Goodwick United
<u>injured</u>
Martin Ödegaard
Roman Weidenfeller
Edin Dzeko
Nico Elvedi
Captain: Carrick
Penalties: Llorente
Free Kicks: Mertens (Forsberg)/Bernardeschi
------------------------------Rajkovic
Vrsaljko---------Andersen-------L.Hernández---T. Hernández
------------------Carrick-------------Baselli
-----Bernardeschi---------Coric------------Mertens
------------------------------Llorente
Subs: Stekelenburg, Durm, Gibson, Augustinsson, Romeu, Höjbjerg, Forsberg
Our defensive unit consists of Joachim Andersen and Lucas Hernández paired up at centre-back, Sime Vrsaljko at right-back and Theo Hernández at left-back, with Michael Carrick and Daniele Baselli as our midfield ‘double pivot’ screening them.
This ‘double pivot’ is the key to our team and in Carrick and Baselli we have a perfect pairing to initiate attacks by distributing the ball in an intelligent fashion, to be key players in circulation and to prevent dangerous opposition attacks, being disciplined in positioning and limiting space in between the lines.
The strength of our double pivot is that Baselli can press the ball without leaving lots of space, as Carrick can maintain a good position to react if the initial press is bypassed. Our double pivot will offer huge defensive stability and will ensure that a structured shape is maintained.
Having two defensive midfielders centrally prevents others being dragged out of position to press.
Helping the defenders maintain solid positioning is a key part of Baselli’s role, he will press almost anywhere in his own half to allow defenders to stay in the defensive line.
With Baselli running his socks off for the team, our high tempo will dictated by his partner in holding midfield, Michael Carrick.
A holding midfielder through and through, Carrick is not just your “win the ball and pass it on to the closest player” – there is a real creative mind in his locker, but it’s his ability to be the shield of the back four and then be creative once he gets the ball that makes Carrick such a talent.
The attacking unit consists of Federico Bernardeschi, Ante Coric and Dries Mertens as our band of three attacking midfielders, with Fernando Llorente as our lone central striker.
Our 4-2-3-1 is set up to have that wonderful ‘springy' quality - it absorbs pressure without breaking and then snaps back with surprising force.
In defence our 4-2-3-1 covers space very effectively, with the band of three attacking midfielders and centre forward able to press the opposition high up the pitch while the two defensive midfielders ensure that there is no space left in front of the defence. Then the back four can either play a high line, compressing the space even further, or drop deeper as preferred.
Once we have won the ball back, often by Carrick or Baselli, then our 4-2-3-1 can spring into attack.
Vrsaljko and Theo Hernández can surge up the wings in the knowledge that Carrick and Baselli can drop into the space left behind if needed. As they come up the wings, both Bernardeschi and Mertens who are fleet-footed speed merchants, excellent in tight spaces and fantastic dribblers will cut inside or make runs into the box. Ante Coric our attacking central midfielder’s diminutive physique and low centre of gravity will enable him to navigate away from defenders at a frighteningly quick pace. Ante Coric is blessed with an instant first touch and can dribble with the ball at such a close proximity to his feet that it makes him almost impossible to tackle this creative passer who will look to play Bernardeschi, Mertens or Llorente in via fast passing combinations.
Upfront Llorente will operate in fluid attacking system— looking to latch onto through balls, intelligently lofted passes, one-touch movement and drilled crosses from our full backs.
Subs – Höjbjerg on for Baselli and Forsberg on for Mertens on 75 mins
TATUNG Tactics
--------------------------Hassen
-----------------Glik-----------------Matip----------------
TAA-------------------------------------------------Telles
-----------------Can-----------------Keïta
Mane---------------------------------------------Ziyech
------------Lacazette--------------Fekir
Subs: Gomez, Traore, Bakayoko, Kessié, Woodburn, Ünal, Tousart
Captain: Glik
Freekicks: Telles/Ziyech
Corners: Telles/Fekir
Penalties: Lacazette
Possession, Positioning & Defending:
Building attacks starts from the back or deep midfield. Intelligent use of the ball from your midfielders & defenders enables your attackers to receive the ball in better positions making it easier for them to create chances & score goals. This does not necessarily mean a slow passive build-up with the ball. We still attack with intensity, press with intensity & defend with intensity. However we feel possession of the ball enables us to play with the strength in movement of our players with & without the ball to aid us in creating chances against teams that will look to defend deep. The formation isn’t the restricted position of our players when in possession. It is however a system in positioning to retreat into when our initial high press fails & we need to structure ourselves defensively. To enable us to dominate possession we need to position ourselves intelligently as we look to create overloads within the opposition’s structure enabling our players to pass their way out of the opposition’s press by moving the ball to an area of the pitch which then becomes less saturated & more vulnerable to penetration. The aim is to pass & lure the opposition to one area of the pitch with the compact positioning of players close to the ball & then quickly switch the play to the other side of the field thus catching the opposition out of position. So the vertical spacing between the defence, midfield & attack needs to be needs to remain compact at all times.
In Emre Can & Naby Keïta we have 2 midfielders who are capable of dictating the play as well springing a quick counter attack with a splitting pass or bursting run through midfield. Together they will look to get on the ball as much as possible. Once the play is moved to our forwards they will position themselves intelligently so that they can dictate the play by redistributing the ball to our creative workhorses in Mane, Ziyech, Lacazette & Fekir.
Can & Keita more than have the physical attributes to dominate any midfield but they can also speed up or slow down the play depending on the rhythm of the game before making the right pass that will result in checkmate for us. Most teams will look to shut us out through the centre of the pitch so building attacks from wide areas will be utilised as well.
If the play is towards the left/ left-centre of the field we will use the positioning of Keita, Matip, Telles & Ziyech to create the overloads that enable us to keep possession. While those four players look to dominate the space & ball, Can & Fekir will move infield to make sure we are not neglecting the centre of the pitch which helps us both defensively(to press) & offensively(to pass). Lacazette will make runs which will enable us to create chances and Mane will balance out the attack by either keeping himself free for us to switch the play or occupying the centre backs should Lacazette move towards the play. The defence also moves as well, keeping an eye on the opposition’s forwards as they will look to cut off the passing options in the event that we lose the ball. This allows the defenders to press quickly.
When the opposition tries to win the ball back we have enough players to play around their press however should we find the play congested, we will quickly switch the play (via a combination of passes or a long pass) to less congested right side & utilise the individual abilities of Mane, TAA or Can (a collective of pace, power, speed of thought, vision & technical ability). Also by spacing our players close together, it also enables us to press the opposition quickly & in numbers aiding us to win the ball as quickly as possible thus counter-pressing the opposition & catching them disorganised which enhances the quality of our attacks.
