MANCHESTER CITY VS SPURS TACTICAL ANALYSIS MINI THREAD:
As usual, City dominated and controlled the ball. But conte had a plan that centered around the world class, Harry Kane. This short thread will be going through some key aspects of the match! Enjoy!
City lined up in their usual 4-3-3 with the wingers on their natural sides and Bernardo as the false 9. Cancelo on the left to create overloads with Walker staying central.
Spurs lined up in a 5-4-1 which transformed into a 3-4-3 whenever they had possession of the ball.
Conte's classic buildup:
Conte went with the buildup structure he used at Chelsea with a 3-2 shape, both wingbacks slightly deeper with an emphasis on baiting the City high press and finding the striker who dropped deep. The overload + movements made it a safe and smart approach.
The overload in the buildup is also another way to cover for the techincal defincies in some of the Spurs backline. Compared to his time at Inter where he used a 4-2-4 buildup shape as he trusted the likes of Brozovic, De vrij, Handanovic under pressure.
CONTE'S AUTOMATISM:
Conte utilizes automatisms which are repeated patterns drilled into the players to help reduce the amount of thinking made by the players which could lead to costly mistakes. In this case, it's exactly like his 16/17 Chelsea which is pass from wide CB to cf.
The 1st goal as shown above, clearly shows how Son was used as a decoy to gain the attention of Rodri. Once Son made the run-in behind, the trigger was set for Kane to drop and receive from the LCB Davies. These movements left Rodri and co in "no man's land". Bravo Antonio!
#ManCity players held a frank discussion in the dressing room after the defeat to Tottenham. The conclusion was that their biggest problem lay in deciding whether to follow Harry Kane as he dropped into the No 10 role.
[via @mcgrathmike]
City themselves knew he was the problem!
City's shape and Conte's adjustment:
City mainly built up with a 3-1 shape, Rodri as the lone pivot with Walker inverting. Gündo, Foden, Bernardo BTL with KDB deeper in the right half-space. Conte addressed the danger of Cancelo by assigning a man-to-man role for Kulusevski.
City struggled to find their men in the halfspaces which are known to be a pathway to attack for Guardiola's sides. Spurs created a box-like shape with wide CBS aggressive and the wingers and double pivot wary of any movements between them.
Once again, Conte's automatism create a goal!
1 pass from deep to Kane, bypassed 5 City players as Kane received deeper. This triggered the run from Son and the ball far WB Sessegnon who was free. Kane's technical quality was a major reason why Spurs found it easy to transition.
The lack of a goal threat for City:
It was obvious City lacked a major goal threat throughout the match. With 3 cb's this meant that Spurs had more than enough cover around the goal and were comfortable against any cut backs etc.
In conclusion:
The technical quality was simply out of this world from City but Conte had a plan, which was to utilize Kane and Son to the maximum. His instructions to his players off the ball also proved vital as they managed to leave the Etihad with 3 points!
With Slot constantly praising PSG's approach in possession and the fluidity they have with the ball, we're slowly seeing his side try to emulate the rotations/fluidity/movement that made the PSG team so great last season
Let's talk tactics:
Last season Gravenberch was predominantly the first receiver in midfield from the backline.
He'd be receiving on his own or have Mac Allister form a double pivot next to him.
We still saw that vs Everton but we saw Grav often receive pass then rotate out of the pivot.
In this example we see Grav form a double pivot with Mac Allister.
Mac Allister goes deeper as a LCB in possession allowing Kerkez to push high and wide ,dragging Ndiaye with him.
With Kerkez wide we see Gakpo inside making the run in behind and Ekitike come short.
Basic principle of maintaining width, depth, and having an option BTL.
Chelsea with their usual 3diamond3 but Andrews did brilliantly to counter that with his OOP shape. At half time we saw a change from Maresca, who saw his team take control and score twice. Ultimately, a draw seems like the fair result!
Let's talk tactics:
Chelsea went with their usual 3diamond3 IP.
Brentford countered that with a 5 diamond 1, one of the strikers followed Caicedo, with the other one situationally pressing the CBs.
Occasionally, Brentford would jump collectively to press Chelsea and found some success in doing so.
On goal kicks we saw Brentford try to press high but with a flat back 4 + GK Chelsea almost always had a free man and were able to circulate.
What Brentford did do well is trap Chelsea out wide with the 8 and WB jumping + far side 8 tucking in as well.
Thomas Frank set his team up in a 3-5-2/5-3-2, but rather than sitting back, he pressed PSG man to man and gave his team their best chance of winning. Lack of depth and quality cost them at the end, but a top performance nontheless.
Lets talk tactics:
PSG ended up going long a few times during the match, which is quite uncharacteristic of them.
We all know Enrique's team as one that likes playing out from the back and playing through the team.
Well, let's look at why this happened!
Spurs pressed PSG man to man on goalkicks.
Sarr was ready to pounce on Vitinha, the strikers pressed the 2 cbs, and the Spurs wingbacks pressed the PSG fullbacks.
They gave PSG no room at all on goalkicks and ended up forcing them long, winning the ball, or getting a throw-in.
PSG, one of the best teams I've seen this season, the fluidity, rotations, they had it all. Meanwhile, LFC's defensive approach didn't really work until a small tweak in the second half.
Let's talk tactics:
PSG were predominantly in a 3-2-5 in possession with Mendes forming a back 3 and Vitinha/Neves as the double pivot.
They had a player high and wide on each side, with 3 players between the lines.
LFC defended in a 4-2-4 shape, something we've seen a lot of this season.
We saw lots of rotations within that structure, take this simple example, Joao Neves drops deep to receive from the CB, Fabian Ruiz notices the space and moves into that vacated space, and Dembele can also be seen in the left half space dropping as a false 9.
JUVENTUS VS CHELSEA: TACTICAL ANALYSIS THREAD: TUCHEL OUTCLASSED?
Chelsea went with their favored 3-4-2-1 whereas Allegri went with his classic 4-4-2 in the UCL. Tuchel had switched back to a 3-4-2-1 with two inside forwards rather than the 3-5-2 that led to the loss against City.
Chelsea built up in their usual 3-2 shape with their wingbacks high and wide. Both inside forwards occupied the half spaces with the goal being to either reach them or the wingbacks. Chelsea have always caused overloads on the side to find the extra man but were unable to do so.