One of the characteristics that I like most about old football is the direct approach that existed. It didn't take players long to execute an incisive move, a combination, a single action. They tried harder to reach the opposing goal. Yes, there were several errors, because the more the player risks, the greater the probability of the error.

Alex James, one of the greatest playmakers in history, said that if you created 10 chances and only managed to succeed once, you would have already done your part. It doesn't matter how many times you make mistakes, but how many times you can get it right in your attempts, even if it is a single one.

If a player focused on creating opportunities for his team left with 90% pass accuracy, the vast majority of people today would find that a great mark, wouldn't they? What if all those passes were simple passes, backwards or sideways? What would be the true value of that? Would the player have fulfilled his role as a playmaker? Of course not.

The example that Wee Alec cited is completely extreme, yes, because Alex James had much more accuracy in his assists. He, in any case, was right with the example, extreme as that same example was.

To complement Alex James' comment, there is another sentence, this one by Friedrich Gschweidl, in which the extraordinary Austrian forward said that a good forward is the one who passes the ball forward.

Yes, it is true that it will not always be possible to pass the ball forward, but passers in current football are not very incisive, very little aggressive in their passes. Passes almost always horizontal; almost never vertical. More and more centralized, fast, elaborate and tactical combinations are needed; not passes aimed at the defensive system.

I had already commented on the U-formation — which is not an offensive formation. The U-formation is the simple act of the team constantly performing a parabola — and that parabola going from one side, through the defensive system, to the other side. It's tedious to see this happen most of the time. Players seem to be afraid of making mistakes by moving the ball forward, afraid of trying something else.

Advanced tactical training is required to combine into the opponent's defensive system, whatever lines the opponent places. It takes a lot of training in quick, smart passing, advanced perception and creativity to accomplish such a feat.

Remember: a football match does not have 90 minutes. You see the grass for 90 minutes, but the ball doesn't roll for 90 minutes. The ball rolls for an average much less than that. That is, players think they have 90 minutes to score, but they don't. They have much less time than that to score a goal.

The more players pass the ball backwards or sideways, the more time they lose. The funny thing is that, when something unexpected happens, these teams — which like to have possession of the ball — immediately switch to the old kick and rush. They abdicate the "so beautiful" possession of the ball — possession of the ball completely useless, weak, without any kind of effectiveness — and start playing the ball in the area in search of a miracle or directly from the full-back line to the forward line. Pathetic.

In the past, Central Europe, with its high technical mastery, advanced, aligned with the high repertoire of tactical knowledge of the players, had an impressive quality of combinations among its players. The masters of this were MTK/Hungária players, mainly in the Aranycsapat period. It was centralized, fast, intelligent and creative combinations, combinations capable of involving any opposing defensive system.

Centralized combinations are increasingly rare today, however, in this great rise of non-created ball possession, inventive, fast and centralized combinations will be increasingly necessary. Sometimes I even get to see some, but not as much as I used to. Space must not be found, it must be forced, through infiltrations in direct combinations in the heart of the defensive system.