As I've mentioned in the transfer forum, Mancini is making a carbon copy of his successful Inter tactic; the only thing we are missing is a Cambiasso type of player. Instead, we are playing an anchorman in there (De Jong) which means that we're a little limited when moving the ball between defence and midfield as he only tends to pass short, thus making the team bunch up.
Mancini although young, is not a manager who will sit there and experiment with brand new ideas, that have come out of the blue. He has set formations and tactics in his mind that he sticks to, rotating and tweaking them depending on his players and his opposition.
Mancini actually said in a lecture in 2008 that no new football styles will be found now, the only thing that will get better is the physical preparation of games.
People have said exactly this for hundreds of years in football and have been proved wrong time and time again.
The idea that he is playing negative football is, in my opinion, incorrect. He is playing a tactic that can evolve during the game from a 4-3-2-1 into a 4-4-2, or a 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1. It's a variation of the old Zona Mista tactic, and it's roots are in the catenaccio football that the Italians invented. However, his version is a little different as he uses alternate wingers who cut in rather than go wide, so it does draw influences from Spanish football (or maybe even United a few seasons ago, especially using Silva and Tevez the way he did against Spurs).
Mancini although young, is not a manager who will sit there and experiment with brand new ideas, that have come out of the blue. He has set formations and tactics in his mind that he sticks to, rotating and tweaking them depending on his players and his opposition.
Mancini actually said in a lecture in 2008 that no new football styles will be found now, the only thing that will get better is the physical preparation of games.
People have said exactly this for hundreds of years in football and have been proved wrong time and time again.
The idea that he is playing negative football is, in my opinion, incorrect. He is playing a tactic that can evolve during the game from a 4-3-2-1 into a 4-4-2, or a 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1. It's a variation of the old Zona Mista tactic, and it's roots are in the catenaccio football that the Italians invented. However, his version is a little different as he uses alternate wingers who cut in rather than go wide, so it does draw influences from Spanish football (or maybe even United a few seasons ago, especially using Silva and Tevez the way he did against Spurs).