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Matthias Sindelar

Author: Isaque Argolo | Creation Date: 2021-03-11 13:01:21

Data providers: Isaque Argolo.

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Matthias Sindelar, Der Papierene, was an Austrian footballer of the highest caliber. Sindelar, who when he wasn't watching movies, visiting a cafe or playing chess, operated on his own chessboard: the four lines of the Hohe Warte's green lawn. 


Sindelar — physically speaking — was thin, very thin, a slender footballer, almost seemed that a combatitive opponent would cause him to suffer an injury. Sindelar, indeed, was far away of being a strong footballer. Nevertheless, he had athletic posture, alongside his speed & agility, he combined with determination and energy. The fragile figure, although showen different, also was not afraid of duels. While fighting for the ball, Sindi would not refuse a 50-50 combat. His game style did not need much of physical attributes, but mostly technique, tactical sense and a combination of smart decisions. Briefly, Sindelar learned how to master the central positions.




Sindelar was the master of the ball, but not only in a pragmatic style of learning how to master it. Sindelar was a Rastelli type, an artist and an acrobatic footballer, too. Even before Wiener Amateur-SV he was already called like that. His ball control was superb, mastered the ball with complete elegance; seemed he had glue on his feet. His passes were flat, precise and had a huge variation — he could send high, low or mid-high passes with preciseness, as the Scheiberlpiel school ere very adaptive. His dribbling, combined with his great body feint and speed, was devastating to the opposition defense.

Sindelar would pretend to go to the right, but ended up going to the left with his marker on the ground without touching him or the ball.


Sindelar's shots were not one of his great qualities, yet they overflowed smartness & well-placed shots. This was due to Schaffer's teachings. Sindelar, however, although learned the aspects of a great shooter, he could not stabilize his shots for a long time — for instance, the end of 1932. His shots, for sure, were not some of his best weapons, but still mortal when he trained a little more.


Der Papierene


Der Papierene was known as the most proeminent representant of Scheiberlpiel, the descendant of the MTK-iskola, which the Austrians improved. Sindelar was truly the commander of his sides, in the sense of dictating the style of the attacks. When he was unmarked, Sindelar would either , schemed the plays, became the intellegence of the forward line. When roaming throughout the whole field, he could create space to the other four to score. Exactly as "Il Balilla" Giuseppe Meazza, Matthias Sindelar used to prefer playing the balls to the wings, as he would receive to score or leave it to the insiders. However, Camillo Jerusalem and Josef Stroh can praise Sindelar for some direct assists which the artists gave.


*   *   *



His game was reflected by his unsystematic style, due to his tactical knowledge which overflows. He did not follow an specific system, no; he was not like Gschweidl who was more of a systematic footballer. Sindelar improvised a lot, but most of his actions succeeded. He had a weltklass sense of positioning, always knew where his teammates were and also his opponents. His ability to withdrawn an opponent was superb, as Sindelar glued to his marker and dropped deep to drawn the opponents, thus creating space. He dictated the actions of the forward line, with a few movements, Sindelar sent incisive actions.

Sindelar, the insider.


During his first days, Sindi was commonly placed as an insider, due to his high technique and capacity of breaking the lines with his speed and agility, as Hugo Meisl mentioned many times. The first half of the 20s were the transition from the old style to the MTK-iskola, first, brough by the Konrád brothers.

Alongside Schaffer


The 1924/25 season was a key one for Matthias Sindelar. First, he started playing as centre-forward, while Alfréd Schaffer was the centre half-back of Wiener Amateur-SV. The team, however, changed their own tactics. Schaffer was positioned as the centre-forward & Sindelar became the left insider. Alongside Schaffer, Sindelar would create ideas and make insicive runs, too, looking for Schaffer's precise passes.


Schaffer


   Wieser               Sindelar


One of the inside trios.


Takács I.               Mándi  



   Vogl I.                     Sindelar                     Zischek



Kálmár



      Schall               Gschweidl


Sindelar vs. Kálmár 24/04/1932.


Although Sindelar was far from being a strong footballer - physycally speaking. His capacity of getting away from a marker was remarkable. Against strong and energetic opponents, such as Luis Monti, Sindelar would go alongside him, then drop deep to draw Monti towards him. This movement would cause three strands:


1. Monti would foul Sindelar.



2. Sindelar would feint Monti, thus making an incisive run.



3. Sindelar would move Monti from his original position, thus creating space for an advanced comrade.




This clash between Sindelar & Monti were one of the most spetacular ones during the 1930s. Sindelar, the artistic footballer against Monti, the energetic and very temperamental footballer. 


  Rosetta               Caligaris



Monti



   Viertl                     Sindelar                     Molzer



Sindelar vs. Monti 09/07/1933.


Keeping him in track was a tough task. If deep-lying and followed, space would be created. If not followed, he would create advantage and scheme the whole game. It was truly the perfection of what Hogan taught the Hungarians, but with a modern style which the Austrians aprimored. It was football at its highest class of tactical knowledgement. He could play in "Nyilt csatarjáték" or "W-Formació", he would perform the highest quality need for the formation.

Statistics


   
clickseasonmatchesgoalsclub(s)

   
   
⋙1921/192280Hertha Wien

   
   
   
   
   
⋙1922/1923183Hertha Wien

   
   
   
   
   
⋙1923/192490Hertha Wien

   
   
   
   
   
⋙1924/1925174Wiener Amateur S.V.

   
   
   
   
   
⋙1925/1926126Wiener Amateur S.V.

   
   
   
   
   
⋙1926/19272821F.K. Austria Wien

   
   
   
   
   
⋙1927/1928219F.K. Austria Wien

   
   
   
   
   
⋙1928/1929248F.K. Austria Wien

   
   
   
   
   
⋙1929/19302416F.K. Austria Wien

   
   
   
   
   
⋙1930/19312622F.K. Austria Wien

   
   
   
   
   
⋙1931/19322315F.K. Austria Wien

   
   
   
   
   
⋙1932/19333222F.K. Austria Wien

   
   
   
   
   
   
⋙1933/19342627F.K. Austria Wien

   
   
   
   
   
   
⋙1934/19352624F.K. Austria Wien

   
   
   
   
   
   
⋙1935/19363218F.K. Austria Wien

   
   
   
   
   
   
⋙1936/19373124F.K. Austria Wien

   
   
   
   
   
   
⋙1937/1938169F.K. Austria Wien

   
   
   
   
   
⋙1938/1939120S.C. Ostmark Wien
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