🆕 Fresh analysis! 🙌 Barcelona increased Real Madrid’s hopes of winning La Liga when they were held to a draw by Atlético Madrid. We assess how Diego Simeone’s team frustrated Quique Setién’s 👇 coachesvoice.com/barcelona-2-at…#FCB
Barcelona were organised into a four-diamond-two formation, featuring the little-known Riqui Puig at the tip of that diamond, during the periods they had possession #BarcaAtleti
That four-diamond-two became a 4-4-2 when they were defending; Arturo Vidal and Ivan Rakitic operated as their wide midfielders when they did so #BarcaAtleti
The hosts attempted to build possession from defence, where Rakitic would withdraw to, from his role in their midfield #BarcaAtleti
Quique Setién’s team posed an increased threat when they positioned players between Atlético Madrid’s midfielders and could therefore create overloads in wide areas #BarcaAtleti
Atléti operated in Diego Simeone’s favoured 4-4-2, which on this occasion was led by the front two of Diego Costa and Marcos Llorente #BarcaAtleti
They remained in that 4-4-2, and their positioning was both disciplined and compact, during the periods they were without possession #BarcaAtleti
@joaofelix70@AntoGriezmann Ángel Correa and Yannick Carrasco sought to drift inside from their wide starting positions and to combine with their teammates to create spaces in the final third #BarcaAtleti
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Our UEFA-licensed coaches have analysed Tottenham's narrow victory over Manchester United... ⚪️🧐
🔋 @Wyscout
#THFC • #MUFC
With Spurs working the ball across the pitch with relative ease, Fernandes and Garnacho found it difficult to cover the wide spaces.
This meant that even when the away side defended well, Spurs could get out to the wide areas. Spence in particular had joy on the left... 🧵🧐
Spence often carried the ball into the vacant wide-left areas.
With Son staying near the touchline, pinning his marker Dalot, Spence could then drive inwards on to his stronger right foot. Maddison, meanwhile, dropped to the left from within Spurs’ 4-3-3 structure... 🧵🧐
Manchester City’s 4-3-3 started on the front foot as Arsenal initially attempted to press into the host’s half, in a 4-4-2 shape. Arsenal went player-oriented in the wide areas, with Declan Rice and Thomas Partey tracking Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gündogan’s forward runs. However, Silva’s wide runs to City’s right-side created space for Savinho to drive inside, penetrating against the aggressive jumping of Arsenal’s left-back, Calafiori. This helped disrupt and stretch Arsenal’s back line in the early stages, including when Haaland was slid in-behind to calmly open the scoring... 🧐🧵
It wasn’t long before Arsenal formed a low block, while City responded with a 3-1-5-1 shape. Josko Gvardiol moved into a left-side number eight role from full-back, with Gündogan as the central option underneath Haaland. Rodri – soon to be replaced by Kovacic – acted as the single pivot. Still, it was City’s right side that proved most potent, with Silva’s wider positioning supporting Savinho’s direct movements and dribbles against Calafiori... 🧐🧵
Stemming from tweaks to the 4-4-2 formation, and initially most popular in Spain, the 4-2-3-1 grew in popularity from the 2000s onwards. It has since been used with success by many prominent coaches, including Pep Guardiola, Arne Slot and Erik ten Hag... 4️⃣2️⃣3️⃣1️⃣🧵
Central protection...
The 4-2-3-1 requires defensive midfielders who can duel, tackle and intercept in individual battles. These midfielders must be alert enough to land on any second balls. They must have good acceleration and deceleration to help with this... 4️⃣2️⃣3️⃣1️⃣🧵
Spain used a 4-3-3 structure and built play patiently from the back, despite Germany pressing aggressively from their 4-2-3-1. They moved the ball around the back line to isolate Thomas Müller, before a centre-back stepped out with the ball into midfield... 🧐🧵
Olmo continued to move inside and Asensio dropped deep, in the process pulling Süle out of his position in Germany’s back line. This helped Spain to build out from the back and get around Germany’s increasingly effective high press... 🧐🧵
Traditionally, full-backs are the widest players in a back four, and as a result they attack and defend mostly in the wide areas. However, full-backs who move inside into central spaces are known as ‘inverted full-backs’. This movement adds an extra presence centrally... ↩️🧐
Although Pep Guardiola is the coach most associated with the inverted full-back, Johan Cruyff used them with Barcelona many years before. Then, he often converted the 4-3-3 into a 3-4-3 diamond, with one full-back inverting into central midfield... ↩️🧐