct attack as opposed to an attractive, flashy attack with a orchestrated buildup. Used all of the field but made headway into the final third by using the flanks, where they had most of their possession. Chile probably spent more time in their opponent’s end of the pitch than any other team in this competition. More of an east-west team than a north-south team but they still managed to use their speed to find space and get forward very quickly. Chile didn’t wait for mistakes or lapses of concentration by their opponents; one way or another they were going to waste no time getting the ball into their opponent’s end, whether by counter or by design. Actually did a good job of getting a lot of service into the penalty area to the front players. Let’s not kid ourselves: Chile got Honduras in their first game and only beat the best defense in the world in Switzerland because they were a man down. It’s not like it was 6 hard-fought points.

What Went Wrong?  Chile’s attack was so frenetic and manic that it was devoid of any semblance of quality, organization, creativity, refinement and inventiveness whatsoever. For all their possession they didn’t switch play very well, preferring to maintain forward progress on one flank or the other or through the center. Service and through balls into the box were just as frenzied. The front men exhibited hardly any polished ability to get on the end of balls. Ran into space but to what end? It looked more like they were making it up as they went along. What’s left unsaid about Chile’s furious attack was that it was employed in an attempt to mask their defensive ineptitude. It took next to nothing for Chile’s rearguard to lose any semblance of shape, discipline or rigidity, and when they got behind, their backline parted like a whore’s honey pot.

Who Stepped Up To The Plate?  This side was all about its midfield. Jorge Valdivia was the focal center of the frenetic Chilean midfield, and he got no end of possession and attacking help from winger Matias Fernandez, Jean Beausejour (who was allowed to roam just behind the target man), Rodrigo Millar attacking the box from the center, on the flanks and Arturo Vidal and Mauricio Isla from the rear. Mark Gonzalez was a midfield goal poacher off the bench. Claudio Bravo was pretty decent in goal.

Who Didn’t Show Up?  Fullbacks Isla and Vidal and center backs Gary Medal and Waldo Ponce were just atrocious in the back; they had no vision, no anticipation or reading of the game, no physicality, and couldn’t mark anybody. Carlos Carmona was less than inept just in front of the backline, Alexis Sanchez was practically ignored as a target man and finisher. Outside of Gonzalez I wasn’t really sure what Chile was trying to accomplish with anybody else they brought off the bench.

How Was The Coaching?  There is a reason Argentine Marcelo Bielsa is called “El Loco”. One of the most successful coaches in Argentine history, after taking over Chile he installed the classic Argentine 3-3-1-3 formation and scored more goals in qualifying than any South American side. Problem was they also gave up more goals than any other side in South American qualifying. So we really shouldn’t be surprised that Bielsa didn’t have the players or the discipline to make it work more attractively.

Did They Finish Where They Were Expected?  Most people had Chile coming out of this group, so enamored they were of their fun attack. I must admit I didn’t; I thought Switzerland’s omnipotent defense would nullify Chile and at least get them to the knockout round. Clearly I was wrong.

Now What?  Hopefully Chile will keep Bielsa, and he will instill a little more discipline, elegance and tactical acuity to a team that is clearly ready to attack with abandon. First, though, he might want to find some reliable defenders who won’t lose their discipline, shape and organization in the back, and aren’t afraid to take people on.

South Africa Match Observations: Round Of 16, Part III

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Some random observations after the First Knockout Round:

Netherlands 2-1 Slovakia: Positive beginning from Slovakia, who play the flanks but use a more controlled build-up down the wings as opposed to getting it quickly forward like most teams utilize the wings, using more of a midfield 4-4-2 approach that morphed into a 4-2-4. It worked early on as Slovakia got better shots on goal. Arjen Robben was back for the first time this tournament to work the football version of the triangle attack with Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie. Dirk Kuyt put in some surprisingly good service into van Persie from the left flank. Solid passing by both sides but no real urgency early until Robben took a long pass from the back from Sniejder through the middle, broke down three defenders and sent a lazar shot from 20 yards to pop his cherry in this World Cup (van Persie was very instrumental on this goal; his run just to Robben’s right gave the Slovakian defense enough of a pause to cause a space for Robben to shoot). The Dutch defense was very comfortable as long as Robert Vittek was the only threat up top that was getting behind them. After the goal the Dutch became much more confident, getting much more sustained attacks in the final third. Slovakia’s approach was very two dimensional, playing the ball on their feet and not getting very aerial. The Dutch still aren’t making very effective use of the center of the field, looking to use the flanks and switch play extensively. Robben was certainly making up for lost time, taking fantastic chances on goal. On the few occasions that Slovakia built up an attack through the center they got off some good shots on the goal, where Martin Stekelenberg came up huge to save Holland’s bacon. When Eljiro Elia came on the Slovakian backline was finally stretched thin, as Dirk Kuyt took a free kick behind the Slovakian defense, kept his cool, with a deft touch sent a pass into the box for Sneijder to get on the end of and finish. Slovakia played very composed all game long, never playing with any urgency even after getting down 2 goals. Stekelenberg made of stupid foul in the box for a Slovakian penalty, which was converted by Vittek in injury time, but it was only cosmetic. Clinical win by the Dutch. Madd Props to Slovakia for playing a well-disciplined tournament for World Cup minnows.

