In the selection of players in Italy, in fact, the technique is not held in high regard. Our league, especially in the middle class, instead traditionally welcomes players with tactical intelligence and application without the ball, even at the expense of the more creative ones in the possession phase. The Atalanta man markings in Italy triumph because often the opponents do not have the dose of ball-and-ball talent needed to elude the individual duels that, in a chain, can create imbalances in the Gasperini system. In Europe the perspective changes completely, even outside the best clubs, and Dinamo Zagreb and Shakhtar were the demonstration.
For years now, the Ukrainians have been collecting midfielders, especially Brazilians, who are able to hide the ball and dribble even in the narrowest pitches. The Serie A teams struggle to limit Shakhtar because of their technique, on average even higher than that of many Italian top clubs. It would be enough to rethink the duels won by Taison and Marlos or the fatigue of a usually efficient midfielder like De Roon against a player who is certainly not transcendental like Alan Patrick. The Brazilian often received from behind, he was attacked by De Roon, but thanks to technique and timing he knew how to slide the ball to overcome the opponent later and open the field in front of the door. The equal-level goal of Junior Moraes was born precisely from this type of situation, with Alan Patrick pretending to touch the ball, sending De Roon out of time and can point the area and then serve his teammate in depth.
If the characteristics of the Donbass team were known, perhaps Atalanta did not expect similar difficulties against Dinamo Zagreb on the first day. The Croats do not have the widespread talent of the Ukrainians but, in addition to good feet like those of Petkovic and Orsic, they have one of the most formidable players in the group in the fundamental of dribbling, namely Dani Olmo. The Catalan sent off Gasperini's system of markings starting from his own one-on-one ability and when he could not jump the man still gained precious fouls, breaking the rhythm and preventing the Nerazzurri from entering the game. The characteristics of Olmo are a puzzle that hardly the Serie A offers to the Lombards and that mark a good part of the gap between our football and the rest of Europe.
Atalanta is 2nd in the Serie A in Opposition dribble (55%) but 27th in the CL (69%). That means conceding 12.5 Opposition successful dribbles per game in the Serie A, but twice the amount in the CL (23.0).
– Flavio Fusi (@FlaFu_tbol) October 23, 2019
The differences with the other football schools
Last May we published a piece dedicated to the best dribbling specialists in Italy. We had discussed the Serie A excellences and proposed a comparison with the other main championships. In a ranking of the teams of the great European leagues, however, the Italian first for dribbling was just Atalanta, just 20th, while in the last five positions there were three, with Cagliari last.
Today in the top 20 there are Sassuolo, Fiorentina and Roma, while among the last five of Italian there is only Genoa. The situation seems to have improved, in short, even if the sample of games is rather small so it is useless to draw too general considerations. And it must be said that some whimsical players like Ribery, Leao, Falco and Castrovilli have arrived to improve the situation.
However, the impression remains that the percentage of players able to jump the man in Serie A is still low compared to the rest of the continent. A strong feeling in the Atalanta matches, but also in other comparisons between our great and medium-high level European football teams. Think of the two eliminations in the Champions League last year, Roma-Porto and Juve-Ajax. The Italians started as favorites, above all from a physical point of view (think of players like Dzeko, Zaniolo, Emre Can, Matuidi). In the technique, however, in the treatment of the ball in the strait, the opponents proved to be better, despite not theoretically belonging to the elite of world football. Otavio, Brahimi, Corona, Tadic, Ziyech, Neres: all players that made the game between the lines of Porto and Ajax better than that of Juve and Roma, without individuals able to create numerical superiority in tight spaces.
Just dribbling in tight spaces, perhaps with the man on it, is the kind of individual initiative that creates more imbalances in defensive structures. Juve, without Dybala in the second half of the return and without Douglas Costa for most of the qualifying rounds, had no specialist in the fundamental. Roma had Perotti and Zaniolo, players with good numbers in one-on-one, but accumulated in areas of the field and in contexts in which the influence of dribbling on offensive development is less heavy: in isolation for the Argentine and in the field long for Italian. No one in short, able to make the difference between the lines and in the half spaces, the areas in which the finishing becomes more profitable.
The Serie A dribblers
Mind you, there is no shortage of dribblers in Serie A. At the moment, indeed, the ranking is driven by players with a high technical figure. Among the players with at least three hundred minutes we find Jeremy Boga in the lead (5 dribbles succeeded every 90 ', even though he played only 395 minutes), which already last year we learned to appreciate as an excellence of the fundamental, the best for combination of technique and speed together with Douglas Costa. It is significant, however, that Boga is not a permanent holder in Sassuolo, with De Zerbi who often prefers Defrel, more reliable in defensive retreats.
