"World Cup finalistsFrance, Croatia owe a lot to old-school Giroud, Mandzukic"
World Cup finalistsFrance, Croatia owe a lot to old-school Giroud, Mandzukic
They don't make them like Olivier Giroud and Mario Mandzukic these days. Or rather, they try not to.
World
Cup 2018 has been utterly dominated by European nations, who contributed 11 of
the 16 second-round sides, six of the eight quarterfinal teams, all four
semifinalists and therefore, of course, both France and Croatia in Sunday's
final. While tactical sophistication is frequently (and unfairly) cited as the
main strength of European nations, as compared to sides from other continents,
realistically their greater advantage is simply their industrialisation of
youth coaching, a process has resulted in the production of a huge number of
top-level footballers.
n fairness, Croatia are something
of an exception to the rule. But if France lift the Jules Rimet Trophy on
Sunday, the primary reason will be -- like with Spain in 2010 and Germany four
years ago -- the academies that have provided them with the most impressive
pool of talent around, rather than their manager's tactical plan.
There
is, however, one type of footballer that European academies are not producing:
the traditional striker.
Academies prioritise speed,
movement and versatility, increasingly producing attacking all-rounders who can
play on the left, on the right, up front or as a No.10. These stars essentially
play in a similar manner from various positions but don't offer the traditional
penalty box qualities: strength, power in the air or back-to-goal, hold-up
work. It's a topic former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has spoken about
regularly.
"If
you look across Europe, South America is the only continent that develops
strikers," Wenger said back in 2014. "If you look at the 1960s and
1970s in England, even when I arrived at Arsenal in 1996, every club had
strikers, and I mean strikers:
[players] who headed the ball, were present on every cross. We have less now.
Germany went to the World Cup with Miroslav Klose, who is 36!"
A
year later, Wenger repeated his theory, citing Spain's use of Cesc Fabregas as
a false nine, Germany doing something similar with Mario Gotze and Europe's
gradual shift away from proper strikers. Eventually, he suggested that academies
needed to adapt.
"What
I am convinced of is that in the academies we have to specialise the
players," he declared. "Maybe we have to rethink completely the
education and specialise earlier."
Sunday's
World Cup final, though, will feature a meeting between two centre-forwards
from the old-school mould: Giroud, such an effective "super sub" in
France's first game against Australia that he proved undroppable afterward; and
Mandzukic, whose extra-time winner against England confirmed Croatia's place in
the final.
Sure enough, neither rose through
academies. Both were overlooked by bigger clubs during their formative years
and made their debuts, both when 19 back in 2005-06, in their nation's
respective second divisions. Giroud was at Grenoble, later dropping down to the
third tier on loan, while Mandzukic started out in the Croatian second division
with Marsonia.
These tall, strong strikers aren't
what big clubs generally look for from youngsters, so they endured a gradual
rise to the top. It took Giroud until 2010, at the age of 24, for his first
taste of Ligue 1 action; and while Mandzukic had already been playing in the
Croatian top flight by that age, he moved to a top league with Wolfsburg at the
same age. Giroud then had two years with Montpellier, winning the 2011-12 Ligue
1 Golden Boot and earning a move to Arsenal, while Mandzukic had two years with
Wolfsburg, jointly winning the Euro 2012 Golden Boot and earning a move to
Bayern Munich.
Since
then, both have regularly been overlooked despite impressive levels of
consistency. Arsenal had been eternally attempting to move on from Giroud and
basing their side around quicker, more dynamic centre-forwards. Somehow, the
France No. 9 always battled back and proved his worth, until finally accepting
his fate and moving to Chelsea in January -- a transfer made partly to secure
his place at this tournament.
Similarly,
Mandzukic was sidelined at Bayern Munich after the arrival of Robert
Lewandowski, more of an all-rounder, before moving on to Atletico Madrid and
then Juventus. Chelsea and Juventus seem good fits for Giroud and Mandzukic
right now: clubs concerned with substance rather than style.
Also
a good fit for both? International football. Whereas top-level club sides
demand speed and movement from their forwards, at international tournaments the
football is much simpler, the play much slower and the defences deeper.
Therefore, stand-out centre-forwards are often more static. Giroud is the
perfect example: Supporters and neutrals alike were salivating at the prospect
of France using a mobile, energetic front trio of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane
Dembele and Antoine Griezmann, but that type of fluid, free-flowing forward
line always looks better on paper than it works on the pitch. Giroud's
introduction against Australia provided someone who could play with his back to
goal, serving on-rushing players and bringing more depth to their play.
Mandzukic's place up front for
Croatia was never in doubt, but he plays a similar role as Giroud, battling
against opposition centre-backs and providing a central pivot for the likes of
Ivan Perisic and Ante Rebic to feed off; this division of duties allows the
latter pair to concentrate on using their speed in the channels. Mandzukic has
scored two goals in Russia this summer: a gloriously scrappy opener against
Denmark and the extra-time winner against England. It is two more goals than
Giroud has managed in this tournament and means Mandzukic has now scored one
more international goal than his French counterpart overall, 32-31.
There
are two other aspects that link Giroud and Mandzukic. First, they're extremely
hard-working despite simply not being natural athletes. Giroud, while a
physically impressive figure, always appears exhausted after closing down
opponents, as if the mere concept of running is something of an unexpected
task. Mandzukic, meanwhile, moves somewhat awkwardly and has repeatedly
suffered from cramp throughout this tournament. That said, his work rate
throughout his top-level career has been incredible at times. At Bayern, he was
a one-man pressing machine, and with Juventus, he seemingly manages to play
left-wing and centre-forward simultaneously.
Second, both are genuinely
outstanding footballers in a technical sense, capable of spectacular, acrobatic
goals. For Giroud's scorpion kick against Crystal Palace on the first day of
2017, see Mandzukic's incredible overhead kick in the Champions League final
against Real Madrid a few months later. They might be considered target men in
the modern era, but they're not simply aerial threats who batter opponents with
strength; they're skillful, intelligent centre-forwards with imagination and
creativity to rival slicker, quicker players. They merely have a different body
shape.
At the club level, Giroud and
Mandzukic face uncertain futures after Sunday's World Cup final. Giroud's
likely new Chelsea boss, Maurizio Sarri, will probably prefer a younger and
more mobile centre-forward, while Mandzukic must wait to discover how Juventus
will use Cristiano Ronaldo and whether Gonzalo Higuain will still be around.
Still,
the World Cup remains football's most revered prize, and these two will lead
the line in football's biggest game. The likes of Timo Werner, Sergio Aguero,
Gabriel Jesus, Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku and the other younger, more
"modern" strikers have been eliminated, but Giroud and Mandzukic are
still present: the great throwbacks who are always happy to play the long game.
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