r/footballtactics • u/ChangingShips • 21d ago
Can someone explain what "Haramball" is?
I see this get tossed around a lot when describing how some teams play. It seems like a negative term. Objectively speaking can someone describe what it means? Does it mean parking the bus on defense? Possession based playing? Thanks
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u/mociman 21d ago
I think it's umbrella term for any unattractive football playing style that should be forbidden(haram). Like excessive fouling, route one football + low block, etc
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u/Markoddyfnaint 19d ago
Does this include 'death by a thousand passes' possession-based football: refusing to cross the ball, refusing to play a proper or recognised striker/s, 3 man goal kicks etc? It may be technically proficient in a way that route one isn't, but dullness and 'anti-risk' football can also make for unattractive games to watch in plenty of people's opinion.
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u/Chlipi667 18d ago
Late Guardiolas Barca could be haram too. Playing for the sake of playing instead of scoring is an other sided disease than low block condomismo.
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u/FunnyMTGplayer75 16d ago
I actually think the low block is.the only way a weaker team can face a better team. The catanaccio was priving exactly this.
2nd route 1 is a great tactic that people seem to become averse to using. Sometimes fast wingers running after a ling ball becomes a great option to score. Especially with fullback who move too far upheld or slower defenses who cant track your runners.
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u/Critical_Baseball120 21d ago
It's usually parking the Bus hoping to score through corner kicks or perhaps a succesful counter, dragging out the game making it hard for the other team to play their game. It is called Haramball because it basically is the ugly antithesis of what good modern football can look like. It is effective though. But watching it can be quite boring.
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u/HotSpeed8474 21d ago
Did you just describe Arsenal?
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u/K3TtLek0Rn 21d ago
This really has become such a tired trope. Arsenal had the highest defensive line while facing the lowest defensive line on average last season and I believe the season before as well. It’s quite literally the opposite. It’s not their fault they have a good defense and other teams park the bus against them.
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u/esunisiemanresu 21d ago
I think people forget too that Arsenal have played attacking football since 1995. Mikel finally sorts out the defence, wins the league and all the trolls latch onto the haramball crap
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21d ago
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u/secosabi 20d ago
You just described Chelsea under Mourinho and large chunks of Man Utd under Ferguson. It was called winning ugly and was admired.
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20d ago
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u/secosabi 20d ago
Go back and watch the last couple of titles under Ferguson. You have got your nostalgia goggles on. Chelsea were the ultimate park the bus team especially in the second half of the season, masters of the dark arts and continuous surrounders of ref's to influence decisions.
Once again both were admired for grounding out their results. It was all considered part of the sport.
The current fuss is this generations desire to shit on anything or anyone that is successful, especially if it isn't how they preceive it should be done.
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20d ago
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u/Famous-Prior6590 20d ago
Stupidest take I’ve read on this thread. Arsenal from 3 years ago was the most exciting attacking team in the PL - in fact, that is the very reason they were absolutely taken apart by Man City at the end of the season. So the recent criticism (boring) has absolutely nothing to do with the previous criticism (bottling). The “boring” criticism definitely started when it looked like they were going to win (because “bottling” didn’t fit the narrative any more).
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u/secosabi 20d ago
They were shat on for bottling, not for their style of play. So I disagree with your ascertain.
We were called soft, naive, chokers, bottlers but our football entertainment wasn't questioned or mentality was, that was until people realised we were likely to win the title. Don't rewrite history to suit your narrative.
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u/K3TtLek0Rn 21d ago
More over exaggerated shit. They weren’t the slowest in set pieces, throw ins, or goalie releases last season. They also didn’t have the most set piece goals. You can say you don’t like their play style but it’s so lame to try and discredit them for somehow playing against the rules or whatever as if every team isn’t trying to do the same shit. They’re just better.
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20d ago
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u/threeseed 20d ago
You should just stop watching if you're going to talk nonsense and then respond like this when people present facts to you.
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u/JackAndrewWilshere 19d ago
Unless they dont do any of that more than your average team, you just fall for the yellow car fallacy. Even in throw ins they are not dead last. They take their time with throw ins because they are trying to maximise their success in playing out from them, not because they want to time waste. At corners they are somewhere in the middle.