Douglas Costa is not on the list due to the injury, but if he played it he could almost certainly climb the hierarchies. In the first games it was already noticed how Sarri tried to enhance the dribbling above all to create gaps in the middle space on the right and make the chain combinations of 4-3-3 more threatening. A little different use compared to that of Allegri, more interested in the Brazilian dribbles to directly create occasions, perhaps with crosses and set-pieces, than to help the dribble.
In second place is Franck Ribery, a splendid protagonist of this season's start (3,4). His elusive qualities are useful to organize the transitions of the "viola" and are making the eyes of the Franks rub their eyes. Despite the years and the fewest number of shots, the metaphysical ability to dance on the bottom line – perhaps the best player in history to dribble in that field – remains intact and to pass between pairs of opponents. Ribery breaks the doubles not with pure speed, but thanks to the sensitivity with which he brakes to create a gap and then he starts again. We could use a description of Lorenzo Buenevantura, Guardiola's athletic trainer, of Iniesta's dribbling, another champion used to slip in the middle of doubles: «There is no speed, no matter how fast; what matters is the way in which it stops and the moment in which it subsequently starts moving again ».
A management of braking and a clear restart in the famous break against Milan that leads to the penalty of 1-0. The first side-step slows down the race for an imperceptible instant and allows him to create the gap between the Argentine and Romagnoli. A corridor that manages to travel thanks to an indefensible touch frequency for any defender.
Dybala (3.2) returns to the podium after a season outside the top ten for the first time since last year in Palermo. The technique in the narrow of the "Joya"Is essential to support a system like the 4-3-1-2 that prefers breaking through the central streets and then into asphyxiated spaces. The real surprise of the Top 10 however is "Pippo" Falco (2.9 for 90 minutes, just below Rodrigo de Paul, 3), already a cult player for many fans.
Our country does not produce technical dribblers probably from the time of Cassano, which is why it is so strange to see an Italian in this ranking. The Salento is extremely dangerous when he can fall back on the left, but he has great inventiveness, even back to the door surrounded by opponents. He caresses the ball with the entire surface of the left, including the sole, and keeps it always under control with an excellent touch frequency. Despite his stature he is not only skilled in the strait but also in the long one: without great peaks of speed, during the race he covers the ball well and he puts himself in front of the opponents who are unable to dirty him. Lecce was used in minor series to stay in the offensive half. In A, however, he must spend a lot of time in his trocar: Falco's dribbles are useful to give breath to the defense and make the attacks of the Giallorossi potentially dangerous even away from the opponent's goal.
All the players mentioned (except Costa), along with Ilicic, Leao, Zaniolo, Correa, De Paul and Castrovilli fill the top positions. The quality is higher than last year, when there were Ansaldi, Gervinho, Bakayoko and Chiesa, all effective in dribbling only with a lot of field around. The excellences of the Serie A have similar numbers to the colleagues of the Liga, but the numbers of Messi and Hazard are certainly destined to rise (the first has not yet reached the 300 minutes of play, the second has yet to mesh with Real Madrid but it is one of the best in the world in this fundamental). At the start of the season the comparison is unbalanced especially with the Premier, where Zaha reaches and Boufal overcomes the five dribbles every 90 '(5.4). There are even twelve of them here to sign more than three every 90 '. And the clear quality gap with respect to the Premier can perhaps be read above all by reading these numbers.
Behind the midfield
In short, excluding the names mentioned in Italy, there are not many players able to jump man continually against closed opponents, the most decisive type of execution in a tight-paced football with less and less space. The technical dryness of our lower middle class is evident. The "small" almost never have individuality capable of making the difference against closed teams, which is then the most frequent tactical context in Serie A. To say, there is not, in the Italian equivalent of Crystal Palace or Eibar , a Zaha or an Orellana.
And the numbers are not enough to capture the low consideration of dribbling in Italy. Analyzing this fundamental means first of all anchoring it to the type of execution, to the area of the field, to the consequences it creates on the maneuver and therefore to the way in which it relates to the collective. The one-on-one of Kulusevki or Gervinho for example, should be contextualized in the reactive system of Parma of D’Aversa, in which the wings have the task of conducting long transitions to the ball. Or again, the excellent numbers of Meite (2.5 dribbles per 90 ′) testify to the physical dominion of Mazzarri's Turin and the French, skilled in duels when he can lead and maybe engage shoulder to shoulder with the opponent.
