A quick thread on the in-possession structure of England and other successful European teams. Starting with the deep three-player connection (CBs and DM)

- Providing the base for recycling the ball
- CB's stepping in if the free player, DM stepping out to cover
- Base of rest defence structure. Horizontal centre-backs positioning offering central channel cover

Slot and the Shift in Defensive Set-Up

Liverpool, to counter the Palace 3-4-3, made some untypical tactical moves which ultimately cost them.

Let's take a deeper look at it. 🧵 First, it's essential to share context.

The game was an even one, Liverpool nullified Palace's threat for a lot of the game, but when they couldn't - BIG chances.

Arne Slot
'We are not conceding a lot of chances, but we are conceding a lot of goals'

A few observations from the Liverpool game yesterday. Track these to see how they develop.

Salah, playing with Frimpong, is certainly going to feature more inside. They will rotate, but Salah positioned himself in a box midfield with Frimpong holding the width. The double pivot.

Sbozoszlai worked alongside Gravenberch to try and provide central progression from the second build-up line. Both players would look to build through and then offer around options if they couldn't progress centrally.

Mega Thread - Maresca Masterclass (Part 3)

The Attacking Transition

We put a post out yesterday about Chelsea having 25 attacking transitions in the first half and completing 18 of these with a pass into their forward players within 3-5 passes.

https://x.com/TFootballT1/status/1945133407660298411/video/1

The position of Palmer was crucial to this. Anytime Vitinha dropped into the LCB position, Chelsea smelt blood.

Vitinha at LCB Palmer stayed/ pressed high.

Chelsea v PSG - Part 2

The Chelsea Attacking Organisation

The second part of our Mega thread on how Chelsea hurt PSG when in possession. Two of the goals Chelsea scored came through their attacking organisation as they exploited the PSG's left-hand side.

Gusto was instrumental in this. Holding the width and allowing Palmer to shift inside.

Mega thread on Chelsea v PSG (Part 1)

Part 1 - Chelsea Out of Possession

Before we cover tactics, it's essential to appreciate the energy and intensity Chelsea brought to the final. The success they had in the first 10 minutes fed that energy

https://x.com/TFootballT1/status/1945175485173940437/video/1

Enzo Maresca said:

“I think we won the game in the first 10 minutes. The message before the game was to make them understand that we were here to win. I think in those first 10 minutes, the team was there—it probably set the tone for the game.

Observations From Man City v Juventus

Some recycled shapes and patterns, and some new. I'll add to this as the day goes on.

Let's start with lower build-up play. The full-backs hold the width with Doku and Savinho playing inside. Silva and Reijnders drop in line with Rodri. With Juventus marking man-to man, Silva and Reijnders were happy to take their markers into deeper positions.

Ousmane Dembéle's Role - Champions League Final.

Luis Enrique's side moved fluently through the four pressing systems, with Dembele leading the way.

A 🧵
- The pressing systems
- The level of the Dembélé press😻 (video below)
- The supporting players

https://x.com/TFootballT1/status/1929590760849969291/video/1

Dembélé isn’t your typical number nine. Yet his performances throughout the season have elevated him into the elite bracket of centre-forwards in world football.

In this article, we explore the different parts of his game that justify this recognition.

The personnel obviously changes, but the reason Inter Milan's 5-3-2/3-5-2 system works is due to its balance.

Shifting between different systems makes them difficult to pin down, while asking players to assume positions that feel natural.

BALANCE - It's why some systems fail The 5-3-2 default shape puts players in their natural positions, but as with all systems, it has weaknesses.

The weaknesses can be negated with players shifting positions.

For some players, this can mean moving to a position that isn't natural for them. Inter is different.

Mikel Arteta - Defensive Organisation

The final part of our collection on the tactical blueprint of the Arsenal manager.
- The High Press (central, wide and full press)
- The 4-4-2 Low Press
- Attacking Transitions The Central Press

OUR BIGGEST THREAD YET

Part 2 of Mikel Arteta/ Arsenal methodology as we look at Attacking Organisation
- Build up play
- Creating the attack
- Structure and Fluidity
- Game intelligence
- Playing to players strengths
- Playing relationships Attacking Organisation: Build-Up Play

Arsenal begins with a default 4-3-3 formation, but the real strength lies in its fluidity during build-up play. Five outfield players remain fixed in this structure: two centre-backs positioned deep to support goalkeeper David Raya and three players stretching the opponent’s defensive line. Arteta trusts the forward line to use their intelligence and relationships to drop onto deeper lines and support the build-up if necessary.

