Читать книгу The Mixer: The Story of Premier League Tactics, from Route One to False Nines онлайн
120 страница из 140
Such tactical naivety would cost Arsenal in European competition over the following seasons – they didn’t qualify from the group stage during their first two Champions League attempts, and Wenger’s side would later struggle in the Premier League against more tactically astute opposition. Like so many other revolutionaries in the Premier League, the Frenchman was something of a victim of his own success. Other managers soon replicated his approach, particularly in the three areas where he significantly changed English football: improved physical conditioning, recruiting players from abroad and greater emphasis upon technical football. Gradually Wenger’s uniqueness was diminished, but his initial impact was hugely influential, and he summarised it best himself. ‘I felt like I was opening the door to the rest of the world,’ he said. This was the start of the Premier League becoming the world’s most international division.
6
ssss1
‘Owen was doing things that made me think, “Hang on, if so-and-so was in that position, would he have done that?” And the answer was, “No, he wouldn’t have had the pace.”’