However, this type of dribbling makes the difference at high levels only in particular contexts. In a football where even the less noble teams manage to set up sophisticated non-possession systems, a struggle for space is increasingly strong. And the only fundamental able to create space even where there is no dribbling in tight spaces. For the best teams, dribbling is not simply an individual resource to draw on in emergency situations. It is an offensive tool inserted in an organic manner within the gaming system and functional to collective development. It would be enough to refer to the words of Guardiola: «I want players who know how to dribble. Nothing more, it's the main request I make. I want fullbacks that dribble and central, middle, middle and dribble wings ».
It is right to consider Guardiola the thermometer of the developments of modern football, and if it attaches so much importance to dribbling it is for the context in which it is often forced to attack its teams (and now all the greats of European football): against closed systems and aimed at deny space in the center. One of the cardinal principles of the position game is to continuously activate the receptions behind the opposing lines, in particular behind the midfield. That is the area from which it is easier to generate defense problems. Against compact or aggressive teams in the exits, however, the time and space cuttings are increasingly narrow. The recipient must be able to exploit every inch of grass to maintain possession and avoid being blocked by defenders or doubled by the midfielder. In this sense, it is essential to have great sensitivity in the first control and in dribbling in the strait, so as to immediately turn around, take out the defending outgoing and give life to the finish or at the worst keep possession in narrow corridors. "The great quality of the really strong clubs emerges near the opponent's area, their players don't lose the ball. The big teams do not lose the ball near the opponent's area ».
To support this vision Guardiola is transforming two excellent dribblers who played from wings like Bernardo Silva and David Silva in mezzalos (even if the first still plays often on the right outside). In the City often the interior must get up behind the opponent's midfield to dictate the passage between the lines. Their great technique in protecting and dribbling even back to the goal, often performed with the first check, allows the team to finish in the last thirty meters, or at least to settle possession close to the area.
A similar evolution, as indicated this article by Ecos del Balon, to that of Betis of Setien last year, with Canales, Lo Celso or Guardado from midfield: "Carvalho (the median of the 3-5-2 betico nda) (…) can cross the pass line to serve players who, as midfielder by training, are used to manipulating space and time back to the door, well oriented and with great control of the ball, something that Guardiola's Silva, perfect, are like no other to manage the space between the lines ».
It is not a discourse linked only to midfielders or coaches loyal to the position game. All the best teams now try to dominate the midfield and defense range. Think of the movements of false nine as Firmino and Tadic, or those of two wings as Hazard and Salah. All players able to extend their influence over the entire trocar thanks to oriented control and dribbling, both front and back. How many of the Serie A players dominate such congested and useful spaces for the maneuver with the technique? Very few, and one should ask why. The answer is complicated, but it is certainly linked both to the selection of players by the teams and to the coaches' game proposal.
Dribbling in Italy: an innate gift?
In Italy there are not many technicians interested in making rational use of the areas behind the opposing midfield, or in any case building in tight spaces. Consequently the technical dribblers, the most useful players in those situations, are few and almost all belonging to Juve, Atalanta and Lazio. We prefer to collect skilful halves in cover or external physical and willing to return to the midfield; in the offensive phase, an attempt is made to remedy the situation with a more direct kick, both in transition and in positional attack, which does not require a high degree of technique. The ball circulates horizontally and, for fear of losing possession and giving transitions, you skip the midfield by verticalizing.
Many Serie A middle-low ranking matches are not the best of the show also for the absence of players able to break the lines with dribbling. The teams that prefer to defend low to attack in the open field almost never have solutions to get around closed defenses: think for example of the difficulties of a transition team like Fiorentina against Udinese and Brescia. Or to the problems of Turin, a physically brutal team but not at ease if there is to attack in an orderly manner with the ball, which often ranks two pure points like Belotti and Zaza to generate second balls and cross also from the trocar.
It is often believed that dribbling is an innate gift and in many cases it is. Unfortunately, the inspiration and creativity of the best dribblers are not transmitted by training alone. It is also true, however, that the execution of the one can be facilitated if the collective occupies the field in a rational manner and if the individual learns to relate to the space and the adversary close to him.
