- Czech take advantage of set piece & transitional weaknesses
- Dykes off the ball movement was crucial in Scotland's attacking phases
- Scotland's build up play is promising, but needs work
Scotland's build up play was surprisingly progressive for a team that historically doesn't aim to play pretty football.
McTominay struggles as a lone pivot, so depending on the side of play, one of McGinn or Armstrong would drop from deeper from their half-space to help.
Czech Republic did great to keep McTominay out of the game. He was isolated & needed assistance. Having said that, when he got help in the build up phase, Scotland were able to play progressively.
Dykes/Christie drops deep to drag their marker out of position, creating space.
Scotland's forwards were asked to drop between the forward and midfield lines to drag their markers out of position. By doing this, it helped isolate Coufal who would then need to defend Robertson and the space created by the deep Scottish forwards.
These types of movements were impressive from Scotland. They repeatedly pulled defenders out of position but ultimately failed to convert the chances created.
Czech's attack came from transitional phases. They would press high, forcing Scotland to play long balls over the top because Czech Republic were comfortable winning their aerial duels.
By forcing long balls, Czech Republic could increase the likelihood of winning the ball and counter-attacking.
The Czech scored their goals from a set piece and a wonder striker from Schick. There was an over reliance on the set pieces, but there is some thought behind their play.
Czech Republic would press the right side aggressively as they knew O'Donnell to be weak in possession.
Unfortunate for Scotland as they were the better team. Should they go out in this years Euros, they can be proud that they framework for their style of play going forward is working and embraced by the players.
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⚽️France balance high press with backline dropping off
⚽️Germany too narrow, Kimmich not holding width and inside forwards lack pace to stretch game
⚽️Give Pogba space at your peril
France were so difficult to break down. They did not just sit back and absorb pressure but kept Germany guessing by pressing with their forwards and Pogba... and dropping off defensively if they broke through.
This frustrated the Germans who could not settle into a rhythm.
Muller and Havertz were invisible in this system. Both need to be the focal point and here they were deployed as wide inside forwards.
They lacked the dynamism to stretch the game and with France defending narrowly, and Kimmich staying too central - they were ineffective.
⚫️Ukraine too much distance between defence, midfield and attack.
⚫️De Jong & Wijnaldum = Press Resistance Overload
⚫️Dutch build up down left and switch to Dumphries
⚫️Comeback!! No..
Dutch attack down the left, with Blind to LB and Van Aanholt and Depay occupying the wing. This forced Ukraine to shift across and get bodies over to that side of the pitch.
As is the Dutch way, they then played the switch to Dumfries again and again - and he finally delivered.
Ukraine struggled to get the ball off the Dutch, as they possess two of the best press resisting midfielders in the world.
De Jong and Gini kept wriggling out of tight situations and feeding their forwards or wing backs.
- Sterling and Mount double team in the left half space
- Kane redundant (lacks penetration)
- Phillips puts in a Kante performance and dominates the right half space
- No overlaps
Whilst Tripper held, Mount bombed forward in support of Sterling. Both gave Vrsaljko a torrid time, combining with one another and taking turns to go round him and cut in side.
Kane is a flat track bully. Lacks the pace to stretch well organised defences and despite facing a sub par Croatia backline, he was incapable of stretching them and finding pockets of space.
Do not see him hurting bigger sides deeper in tournament.
- Locatelli dominates the left half-space
- Turkey ineffective in possession
- Italy switch between having one advanced fullback to using two
- Di Lorenzo > Florenzi?
Italy's build up play in their own third ensured safety in possession and ball progression largely due to their numerical superiority and Turkey's poor pressing.
Bonucci, Jorginho and Barella combine on the right, while Chiellini, Spinazzola and Locatelli combine on the right.
Italy's build up allows for the central defenders and deepest midfielders time on the ball to find the runs of Barella and Berardi who attack the right half-space, while Insigne routinely beat Celik on the opposite side.