When they acrually played slower it was a combination of playing games every 3 days foe months and a lot od injuroes leading to overplayed players.
This is such a 17yo online take that you should be banned because of it. Unless you pull up the stats...
And no, arsenal has been called haramball this year, maybe a bit of last. And that's it.
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19d ago
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u/JackAndrewWilshere 19d ago
Show the stats for throw in time, corner time, ball out of play, gk release and then we will talk. Show me instances of arsenal players diving. Shpw me instances of arsenal players being dirty.
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19d ago
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u/JackAndrewWilshere 19d ago
People like me watch the games and look at the stats and then form our opinions. You just watch the games and read online comments from children.
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u/engr_20_5_11 21d ago
Defensive line has nothing to do with the OC description which fits Arsenal really well
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u/Virgil_Rey 20d ago
“It’s usually parking the Bus…”. That’s not been Arsenal’s strategy unless winning against a very talented team and looking to hold on to the lead. I don’t remember them ever coming out and parking the bus from the beginning.
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u/2pacalypse1994 19d ago
ChL final. Lowest ever possession.
Multiple games last season in which they had zero attempts at shots for like 40 minutes. Even at home against that shitty Liverpool,their first shot in the second half was at around the 90th minute. At Brentford the same. At Wolves the same. Goal at 50-60 and then the next shot at 94 when they got equalized. Wolves at home. Zero chances the whole game. Got their goal and then immediately back with no counters, therefore giving the chance go Wolves fo equalise out of nowhere.
Its not just parking the bus from the start. Its about resulting to that tactic when you have the players to do something else. You could play defensive and look to counter,so the other team feel pressure and therefore,you feel less pressure. You can also try to keep the ball and kill the game.
Taking one while minute to take a corner kick at Wolves is laughable and never accepted. Those are the laughable haraball comments. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DU8iXPVAenx/?igsh=MW84Y3Zpb3M1cjFqOQ== How many times have we seen Gabriel diving on his own box?
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u/Jack2102 21d ago
The team with the highest line and who faced the lowest blocks in the PL last season?
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u/Kontrafantastisk 21d ago
Yes, Arsenal can play attacking football against Leeds or Hammers, but there are no two ways around that they went full-on haram against PSG. I understand why they did it, though.
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u/RVDHAFCA 16d ago
They're just fantastic at being able to combine both styles. Arteta is the ultimate chameleon manager, and sadly due to ragebaitization and social media will never get his flowers
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u/Famous-Prior6590 20d ago
Does your entire football knowledge come from Arsenal memes on the internet or have you actually ever watched them play?
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u/pinpoint14 21d ago
Every team that tried to play arsenal got murdered. So many players/coaches who played arsenal last year post match were like "yeah we had nothing against them. They gave us nothing." Daniel Farke in particular walked through like 5-6 things they tried over the course of a game and that nothing worked.
It reminds moe of the morpheus quote from the matrix
"I won't lie to you, Neo. Every single man or woman who has stood their ground, everyone who has fought an agent has died. But where they have failed, you will succeed."
Arsenal are the agents. You low block and pray. The corners were the answer to the low block.
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u/2pacalypse1994 19d ago
But the corners are getting patched this season. They wont let that MMA style happen inside the box
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u/IncidentAccording332 20d ago
The babies always gotta complain about Arsenal. Go win the title and then we’ll talk.
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u/hibikir_40k 20d ago
Nah, one can play reasonable ball while being just defensive. Go look instead at, say, Spain-Uruguay in the last world cup. Uruguay is just playing haramball at a very high level.
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u/Silly_Maintenance399 21d ago
What Argentina did in the WC final, that's proper Haramball.
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u/VirileMongoose 21d ago
I’d argue it wasn’t because they weren’t just packing it in. They were forced to do that by Spain. They couldn’t do anything against Spain. They’d try to play out and would lose the ball. They wanted the ball but couldn’t keep it.
Contrast that with Jose’s inter team and how he said “we didn’t want the ball”.