If the opposition goes for the long ball, Matip & Glik more than have the physical attributes to deal with the scenario. The ball should only ever be passed to the defence to relieve the team of pressure as we re-evaluate the play & build again or to mislead the opposition out of their defensive shell & open up space in-between the lines for us to quickly move the ball forward & create more quality chances.
When the play is on the right hand side of the field the philosophy is the same, only the personal changes. So Can, Glik, TAA & Mane will create the overloads. Lacazette & Keita will move infield & Ziyech will balance our play depending on the movement of Fekir. Defence performs their same role as well.
Possession of the ball is only the tool with which we need to fully express our style of play based on positional structure & movement of our players. Without the ball this is not possible. Chances are created from the positional structure, dynamic movement & spacing in the final third, which surprises opponent thus creating breakthroughs towards the opponent’s goal – especially when the creativity of Ziyech & Fekir is paired with the sheer speed of Mane & Lacazette. We understand that our forwards are not blessed in height therefore we will mainly utilise cutbacks instead of crosses. This should also play into the box-2-box strengths of Can & Keïta.
Counter-pressing is also a tool should we lose the ball in the attacking third. As mentioned above the compact positioning of our players aids our intense pressing tactic.
Through balls, chips & lobs coupled with the movement of our forwards all contribute to our attacking style. Attackers are allowed freedom of movement & expression.
Part of our defensive strategy is intense pressing & counter-pressing the player with the ball & man-marking the immediate passing options available to the opposing player with the ball. However we do understand that the high press will not always win the ball there we will look to defend in a narrow 442 structure (Lacazette & Fekir being the front 2).
• The default posture of the team is to sit deep in a narrow, compact shape in order to prevent the opponent from creating chances.
• The team only breaks the shape to press the ball when the odds of success are high. (And even here it might be better to say that the whole team moves together, causing the shape to temporarily change, rather than saying that the shape "breaks"
• When the ball is won, it is played forward quickly because fast attacks can catch opponents off balance & turning the ball over in the attacking third is less costly than turning it over in your own defensive third or in midfield.
• Every player in the team has to assist defensively.
• Position ourselves compactly, offering less space between our lines & force the opponent into less dangerous areas of the field away from our goal.
We have intelligent players that have this dynamic movement & intelligent positioning in their arsenal & thus we are comfortable implementing this style of play.
Subs
65mins: Kessié for Can. Fresh legs in midfield to help with pressing.
78mins: Woodburn for Ziyech. Fresh legs to run at their defence
85min: Tousart for Keïta. Mins for the youngster
Cambuur Tactics :
Captain : Fabinho
Vice Captain : Lemos
Team:
------------------Ederson
William---Lemos---Dória----Santos
------------------Fabinho
-----------Rafinha--Arrascaeta
Malcom--------------------------Costa
--------------------Icardi
SUBS: Batalla, Arana, Montes, Walace, Moreno, Martins, Martinez
Goalkeeper: Ederson is a big mobile keeper and very agile. A great shot stopper, he will communicate with the back 4 and be commanding with the high ball. He will not take any risks. He is a great distributor with both hand and foot and we will look to this as a way to launch quick attacks.
Defence: Our 2 full backs are there firstly to defend and make sure they stay on the right side of their opponents whether they be out wide or cutting inside. When we are on the attack they will be allowed to use their power and pace to provide the overlap on the flanks. They both have the power and the lungs to work the touchline for 90 minutes. They will make the pitch wide and always offer themselves as an option in attack. Our 2 centre halves are big 6 feet plus ball playing defenders. Both good in the air and equally as good with the ball at their feet. They will be asked to do the simple things well. Be aggressive but controlled in the tackle and never lose your man when defending dead ball situations. They will be able to bring the ball out of defence but if in doubt take absolutely no chances and clear it. Both big men will be a real aerial threat at set pieces.
Midfield: Fabinho will be the midfield general. A physical pacey midfielder he will be there to boss this area for us. Breaking up play and filling in as an extra defender if one of our back 4 has ventured forward. He will be there to protect the defence and do a lot of the unseen dirty work in the centre of the park. He is essential to our game plan and while sitting deep will still offer a lot with his great passing ability. He also has a thunderbolt right foot. Rafinha and Arrascaeta will play just in front of Fabinho. Rafinha will be a more box to box type. He will be involved all over and will offer as much in defence as in attack. Arrascaeta will be the midfield magician. Clever, elusive and tricky we will look to him for creating the midfield openings with his eye for a pass. We will look at their enthusiasm and relentless pressing of the opposition as a way to hopefully get a bit of a grip on the midfield and at the very least not make it plain sailing for the opposition.
Wingers/Centre Forward: When in possession both Malcom and Costa will be expected to go for the direct approach and use their power and speed to take on the opposition defence and beat them and bring Arrascaeta, Rafinha and Icardi in to play. They can vary their attacks by going wide or cutting inside as they see fit. Both players can play all across the middle so don’t be surprised to see them swapping wings. At times Rafinha may sit a bit deeper allowing Arrascaeta to slot in between both wingers, just behind the CF. As well as an attacking force both wingers will also have to put a defensive shift when called upon and act as back up for their respective full backs.
Icardi starts as the CF. He won’t be short of support or ammunition with the attacking talent behind him. Great playing off the shoulder of the last man he is deadly in and around the box. A bag of energy and very strong we will also look for him to hold up and bring others in to play if it doesn’t seem to be on for him. We will look to get bodies in the box when attacking so he should always have an outlet. He is also great in the air and will provide an option from set pieces. When the shot is on he will take it but we also want to put himself about in the box and think that his lightning pace will be a real handful for defences. He will also be alert to any scraps in and around the goal. He has the ability to produce something sublime and create a chance out of nothing.
Free Kicks/Corners: Arrascaeta, Costa or Malcom with Lemos, Dória, Fabinho and Icardi to offer an aerial threat. Arrascaeta and Costa (with his thunderbolt left foot) may try their luck with several free kicks from distance.
Substitutions: (if winning) Martins for Malcom, Martinez for Icardi and Walace for Fabinho, 3 like for like substitutions.
(If losing on 70 minutes) Martinez for Rafinha, Martins for Malcom. Shift to a 4-1-3-2 attack. Martinez and Moreno offering fresh legs, pace and a bit of the unknown in attack.
