Looking at the Tactical Success of the 2011 NSC Minnesota Stars
In the first half of the 1960s, one team was on the minds of everyone with any interest in European football: Grande Inter.
This Inter Milan side, led by the the eccentric Helenio Herrera– described by famous player Gianni Brera as “a clown and a genius, vulgar and ascetic, voracious and a good father, sultan and believer… boorish and competent, megalomaniac and health-freak… he is all of this and more”– made famous a style of football known as “Catenaccio”.
Catenaccio under Herrera generally involved playing with a 5-3-2 formation, while also making heavy use of a sweeper; the system was designed to be “defense at all costs”– indeed, the word “Catenaccio” in Italian means “door-bolt”.
With this system in place, Herrera not only won three Scudetti– the league championship in Italy– but, famously, two consecutive European Cups in 1964 and 1965.
While Catenaccio frequently involved exciting attacking play, it was more often associated with the dull 1-0 results Grande Inter would grind out over their league opposition.
The wheels fell off Catenaccio when Grande Inter lost to Ajax in the 1972 European Cup final. Ajax, under the guidance of Rinus Michels, made use of a system called “Total Football”– the trademark of which was that players were given great freedom to do what seemed natural and to switch positions as required, so long as each role on the team was being adequately filled by someone during each phase of the game.
More importantly, “Total Football” was linked in the minds of the mainstream public to fluid attacking play. When Johan Cruyff slotted the ball past Inter Milan’s Ivano Bordon in the 78th minute to put the game away and hand Ajax the European Cup, it was largely, and somewhat unfairly perhaps, seen as a triumph of offense over Catenaccio’s “wearisome” defensive approach.
Fast forward to the year 2011, during the first leg of the semi-finals in the American second division’s post-season tournament. Belarusian central midfielder, Andrei Gotsmanov, playing for the club NSC Minnesota, improbably and unexpectedly popped up near the opposition goal at the very end of the match, took the ball down on his chest after a botched defensive clearance, and lobbed the ball cleverly over Carolina RailHawks goalkeeper Brad Knighton, winning the match for his side.
Throughout both legs of NSC Minnesota’s heroic, underdog triumph over the vaunted Carolina RailHawks– a club with perhaps twice the player payroll, greater individual quality, and led by celebrated manager Martin Rennie– NSC Minnesota demonstrated the remarkably smooth tactical system they had been making use of for nearly the entirety of the team’s two year existence.
Rennie’s loss to NSC Minnesota was a tremendous and unforeseen setback. And he was undone by Total Football– but with a twist.
NSC Minnesota is managed by long-time former MLS player Manny Lagos. Lagos, who is generally recognized as a talented footballer whose career was almost completely undermined by a catastrophic knee injury suffered relatively early in his career, has managed his side, a team with perhaps the lowest payroll in the division, to stronger results than one would expect when examining their roster. The two-legged victory over Carolina was a major feather in Manny Lagos’ cap.
A characteristic of Lagos’ NSC Minnesota side is that his players are almost constantly changing position. The aforementioned game-winning goal from Andrei Gotsmanov serves as a perfect example of a player shifting from his normal role in the system to some other role, dynamically, as the situation sees fit. And as it was with Ajax against Inter Milan in 1972, such flexibility sowed the seeds of victory.
But like the tactically astute manager that he is, Lagos has implemented his own flavor of football at NSC Minnesota, integrating elements not just from Michels’ Total Football, but from Hererra’s Catenaccio system as well.
More specifically, the basic shape that Lagos frequently employs bears a striking resemblance to the evolved, zone defense-oriented form of Catenaccio, known as “Zona Mista”.
In this Total Football/Zona Mista hybrid approach, one of the two fullbacks is asked to defend, and is paired with a wide player to facilitate forward movement on that side. The other fullback is asked to maraud forward as often as possible, making use of the space a midfielder opens up via central movements that draw opposition players with them. A central play maker is asked to serve as the pivot point for attacks, but also to track back and defend. One of the defenders serves as a sweeper, double teaming attackers along the back line as needed.
And, crucially, everyone is encouraged to perform any of the various roles as needed, provided there is coverage from a teammate. Carl Craig, the club’s assistant manager, described Manny as the kind of manager that lets the players “make their own choices,” and this attitude towards management seems to manifest itself systemically on the pitch.
Comparing NSC Minnesota’s tactical awareness, or quality, to Michels’ Ajax or Hererra’s Inter Milan is absurd; either one of those teams would put many goals past NSC Minnesota in a competitive match. But for a club at NSC Minnesota’s level, Manny Lagos’ framework is advanced, and lethal– as Martin Rennie would likely attest. This fact is a testament to Lagos’ abilities as a tactician, and to his players for being able to execute the system.
The true effectiveness of NSC Minnesota’s tactical system will be put to the ultimate test against Fort Lauderdale starting on Saturday– in the first leg of the final.
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This is my favorite article I’ve ever read on IMS.
Ok. My head hurts. So much in depth tactical information in one piece.
