Thread by @babuyagu

It also highlights how football twitter actually knows fuck all about football.

People think all you need for 'ball knowledge' is to have watched football and have an opinion. But if know nothing about it, all you are doing it continue to watch something you don't understand.

https://twitter.com/Flav_Bateman/status/1495846198607065088

None of the goals were counter attacks. This is Spurs building out from the back on the first goal. City pressed high up on Spurs. So all Spurs had to do was move the ball forward quickly to cut out City's press before their line had a chance to react and retreat.

1 pass later

This is 2 passes later.

Just tore through City's press and exposed their defence. There was too much space in front and behind the defence so they got picked off. That isn't a counter attack by any definition of the word.

Second goal, same shit. High press - City are in their formation. Spurs again play around the first line using the full back on the opposite side this time.

Again - find Kane in space in front of the City defence.

Kane then tries to pick off the line again before it can retreat. This time Dias has a shallow header, picked up by Sessegnon - again in that huge space between DEF & MID - Son picks out Kane's run not tracked by midfield and it is 2.

The winner comes from Spurs having possession against City in a mid-block. When the ball eventually gets worked down the flank City look like this.

There are 2 things to focus on when defending.

1. Space.
2. Time on the ball.

Whichever you focus on, you give the opposition the other. If you are Hodgson and are focused on defending the prime real estate on the pitch... then you give the opposition most of the possession

and they can probe and recycle at will with as much time as they like on the ball. They aren't being rushed into anything.

In contrast, if you are pressing high like Liverpool - or City here - you have to give up space. One player sprinting to press a ball near to him simply

creates a gap somewhere because not everyone moves in unison. The defensive line has to be as high as possible to make sure there aren't huge spaces between the lines in your formation. That leaves an ocean of space behind. If you drop off early then you just create a chasm

between the lines in your formation.

@hesbighesred and I mentioned this on the @CraqueStats podcast - Arrigo Sacchi used to measure how well his side were defending based on the distance from the highest and deepest outfield player on the pitch.

The bigger that distance - the more space teams had to play through you. The more time on the ball a player would have to receive and turn inside your shape.

THAT is why teams play a high line. But it is also exposed should anybody be able to receive and pick off a runner.

That doesn't mean the whole plan is flawed. City and Liverpool have the lowest expected goals against this season in the league.

They give up very few shots because they either win the ball back early, force errors in rushing opponents with pressure, or catch attacks offside

killing them before they have a chance to develop.

And it is a gambling act. Occasionally teams will get it right. Liverpool's offside trap will get exposed. You cant be perfect every time.

The space City gives opponents when pressing high will also be exposed. That is what

happened here.

They aren't counter attacks though. The first goal starts with a goal kick for fuck sake.

City just want to be high up the pitch. That is how they defend goal kicks. They are are pushing the 'time on the ball' slider all the way left, and in doing so giving

the opponents all the space they could ever hope for. The gamble being that without time on the ball - players will be unable to expose them as their passes will be rushed and therefore easier to pick off and City have the ball again quickly for another attack.

Against good players though - and Kane & Son were exceptional - you will get caught out from time to time.

If your solution to that is 'they need to limit the spaces' by pushing the other way, that just means how you personally think about defending is limiting space.

Btw if you want to read more about how teams willingly give up space - I recommend old articles from Rene Maric on the subject.

Here is something on it for example. spielverlagerung.com/2014/07/01/zon…

@JDNalton thanks for sharing this link with me.

https://twitter.com/JackPittBrooke/status/1496091362646794245

To add a little further to this...

by the definition I am seeing people suggest is a counter-attacking goal. Which is playing through a team quickly in a few passes - then nearly all goals City concede will be counter-attacking goals.

That is because attacking football comes in phases. The slower phases - buildup and consolidation - are about creating space against the opponent.

You can't rush an attack against a block because they are perfectly setup to repel attacks. You need to destabalise the block.

Move it around. Probe it. Get runners moving in and out of it. Try to move defenders around by committing them with dribblers and getting another to step out. Getting them to track decoy runners. Shift play to spread their shape out more.

Against City - they already give you that space. Which means you skip the slow buildup and consolidation phases and move straight to penetration and finishing. Those are the quick parts of football. Exploiting space you (usually) create before the opponent can plug the gaps.

The defending team - in contrast - they want to delay. Slow you down. Buy time to get their shape and structure once again. Force you to face your own goal. Encourage you wide and box you in. Foul. Anything to buy time.

Or rush you into playing the ball blind through pressure.

If you can prevent them doing those things successfully - then you can expose them.

So if by default a team defends high from resets rather than drop off - that isn't a counter-attack but a defending choice to

prioritise time on the ball over space.