-----------------------Fabinho
Moreno---------- Arrascaeta----------Costa
---------------Icardi --------Martinez
----------------Strakosha-----------------
Semedo--M.Keane--van Dijk--Tierney
-----------Wanyama-Pellegrini----------
Robben---------Barkley----------M.Reus
------------------Lukaku-------------------
Pickford, Holgate, Kouassi Eboue, Davies, Burke, Roberts, Kelechi
We have Strakosha in goal who is a big target to aim for, heoozes confidence and this will run through out the team. Will dominate his box and look to start quick counter attacks from the back.
Keane will mark the striker, and van Dijk will be the ball player who will take it out of defence. Both comfortable on the ball especially van Dijk who will start attacks from the back. he is also top class in the air and strong in the tackle, both big men so they can attack high balks and win them no problem . They will remain tight when we are under attack! The fullbacks can attack if they see fit, Tierney is especially good and supporting the winger so he will be up and down the pitch, Semedo will attack sporadically. When they do attack, get beyond the wingers and scream for the ball even if it is just a decoy for the wingers. Defend as a four, stay in a line and stay strong.
Wanyama is our defensive midfielder he takes no prisoners a very hard man to get in behind especially with Pellegrini beside him, Wanyama takes total care of there most advanced central midfielder and stops him becoming a danger. Pellegrini and Barkley are our playmakers and attacking midfielders, Pellegrini is the playmaker from deep but will make lung bursting runs forward, this is a good combination with the other two as we have all basis of what a midfield needs covered, once Wanyama has the ball won, a little pass sideways/forwards to either of the two and we are away very quickly on the attack, Pellegrini who will look to pass it forward to the attacking players, both can tackle so dont let their midfield near our defence! Barkley is the one likes to support the striker so he will be making the late runs into the danger area. He has skills to take him passed players and his passing i svery good as he will look to get Lukaku into a shooting opportunity. Will link well with Robben and Reus
Robben and Reus, both are very quick and can score spectacular goals, so we have given them freedom to attack the fullbacks, Robben tends to cut inside and use his pace and power to get him passed players and into the opposition area whereas Reus will use his skill and pace to go to the outside of defenders and cross in, Both can score from distance with accuracy so on they go. Use Barkley as a pivotal player as they look to support Lukaku
We defend as a team, it isnt all about attack, so again a strong 4 in a line when we defend, two banks of 4/5 are always difficult to penetrate.
Lukaku is quick, powerful and good eye for goal, will look to link up quickly with Barkley as he comes forward with as they will be a big threat today hopefully. All about movement as they look to put away the chances to win this game. Always stays on the last man moving across the line. He is good with his feet and not many will beat him in the air, he will be a constant threat to them, will also look to bring our other attackers into the game if he cant create an opportunity for himself.
Captain van Dijk
Penalties Lukaku
Free Kicks Barkley
Corners The wingers will take
if we are losing Kelechi will come on for Pellegrini, Barkley will drop into CM and we play 442 on 70 minutesa and on 80 minutes Roberts will come on for Robben
If we are winning Eboue will come on for Barkley on 80 minutes and sit in midfield and Kelechi for Lukaku at the same time
If we are drawing Davies for Pellegrini on 70 minutes will add some drive from midfield, Roberts for Robben and Kelechi for Lukaku at the same time
————————Donnarumma
——Christensen———Tah———Romagnoli
Moses———Verratti———A.Blin———Rodriguez
——Williams———Aubameyang———Zivkovic
Subs: Kepa, Ake, P.Pereira, Chalobah, Moreno, Lozano, T.Abraham
Captain: Alessio Romagnoli
Free Kicks: Marco Verratti/Ricardo Rodriguez
Penalties: Ricardo Rodriguez
Corners: Marco Verratti/Ricardo Rodriguez
We want revenge this week after they came to Mexico and beat us and we are willing to do it the ugly way, with a more solid defensive display, using a back and 4 man midfield to cut out their attacking threat and give them no space between players, knowing that their CMs aren’t the best when up against a deep back line and the likes of Lacazette and Mane don’t work as well when there isn’t space to run behind. We then have Williams and Zivkovic in between their CMs and FBs, hoping to stretch the opponents midfield out and find space where they aren’t easily marked, either by a FB who isn’t as comfortable in field on his weaker foot, or by a CM who isn’t as comfortable in wide areas where he is caught one v one,from there we counter with lethal pace.
Today we defend as an 11 in that we will always be compact no matter where the play is, so the forwards are back helping out in that they’ll be between the opposition CMs and FBs so that off the ball they help us defend by pressing them from the sides, Zivkovic and Williams close to Verratti and Blin in order to make a tight 4 man midfield, with Auba waiting behind the CMs, ahead of the two CBs ready to see the space down the sides of their defence and run into it. With the 3 CBs and line of 4 that are solid defensively it means that other than this pressing, the forwards can focus on getting forward and hurting the remaining Tatung defenders, looking to transition quickly to 3 v 3’s if we can catch them quickly when they have a FB or two out of position. As previously stated we stay as a group to make it compact, with Verratti and Blin looking to use this to their advantage, it allows them to work in tandem to slow Pumas attacks down, squeezing the space the man on the ball wants to use, giving Can and co the type of game they don’t suit, which will allow the energetic WBs and the two wide CBs to then press the oppositions forward players, these four working constantly around our CMs, the WBs narrowing, with Christensen and Romagnoli able to step out of the back line and use their excellent aggressive form of defending to break down attacks quickly, knowing that we will always have Tah’s power and pace behind them to cover as well as two WBs who can drop in if needed, using their pace to get back quickly if we make a mistake. This leaves Tah as a sweeper to deal with the central striker’s movement in behind, looking to bully him out of the game, always putting his body in the way. We force the opposition to have to play faster passing to try and work an opening but make sure their only room is to keep going wide, once we get them in the wide areas we are able to double up with WB and wide CB, working together to stop the cross, whilst the opposite WB tucks in to give us a back 3 to guard against any crosses that come in, with both Rodriguez and Moses good at getting in front of their men and winning headers. Forcing them wide also takes play across to where we can be most dangerous, with the CB, WB and CM able to work together to quickly transition the ball to the inside forwards.