We Want to be the Kings of Everything

Inside Mikel Arteta’s tactical blueprint and how Arsenal are mastering every phase of the game

A mega thread on every part of Arteta and Arsenal's game model

Part 1 - Set Pieces 🧵 We will outline clear patterns used by Arsenal within the four phases of the game and explain how they leverage set plays to their advantage, leading into one of the four phases:

Attacking Organisation
Defensive Transition
Defensive Organisation
Attacking Transition

Arsenal - Controlling the Game

3-2 build-up
Saka and Martinelli controlling the full-backs while offering a threat in behind
Merino linking with Odegaard/Rice to control red zone and beyond
Rice and Odegaard moving beside Madrid midfield to offer progressive options. 3-2 Build-Up

Barcelona - The DNA, La Masia and the Influence of Hansi Flick

- The Barcelona DNA and the influence of La Masia
- Hansi Flick and how he has embraced the culture and added to it
- Patterns of play. 'side connections' 'rest defence' and 'open touch, run beyond.

🧵THREAD Upon arriving in Barcelona, Flick faced the challenge of modernising the team while staying true to its identity. His adjustments have been significant, yet they align with La Masia’s core tactical framework.

Arsenal hit PSV Eindhoven for SEVEN last night as the Dutch team couldn’t live with the fluidity of Arteta’s team.

A thread covering🧵
- Arsenal overloading the midfield
- PSV unable to deal with Arsenal fluidity and rotations
- Potential PSV solutions Arsenal shifted from their default 4-3-3 when in possession to overload the centre of the pitch with four players.

Quick thread on an undervalued structure 🧵

Last night, there were some great comparisons on defending the box and the structure to reduce the risk.

Liverpool's first goal - defending at one end.
- Van Dijk has been dragged out of position
- Konate picks up optimal position to defend front zone
- Trent attaches himself to Konate (3 yards) to negate any low ball reaching a Newcastle player. 17 seconds later.

- Schar is dragged out of position
- Burn picks up optimal position for defending the front zone
- Tonali drops onto the same line as Burn, leaving space for a low pass to a Liverpool player (Szobaszlai scores)

A short thread on the Liverpool set play that sent them on their way to a win at the Etihad.

Arne Slot explained how the coaches identified the weakness and created the set play the day before the Man City game.

So what did they identify? Man City look to mark zonally with SIX players.

The six look to cover critical areas in the six-yard box where most first-contact goals are scored.

Ruben Amorim tweaked his system against Spurs but was left with the same problems.

Here, we take a look at
- Centre-backs unwilling and unable to jump
- Lack of aggression from wing-backs
- How the forwards can make play predictable

🧵THREAD

Amorim’s system change looked to be a 5-4-1/5-3-2 with Zirkzee at the top of the diamond midfield and joining Hojulnd on the forward line.

Bruno Fernandes played to the right of the diamond. Garnacho to the left.

System match-ups provide the out-of-possession side with players in close proximity to the opponents individual players.

Amorim tweaked his 3-4-3 and went with a diamond in a narrow midfield. This took away any player in close proximity to the Spurs left-back area. Fernandes was asked to jump into wide positions from his position on the right of the diamond.

Maddison would rotate with Spence to allow Spurs to get their talented player on the ball.

Man City - Real Madrid Analysis

🗒️Pep's tactical surprise
🗒️The role of John Stones
🗒️Madrid's left-hand side threat
🗒️How the game swung Madrid's way

🧵THREAD ⬇️ Pep started with five centre-backs in the team and looked to build with these players in a 2-3 formation.

Real Madrid lined up in a narrow 4-4-2 out of possession.

Coaching The High Press - Grassroots

Week 2 in our Grassroots bundle looks at coaching children on the high press. First of all, do the children understand what a high press is?

We use an easy-to-understand definition. A Technical Practice

A flexible practice that can be run with any number of players and equipment. This practice has eight players (use a 2nd pitch for more).

Introducing a coaching language that will be used consistently to familiarise the players with their objectives