Zona mista

Zona mista (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdzɔna ˈmista]; in English language: "Mixed Zone"), often referred to as Gioco all'italiana ("The Game in the Italian style"), is a tactic used in Italian association football mainly since the second half of 1970s to mid-'90s. The introduction of this system has been attributed to Luigi Radice and Giovanni Trapattoni, then coaches of Torino Calcio and Juventus, respectively.[1] The scheme reached the maximum sporting level with Trapattoni's Juventus, became 1985 club world champion,[2][3] and the Italian national team managed by Enzo Bearzot, who would win the FIFA World Cup three years before, for the first time since 1938, with outstanding participation from the Blocco-Juve.[4]

Regarded the tactical evolution of catenaccio,[5] its name derives on the willingness of each outfield player to perform, systematic and simultaneously, zonal marking and continuous attack on the spaces characteristic from totaalvoetbal, introduced in Italy by former Ternana coach Corrado Viciani, and the defensive individual marking intrinsic of the Italian football school, yet the mostly used style of play in the country. So, a player who moves out of his position is replaced by another from his team, thus retaining the team's intended organisational structure. In this system each team member perform a different function, several players like the libero, the terzino fluidificante, the ala tornante and the mezzala simultaneously played roles in both defense and attack, while the regista (a.e. Michel Platini, Lothar Matthäus or Roberto Baggio) regularly run to the opponents' box to try and score; what made it a lot more versatile, fluid and offensive compared to rigid standard scheme used in Italic peninsula at the time.[5][6]

The scheme, one of the first in use four defenders althrough aesthetically be more related to future 3-5-2 formation or an asymmetric 4-3-3 system,[7][8] proved highly successful at national and international level: with it, the Torino won the 1975–76 Serie A, the first after the Superga air disaster; Juventus played some of their finest football ever, establishing the most enduring dynasty in the history of Italian football having won six league titles and two cups in the next ten years,[9] a feat extended to the international spotlight starting in 1977 when the club won the UEFA Cup without foreign footballers, an unprecedented achievement for any country's team.[10] Subsequently, the club lifted the Cup Winners' Cup, the European Champions Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup, becaming the first ever—and remain the world's only one at present—to have won all possible official international competitions;[11] achievements that allowed the Serie A to arrive for the first time at the top of the confederation ranking at the end of the 1985–86 season, a position maintained for the following three seasons.[12]

History

In pure zonal defense, every midfielder and defender is given a particular zone on the field to cover. When a player moves outside his zone, his teammate expands his zone to cover the unmarked area. However, Catenaccio philosophy called for double-marking when dealing with strong players. Zona Mista was introduced combining the strength of zonal marking with that of Catenaccio.

In Zona Mista, there are four defenders. A sweeper is free to roam and assist other defenders. A fullback plays in both defensive and advanced position, typically on the left flank. The two stoppers, who started then to be called "centre back", mark their zones. In the midfield, there are defensive midfielder, centre midfielder and the playmaker (#10) and a winger who covers typically the right flank and sometimes acts as an additional striker. Zona Mista employs two-prong attack. A centre forward plays upfront. A second striker plays wide to the left (a derivation of Catenaccio's left winger) and drifts inside to act as a striker or to cover the playmaker when the playmaker drops into a defensive position.

The new Italian tactic came to dominate national football in the late 1970s and early 1980s and reached its height with the highly successful Giovanni Trapattoni's Juventus and the Italian national team coached by Enzo Bearzot,[13] mostly in their victory in the 1982 FIFA World Cup.[14] Classy and skillful Gaetano Scirea was the libero, Fulvio Collovati and tough tackling Claudio Gentile the centre backs, Antonio Cabrini the left wingback. Gabriele Oriali played as a holding midfielder, Marco Tardelli centre midfielder and Giancarlo Antognoni as playmaker.

Its popularity, however, eventually led to its undoing as Italian teams became predictable. "By the late 1970s and early 1980s everybody in Italy was playing it" and "everyone marked man to man" according Italian journalist Ludovico Maradei (although, actually, the only position responsible for this was the #2). Ernst Happel's Hamburg would expose some predictability of that style against Juventus with a defensive approach in the 1983 European Champions' Cup Final.[14] However, the Torinese side continued to employ this tactic system with great success over the next decade under the management of Trapattoni and his former goalkeeper Dino Zoff, winning two Italian Championships, two national cups, one Intercontinental Cup, one European Champions' Cup, one Cup Winners' Cup, two UEFA Cups and one UEFA Super Cup.[15]

Skill

Tactical layout

In pure zone defense, each player covers an area of the field, and when you move outside of this area, even fellow department shake to keep your team pretty short, and usually sided with the flexible and suitable for 4- 4-2. However, if you have to deal with very skilled players, according to the Italian school, you'd rather have a man who acts in the area and one ready to fix any errors. The mixed zone faithfully reproduces the defensive techniques and most of the field layout of the bolt.

There is free, but because of the change in the offside rule, must be very careful to move at the right time. At this stage, it sometimes becomes director added, and lend a hand in the construction phase. The defenders are around 4: clarification of the role of the free, it must be said that this is the fluidizing left-back, having at its disposal the entire band, as it is the only cursor (over half the wing, which he controlled) . The other two markers (stopper, but then we started to call them power plants), one of which is sometimes deployed back to even out the areas of the field covered.

