The Best Soccer Coaching Decisions of 2014

Soccer Lists

When teams win tournaments and clubs win championships, it’s usually the star players that earn the headlines. But sometimes it’s the man stalking the touchline, studying the tape and coaching his team to victory that deserves the credit. And so below, to recognize the innovative approaches and praise the occasional craziness of these individuals, we give the 10 Best Soccer Coaching Decisions of 2014.

10. Mike Petke Rearranges His Pieces
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Heading into the Red Bulls’ match on Sept. 6 against Sporting KC, the team was 7-8-10 and sitting on the outside of the playoff picture. For the majority of the season, Mike Petke had employed a 4-4-2 diamond formation that tended to net goals for both the Red Bulls and their opponents. Indeed, against DC on Aug. 31, the Red Bulls dominated the match (54.9 percent possession and a whopping 18 shots on goal) but still managed to lose. Recognizing that things needed to change, Petke switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation and moved midfielders Eric Alexander and Dax McCarty to more defensive roles. This shift had the dual result of providing better defensive cover and pushing Thierry Henry and Lloyd Sam to the wings, thereby diversifying New York’s attacking options. The result? The Red Bulls went on an 8-2-1 run, culminating in a successful playoff push that saw the team eliminate top-seeded DC United in the conference semi-finals.

9. Miguel Herrera Shops Local
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To say that the Mexico team Miguel Herrera took charge of in December 2013 was shambolic is an understatement. The side had struggled throughout the World Cup qualification process, and now found itself in a playoff against New Zealand for one of the tournament’s final spots. In addition, former national team manager Jose Manuel (“Chepo”) de la Torre had alienated many of Mexico’s biggest (read: European-based) stars. Enter El Piejo. Herrera successfully navigated the playoff matches by relying on players from Club America, the last club he had managed. Those players were more familiar with Herrera’s tactical approach, and were therefore more capable of executing it properly. But Herrera’s masterstroke came when he persuaded bigger names like goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa (who had previously turned down national team call-ups) and Rafa Marquez to return to the fold. In the end, Marquez became Mexico’s most important outfield player at the 2014 World Cup, and Ochoa proved a hero in between the goal posts. Were it not for Herrera’s evolving approach in terms of squad selection, Mexico might never have even been playing in Brazil, let alone playing with such entertaining exuberance and pushing the Netherlands all the way in the Round of 16.

8. Carlo Ancelotti’s Attacking Subs Win La Decima
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The 55-year-old Italian deserves credit for finding a way to successfully deploy the awe-inspiring combination of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and Karim Benzema at Real Madrid this season. But it was Ancelotti’s gamble in the 2014 Champions League final that earns him a spot on this list. Madrid’s big-name players (Bale in particular) were struggling to make an impact, Atletico Madrid were leading 1-0 and seemed well on its way to winning the most prestigious club competition in the world. Until, with just over 30 minutes to play, Ancelotti made two attacking substitutions: Marcelo on for Fabio Coentrao and Isco on for Sami Khedira. The switch forced Atletico manager Diego Simeone to adjust his tactics to handle Madrid’s suddenly absurdly attacking lineup. With Simeone now taking a reactive approach rather than sticking with his gameplan, Real equalized in the 93rd minute and went on to score three more en route to the club’s 10th Champions League title.

7. Pep Guardiola Picks His Moment to Pounce
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Pep Guardiola probably merits his own top 10 list for what Bayern Munich has done this year, but it’s his team’s recent 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund which serves as a particularly poignant example of Guardiola’s guile. Dortmund generally plays an insanely-intense, high-pressure system designed to disrupt its opponents possession and slowly overwhelm their game plan. This approach worked perfectly for Dortmund in the early stages of this game, as the visitors snatched a 1-0 lead early in the first half. Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp (likely realizing that pressuring at a suicidal pace for an hour-and-a-half might not be sustainable) had his side back off slightly in an effort to preserve their energy. Guardiola sensed this almost immediately, and ordered his defenders to push forward and clutter the midfield. In so doing, Munich drew Dortmund players out of position, and then successfully exploited previously unavailable gaps on the wings. Goals from Robert Lewandowski and Arjen Robben late in the second half finished off an exhausted and overwhelmed Dortmund side.

6. Jorge Luis Pinto’s Brilliant Back Five
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The Costa Rica national team was the big surprise of the 2014 World Cup, successfully topping a group featuring Italy, England and Uruguay, and advancing to the quarterfinals of the tournament. Although a victory over Italy was perhaps a bigger scalp, the team’s comprehensive 3-1 defeat of Uruguay to open Group D was the more convincing win. With Luis Suarez injured, Uruguay manager Oscar Tabarez started a frontline of Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan. Pinto brilliantly anticipated this, and deployed a 3-5-2 formation that sat deep, essentialy functioned as a five-man defensive unit, and forced Uruguay to play long balls into an outmatched attack. The CONCACAF team then used quick counter-attacks through Joel Campbell and Bryan Ruiz, and effective set piece delivery and conversion (something they had practiced intensely in the lead-up to the tournament) to earn that 3-1 win, and eventually finish top of Group D.

