I've got a lot of notifications today with people (could well be bots tbh) losing their minds over a fun wee video on a small tactical difference I've noticed of Pep Guardiola recently so I thought I'd add some context to the idea for fun 1. Correct: doing this with your full-backs is not new. Yes I have seen Liverpool do it before. No, Guardiola did not invent it. Also, Gary Neville and Dennis Irwin were doing this in the 90s. Also, Brazil were doing this in the 70s. etc

Really enjoying all of the lovely tactics in the Arsenal v Newcastle game. I think Mr Howe might just have come up with a very very smart way of playing against Mikel Arteta's team. Gonna try and offer some observations since I'm in work mode

🧵 We know how Arsenal play, we know they tend to work in these yellow areas and mostly leave the middle empty. So Newcastle are in a basic 541 OOP shape in their half. And that means...

🔎 Just rewatching the Scotland game from last night to try and properly analyse (without 7 pints in me) what on earth happened and you can see basically everything wrong with how the players performed and how Steve Clarke set them up in the opening 55 seconds (thread) Germany kick off, send players forward, Scotland defenders are understandably nervous and just hoof the thing clear. Adams is out of position and doesn't compete for the hoofed ball cos he's 20 yards away near the wing and then Germany settle on the ball, and you see this:

Absolutely great seeing an Aberdeen team that can press collectively, has players in position to counter-press, actually tries to do that against Celtic, and when they win the ball doesn’t immediately shell it up the channel. This is what a well coached team looks like 😍😍😍 It’s sooo good 😭. Non-Aberdeen/Scottish football fans might not understand this, but Dons just went from a smart compact 433 in their own half, getting a man extra in wide areas, Celtic have no options, the ball has to go back. Abdn then squeeze up, Clarkson bites…

Aberdeen were absolutely brilliant in the first half of the Charlton pre-season friendly on Saturday so I am v surprised to see quite a few absolutely dreadful takes on it, the squad building, and other such items so here comes a small thread of pointless analysis 1st: it’s a friendly in preseason so the result DOESNT MATTER AT ALL. What does matter is building fitness, seeing training ground work executed on the pitch so you can check what’s good and what needs tweaked, and players getting used to their roles and instructions

Aberdeen's Expected Goals Against number this season is incredible. They are the worst in the league by an absolute mile, should/could have conceded roughly 12 goals more than they actually have. Points towards either a badly coached team, poor tactics, or incredibly bad players Transitioning from a 'sit deep and punt the ball into space' model to a high press, high line attacking possession team is very difficult, particularly with the budget that a club like Aberdeen has. But the system(s) is/are leaving the defence wide open. And the thing is...

Already seeing one of the big problems present in Argentina's defeat to Saudi Arabia. In buildup they're leaving this circle below vacant, so the CBs passes out from the back are really easy to predict and Mexico can step up on them in a high press This means it's really really easy to press them and stop them progressing through lines. Feel like I've seen it many times before because Aberdeen used to have this problem (lol) for years and were reduced to playing channel balls or shelling it to a big man