Attack starts from the back today but no faffing, quick direct attacking football. Christensen and Romagnoli will stretch out slightly so that there are no big gaps left by the WBs pushing up, getting close to the WBs in the initial build up phase(most attacks starting wide as this is where we look to force them out to win the ball back), along with the CMs. By narrowing these players to the play it allows for much faster build up with the 4 players (WB, wide CB and CM’s) all excellent on the ball, allowing us to transition attacks into space quickly and push our WBs high up the field before the opposition can fully reorganise. The CMs are key to us dominating this game, they have the energy and the ball playing ability to better their opposite numbers, they play as box to box midfielders covering the ground between our defence and attack, chase the opposition down before they can turn and face forward, hunt them together, narrowing angles, make tackles, winning the ball back and using their excellent passing ranges to find our attackers, with Verratti allowed to use his box to box abilities to get close to the attack and force the CMs to worry about something other than our Inside forwards, crowd the free spaces and break the oppositions defensive structure; he has a great long range shot on him too. The WBs are looking to overlap and stretch the defence out, looking get to the byeline where they can whip in the crosses, or make inside runs if the forwards move out wide, looking to break into the box, these two are key to keeping the opposition on the back foot, two players that are excellent driving forward and look to run at players, they will stretch this game right out and stop the FBs from being able to narrow and cover the inside forwards, if they do they risk leaving our WBs unmarked and both are dangerous, especially Rodriguez. That then leaves the front three. Williams and Zivkovic play in the half space, neither out wide nor in the whole, they occupy the positions between, roaming where they can effect the game in the way they like, Zivkovic linking midfield to attack and Williams occupying defenders with his trickery and pace. We introduce the two inside forwards into the spaces between WB and central players where they can overload and bully the players that others are attacking(especially the opposition FBs in the initial build up phase) or occupy the vacant spaces between lines and players where once they receive the ball they will have time and space to turn which makes these two very dangerous. Aubameyang leads the line, he adds a certain amount of experience to this team and really with the quality of players we have to get involved in build up play just has one job, score the goals. He will occupy the CBs with his movement, they know they have to stay close because if they give him an inch he’s too quick to catch but if they go with him they free space for the two supporting forwards, this leaves them in a catch 22 and any moment of hesitation is a chance for Auba to pounce, keep using his movement off the CB and the chances will arrive for him and his team mates. If we are being pegged in we use the long passing of Romagnoli and Christensen to break forward and attack them with 3 forwards when they’ve over committed to the attack, particularly we can have Christensen drop deeper and play as a quarter back.
Subs:
If Winning: Chalobah for Zivkovic 70’, 3-5-2, solidify the midfield. P.Pereira for Moses 80’. Ake for Williams 85’. 5-4-1.
If Drawing: Lozano for Zivkovic 70’, go and attack tiring defenders. Moreno for Blin 75’. Abraham for Tah 80’ 4-4-2.
If Losing: T.Abraham for Moses 60’, Zivkovic play RWB as a more offensive option, Abraham up with Auba. Moreno and Lozano for Blin and Rodriguez 70’, 3-5-2, push them right back.
Wellington Phoenix tactics – vs someone
-------------------------Valdes------------
Holding---Alderweireld--Ginter--Grimaldo
---------------X.Alonso-----Gueye----------
Pedro------------------Mhki---------------Carrasco
---------------------------Milik------------------
Subs: Galloway, Gnabry, Goretzka, Gray, Rashford, Barkok, Wimmer
Captain – X.Alonso
Vice – Alderweireld
Corners – X.Alonso
FKs from deep – X.Alonso
FKs at goal - X.Alonso
Pens - Milik
Big game today, trying to recover our absent start. We line up with a more traditional 4231 again today, but our system will be very similar to last season's - Alonso will hold the deep space allowing Gueye to press the ball high up the pitch. Essentially we will be looking to win the ball back high up the pitch and from there we have great ball playing defenders and the maestro Alonso, picking out passes. The plan is that with such pace and movement in attack we can flood the attack, give us the upper hand due to the shock factor and the extra player will mean that the opposition defence will always be occupied. While they'll probably have contingencies in place, hopefully by flooding the box with fluid attackers we can have their defenders falling each other and giving this side the big defeat they've been due all season. Obviously our midfield two will be put under more strain, but Alonso is such an intelligent reader of the game who has never relied on pace or an all action style and Gueye is just an animal who is in great shape and great form, who can cover a lot of ground, support the defenders and the attacks and has enough ability to move the ball on to the better players.
Our defence will play high, but our defence is as fast and powerful as anyones, not to mention as intelligent and experienced as they come and will be playing on the front foot. Although we will have to be more wary of midfield runners with this formation, I would bet that we will still have a free man along the back line, which really means our players can attack the ball with confidence, keeping the oppostion (hereby known as Team X) in their own half. As always, although we are playing a high line and pushing to keep the play in the opposition half, we will not play an offside trap unless it’s clear – this means the defenders can read the game and drop off half a yard in anticipation of a ball coming over the top to give them the edge on the striker. This, matched with their pace, should be enough to mean that it will take something very special for Team X to get in behind us and even when they do, they have the vast frame of Valdes to try and get past.
IN SUMMARY – we’re looking to press Team X into either playing themselves into trouble and making mistakes at the back or resorting to clearing the ball, which our defence can deal with comfortably given their attributes and recycle position back to Alonso, to get us started again.
Valdes - Classic DL keeper, bags of experience. He will play as you want a keeper to play – alert all game and full of confidence. He’ll command his box and inspire confidence throughout the rest of the team. Otherwise, usual stuff (off his line quickly when needed, big at one on ones, great shot stopper and collect crosses).
As usual his good feet will come into play - we start attacks with him, thus drawing a man onto him, passing beyond him and leaving us with a man spare which we look to exploit with with passing
Grimaldo & Holding – both players with incredible engines, pace to burn and ability on the ball. It’s important to keep them grounded and remind them they’re defenders first – but these qualities listed above will make them very hard to beat in any 1v1 situation. Given our formation, they won’t really be getting forward too often, but they will have their chances. Mainly we want them getting the right side of their attacker and making us hard to beat, but when we’re with the ball I do want them to be hugging the opposite touchline, not too far up the pitch, just to give an option to switch the play and keep our width if the wide forward drifts inside to join the play. I don’t want them making overlapping runs all the time when the play is on their side though, just stretching the play with the switch option.
Alderweireld and Ginter – IMO two of the most complete defenders in the world right now, one at the height of the game with a lot of experience & another still relatively early on in his career, but playing at the top. I want them to work with each other and use their intelligence and experience to cover each other, playing to their strengths with Ginter being the younger, fitter & faster of the two. We won't be letting one or the other attack the ball specfically, they will take control of their area and the other CB will work around them accordingly. They are decent in the air, quick on the ground, great at reading the game, great at picking out passes from the back and both experienced defenders. Alderweireld will lead the line a little more in terms of organisation but I'm really excited to see what the two of them can do together.
