Factors Affecting Performance of Football Teams


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Do rich countries play football better than in poor countries? There are a lot of rich countries that achieved the world cup like France, Germany, and England, but also there are poor countries that achieved the world cup like Brazil and Argentina. There are also rich countries that didn't achieve the world cup like Switzerland.

Does the climate of the countries affect on playing either good or bad? For example, if the climate of the country is cold, will it make the players play bad? There are countries that their climate is so cold and didn't achieve anything in football like Canada and Finland. But there are also countries that their climate is so cold but achieved world cup like England.

Does democracy effect on playing good or bad? As there are a lot of countries that have democracy achieved world cup like France in 2018 and Germany in 2014. But also, there is a lot that has dictatorship achieved; world cup like Italy with Mussolini as the leader in 1934 and 1938.

So, what are the factors that make countries better than others? Everything in any country may be a factor to play well like geography, politics, and history. As football is a social activity that expresses the countries and their social, economic, and political situations. Football also can be affected by


Holland

First, can geography affect on a tactic of the national team or the way that they play?

David winner, an author that wrote a book called "Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football", said that geography can affect the way that a country play. And one of the most famous examples is the Netherlands and its football revolution in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Dutch team begins to play with a tactic called total football, which tactical theory in football that based on the area and spaces of the stadium and how to control it. They consider the stadium as squares and every player in the team should make his task in his square.

So how was that linked with geography? It liked with geography as the Netherlands had Coasts threatened with drowning. so the people that lived in that coasts Always thought how to divide the coasts and benefit from every part of the coasts.


Italy

Second, can politics affect the tactic of the national team?

It can! Before WW2, Italy was ruled by Mussolini with the Fascist rule. The Italian fascists were a repressive power and their way of dealing with crowds was by Intimidation. So, the people in that period tried not to deal with anybody or make anything that would be a danger to them or take any risk.

And because of that, a new way had been unveiled and called Catenaccio which is a tactical system in football with a strong emphasis on defense and not takes a risk to attack and every team in Italy either strong or weak team begin to play with that tactic.


Barcelona

Third, can history affect on the tactic of a team?

Yes, it can. In Spain and specifically Catalonia. In the 1930s, happened a military coup led by General Franco and Spain divided into two halves, The first one was the people with Franco and the other people were against Franco. Catalonia was against Franco and Barcelona was the Resistance center.

Long short story, General Franco won the war, and Barcelona got severe punishment like they were bombed for three days. A lot of people from Catalonia died. Also, the Barcelona club headquarters was bombed. After the war, Franco's army went into Catalonia and killed about 25000 people.

And also, a lot of things happened.

There is a famous quote that said "when you lose everything, you are free to do anything" that’s quote describes the tactic what Barcelona used. They lost in the war, they can take risks now. So, their tactic was to attack and pass the ball a lot because the opponent couldn't take the ball from you. And that tactic worked as they achieved the treble (domestic league, domestic cup and UEFA champions) league using this tactic.


Conclusion -

Why are there teams play better than others in football?

There are different reasons to answer this question. But my reason is that the culture of the country or the city is the main factor of why there are teams play better than others in football. And there are examples above about the culture of some nations and how that effect on them to make good tactic.



- Written by Ahmed Mohamed (EMN Community Member From Egypt)

- Edited by Mridul Goyal (EMN Community Member From New Delhi, India)