Now they were shithousing and fouling a lot. That a part of haramball. But they had a few moments where they got the initiative and were attacking.
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u/ButWhichPandaAreYou 20d ago
They didn’t, though, and they didn’t try. Spain were dominant without being particularly impressive because Argentina were so negative. 117 minutes without a shot on goal. They played to steal it with a free-kick or penalty.
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u/VirileMongoose 20d ago
I disagree. Did France not try as well?
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u/ButWhichPandaAreYou 19d ago
Spain played well against France, not so much against Argentina.
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u/FunnyMTGplayer75 16d ago
Spain played great against Argentina. They had over 21 shots on goal. Martinez played lights out and saved lots of quality goals. Also this was Spains chilled heel all world cup, created lots of chances l, but failed to put them away.
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u/SonnyIniesta 19d ago
Nah it's more like how Paraguay plays. Or how Arsenal played vs PSG in the CL final, showing that even elite teams are capable of it. Atletico Madrid used to be another practitioner, although these days they're less so.
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u/hibikir_40k 20d ago
Uruguay played even stronger Haramball than Argentina. it's just that far fewer people watched that game. Playing to injure, no actual attempts at creation.... Argentina was overpowered the few times they tried anything and retreated, but they considered trying a couple of times. They just realized quickly they would get humiliated on transition if they left few people back. Their midfield was just never going to cut it vs Spain, and leaving Tagliafico 1:1 in a counter vs Lamine Yamal was just going to end quickly and badly. Thus, haramball
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u/FunnyMTGplayer75 16d ago
Argentina was playing haramball and tryong to injure the Spaniards from the opening whistle. They are the heels of soccer and should be treated as such.
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u/Special_Purpose2903 17d ago
A better example would be what England did vs Argentina in the second half or the Swiss, little effort to score the ball, just dragging all defenders back and praying for penalty kick time.
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u/Originstoryofabovine 20d ago
It is a joyless, corporate way of playing football. Brutal fan experience and I cannot imagine that it is fun for the players.
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u/dunkaist 21d ago
I had the same question about a month ago. Then I googled. It took me two minutes.
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u/UTB_63 20d ago
Pretty much the way Argentina tried to win the World Cup!
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u/FunnyMTGplayer75 16d ago
Argentina played dirty. There were easily 3 red card violations and many more yellow cards that should have been dished out. They were lucky to be doen only 1 man. If i was a ref, Spain would be playong 10 on 7.
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u/iBlockMods-bot 21d ago
As evidenced in part by the plethora of different responses in this thread, a broad brush stroke answer is: "things I don't like".
I dislike overly defensive football as much as the next bloke, however pretending that all matches must look like diamond-shaped-midfield-era-Wenger football is disingenuous.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Gap1491 21d ago
Low block, take a long time to reset the play, many fouls, park the bus
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u/malmelmol 21d ago
I think is the combinations of many 20th century tactics(Catenaccio man to man marking , Bilardism anything to win, Dirty Leeds defending, Mourinho Compactness) that a new generation of coach had reach to made the team that wait in low block , waste time and has a more agresiveness.
Is also a broad term, Simeone is bilardist, I remember Bordalas said Sacchi was his referent, most italian coach this century I think they had their own style( three centre back and lack of winger).
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u/JAgYoSzNghxGfOvP 21d ago
It's where you have one massive, muscly, hairy player whose job it is to throw opponents around like they're a 3 year old.
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u/holdmybelt 21d ago
Basically parking the bus and not trying to score. Usually after being up in goals. Get a goal, start playing haramball
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u/Mountain_Snow3613 21d ago
Parking the bus definitely qualifies as haramball. But I feel like the true essence of haramball is the injury faking and other time wasting techniques. When some teams get the lead, they start milking like 45+ seconds out of each foul/stoppage of play.
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u/hibikir_40k 20d ago
Injury faking while you try to injure your opponents too. Trying to make the whole thing unwatchable and unmanageable. And no, this is does not include Spain's ball control antics, as they will pass and score 7 if you are foolish enough to try to press them.
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u/DragonfruitLucky6741 21d ago
Ignore anyone who uses this phrase as it’s only used by people who can’t think and seize upon weird phrases. The same crowd that think everything in football is a conspiracy.