X.Alonso – Playing a similar role to how he has operated at Bayern in the last year or so. He has a very talented, energetic side around him and he’s the cool head in the middle to bring it all together and make them tick. He’ll be protecting the defence as ever, with his reading of the game and picking up the ball from the defence and spraying passes around. This should be a fun challenge for him, something slightly different which I believe he will relish. The movement in front of him will make this aspect of his game relatively easy given his ability to pick a pass, but more importantly a lot of fun for him! Defensively he may get caught 2v1 now and again but he has the intelligence to know when to foul, when to hold people up and allow Gueye to get back and when to call a defender out to help him.
Gueye – A big coup for us - he's essentially a luxury version of Diame, on steriods and smarter and more technical. And we'd been doing well with Diame! He has bags of energy, good passing, good shot, good decision making. These attributes make this man the perfect box to box player for our formation today. He will play slightly ahead of Alonso, his main role will be to put the Tewm X DM under too much pressure to settle on the ball and play them out of trouble. He should thrive on getting on the ball in dangerous areas, rather than a more reserved role, with a lot of movement and pace around him causing problems for the opposition, giving him a little more space than usual as well. Defensively, I just want him to be very aware of the counter attack and when Alonso is being doubled up on bust a gut to get back and help him. But when we are pressing the opposition in a normal situation he will be up high on the DM.
Pedro & Carrasco – hungry, direct, pacey and unpredictable, which will make them a constant pain for Team X. I want them always looking to get forward, beat a man, taking the quickest route into the box, whether that be a direct run in or down the line and whip a ball in. I want them always wanting the ball too, always moving off the ball. Off the ball it’s simple, just drop in and get goalside of your FB as soon as you can. Not so much defensive responsibility today with our FBs playing as defenders, not wing backs, so they will look to get at the full backs in 1v1 battles, keep them pinned back and just try to beat them and get the ball in the box. If the opposition FBs do try and push on, let them – we will try and stop the attack very quickly and aggressively at the back and then when we get the ball back, the wingers will have space and we will outnumber the defence 4 to 3. They're also hard workers which was make us more solid as a team, as well as having huge experience of turning big games on their heads
Mhki - naturally he'll put in a shift closing people down and without the ball he'll beat people, pick passes and create things. He gets a chance to do this as he pleases and let others play to his tune
Milik - a classic CF who will play to his strengths, bringing players into the game and coming alive when hes in the box.
Subs: 60 mins - Goretzka for Alonso, straight swap fresh legs
65 mins - Rashford & Gnabry for Milik & Carrasco - again straight swaps just to keep our energy levels high
week 12
Injuries- Chiellini, Lindelof, DiMarco, Aduriz
------------------------------Storari--------------------------------
Hysaj---------Kimmich-----------Zouma------------Raphael
---------------------Tolisso----------Saul----------------------
Lemar---------------------Bernardo-----------------------Pjaca
-------------------------------Dybala----------------------------------
subs: Lirola, Passlack, Renato Sanches, Horta, Maksimovic, Emre Mor, Silva
Out of possession game plan: We're setting up in a 4-2-3-1 shape in this match, we will look to press high up the pitch from the front and very centrally, we know of Goodwick's attacking threat so we need to negate that by keeping them away from the box, we've added the pace, strength and quality of Zouma who will bring great qualities and solidity to the defence, a real leader. Bernardo Silva will join Dybala in the first line to pressurise the Wick defenders while Pjaca and Lemar move narrower to cut off the supply to midfield, this will only open up passing avenues for the opposition out wide, when the ball goes wide, it is the job of Raphael and Hysaj to push quickly onto the fullback(whichever flank the ball is distributed to), forcing them either backwards,to launch the ball long or to hurry them into a mistake, the advantage of this is that should a mistake happen we have plenty of numbers forward to punish mistakes.
---------------------Kimmich-----------Chiellini-------------------
-------------------Tolisso
Hysaj---------------------------Saul-------------------Raphael
-----------------Lemar----------------------Pjaca--------------
(opp FB)---------(opp MF)----------------(opp MF)---------(opp FB)
---------------Dybala-------------------Bernardo-------------------
--------------(oppCB)--------------------(oppCB)---------------
In possession game plan: we are a side full of energy and pace, and will be looking to fully utilise this in our attacking game. In Tolisso, Saul and Bernardo we have great central presence to move the ball in the opposition half. As the deepest of the midfield three, Tolisso has the most responsibility in moving the ball from the deep phases of build up, Saul next to him is very adept at carrying the ball and his passing both long and short is superb, Bernardo, Pjaca and Lemar all possess pace, trickery and the ability to score and provide goals, they will look to get on the ball as much as possible and interchange as all are equally comfortable across the attacking line. Paulo Dybala will lead the line and we all know how good he is, his explosiveness, trickery and shooting ability will be very much on show today, can go in behind or come short and try and create, a real all round fantastic forward who will create havoc for defences.
Subs:
Renato Sanches for Saul on 75 minutes, straight swap, fresh legs
if losing after 65 minutes: switch Andre Silva for Lemar, Silva to move up front alongside Dybala who will use his pace and movement to get in behind and stretch the defence of Goodwick creating more space and pushing them back while Bernardo Silva moves to the right
if winning after 80 minutes, Felix Passlack comes on for Lemar or Bernardo, switch to 4-5-1, Kimmich to hold in front of the defence, using his strength and power to marshall the Goodwick attack while still retaining the ability to distribute and begin counter attacks, Passlack to play as a defensive right midfielder in front of Hysaj while Pjaca plays a more disciplined role on the left.
Sorry its just a re-hash of last week
Injuries
Davide Calabria
Daniele Rugani
Danilo Cataldi
Umar Sadiq
…………………………………......Buffon……………………………..
……………………….Barzagli……Mascherano….Caldara……………
………………………………Gagliardini….Sturaro…………….
Berardi…………………………….Iniesta……………………………Ribery
……………………………Immobile……Zlatan………………………
Subs: Cragno, Santon, Iorfa, Winks, Munir,De Sciglio, Enzo
Well welshy crippled my midfield options, this week so it’s a change of system amd we go 3-2-3-2, giving us a rock solid back five with a pretty potent front five.
Mex we expect to continue in his 4-2-3-1 so our midfield trident will match his man for man, our LCB and RCB will shuffle wide to deal with his wingers leaving Barzagli one for one with Juves’s lone striker.
I am aware this is a risky strategy defensively atleast. However, offensively we will take the game the to the visiting team, get the fans behind us and take them man for man at the back, force a gap and hit them hard. Immobile is a very mobile centre forward who will do a lot of the leg work pulling his centre-back with him and leaving Berardi one-v-one with the other defender.
Munir and Ribery will push as high and as wide as they can, with no defensive duties today – we have a back 5 so they’re not needed. The job they will do by staying high up the pitch is to force Mex’s full-backs to stay in defence, if they do attack don’t track them, come back far enough only to stay onside because we’ll smash them on the counter. As I say it is risky but we go 4vs4 up front so you have to bank on yourself.
