Ted Hughes wrote:Nigels Tackle wrote:interesting that mancini (an attacker in his playing days) got the best out of the defence and pellers (a centre half i believe) is getting the best out of our attack...
Bizarre.
I've often thought that this has been a recurring theme throughout football; brilliant forwards go into Management and build sides that are strong defensively and defenders try to build sides that attack in ways that they, as players, were not able to do.
Brian Clough always built sides on a strong defence. He once stated he acquired this frame of mind when, as a player, he was involved in a 6-6 draw [can't remember who the sides were now] but this infuriated him so much, he vowed he would never let this happen if he went into Management.
Glen Hoddle never neglected the defensive aspect of the game but the prime example could well be George Graham. He was often seen as being a skilful, gifted, lazy (his nickname was 'Stroller') attacking individual but, as a Manager, he built sides on a strong defence and where work rate was paramount. They were also awful to watch.
Anothe example is Malcolm Allison who was a defender and, as a Manager, he favoured his sides playing great attacking football.
Mind you, there are exceptions to every rule, Jack Charlton being one of them....Uuuuggghh.