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Steve Wigan
Player Valuation: £35m
Not strictly true....in the 40s/50s it was a basic 1-2-3-5 with a left and right back, a centre half and left and right 'wing halves'. So effectively there were five forwards...two wingers, two 'inside forwards' and a centre forward. The first big tactical innovation came with the 'deep lying centre forward',with the two inside forwards playing in advance of him.(like two strikers} at the forefront of this innovation was Don Revie,and Raich Carter, I think. There were of course some teams that relied on a big strong 'target man' type,but by the early 60s,influenced by the European teams we were beginning to see more of, the game became a lot more tactical. As some teams,because of their financial clout, became stronger, the majority became more defence minded and we finished up with a 'lone striker' becoming almost the norm, to the eternal detriment of the game as a spectacle.
Another tactic which came from Europe, or rather Italy, was the defensive ploy of playing a 'sweeper'...a spare man behind the defence as insurance. Effectively it was the centre half lying deep,and one of the inside forwards dropping back to mix it in front of the defence...in other words do the ball winning and graft to allow the flair players to do their stuff. For example, the vastly under rated and very valuable Dennis Stevens at Everton.
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Major Gowen
Player Valuation: £6m
Fingers crossed for Rob, it's wonderfully done.
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