Zeman Was Tactical Genius

As the finest tactical minds prepare to do battle in the Champions League quarter-finals, Gabriele Marcotti of the Times writes about who he felt was the most innovative coach in Europe.

"Without question it is Zdenek Zeman, the Czech coach, who has worked mostly in Italy. His created an almost unique attacking philosophy that turned conventional wisdom on its head - particularly that of Serie A, where the emphasis is on defence - and repeatedly found success with teams of average players.

"Zdenek was not a footballer. As a young man he had played handball and volleyball and felt the ideas about movement and spacing used in those sports could be applied to football without affecting its increased fluidity.

"His teams were set up in a 4-3-3 formation featuring a deep-lying holding midfielder, two midfielders whose game was based on frequent attacking runs into the penalty area, and three centre forwards who constantly swapped positions. The philosophy underpinning the formation was that the more players you had in goalscoring positions, the more you scored.

"His play was highly structured. Schooled in two three-hour training sessions every day, players knew exactly which runs to make in which part of the pitch, so that a team-mate knew his options as soon as he received the ball. Zdenek refuted the criticism that he eliminated improvisation, claiming that any new 'move' or 'technique' could be incorporated into his system.

"In two decades in Italy, he was hardly without a club and he had much success with teams such as lowly Foggia - repeatedly bringing them to the verge of Uefa Cup qualification - and Lazio but rarely stayed at clubs for more than a few years. That was partly down to players becoming fed up with the extremely high fitness levels he demanded and partly due to his outspoken personality. A fierce critic of doping, corruption and, most damagingly for him, defensive coaches, he has made many enemies.

"That is partly why he has been out of work since leaving Red Star Belgrade two years ago, too. You hope, however, that he will not remain unemployed for long and that more coaches will attempt to apply his tactics. Some have - Louis van Gaal and Arrigo Sacchi were influenced by his ideas about using a highly controlled system - but there have not been many. That is a shame because, in a game dominated by superstars and money, he showed you can succeed with less heralded players."