Iniesta is back from injury and comes in as the #10 this afternoon, has a great touch on him and will look to link the play, when we have the ball he will look to play off the shoulder of Immobile effectively giving us 3 central strikers.
Gagliardini is our pure midfield enforcer and in the first phase will stay centrally based looking to cut off the passing lines and forcing Juve to go wide – here’s where my plan hinges, Because Sturaro plays the enforcer role for Juventus and Italy he’ll hold the middle ground WHEN Juve go wide, Gagliardini will drop off as a second CB – A role he now does for Inter…this means when either Mascherano or Rugani shuffle we pretty much have a flat back four…so we end up transitioning seamlessly from a 3-2-3-2 in possession to a 4-1-3-2 without the ball with Munir and Ribery dropping off to the half-way line…..Juve won’t have any easy passing routes and will have to go long.
In terms of our actual game plan I want us with a high pressing fast paced game today, no ball retention for retentions sake, we want to win the ball quickly and smash them hard before they re-group, some would call it long ball I prefer the term direct passing – get it going long and wide stretch the play and bypass their hardworking midfield – Immobile is the perfect out-ball and with the support we can offer him it would be stupid not to utilise his talents.
Subs:
60 mins fresh legs
Cataldi > Sturaro
----------------------------------------------------------------------
sorry ignore the Cataldi sub he's injured
copy and paste and cba changing Mex to Fan lol
yea borderline better than a walkover
**********************Week 13 Tactics********************
Fishguard Sports
Captain: Hummels
Penalties: Dolberg
Free Kicks: Pulisic
-----------------------Horn
Weiser-------Süle-------Hummels---Alex Sandro
--------------Weigl-----------Dahoud
---Sané---------------Amiri-----------Pulisic
-----------------------Dolberg
Subs: Sommer, Klostermann, Kempf, Stark, Goretzka, Schöpf, Jörgensen
Our defensive unit consists of Niklas Süle and Mats Hummels paired up at centre-back, Mitchell Weiser at right-back and Alex Sandro at left-back, with Julian Weigl and Mahmoud Dahoud as our midfield ‘double pivot’ screening them.
This ‘double pivot’ is the key to our team and in Weigl and Dahoud we have a perfect pairing to initiate attacks by distributing the ball in an intelligent fashion, to be key players in circulation and to prevent dangerous opposition attacks, being disciplined in positioning and limiting space in between the lines.
The strength of our double pivot is that Dahoud can press the ball without leaving lots of space, as Weigl can maintain a good position to react if the initial press is bypassed. Our double pivot will offer huge defensive stability and will ensure that a structured shape is maintained.
Having two defensive midfielders centrally prevents others being dragged out of position to press.
Helping the defenders maintain solid positioning is a key part of Dahoud’s role, he will press almost anywhere in his own half to allow defenders to stay in the defensive line.
With Dahoud running his socks off for the team, our high tempo will dictated by his partner in holding midfield, Julian Weigl.
Weigl is not just your “win the ball and pass it on to the closest player” – there is a real creative mind in his locker, but it’s his ability to be the shield of the back four and then be creative once he gets the ball that makes Weigl such a talent.
The attacking unit consists of Leroy Sané, Nadiem Amiri and Christian Pulisic as our band of three attacking midfielders, with Kasper Dolberg as our lone central striker.
Our 4-2-3-1 is set up to have that wonderful ‘springy' quality - it absorbs pressure without breaking and then snaps back with surprising force.
In defence our 4-2-3-1 covers space very effectively, with the band of three attacking midfielders and centre forward able to press the opposition high up the pitch while the two defensive midfielders ensure that there is no space left in front of the defence. Then the back four can either play a high line, compressing the space even further, or drop deeper as preferred.
Once we have won the ball back, often by Weigl or Dahoud, then our 4-2-3-1 can spring into attack.
Weiser and Alex Sandro can surge up the wings in the knowledge that Weigl and Dahoud can drop into the space left behind if needed. As they come up the wings, both Leroy Sané and Christian Pulisic who are fleet-footed speed merchants, excellent in tight spaces and fantastic dribblers will cut inside or make runs into the box. Nadiem Amiri our attacking central midfielder’s diminutive physique and low centre of gravity will enable him to navigate away from defenders at a frighteningly quick pace. Amiri is blessed with an instant first touch and can dribble with the ball at such a close proximity to his feet that it makes him almost impossible to tackle this creative passer who will look to play Sané, Pulisic or Dolberg in via fast passing combinations.
A complete striker, Dolberg will act as a presence up front whilst also possessing the ability to go past defenders, by unleashing his pace on our opponents defence.
His skill-set goes against the stereotype which states that the lanky forwards can only act as target men up front, or use their hold-up abilities to allow the team-mates to join the attack. And apart from pace, a main part of Dolberg’s armoury is his lethal finishing.
Subs:
70th Minute – Schöpf on for Amiri (like for like, but good to get some fresh legs on and just like Amiri, Schöpf is very much a gifted talent with an eye for a pass and an eye for goal)
80th Minute Goretzka on for Dahoud (again like for like as we bring on some fresh legs in a key position. Goretzka has a massive engine which will bring fresh intensity into the midfield for the final minutes)
Cambuur Tactics :
Captain : Fabinho
Vice Captain : Lemos
Team:
------------------Ederson
Bernardo---Lemos---Dória----Santos
------------------Fabinho
-----------Rafinha--Arrascaeta
Malcom----------------------------Costa
--------------------Simeone
SUBS: Batalla, Arana, Montes, Walace, Driussi, Martins, Martinez
Goalkeeper: Ederson is a big mobile keeper and very agile. A great shot stopper, he will communicate with the back 4 and be commanding with the high ball. He will not take any risks. He is a great distributor with both hand and foot and we will look to this as a way to launch quick attacks.
Defence: Our 2 full backs are there firstly to defend and make sure they stay on the right side of their opponents whether they be out wide or cutting inside. When we are on the attack they will be allowed to use their power and pace to provide the overlap on the flanks. They both have the power and the lungs to work the touchline for 90 minutes. They will make the pitch wide and always offer themselves as an option in attack. Our 2 centre halves are big 6 feet plus ball playing defenders. Both good in the air and equally as good with the ball at their feet. They will be asked to do the simple things well. Be aggressive but controlled in the tackle and never lose your man when defending dead ball situations. They will be able to bring the ball out of defence but if in doubt take absolutely no chances and clear it. Both big men will be a real aerial threat at set pieces.
