Go backwards, counterattack. Difficult, in modern football, to find a term that most arouses the wrath of the coaches, especially when they hear it tied to the adrenaline of the match still circulating. The latest example took place on Sunday evening after Napoli-Inter, when Tale (from the mix zone of San Paolo) e Capello (guest in the Sky studios) they had a rather heated spat, which did not turn into a quarrel only thanks to the diplomacy of Fabio Caressa. Object of the dispute is a sentence by Don Fabio on the Inter game (“he stays very closed behind and makes good use of the counterattack”) which infuriated Antonio, immediately ready to reply that “matches must be watched, even if the beauty of football is that it is varied, not to say spoiled".
Now, leaving aside the obvious disagreements between the two, which we will return to in a moment, it is surprising that a simple technical analysis can cause so much anger, especially when thinking back to the origins of our football. Once play counterattack, especially away from home, was an unwritten rule and was favored by many critics and insiders: just think that the term was coined by Gianni Brera, who used the second phase of the chorus dance of Greek tragedies to best define it.
The "Grangiuàn" also made no secret of appreciating it a lot, arguing that the Italians were not physically up to other peoples and therefore had to play like this to impose themselves at a high level: legendary, in this sense, his controversies with Arrigo Sacchi, winner, according to him, only thanks to the Dutch champions and certainly not for his game ideas. Many years later, things have not changed, because the world of football continues to be divided into gamers and scorer players, provided however that we don't talk about counter-attacks: because nobody likes that, as we saw on Sunday. In words obviously, because in fact there are many who use it and Conte is no exception.
Napoli-Inter statistics don't lie, with the Azzurri winning in ball possession (66% to 44%), in the height of the center of gravity (54 vs 42), in passes made (629 to 478); and if that weren't enough, here is Lukaku's first goal (long ball for the Belgian to override the slippery Di Lorenzo) to confirm it better than many numbers. However, the problem does not lie here, but in living the definition of "counter-footer" as an offense, both on the part of whoever says it and whoever receives it. Then that the two in question do not like each other is no mystery and, almost certainly, has contributed greatly to igniting spirits.
It all started in the summer of 2004 when Capello, who had just moved to Juve under Moggi, Giraudo and Bettega, decided not to renew the contract of the then Juventus captain, even opposing his inclusion in the technical staff. Ten years after the second chapter: Don Fabio defined the Italian championship as "little training", Antonio, who had won that title, replied with the bazooka ("I remember Capello's Juve for the revoked badges, certainly not for the game; the masters who don't know things mind their own business"). Last Sunday yet another act, probably destined not to be the last. With only one certainty: in the era of players and results players you can say anything, but woe to talk about counter-attack…
