In England, they came to it a little later, as managers copied what they began to see around them and concluded that if it worked for the others, it may do fine for them, too.
If a team start playing with a regular tactic, logic would suggest that the opponents should innovate and come up with something different. So why does the opposite happen in English football?
如果一支球队总是使用一种战术,，从逻辑上讲，他的对手们应该主动创新，另辟蹊径。但是为什么在英格兰足坛，事情却在往相反的方向发展呢？
Someone, some day started playing with the 4-2-3-1 formation and now half the Barclays Premier League slavishly does exactly the same. Yet the trend is undeniable. According to yesterday’s edition of the game, this paper’s football supplement, nine clubs went with the present orthodoxy of 4-2-3-1, and others have used the system regularly this season.
一些球队，最早在某个时刻开始使用4231阵型，而现在，英超的半数球队都盲从般地使用着这一相同的阵型。这一趋势是确定无疑的，根据昨天本报纸的增刊《Game》上的数据，一共有9家俱乐部现在奉4231为主流正统，而其他几家俱乐部这个赛季也会定期使用这一阵型。
The move to an orthodoxy is unmistakable. I checked the cuttings. The 4-2-3-1 formation is hardly new in Europe, yet on this weekend last year only three of the 20 Premier League clubs used it (while Alex McLeish went with 4-3-2-1 for Aston Villa). Three years ago on the same weekend, there was only one club who did so, with as many as 13 deploying what Mike Bassett called, in his famous English battle cry, “four four f***ing two”.
这种像所谓主流正统靠拢的趋势是显而易见的，我查阅了最近的资料。这一轮的所谓4231阵型热潮在欧洲其实刚刚兴起不久，去年的这个周末，20家英超俱乐部里，只有区区三家使用这一阵容(麦克利什当时在阿斯顿维拉还在使用4321阵型)。而在三年前的同一个周末，只有一家英超俱乐部使用这一阵型，而当时有多达13家俱乐部在阵型部署上使用的是迈克·巴斯特用他著名的英格兰腔战号喊的“44他妈的2”。
The exception in 2009 was Roberto Martínez, the Wigan Athletic manager, which is no great surprise. He is one of the few tactically creative managers in England. Last season, he switched to a 3-4-3, rare outside Catalonia, which helped to drag Wigan out of a dire position. And while he was not the first manager in England to use 4-2-3-1, it could be expected that he was doing so before it became commonplace.
2009年的一个例外是威根主教练罗伯托·马丁内斯，不过这并不值得大惊小怪。他本来就是英格兰为数不多的几名创造性战术大师之一。上个赛季，他把阵容变为343，这在加泰罗尼亚之外非常罕见，这一阵型帮助威根摆脱了困厄之境。他虽然不是英格兰第一个使用4231的主教练，但是如人们意料的那样，他在这一切变得陈腔滥调之前就已经开始使用这一阵型。
At home and abroad, 4-2-3-1 has become a regular sight, with José Mourinho fully embracing it at Real Madrid, among countless examples. At the 2010 World Cup finals, when the system might first be said to have become the international“norm”, as many as half the coaches used it as their default setting.
不管是在本土还是海外，4231阵型都已变成了一种常态，类似的案例可以说是数不胜数，就连穆里尼奥都在皇马皈依了这一阵型。在2010年世界杯决赛圈，这一战术体系似乎第一次变成了国际规范，有半数参赛球队的教练都把这一阵型作为自己球队的默认设置。
In England, they came to it a little later, as managers copied what they began to see around them and concluded that if it worked for the others, it may do fine for them, too. They wanted to keep up with the fashion rather than to think of its weaknesses and try to take advantage, so we reach the point where at least half the teams in the league can expect to turn to it every week as well as Roy Hodgson with England — at least for now.
在英格兰，他们的起步则要略晚一些，教练只是将他们所看到的身边的这些东西如法炮制，他们的结论是，如果这一体系在别人那边好使管用，对于自己而言也应该没什么大碍。他们仅仅是想跟进时尚潮流，而不是仔细斟酌和思考一下这其中的弱点和欠缺之处，并在比赛中努力加以利用。所以造成了现在的景象，联赛里至少半数的球队每周都在使用这一阵型，而霍奇森所执教的英格兰也如出一辙——至少现在如此。
The game is always evolving, even if you would imagine that there are only so many ways you could organise 11 players on a pitch. There are always bright and bold managers out there thinking of a new ways. But how many of them work in England?
足球比赛一直在变革，即便你认为在一块草皮上组织11个球员的阵型和方法其实并没有那么繁复。永远会有那种聪明和无畏的主教练会挺身而出，另出奇招，但是问题是他们中能有多少是在英格兰执教的教练？
终于见到自己的偶像利昂内尔·梅西，这是我——Gabriel Muniz——最幸福的一天，今天，我在他面前表演，明天，也许我会在10万名观众的诺坎普球场上表演……
注：路透社在今年10月24日刊发了一组Gabriel Muniz在巴塞罗那俱乐部训练场向梅西展示球技的照片，这是有关这个无脚少年最近的一篇报道，关于无脚少年Gabriel Muniz的故事，本刊曾经在今年9月分3次（第541-543期）向广大读者进行过详细报道。
图/路透社
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