Midfield: Fabinho will be the midfield general. A physical pacey midfielder he will be there to boss this area for us. Breaking up play and filling in as an extra defender if one of our back 4 has ventured forward. He will be there to protect the defence and do a lot of the unseen dirty work in the centre of the park. He is essential to our game plan and while sitting deep will still offer a lot with his great passing ability. He also has a thunderbolt right foot. Rafinha and Arrascaeta will play just in front of Fabinho. Rafinha will be a more box to box type. He will be involved all over and will offer as much in defence as in attack. Arrascaeta will be the midfield magician. Clever, elusive and tricky we will look to him for creating the midfield openings with his eye for a pass. We will look at their enthusiasm and relentless pressing of the opposition as a way to hopefully get a bit of a grip on the midfield and at the very least not make it plain sailing for the opposition.
Wingers/Centre Forward: When in possession both Malcom and Costa will be expected to go for the direct approach and use their power and speed to take on the opposition defence and beat them and bring Arrascaeta, Rafinha and Simeone in to play. They can vary their attacks by going wide or cutting inside as they see fit. Both players can play all across the middle so don’t be surprised to see them swapping wings. At times Rafinha may sit a bit deeper allowing Arrascaeta to slot in between both wingers, just behind the CF. As well as an attacking force both wingers will also have to put a defensive shift when called upon and act as back up for their respective full backs.
Simeone starts as the CF. He won’t be short of support or ammunition with the attacking talent behind him. Great playing off the shoulder of the last man he is deadly in and around the box. A bag of energy and very strong we will also look for him to hold up and bring others in to play if it doesn’t seem to be on for him. We will look to get bodies in the box when attacking so he should always have an outlet. He is also great in the air and will provide an option from set pieces. When the shot is on he will take it but we also want to put himself about in the box and think that his lightning pace will be a real handful for defences. He will also be alert to any scraps in and around the goal. He has the ability to produce something sublime and create a chance out of nothing.
Free Kicks/Corners: Arrascaeta, Costa or Malcom with Lemos, Dória, Fabinho and Simeone to offer an aerial threat. Arrascaeta and Costa (with his thunderbolt left foot) may try their luck with several free kicks from distance.
Substitutions: (if winning) Martins for Malcom, Martinez for Simeone and Walace for Fabinho, 3 like for like substitutions.
If losing (on 70 minutes) Martinez for Rafinha, Martins for Malcom. Shift to a 4-1-3-2 attack. Martinez and Driussi offering fresh legs, pace and a bit of the unknown in attack.
---------------------Fabinho
Driussi---------- Arrascaeta----------Costa
-----------Simeone --------Martinez
TATUNG Tactics
--------------------------Reina
-----------------Glik----------------Matip----------------
Sidibé----------------------------------------------Telles
----------------------------Can
--------------Kessié-----------------Keïta
Mane---------------------------------------------Bailey
------------------------Lacazette
Subs: Orban, Bakayoko, Tousart, Ziyech, Traore, Fekir, Ünal
Captain: Glik
Freekicks: Telles
Corners: Telles
Penalties: Lacazette
Possession, Positioning & Defending:
Building attacks starts from the back or deep midfield. Intelligent use of the ball from your midfielders & defenders enables your attackers to receive the ball in better positions making it easier for them to create chances & score goals. This does not necessarily mean a slow passive build-up with the ball. We still attack with intensity, press with intensity & defend with intensity. However we feel possession of the ball enables us to play with the strength in movement of our players with & without the ball to aid us in creating chances against teams that will look to defend deep. The formation isn’t the restricted position of our players when in possession. It is however a system in positioning to retreat into when our initial high press fails & we need to structure ourselves defensively. To enable us to dominate possession we need to position ourselves intelligently as we look to create overloads within the opposition’s structure enabling our players to pass their way out of the opposition’s press by moving the ball to an area of the pitch which then becomes less saturated & more vulnerable to penetration. The aim is to pass & lure the opposition to one area of the pitch with the compact positioning of players close to the ball & then quickly switch the play to the other side of the field thus catching the opposition out of position. So the vertical spacing between the defence, midfield & attack needs to be needs to remain compact at all times.
In Emre Can, Franck Kessie & Naby Keïta we have 3 midfielders who are capable of dictating the play as well springing a quick counter attack with a splitting pass or bursting run through midfield. Together they will look to get on the ball as much as possible. Once the play is moved to our forwards they will position themselves intelligently so that they can dictate the play by redistributing the ball to our creative workhorses in Mane, Bailey & Lacazette.
Can, Kessié & Keïta more than have the physical attributes to dominate any midfield but they can also speed up or slow down the play depending on the rhythm of the game before making the right pass that will result in checkmate for us. Most teams will look to shut us out through the centre of the pitch so building attacks from wide areas will be utilised as well.
If the play is towards the left/left-centre of the field we will use the positioning of Keita, Matip, Telles & Bailey to create the overloads that enable us to keep possession. While those four players look to dominate the space & ball, Kessie & Can will move infield to make sure we are not neglecting the centre of the pitch which helps us both defensively(to press) & offensively(to pass). Lacazette will make runs which will enable us to create chances and Mane will balance out the attack by either keeping himself free for us to switch the play or occupying the centre backs should Lacazette move towards the play. The defence also moves as well, keeping an eye on the opposition’s forwards as they will look to cut off the passing options in the event that we lose the ball. This allows the defenders to press quickly.
When the opposition tries to win the ball back we have enough players to play around their press however should we find the play congested, we will quickly switch the play (via a combination of passes or a long pass) to less congested right side & utilise the individual abilities of Mane, Sidibe or Kessie (a collective of pace, power, speed of thought, vision & technical ability). Also by spacing our players close together, it also enables us to press the opposition quickly & in numbers aiding us to win the ball as quickly as possible thus counter-pressing the opposition & catching them disorganised which enhances the quality of our attacks.
If the opposition goes for the long ball, Glik & Matip more than have the physical attributes to deal with the scenario. The ball should only ever be passed to the defence to relieve the team of pressure as we re-evaluate the play & build again or to mislead the opposition out of their defensive shell & open up space in-between the lines for us to quickly move the ball forward & create more quality chances.
When the play is on the right hand side of the field the philosophy is the same, only the personal changes. So Kessie, Glik, Sidibe & Mane will create the overloads. Keita & Can will move infield & Bailey will balance our play depending on the movement of Lacazette. Defence performs their same role as well.
