Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti has admitted he is exasperated with the growing use of ‘sweeper keepers’ in modern football.
The Italian replaced Maurizio Sarri as Napoli boss in the summer and has had the task of moving the Serie A side away from Sarrismo while keeping as close to league leaders Juventus as possible.
Is there a negative to possession football? Four key things to know…
- Modern football has seen teams put more emphasis on keeping the ball in the build-up to their attacks.
- It often means goalkeepers and defenders are required to be more comfortable on the ball, keeping possession close to their own area.
- However, teams such as Chelsea have struggled in switching to a possession style of play with the attacking options faltering.
- And Carlo Ancelotti believes Chelsea’s style of play could see football ban passing the ball back to goalkeepers at all times.
Meanwhile, Sarri has had some problems implementing Sarrismo at his new club Chelsea, with the Italian’s future already in doubt after just seven months.
The Blues are currently sixth in the Premier League having faced humiliating defeats to Manchester City and Bournemouth in recent weeks. And Sarri’s stubbornness in sticking with his style of play has come into question among Chelsea fans and pundits alike.
And Ancelotti believes the evolution of football and its insistence in playing out from the back could bring some bizarre rule changes.
Ancelotti told reporters: “On Wednesday night, how many times did Atletico Madrid play out from the back? I’ll tell you: never. It’s also an issue of quality, as they don’t have defenders or a goalkeeper suited to that type of football, so what can they do? Make the most of the characteristics of the players at their disposal.
“Personally, I think if we continue like this, football will end up banning back-passes to the goalkeeper, even if he doesn’t pick it up with his hands. At times, this sweeper ‘keeper idea is exasperating. It becomes difficult to press the goalkeeper, as you have to get stretched out and leave gaps. If the pressing goes badly that far up the field, you concede a goal.
“It’s happened to us two or three times, so we decided to wait for the opposition to pass it forward a bit more and then start the press. It’s no coincidence that Napoli scored several goals this season by winning back possession with a high press.”
Despite the poor first season in charge at Chelsea, Sarri does have a chance to win his first ever trophy as the Blues take on Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
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Ancelotti: Possession football needs an end
When Ancelotti first took over from Sarri in the summer, there was some speculation as to whether the Italian would keep his compatriot’s style of play. Sarrismo had turned Napoli into one of the most exciting-to-watch sides in Europe over the past few seasons.
But Ancelotti has admitted he isn’t a big fan of possession football, which does not lead to enough goals being scored.
“I am less rigid now on a tactical level than I was when I started out,” he added.
“I remain committed to the principles of organisation, movement off the ball, a high tempo and aggressive defence, but have become more elastic in terms of applying these principles.
“I do think possession is important to control a game, but it has to lead to something. Just look at how the role of the goalkeeper has changed. The statistics say now that the players with the most touches are centre-backs and goalkeepers. That’s not right, in my book. Keeping possession that deep is naturally easier, but it isn’t very effective.
“Do you know how many times a team scores a goal after more than 20 passes? In a year, it might happen twice. You tend to score goals after five or six passes. I think the only time we did it was with Simone Verdi against Torino.
“If there’s the possibility of playing out from the back, that’s good, but if you risk getting stuck back there, it’s better not to bother.”
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