It would be enough to take the Sassuolo midfielts as an example last year. De Zerbi managed to improve the technical dimension and the dribbling attitude of his players, empowering individuals within the system and subordinating individual bets to team development. Think of the evolution of Locatelli, Duncan and Bourabia, not really of the dribblers. The black midlands, to follow the principles of the game of position, had to receive beyond the lines. Consequently they had to observe the field and opponents to decide before receiving what to do with the ball. The most useful solution was the control oriented in the direction of the companion to serve, with which they often succeeded in skipping the marker. If there was no possibility to immediately download the De Zerbi midfielders, they had learned to scan the space and understand where they could possibly direct the ball to send the opponent's action to nothing. Duncan, Locatelli and Bourabia are certainly not David Silva or Lo Celso, but they have learned to manage the ball in a useful way and the system has facilitated the execution of dribbles. In his best moments the Sassuolo has never been banal, both against the high pressing and against those closed defenses that usually make many Serie A games boring.
The Sassuolo tries to escape the high pressing of the Samp on the left. Caputo receives from behind and Locatelli proposes himself in support. Ekdal has tightened on the side and is ready to press the ex Milan.
Locatelli, before receiving, has already decided what to do: he has read Ekdal's intentions, he analyzes the position and therefore also the trajectory of the race. In this way he identifies the vector on which to direct the ball to avoid the opponent. So with the touch of the first one he goes over the side that the Swedish race leaves uncovered.
To Locatelli just the first touch is enough to jump Ekdal and stand in front of him. With a dribble as minimal as it is weighted, the passage line opens for Duncan on the weak side.
Another student of De Zerbi, however, who has always shown that he has them is Stefano Sensi. Today one of the main protagonists of the Inter di Conte, perhaps the most important to advance the ball. Not only does Sensi lower itself to help Brozovic, but he also knows how to get up to receive his opponent midfield and raise Inter's center of gravity in the possession phase. With the ball in the last third of the field Sensi is not one of those midfielders with an innate talent for dribbling. With the right space references, however, he identifies before receiving the direction in which to control and knows how to manage the sphere in order to avoid the marker, maintain possession and associate with comrades, even in narrow corridors and back to door.
In Italy there are few examples similar to those of Sassuolo midfielders. Many players have neither the technique nor the speed of thought to play in the short and under pressure. The best example of how little this type of quality is solicited and developed in our league comes from the Premier League.
Mohamed Salah was certainly a great attacker already with us. With Klopp, however, he expanded and improved his repertoire in unexpected directions for his past in Serie A. For example, he refined decision making but, above all, almost from nothing, he became one of the most effective wings of European football back to goal. The Egyptian at Rome has exploded thanks to his speed in conduction and deep cuts. In England instead it is proposed with continuity also in support to play in tight spaces and with the man on him. Salah does not just protect the ball, but manages to pivot on the defender and turn around controlling the ball with the inside or the sole. Learning to move between lines and to dribble in uncomfortable conditions was the only way to impose oneself in a sophisticated system like Klopp and become a serious candidate for the Golden Ball. But no one in Italy had tried to get him out of the comfort zone of the band and the frontal game.
Dribbling: a useful weapon in every area and in every situation
Today Salah jumps the man in the lane and in the middle space to create imbalances in the defense. However, if it is not possible to attack directly, Liverpool nevertheless remains able to maintain control near the door. It is a nuance of dribbling linked to Guardiola's words, to the ability of big teams not to lose possession near the area, a concept partly foreign to Italian football.
The return of Sarri and the arrival of a technician like Fonseca, coaches accustomed to turning the ball calmly even on the trocar, is interesting above all for their affinity with this type of principles: jumping man does not necessarily need to pull or serve the assist, but also to create a clean pass line and favor the dribble in dense areas of opponents.
This is what Douglas Costa does and that is what guarantees the technique in the central corridor of Dybala, Cristiano Ronaldo and Higuain. Or, if we want to go back a couple of years, it is what has been lacking in Sarri's Napoli in its less brilliant moments. In the last months of 2017/18 the Blues were living in a period of precarious shape and the chain rotations were not too effective. At Naples it would take so much someone able to take the ball in the middle space, skip the man and oil the possession mechanisms through dribbling.
In this regard, a quick and whimsical wing like Lozano arrived this summer. The Mexican is quite at ease even in the small field, but for now the man almost always jumps head-on. If you improve in the game, back to goal, in oriented controls and in reading the narrow spaces, you could become exactly that kind of player able both to resist pressing and to open defenses closed with dribbling.
Increasing the number of players able to touch and one against one would help Serie A to play a more technical and more enjoyable game. To achieve this, however, game systems that are more dedicated to controlling the ball would be needed, which consider the technique a good of first necessity. Like the Juve of Costa and Dybala, the Roma of Mkhitaryan and Pellegrini, the Atalanta of Ilicic and Gomez and, in its own small way, Liverani's Lecce, not surprisingly the team of soft-footed players like Falco and Petriccione. We spectators will certainly benefit from it.
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