For the 2002 World Cup, hopes were largely placed on Marcelo Bielsas Argentina.
Bielsa had achieved quite important feats before in his country, such as the consecutive First Division championships with Newells in his first experience as a coach or later the one he won with Vélez the same year that he signed with the national team.
Four years later, that team would be eliminated from the World Cup.
The biggest disappointment would occur in the group stage, and within that team was Matías Almeyda.
Much of the style of his former coach has been adapted to his own style as a manager.
He has had challenging stages in his career.
Even the first was a tough River Plate that had been relegated to the Argentine second division.
There, he was able to win first place, but later, he was terminated due to poor results, as in his next position at Banfield, after promoting them in his second season with them.
Then, with experiences in Mexico and the United States, the first one in Europe arrived, specifically in Super League Greece with AEK Athens.
The season is off to a great start for him and his team.
AEK are seconds behind Panathinaikos, with 38 points and one of the most aggressive defences of the entire tournament.
That is why we have put the magnifying glass to carry out a tactical analysis that will be a team scout report on the man-oriented, high-pressing Matías Almeyda has established at AEK Athens and finding similarities within his tactics at the old teams he had managed.
Intense man-marking high-pressing
What is most recognisable within Bielsa himself and his disciples is the intensity and strictness of the man-marking pressing.
A fairly high defensive line that seeks to steal in the last third to create chances or win the ball in areas oriented by themselves and then retain the ball or attack quickly in different situations.
This is extremely clear in not only AEK Athens but also Almeydas philosophy, which we have been able to see throughout the teams that he has coached in his career.
In the Greek team, he manages a rather intense idea but with certain principles that constantly force his rivals to generate back-passes or side-passes that do no damage.
He also creates nervousness and doubts for his enemies in order to later win the ball back.
All this is seen in many of their defensive plays where they wait for the opponent who tries to build up with the ball.
However, they also show a lot of this aggression in second-ball plays.
The important thing for Almeyda is that it doesnt really matter which opponent they are playing against.
The idea remains the same.
He may be the