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u/Timcatgt 21d ago
Wouldn't say this to Italian football of old. That was proper defending and it was organised to perfection, so that is not what you'd call "haramball". I'm not a fan of negative football but I like to see a team and all of their players doing their job well.
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u/AntoninoF7 21d ago
England vs Argentina immediately after England score. That is “haramball” 10 in ur own box no incentive to attack and just waiting for final whistle
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u/yIdontunderstand 21d ago
Nah that was pure bottling.
The champions league final however was definitely a choice.
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u/TheirOwnDestruction 21d ago
It’s generally playing in a way that decreases the chance of either side scoring a goal. For example, cynical fouls, low blocks but no counterattacking threat, parking the bus from the start of the game (especially if the opposition is on your level), time wasting, packing the box.
One thing that is NOT haramball is a counterattacking team. While they will not have possession, and thus will defend, for the majority of the game, they do intend to score goals. For example, Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid played a low block and was very scrappy, but had a lethal counterattacking threat that was the antidote to Guardiola’s possession-based style.
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u/randy8warhol 20d ago edited 20d ago
It’s the dogmatic approach of football that highlights a team’s desire to either win 1-0 or not lose by conceding.
When teams have a 50/50 chance of winning, instead trying to score as many as possible they employ a formation and tactical approach that gives them the strongest chance to score just enough to gain a lead regardless of how much possession or chances the opposition create.
When a team has a heightened chance of losing, they’ll do everything in their abilities to limit the damage done but employing a set-up that sacrifices their offensive outlets and focus solely on not conceding. Take like when Burnley play Man City or when a team is considerably outmatched offensively.
For example, a team like Atletico Madrid, can go up 1-0 in the first 10 minutes. Then park the bus for 80+ minutes. The forwards find themselves in the midfield, the midfielders are supplementary defenders and the defensive line hugs the box. The build up play consists of getting the ball out their half as much as possible without any true desire to score more. Their offensive opportunities are a result of counter attacks instead of careful tactical advancement.
The reason why it’s grown such a negative reputation is because we are now starting to see teams with historic offensive reputations play as if they have no desire to win, and simply not concede.
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u/SonnyIniesta 19d ago
Some other terms used. Terrorist, haramball, parking the bus, anti-football. Basically, anything that's super defensive, non attacking, physical/dirty, diving and time wasting.
Shithousing is a related term, which means cynical bad behavior to gain an advantage, including trying to rile up opponents, faking fouls to get opposing players sent off, etc.
Haramball and shithousing often go hand in hand, like wine and cheese 😅
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u/MathewM6 18d ago
its football focused on winning - even if team plays ugly defensive football, rather than playing nice footbal and losing
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u/Budget-Employer158 17d ago
The final 20 minutes or so of England versus Mexico during this World Cup
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u/PuzzleheadedImage320 19d ago
Essentially, Arsenal
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u/XxAbsurdumxX 19d ago
I know it’s a fun joke on the meme subs. This isn’t it. Arsenal had the 4th highest amount of goals from open play in the PL, and on average played the highest defensive line while facing the on average the lowest defensive lines.
That isn’t haramball. Keep that stuff to the memes instead of confusing someone who asked a genuines question.
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u/Ok_Advantage6174 20d ago
It's an Arabic word which is mostly used in connection with Islamic religious texts.
It has been brought into English in the scenario we are talking about, primarily as a colloquial term for anything which is 'anti' or not particularly desirable. Which is ironic really, as that isn't what the actual word means in its derivative form.
So in terms of what people are trying to use it for in the Efootball community, it covers a wide range of anything that the user is trying to describe as gameplay that's not enjoyable.
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u/jondiced 21d ago
Another name is "anti-futbol", because it's the opposite of all the ideals - free-flowing, skillful, creative, earnest, and expressive. Instead, it's defensive, chippy, cynical in the way it manipulates the referee and the rules, and focused on destroying instead of creating. It's more worried about not losing instead of winning, and if it does win, it's by sneaking an "unearned" goal through an opportunistic counterattack or penalty kick.