5. Brendan Rodgers Shows No Mercy
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Liverpool were unquestionably the most exciting and attacking team in the 2013-14 Premier League, and this was never truer than when Brendan Rodgers’ side played very unwelcoming hosts to Arsenal in early February. Using the same “high-intensity, fast-break” approach that had proven so successful throughout the season, Liverpool jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first minute. Rather than backing off and adopting a possession-based approach to slowly kill off the game, Liverpool continued to hammer away, smashing an overwhelmed Arsenal team with the soccer equivalent of shock and awe that made it Liverpool four, Arsenal nil, with just 20 minutes gone. The final score was 5-1, but Rodgers and Liverpool had killed the game before less than a quarter of it had been played. The result had the double effect of crippling Arsenal’s title challenge while instilling in the Liverpool players that they were capable of making a serious challenge for the Premier League title.

4. Joachim Löw Spots Brazil’s Weakness
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Heading into the World Cup semifinals, Brazil was already a team low on confidence and high on the anxiety that only hosts with a history of disaster can feel. Narrow victories against Chile and Colombia had seen Brazil frustrated, with a tendency to throw everything forward and leave themselves vulnerable at the back. This was especially the case for left back Marcelo (see the Carlo Ancelotti entry above regarding his attacking proclivities), who offers considerable attacking options when pushing forward but leaves an obvious gap for a sharp mind to exploit. Joachim Low possesses just such a mind. In the opening minutes of the eventual 7-1 mauling, nearly every German attack was focused on exploiting Marcelo’s side of the field. Michael Cox over at Zonal Marking provided a brilliant analysis of this strategy, but the abbreviated version is that Germany exploited the space Marcelo left behind him nine times in the first 25 minutes. By the time Brazil got wise and adjusted, Germany had already taken a 4-0 lead. And that, my friends, is how you exploit a chink in the armor.

3. Diego Simeone Proves His System is the Star
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In the match where Atletico Madrid had to avoid defeat to Barcelona to win the title, Diego Simeone’s managerial approach was put on trial. Simeone pushes his team incredibly hard in training, and Atletico’s high-tempo pressing reflects that intensity, with every player on the roster fully aware of his role and responsibilities. Even those that don’t usually start the big games. Thus, when star striker Diego Costa and winger Arda Turan were forced off with injury in the first 23 minutes of the game, no one panicked. When Alexis Sanchez put Barcelona ahead in the 33rd minute in front of a packed Camp Nou, no one panicked. Instead, Simeone introduced Adrian and Raul Garcia to ensure Atletico had considerable pace up front, and pushed his incredibly tenacious team to pursue goals even after Diego Godin headed in an equalizer. It was Simeone’s commitment to well-drilled, attacking soccer that allowed two substitutes to be inserted into a high-pressure match and function as though nothing were amiss that encapsulates Atletico’s team ethic, so it was a fitting way for his team to take the title.

2. Antonio Conte Rope-a-Dopes Roma
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Under manager Rudi Garcia, Roma had rediscovered the attacking glory that had seen the club crowned champions the mid-2000s. Specifically, the team sat back, absorb pressure, then destroyed opponents with devastating breaks. In contrast, Juventus generally opted to pressure high up the pitch to disrupt opposition possession as rapidly as possible. Recognizing that this approach played perfectly into Roma’s hands, Juve coach Antonio Conte flipped his approach, instructing his players to sit deep and cede possession to Roma. With Juventus refusing to be stretched, Roma’s fast-break approach was neutralized, and Rudi Garcia’s team was forced into an unfamiliar possession-based approach, allowing Conte’s men to brilliantly exploit Roma’s uncertainty with the ball. By essentially using their opponent’s preferred game plan against them, Juventus rolled to a 3-0 win and extended their lead at the top of the Serie A table by what would prove to be an insurmountable gap.

1. Louis van Gaal Switches His Keepers
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The Netherlands and Costa Rica were deadlocked in a scoreless draw and heading for penalties when Louis van Gaal made the move that earned him the top spot on this list. The Dutchman, who now manages Manchester United, used his final substitution to bring on Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul in place of starting keeper Jasper Cillessen, who had never saved a penalty in his career. Van Gaal later explained the decision, stating, “Tim has a longer reach and a better track record with penalties than Cillessen … We had discussed it with Tim. He knew about their penalties because he needed to be prepared.” Van Gaal ordered Krul to warm up in plain site of the Costa Rica bench so as to generate the idea that he was some sort of penalty specialist. With only a few moments remaining in the second half of extra tim, Krul came in. In the shootout, he played mind games galore with the opposition penalty takers and ultimately saved two Costa Rican attempts, putting the Netherlands in the quarters.

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