That is one absolutely SICK analysis–and you thew in some serious history–as a freebie.
What’s your Paypal account info so that I can pay for the education and receive my certificate?
I hope that Manny Lagos doesn’t choke you if Shore and the Strikers happen to successfully use your breakdown when they game plan for the Stars in the finals.
Coz that would be really sad for Manny, the Stars and especially you. That’s too much football knowledge to be lost in a moment of anger and senseless act of violence.
You might want to do a bit of estate planning because I think that you may have written the above piece just a little “too” well.
I’m with Jim and it is perfect timing too. I want, no need, some thick juicy meat like this to gnaw on to help pass the days tell Saturday.
If this article doesn’t get picked up by SBI or other “US Soccer” websites that never pay attention to Div. 2 it will be a shame.
Well done.
Best article I’ve ever read on IMS!!! Great job!
Considering that everyone in this league watches each others games (since the archive is now up), I’m pretty sure that every club knows the things written in this article.
Now the only thing better than this article would be a break down of the Strikers playbook. Then I’d be SERIOUSLY impressed!
Great article/top-notch. From what I saw, this looks a lot like what the Stars were trying to do last season, but I think it was more a case of finding the right personnel. The only problem I have is that the Stars become really predictable at times–almost like the USMNT, and it makes it a lot easier for teams to defend against–well, all teams except the Carolina Railhawks.
Gotsmanov has had a better season and has managed to not get injuried, which seems to have plauged his career. I have also been impressed with Kallman and his ability to make better decisions while on the pitch and avoid some of the mental breakdowns that have resulted in silly fouls. I have also observed that he is a lot more patient while defending and not stabbing at the ball. I do think more mention should have been given to Mulholland and his role with the team. I also think Altman deserves credit for filling the role of the Wrangler and being a strong backbone of the back line. While the backline has not been perfect this season, they have come along way from the beginning of the season when they were shaky at best.
I am pumped about Saturday and will be cheering hard for the Stars. COME ON YOU STARS!
Phenomenal article. Going to be spreading this.
railhawks misssed 2 Pk one in regular time and once in shootout. in this level of football most players loose focus within 5 minutes and play accordingly “STATE OF MOMENT” includes railhawks also.
Really well written article. Fantastic analysis! I agree; this is the best article I have seen on IMS.
“in this level of football most players loose focus within 5 minutes and play accordingly”
I would totally disagree with this statement. I have no idea who you are hp but wonder if you follow D2 soccer these days?
There is a very good book entitled “The Inverted Pyramid” that explains the history of soccer from mid 19th century England to the present. It talks about how the different formations came about like the WM in the 30′s, Italian catenaccio & Dutch total football in the 60′s, the South American influence, Spanish “tika taka” style etc. etc.. Very fascinating book that covers the world wide evolution of the game.
Love the effort but the stars, and no pro team for the past 20 years for that matter, has ever used a sweeper. I also don’t get how it’s improbable or unexpected for a center midfielder to pop up at the top of the box
Fantastic article. Manny has done a wonderful job, and along with his tactical sense, has always had a very good sense of using substitutes to great advantage. What he’s done with his club is truly remarkable.
@ PK …Jonathan Wilson’s “Inverting the Pyramid” is truly an excellent book on tactical evolution in the footballing world, and demonstrates not only the British/Scottish roots of tactics, but the innovations made in Austria, Yugoslavia, Hungary and the Soviet bloc after WWII and the innovations from Brazil, the Netherlands and Argentina.
I’d love it if Mike could explain this himself, but I think he kind of glossed over the part of Zona Mista-type tactics Manny’s employing.
WRT the sweeper, they do play a 4-man defense, but the CBs don’t play flat at all when the team’s going forward. That deeper CB isn’t a sweeper, but he’s deep and he’s roaming like one. Mostly we see this the clearest when it breaks down and somebody puts a ball over the top and Diaz or Altman are racing to catch up with an attacker that they have to come across the field to track.
As far as Gots popping up at the top of the box, I think the point there is more how fluid the midfield can be. Gots usually lines up deeper and plays more of a destroyer role in transition, I think. When he scored that was a lucky consequence of a decision he made to not start tracking back as the initial thrust of the attack died.
Hard to say though. When that goal went Bracallelo was in, and I don’t know if this chalkboard works the same once he’s on the pitch.
Great article, I will be using this as part of my argument why our recently departed D3 coach Bob Lilley was utterly boring, uncreative, and unimaginative, and how there are other tactics to use besides keeping everyone locked in their position for 90 minutes in a 4-4-2 or 3-5-2
While I agree that Mike’s article is particularly well written, I just wanted to make you aware that this is not the first time we’ve had tactical articles on IMS although it has been quite a while. For the other articles on tactics go here.
http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/category/tactics/
Superb analysis. Make more sense than most of the Calcio guys in Serie A. Hell, even some of the so-called US soccer pundits should beware of this talent. This article was so good I will even forgive you when you said Gianni Brera was a football player. Eccelente, amico.