Brazil 3-0 Chile: You knew that two attractive attacking sides were going to fly around the pitch in this fixture – neither side disappointed. Chile was going to try to use the flanks a little more than their counterparts with a more direct attack. It took until just after four minutes for Brazil to finally get out of their own half – so solid was Chile firmly in control on the attacking end early. Great ball movement by both teams as both moved the ball all over the field on the attacking ends, but you just got the sense that Brazil was slightly better at an attacking buildup than Chile. A Slightly quicker counterattack by Chile, although it lacked a certain quality and inventiveness. Chile was actually able to find space to get into going forward but Brazil did a great job of anticipation and reading of the game to get in front of Chilean passes going into space. Way too many corners allowed by Chile, which is dangerous against a team as good at them as Brazil. It finally mattered, when Juan got on the end of a great cross by Maicon and headed it home. Upon scoring, Brazil began to counter with speed. A counterattacking triumvirate of Robinho to Kaka’ to Luis Fabiano resulted in their second goal moments later. Chile lost all semblance of discipline and shape after that. It became academic after that. We all talk about the otherworldly skill of Brazil, but head coach Dunga has put together probably the biggest, tallest and most physically aggressive team the side has ever had. Chile didn’t give up, having a real go at the Brazilian end, but you knew Brazil was going to take advantage of the gaps created by Chile sending numbers forward (a score by Robinho proved that). For all Chile’s offensive flair they only scored 3 goals in four games, so clearly they are more bark than bite. Brazil is hitting on all cylinders right now – this is clearly the time of the tournament they live fore – but so is the Netherlands, so the quarterfinal between the two at the very least should be entertaining.

— daveydoug

South Africa Match Observations: Group H

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Some random observations after the third group fixtures:

Chile 1-2 Spain: Chile’s manic attack played quite compact in the midfield to start things off, hoping not to let any easy goals from the creative Spanish. Spain played the same, with Fernando Torres as the target man up top and David Villa the withdrawn forward on the left. Chile had the speedy players that moved the ball very quickly but not very organized, while Spain sustained their attack a lot better with combination passes. Chile’s rearguard looked a lot less organized from the beginning, losing their shape and discipline on several Spanish services in the box. Chile’s attack was not so much direct as much as it was long, sending very long passes behind the Spanish defense hoping somebody would run onto the ball, but they did see more of the ball early on. Three yellow cards on Chile in the first 20 minutes made defending a chore from then on. A fatal error by the Chilean goalkeeper coming way too far out of the penalty area to defend a long Spanish pass got Spain off the schneid when Villa sent a 50-yarder into the empty goal. After that Chile’s attack got more frenetic and less organized (hard to imagine since it wasn’t that organized to begin with), and when that happened they lost any semblance of discipline in the back, resulting in another fatal error and a beautiful Spanish goal by Andres Iniesta on combination passing ending with a divine assist from Xavi. On the score Chilean Marco Estrada was given his second yellow of the game, resulting in a sending off that put Chile down to ten men for the last 54 minutes, a hole they just couldn’t overcome. Amazingly, after halftime Chile got more disciplined in attack (where were they hiding that), becoming more compact in the center, putting passes together and scoring a goal in front of the penalty area on a deft shot from substitute Rodrigo Millar. Not sure what happened but Spain began to get sloppy in possession. Spain still had the better possession and better chances on goal, but Chile did put several scares on them with some direct shots on the Spanish goal. Despite the loss, Madd Props to Chile for winning two games in this group and getting through to the next round; and Big Ups to Spain for getting past the upset to Switzerland and winning the group.

Switzerland 0-0 Honduras: No surprise that Switzerland started out with no offensive urgency whatsoever. Honduras actually showed more adventure in attack to start the match than the Swiss, infrequently getting the ball on the flanks and sending service into the box, but as has been the case all tournament long the Hondurans just couldn’t get on the end of anything. As usual the Swiss were a closed vault door in the back; even with Steven Lichtsteiner in the center of the backline instead of Philippe Senderos the Swiss just would not give up their defensive discipline. Switzerland’s inability to establish anybody up front that could finish for the past two World Cups was evident today. On several occasions Honduras lost their shape in the back but neither Blaise N’Kufo, Eric Derdiyok nor Alexander Frei could finish anything. Hard to imagine a team that has 56% of the possession could be this stultifyingly unimaginative going forward, but this has characterized the Swiss for their last seven World Cup fixtures. Honduras didn’t play with much better creative imagination but looked good the few times they had the possession because of how bad Switzerland was when they had the ball. As a result, Honduras almost stole a win in the 71st minute, but keeper Diego Benaglio denied a wide-open Edgar Alvarez with a brilliant one-handed save. Only after that did Switzerland play with any urgency, and they finally began to pound the ball upfield on the flanks. Still, the better chances were taken by Honduras because in the last 20 minutes Switzerland were pushing forward in numbers, leaving the back vulnerable. In the end it was the inability for both sides to do anything in attack all tournament long that cost both teams a satisfying result. A very winnable game for Switzerland went begging because they couldn’t turn its domination of possession into quality scoring opportunities. Arguably the best defense the World Cup has ever seen (1 goal allowed in seven World Cup matches) is going home because they haven’t been able to find a reliable finisher in more than 24 years.

-daveydoug