Tata Martino not impressed with the style of play in the 2018 World Cup

From a fan perspective, the 2018 World Cup has been great—full of upsets and last-minute goals. But the Atlanta United manager Tata Martino hasn’t been impressed by the tactics some teams have used in order to progress in the tournament.

In an interview with John Rojas for Diario AS, Tata was asked if this World Cup could leave any valuable lessons people could emulate in the future. He was very honest;

”No, I hope not, I like another style of play. I like teams that go forward more, go look for more.”

Tata likes his teams to dominate possession, be in control and go attack the other team’s goal. But according to him, in this tournament ”we’re seeing more of the opposite.”

For Martino counter attacking has thrived in this World Cup.

“Teams just sit back and wait until they find a space to go quick on the counter instead of going at the opposition and trying to force them to make a mistake,” explained the Atlanta United manager.

Even though he doesn’t enjoy this particular way of playing, he’s didn’t want to discredit the team that eventually wins the trophy.

Martino isn’t the only one who has complained about tactics used in the World Cup. Yesterday after Belgium loss to France, Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard complained about France’s style of play. They called the French team defensive and criticized their ”anti-football” approach after Belgium controlled the game with 64% possession.

In a perfect world, teams that play the most attractive style would always win. But in reality, especially in short tournaments like a World Cup, teams don’t care about impressing others, they just want to win—no matter what it takes.