Former Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates coach, Muhsin Ertugral has given his early impressions on the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The Turkish football manager is currently hosting a show on Turkish TV for the World Cup. The show seeks to analyse the game from a tactical perspective, giving viewers more insight into how teams approach the game before, after and in between matches.
“This addition of the FIFA World Cup has a much deeper cultural and political importance than ever before and we have realised it. This World Cup has shown this to all of us,” Muhsin Ertugral told ThisIsFootball.Africa.
“We can see an increasing dynamic of international top-class teams. In addition to technical and tactical skills, there is a huge emphasis on physical fitness. Well-developed skills are the foundation for faster and more dynamic gameplay than ever before. Of course, technical and tactical skills still play a decisive role today. But now the tactics of modern football have become increasingly fluid and less structured. It’s not just about team systems, it’s also about the role of each player in the system. Formations can be seen only as a starting point or used as a reference of the team rather than the actual position of the player on the field. A typical and a symmetrical format appears in the game flow. The important thing is not the formation, but most importantly how to live it, how everyone respects it’s principles, how to attack and how to defend.”
Muhsin managed both Soweto Giants, namely Kaizer Chiefs on two separate occasions in 1999 and 2007, as well as Orlando Pirates for only nine games in 2016. Here Ertugral explains which teams have impressed him the most, and mentions a powerhouse nation that he expected to struggle even before the first kick of the ball in Qatar.
“Brazil has huge potential to win it, Spain and France showed variety in their game. Tactically these teams are very advanced. The Asian teams have closed the gap, they will surprise a lot of teams as shown, and is a result of their long term development and investment,” continued Etugral.
“I expected Germany not to be in the mix for this World Cup. I think they have missed the recent years development in a different area. Even their coaching conventions has not changed for a long time. I don’t think they are emotionally ready either. Germany had always a very strong unity and a German cultural way of playing. They are trying to play offensive but without their structure.”
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