Why don't teams trust their false nines?

guardian.co.uk - 23 days ago

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If players who appear to be playing centre-forward, but drop deep, are so dangerous, why don't more teams trust the system? When one team does it, it's happenstance. When Barcelona follow Manchester United in doing it, it's coincidence. Add in Roma as well, and it starts to become a pattern. Teams who use a "false nine" – that is, a player who appears to be playing centre-forward, but drops deep – seem, however successful they have been, not to trust the system. The season before last, United ...

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Tactics guru Jonathan Wilson on the engima of the elusive deep lying centre forward http://tinyurl.com/yh9r563 22 days ago

football geekiness expounded http://bit.ly/24Vtvi 23 days ago

Last season, Lionel Messi dropped deep and disrupted the opposition marking, having started in a central positi.. http://bit.ly/x7J07 24 days ago

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Hull & Portsmouth face financial meltdown, as United are set to splash the cash on Villa & Silva
101 Great Goals - latest football videos and international soccer goals from the Premier League, Champions League,La liga, Serie A, World Cup, UEFA Cup and more — ... In a standout article, Jonathan Wilson picks up the tactical debate to wonder “why are teams so tentative about false nines?” “English football, with its simplistic tactical shapes, has traditionally struggled with players who don’t stand where they’re supposed to, which in part explains the success of the likes of Eric Cantona, Gianfranco Zola and Dennis Bergkamp in the 90s… [So] why, if false nines are so dangerous, do teams who have used them successfully then turn away from them. It is, frankly, rather puzzling, and there ...

Some News for Thu Oct 29, 2009
du Nord — ... Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian looks at the modern evolution and confusion of the player wearing the #9 shirt. He describes a position he calls the False Nine. ...

Fire advance: McBride's injury proves fortuitous
SoccerBlog.com — ... Not to cast aspersions on McBride, he remains a great warrior and a playoff goal leader, but the Fire's over reliance on the big target man and the attack was beginning to look one dimensional. Nyarko's arrival changed all of that. I remember reading Jonathan Wilson's article of a "false nine" and here was a perfect example as Emmanuel Osei had a torrid time defending him. ...