Writer and presenter @TheAthleticFC. Noticer™. Not CEO of AS Monaco. Out of possession is nine tenths of the lore.
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Seems simple enough, right? But then… is this about Spurs or City? Because in many respects, this game was a parable about the state of modern football, showing how much the game has changed in recent years. Let me explain.
Now, before we begin, I want to begin with a caveat. When doing analysis like this, it’s important to not just follow the results and make hard and fast conclusions on the basis of insufficient evidence.
People who have followed me on here for a while will know that I bang on about how important the out of possession side is in the modern game.
…but I felt as though the game itself was quite instructive from the point of view of what is required within the modern game, particularly when it comes to the question of “Why is rest defence important?” and so…
We all know the cliche ‘a game of two halves’ but this was more accurately a game of three thirds, the first two of which were completely dominated by Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea. So in order to explain how Emery shifted the momentum, we need to start with Chelsea’s approach.
That’s right, Thomas Frank switched up to a back five for Spurs’ visit to the Emirates which, at least on paper, seems a relatively conservative decision - taking a player from higher up the pitch and dropping them into the back line. 
Let’s set a little bit of context. We all know how City have struggled with defensive transitions over the last few seasons…
In fact, all three of City’s goals came from them exploiting this press to some degree or another...
If you did notice it, you're not the only one... here's what Eddie Howe had to say after the game:
It’s pretty clear when you look at the per half data that @markrstats put out that this was a game of two halves… 
Because there has been a lot of criticism of their build up under Amorim and rightly so.
Let’s start with some pressing theory: under Iraola, Bournemouth use a kind of press that I like to call “hybrid” pressing.
It was actually an incredibly interesting game on a number of levels but I think it can only truly be appreciated by viewing it through the lens of the 2-0 win Liverpool managed against Newcastle in the PL a few weeks ago. 
Across the last few seasons, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about Arsenal’s ball progression.
Over the last few months, Arsenal have been quite interesting out of possession. Last season, they tended to defend out of a 442 shape (actually much more often a 442 diamond) with Martin Odegaard joining the front line next to the striker. 
Last season, Pep Guardiola trialled a system which used full backs in a more traditional way - as width providers higher up the pitch.
During his time at Spurs, Postecoglou has been accused of being too tactically inflexible by a lot of people (myself included tbh).