The Football Overload

Not completely the same scenarios, but an obvious vulnerability when playing the 3-1-6 so deep, especially away at a small ground. You put yourself in so many situations where losing the ball automatically gives up a chance to the opposition, with no way of winning it back. If the opposition is high, there is no reason to play in a 3-1-6. The idea of having 6 players on the last line when the opposition is already high is so futile, as with the minimal players underneath, it makes it difficult to get the ball to them front 6 players. Having less players, but utilising some push/pull mechanics, some off the ball movements to disrupt the opposition's shape, or even the same positional structure just with an extra player or two deeper, almost certainly helps the progression stage. It only becomes more useful when the other team is pinned and you are forcing them towards their own goal, so having more players high works for both the idea of creating chances and counter-pressing. As RDZ suggests here, not just for the help of progression, but should you lose it, there are enough numbers to either counter-press, or to delay whilst the rest of the team comes back to help.

How to Maximise Enzo Fernández: Thread🧵 - Overview of How he played against Villa - Game Examples - Benefits of this - Negatives of this - Overall Thoughts

I really hope it looks something like this: - Enzo F deeper - FBs in the half spaces - Wingers high and wide - Anderson deep with Enzo but pushes on a little more - Counter-press aggressive with FBs and Anderson

Barcelona’s Poor High Press: Thread🧵 Barcelona find themselves in the exact same situation as City. This current City team has a lack of athleticism in the middle to jump vertically to go man-to-man, therefore they do it horizontally by jumping the winger onto a CB, and then City jump their FB to the oppositions FB. Barcelona do the exact same thing. They play both Pedri + Rodri, who both can’t consistently jump vertically, especially in such a high intensity game. So they jump horizontally, but on such a big pitch, especially with the opposition wingers high and FBs low, the jump distance for Barcelona’s FB is too large. This allows Valverde more than enough time to take a touch and then make a decision which, in turn, undid the whole press. Cont.

New Article out on Substack - Analysis of El Clasico - Barcelona's High Press - Issues with it + Impacts of it - Solutions to Improve their High Press - Rodri's Struggles against Bellingham - Rodri's Struggles to Cover the Half Spaces - Similarities to 2011 Copa Del Rey Final - Both Defensively and Offensively - Overall Thoughts Link Below: 👇👇👇

A section from my Substack: Now onto the main reason I watched the 2011 Copa Del Rey Final. Cristiano Ronaldo. Mourinho stated that he made the decision to play Ronaldo as a striker as it allows him to do less defensive work, and so he doesn’t gave to follow Dani Alves up and down. Ronaldo is regarded as both one of the best wingers of all time as well as one of the best strikers of all time, it makes it difficult to categorise him into one position. This resembles Mbappe quite well. He was generally regarded as a winger, predominantly on the left, whereas since moving to Real Madrid he has played as a striker, with little success for both club and country. I feel he shares similarity with Ronaldo in this regard. It now feels we are at a stage where we still think of Mbappe as this winger who will beat players 1v1 rather than the dynamic striker he is now. What better manager to properly introduce Mbappe as a #9 than the one who did the same with Ronaldo? Ronaldo in the Copa Del Rey Final was used not as a pressing, hard working, defensive machine. But rather, as a channel forward, ready to pounce on counter-attacks forcing Barcelona to worry about how many men they commit forward. Always hanging around the last line, ready to receive in transition. The first picture of Mbappe attacking is extremely important. It highlights the potential for combination play on the left. Bellingham and Mbappe close to each other provide so many options; the ball can go into Bellingham to flick on to Mbappe as they did for the goal, but also Bellingham can make the movement in behind and Mbappe can receive directly. Diomande could also go directly in behind to Mbappe as Bellingham drops off to receive. The possibilities are endless. The second highlights a much more common possibility, especially against a ball dominant team like Barcelona. Diomande receives centrally and beats his man, with Mbappe running in behind, between both CBs ready to receive. In this case Diomande finds him and it leads to a penalty. This will be where Real Madrid will have the most joy, and where they will look to exploit Barcelona in transition.

New Substack out regarding my thoughts about the El Clasico, and its similarity to the Copa Del Rey Final in 2011. - Barcelona In Possession - Currently - Barcelona In Possession - CDR 2011 - Real Madrid Out of Possession - Currently - Real Madrid Out of Possession - CDR 2011 - Similarities between the two teams in the CDR and Currently - How Real Madrid should set up - Where Real Madrid can be exploited and how to prevent it - Ronaldo #9 to Mbappe #9 - Where Madrid can hurt Barcelona - Overall Thoughts and Predictions Link Below👇👇👇

City did well to mitigate Ipswich from goal kicks off the balls, but struggled when Ipswich had it in the second phase. The foremost problem, previously discussed, is the press (jump). The distances are just too large for our FB to cover and if he isn't tight enough, the channel is too exposed in our 3v3 +1 and our CBs defending the channels. This was further exploited by Ipswich's fluidity with their 4 in midfield. Their dual #10's would be narrow keeping City's FB narrow to maintain the +1. Ipswich would have their WB's really wide making the jump from central to WB really large. Ipswich would also keep their WCBs wide and underneath so a DM could drop into the back 4 to help find passes between our winger (who would press the CB) and our midfielder (marking the opp DM). Bouaddi could then get caught as the FB's are deeper (ready to jump on WB's) so Bouaddi has to cover the whole centre of the pitch laterally to whichever 10 is found. A better option would be a CB stepping out but then too much space can be vacated in behind. Two things which can help this - 1. Jumping vertically - this was done against Liverpool and worked in spells, of course with less preparation. The distances are not as large and therefore the shape is more unified. 2. FB starts higher - this way City are already M2M and has minimal distances to jump. Although vulnerable, because of movements of the opposition - should City win their individual battles, this is the idea with the most chance of success e.g. vs Porto. This is certainly effective should we play with 2 DMs - Bouaddi and Anderson. They can cover ground efficiently and cover large spaces in smaller amounts of time.

What was most noticeable of the first half for City was the fluidity in possession. Maresca still wanted to keep the 3-4-3 diamond/3-1-6 structure, but the players in the middle phase were able to be fluid and occupy the same roles. Very similar to concepts we've seen from PSG and Arsenal at the top level, where certain roles are stationary - Dias/Guehi and Haaland - and the rest of the players have the freedom to roam and be fluid.

Uploaded it on Substack aswell - Link Below 👇👇👇

Manchester City vs PSG Mini Preview - PSG In Possession: - PSG are very fluid to move between a 4-1 base to a 3-2/3-1 - Their FBs can advance into the half spaces, invert into midfield or overlap their wingers who can tuck inside. - Overload on one side to isolate the other - Overloading the last line - Occupation of half spaces City have to worry about how they aim to press PSG, as the CBs won't be able to jump onto Dembele if he moves wide due to the space vacated in behind. Although City opted for a vertical jump against Liverpool, I would expect a horizontal jump to be aggressive early, and not allow PSG to settle into their shape.