In midfield, there was a back (mediano), a central midfielder (mediano avanazato) and a playmaker (regista), often called "the number 10", a concept which then spread, in practice a median-called "push", as it was not uncommon for advancing and would mark. Also in this department should be noted hairpin wing, wing to wing somewhere between offensive and an exterior; was in control of the other end (right), although, in some cases, it was considered an offensive player, often marked on the scoresheet, and then added a striker. In two-pronged attack, one usually used as support, the other added opposite wing (derivation of the left wing of the bolt), with a dash movement, regarded as a second striker, when a #10 half-toe when the playmaker became a defensive halfback (leaving the #10 the invention of the game, and stay longer covered in center field).

Positions and functions in field

Since the offensive evolution of the Catenaccio, the numbers were closely linked to the tradition of the British numbering. For pure reference also indicates the numbers that fluctuate and those used in the 1960s Italian tactic.

One of the tactical positions in the Zona Mista formation.
Positions Number Variant Catenaccio
Goalkeeper (Portiere)[8] 1 n.c. 1
Sweeper (Libero)[8] 6 (10) 6
Centre-back ([Difensore] centrale)[8] 5 n.c. 5
Stopper (Marcatore puro)[16] 2 n.c. 2 (as third defender)
Wing-back (Terzino fluidificante)[8][17] 3 n.c. 3
Defensive midfield (Mediano)[8] 4 (8) 4
Central midfielder (Centrocampista centrale)[8] 8 (5) 8 (as box-to-box midfielder)
Playmaker (Regista)[8] 10 (11 as defensive midfield) 10
Side midfielder (Ala tornante)[8][18] 7 11 7
Second striker (Seconda punta or "Fantasista")[8] 11 7/9 11 (as left winger)
First striker (Prima punta)[8] 9 (11) 9

Evolution

Sometimes defined as the evolutionary outcome of Zona mista,[5] English journalist Jonathan Wilson emphasized the Juventus' attacking down the wings and the employ of two box-to-box midflielders rather than a defensive midfielder allowing greater use of pressing in the Antonio Conte's 3-5-2 system, despite being two styles to play historically underused in Italy.[19]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Francesco Camerani (22 February 2014). "Trap l'africano sarà ct della Costa d'Avorio Entrerà in carica dopo i Mondiali, fino al 2018 La nuova avventura dell'allenatore infinito, in panchina a 75 anni Manca l'ufficialità, ma sembra tutto fatto" (in Italian). L'Unità. p. 23. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Carlo Coscia (10 May 1983). "Dopo lo scudetto, l'obbietivo è l'Europa" (in Italian). La Stampa. p. 20. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  3. ↑ "Juventus". Football's Greatest Teams. Episode 10. Pitch International. 18 October 2014. Event occurs at 23:41. SKY Sports 5 HD.
  4. ↑ Garanzini, Gigi (2002). "BEARZOT, Enzo". Enciclopedia dello Sport Treccani (in Italian). Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "3-5-2, che passione!!" (in Italian). 16 October 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  6. ↑ Chiesa, Carlo F. (2010). Il secolo azzurro: 1910-2010 (in Italian). Minerva. p. 82. ISBN 8873-81310-0.
  7. ↑ Wilson, Jonathan (2013). "The Return of the Back 3". Inverting The Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics. Nation Books. ISBN 156858-96-38.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 8.9 8.10 "Zona mista" (in Italian). Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  9. ↑ Bruno Colombero (6 March 1994). "Cicli d'oro firmati da grandi campioni" (in Italian). La Stampa. p. 5. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  10. ↑ Sergio Di Cesare (1 April 2008). "Hard work pays off for Zoff". Union des Associations Européennes de Football. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
  11. ↑ "1985: Juventus end European drought". Union des Associations Européennes de Football. 8 December 1985. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  12. ↑ "UEFA Country Coefficients 1985/1986". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  13. ↑ Maurício Oliveira, Rodrigo Cerqueira e Thiago Correia (27 June 2013). "Escolas renovadas! Espanha e Itália mudaram estilos e fazem sucesso". Lance (in Portuguese).
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Wilson, Jonathan (2012-07-25). "Italy 3-2 Brazil, 1982: the day naivety, not football itself, died". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  15. ↑ Before that date, the Bianconeri won four national championships, one Italian Cup and one UEFA Cup using Zona Mista, cf. Bruno Bernardi (1989-04-10). "Trap, settimo sigillo?" (PDF) (in Italian). Stampa Sera. p. 21. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
  16. ↑ The player in charge of the man-to-man marking, mainly on the opposite team playmaker, cf. Rizzo, Sergio (2002). "GENTILE, Claudio". Enciclopedia dello Sport Treccani (in Italian). Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  17. ↑ Usually located on the left flank.
  18. ↑ Usually located on the right flank.
  19. ↑ Jonathan Wilson (3 January 2013). "Serie A: Pass and press is secret of Juve's success". Betting.Betfair. Retrieved 15 November 2014.

Further reading

External links