Thread by @SS____899

Formations no longer exist in Football.
Positional Play is the Now and Future.
Gone are the days of conventional setups and no rotations.
But there’s always an origin of play(442/343/433).
All the elite teams play like this.
Chelsea need to be up next.

[MEGA THREAD] 🧵

What is Positional Play(JDP) ?
Well, juego de posición is a principle of play in football that all the elites are trying to implement in their respective teams(all to different degrees atm). When a team uses positional play, the players take up positions to attempt to create

numerical advantages in passing triangles or diamonds, in the hope of progressing possession through the thirds. All players in the team must follow strict rules about the positions they take up in relation to the their teammates, the opposition and the ball( each zone to occupy)

A football pitch is divided into 18 zones, dividing the width into three and length into 6.

We can shorten those zones to the spaces/channels they are on the pitch
Namely
A. Channels(your wide wingers/Wingbacks)
B. Halfspace(your 8’s/advanced interiors)
C. Central zone(Striker/F9(your F9 can also be in the half space)

So, when looking at this you might be asking your self how does this matter to Chelsea in the present and future?
Well…
Let’s take a look at our ‘traditional’ 343(something we’re accustomed to as fans and what we used under a special tactical albeit flawed manager(Tuchel).

Look at how we normally looked ON THE BALL with Tuchel.
An elite system(albeit the easiest to learn)

In this image you can see it’s Chilwell and Reece holding width(nothing wrong with that) BUT no other elite team have two traditional FB’s holding width.
The truth of

the matter is Traditional FB’s are no longer needed except you’re a genetic freak like A.Davies/A.Balde/RJ.
You can’t cater for FB’s holding width on both sides again, it’s too one dimensional, it doesn’t support your half space players as they have no one to combine with and

have to take all the matter into their hands(why Mount lost a lot of progress because ultimately he’s NOT that type of player, he’s a cog in the system NOT the system like say someone like Felix).
From the image above you can see we mostly always used a ‘2-3’ build up with Rudi

the orthodox LCM/LB.
This is a 🔝 🔝system and one that suited that particular team but as they say all good things must come to an end( we were too predictable, too legarthic, too passive).

This in turn brings me to the main topic I want to talk about:

The 442 is the future

and we need to start moving in the right direction NOW before it’s too late.

RJ and Chilwell holding width isn’t bad, it’s actually good player profiling as that’s Chilwell’s strength and RJ has shown he can function anywhere in any role and still be a 7.5/10.

BUT

The elites

don’t have their FB’s holding width( one of the reasons for Klopps downfall), football has evolved.
One of your FB’s needs to be able to

1.Act as a wide CB in build up(RJ/Cucu can) to form a 3-2 build up.

2.Invert into midfield to form a 2-3 build up.

We can take Pep’s City, Arteta’s Arsenal and RDZ as examples.

They have their wingers high and wide to

A. Decide the next action when the ball gets to them(FB’s can’t do this, this is why they’re ‘Fullbacks’)

B. Stretch the pitch

C. Give their ‘8’s someone on the flanks to

combine and rotate with.

At Chelsea we have two FB’s receiving in this zones instead of having one winger receive there.
Cucu/Colwill as the LB/LCB with Mudryk wide on the left should be the blueprint if we want to go to the next level.

Box MF of
DM/Enzo
Carns/Nkunku

‘Rotation’ is a basketball concept, in essence it means when someone goes wide another tucks in, when one crashes the box the other stays back.
You need versatile players for this to work(something we have in abundance)

From the image below you can see :

How when the widewinger comes inside the LHS interior acts as an aux LB so as to prevent transitions and to sustain upmost pressure.

B. The LB is the CM to form a 3-2 defence against transitions and to sustain pressure.

You’re starting to get my point.

And again…

Do you really think with coaching our players can’t do this?? twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Ofc they can, they used to under Tuchel
Take this example from this season

KK Lb , J5 LCM , Chilwell acting as an interior since we overloaded their LHS

JDP.
That’s the motto at the end of the day.
Let’s take a look at RDZ and how he’s revolutionised the 442

He uses
A ballplaying GK that acts as a 3rd CB (extra man) to help bypass the first line of pressure and form a 3-2-2 build up(most especially when facing a 442 press)

OR using a 2-3 build up with one of the FB’s(Estupinan in this case) inverted when facing a 4132 press with one winger high and wide and the other FB wide too.

Also uses a traditional 3-2 build up with one of the FB’s acting as a wide CB while one winger hangs high and wide

while the other FB is wide.
BUT the only reason all this works is because of the superiority in the middle of the pitch.

This is what the 442 provides, it gives you superiority in the most important part of the pitch(the centre)

Most elite teams now are starting to use a

Box MF(something I advocated for since last year before the new season even started)

Look at how BHA, and MCI do it

This is all possible because of the 442