Viktor Aleksandrovich Maslov (russian: Виктор Александрович Маслов; April 27, 1910 in
Moscow – May 11, 1977) was a
Soviet Russian footballer and
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
. He was especially notable during his coaching career. He won numerous
USSR Championships with clubs
Torpedo Moscow,
Dynamo Kyiv, and one with
FC Ararat Yerevan. The second best coach in history of
Dynamo Kyiv after
Valeriy Lobanovsky
Valeriy Vasylyovych Lobanovskyi ( uk, Вале́рій Васи́льович Лобано́вський ; russian: Вале́рий Васи́льевич Лобано́вский; 6 January 1939 – 13 May 2002) was а Ukrainian football play ...
.
Career
He is often seen as being one of the most innovative and influential football managers of all time. He was the first to experiment with players' nutrition, and invented the
4-4-2 formation
In association football, the formation of a team refers to the position players take in relation to each other on a pitch. As association football is a fluid and fast-moving game, a player's position (with the exception of the goalkeeper) in a ...
, along with the notion of
pressing, which, in the words of
Jonathan Wilson "may be seen as the birth of modern football".
guardian.co.uk – The end of forward thinking
/ref> Wilson credits Maslov as one of the progenitors of the pressing game. This was a key development, as before Maslov, teams tended to allow their opponents more time on the ball, whereas Maslov's strategy of pressing denied players this time and space, and led to the game based more on speed and fitness that is common across the top European and South American leagues today.
References
Soviet footballers
Soviet football managers
1910 births
1977 deaths
Footballers from Moscow
FC Torpedo Moscow managers
FC Zimbru Chișinău managers
FC SKA Rostov-on-Don managers
FC Dynamo Kyiv managers
FC Ararat Yerevan managers
Merited Coaches of the Soviet Union
Merited Coaches of Ukraine
FC Torpedo NN Nizhny Novgorod players
Association football midfielders
FC Torpedo Moscow players
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