Possession of the ball is only the tool with which we need to fully express our style of play based on positional structure & movement of our players. Without the ball this is not possible. Chances are created from the positional structure, dynamic movement & spacing in the final third, which surprises opponent thus creating breakthroughs towards the opponent’s goal – especially when the creativity of Can, Keïta & Bailey is paired with the sheer speed of Mane & Lacazette. We understand that our forwards are not blessed in height therefore we will mainly utilise cutbacks instead of crosses. This should also play into the box-2-box strengths of Kessie & Keïta.
Counter-pressing is also a tool should we lose the ball in the attacking third. As mentioned above the compact positioning of our players aids our intense pressing tactic.
Through balls, chips & lobs coupled with the movement of our forwards all contribute to our attacking style. Attackers are allowed freedom of movement & expression.
Part of our defensive strategy is intense pressing & counter-pressing the player with the ball & man-marking the immediate passing options available to the opposing player with the ball. However we do understand that the high press will not always win the ball there we will look to defend in a narrow 451 structure (Lacazette being the front 1).
• The default posture of the team is to sit deep in a narrow, compact shape in order to prevent the opponent from creating chances.
• The team only breaks the shape to press the ball when the odds of success are high. (And even here it might be better to say that the whole team moves together, causing the shape to temporarily change, rather than saying that the shape "breaks"
• When the ball is won, it is played forward quickly because fast attacks can catch opponents off balance & turning the ball over in the attacking third is less costly than turning it over in your own defensive third or in midfield.
• Every player in the team has to assist defensively.
• Position ourselves compactly, offering less space between our lines & force the opponent into less dangerous areas of the field away from our goal.
We have intelligent players that have this dynamic movement & intelligent positioning in their arsenal & thus we are comfortable implementing this style of play.
Subs
60mins: Ziyech for Can. Switch to 4231 with Ziyech in front of Kessie & Keita. Adds more creativity.
75mins: Bakayoko for Kessie to get some fresh legs to help press and keep the midfield fresh.
80mins: Fekir for Bailey to run at their defence and help Lacazette.
week 13
Injuries-
Renato Sanches
Saúl Ñíguez
Felix Passlack
Aritz Aduriz
------------------------------Storari--------------------------------
Hysaj---------Zouma-----------Chiellini------------Raphael
---------------------Tolisso----------Kimmich----------------------
Lemar---------------------Bernardo-----------------------Pjaca
-------------------------------Dybala----------------------------------
subs: Lirola, Lindelof, Maia, Horta, Maksimovic, Emre Mor, Silva
Out of possession game plan: We're setting up in a 4-2-3-1 shape in this match, we will look to press high up the pitch from the front and very centrally, we know of PUMAS' attacking threat so we need to negate that by keeping them away from the box, we've added the pace, strength and quality of Zouma who will bring great qualities and solidity to the defence, a real leader. Bernardo Silva will join Dybala in the first line to pressurise the Pumas defenders while Pjaca and Lemar move narrower to cut off the supply to midfield, this will only open up passing avenues for the opposition out wide, when the ball goes wide, it is the job of Raphael and Hysaj to push quickly onto the fullback(whichever flank the ball is distributed to), forcing them either backwards,to launch the ball long or to hurry them into a mistake, the advantage of this is that should a mistake happen we have plenty of numbers forward to punish mistakes.
---------------------Zouma-----------Chiellini-------------------
-------------------Kimmich
Hysaj---------------------------Tolisso-------------------Raphael
-----------------Lemar----------------------Pjaca--------------
(opp FB)---------(opp MF)----------------(opp MF)---------(opp FB)
---------------Dybala-------------------Bernardo-------------------
--------------(oppCB)--------------------(oppCB)---------------
In possession game plan: we are a side full of energy and pace, and will be looking to fully utilise this in our attacking game. In Tolisso, Kimmich and Bernardo we have great central presence to move the ball in the opposition half. As the deepest of the midfield three, Kimmich has the most responsibility in moving the ball from the deep phases of build up, Tolisso next to him is very adept at carrying the ball and his passing both long and short is superb, Bernardo, Pjaca and Lemar all possess pace, trickery and the ability to score and provide goals, they will look to get on the ball as much as possible and interchange as all are equally comfortable across the attacking line. Paulo Dybala will lead the line and we all know how good he is, his explosiveness, trickery and shooting ability will be very much on show today, can go in behind or come short and try and create, a real all round fantastic forward who will create havoc for defences.
Subs:
Thiago Maia for Kimmich on 75 minutes, straight swap, fresh legs
if losing after 65 minutes: switch Andre Silva for Lemar, Silva to move up front alongside Dybala who will use his pace and movement to get in behind and stretch the defence of PUMAS creating more space and pushing them back while Bernardo Silva moves to the right
if winning after 80 minutes, Pol Lirola comes on for Lemar or Bernardo, switch to 4-5-1, Maia to hold in front of the defence, using his strength and power to marshall the PUMAS attack while still retaining the ability to distribute and begin counter attacks, Lirola to play as a defensive right midfielder in front of Hysaj while Pjaca plays a more disciplined role on the left.
Blyth Spartans
Injuries:
Davide Calabria
Mattia Caldara
Stefano Sturaro
Franck Ribery
..............................Buffon.................
Santon..................Rugani......Barzagli......De Sciglio
..............................Mascherano................
.......................Gagliardini....Sturaro.............
...............................Iniesta.................
......................zlatan.............Immobile.........
Subs: Cragno, Iorfa, Winks,Munir, Sadiq, Aarons, Berardi
Home against Edinburgh, tough game against a side only a few weeks back was challenging for the title, we're going with the tried and tested 4-4-2 diamond day
It's not everyones cup of tea but for me it covers all the bases, strong all italian defence, protecting the greatest ever in goal. Solid spine through-out the midfield to enable us to control the game, and a potent strike-force.
This system was good enough for Carlito and his all conquering Milan side, so it's good enough for us today.
The Defence:
Marshalled by Gigi the great we have a pretty solid back line, Buffon will come and collect what he can, even now he's still one of the best in the business.
Santon and De Sciglio are aguably better going forwards than defending and usually that would be an issues but Barz and Rugs are solid at the back and with Mascherano dropping off as a 3rd CB when we have the ball they have that freedom to get forward and give us much needed width.
Not sure if Fud will approach this with one or two up top - if its one then Barz man marks him with Rugs as the insurance policy, if it's two then we go zonal so as not to be pulled out of position by a clever dummy run.
The Midfield:
The middle 3 is probably the least exciting I've ever put out, but this is about control of the middle ground, Mascherano has his detractors but for me is still a gimme at DM..strong in the tackle and keeps it simple in possession, every side needs that kind of steel.
Gagliardini has had a remarkable rise to prominence leading to moves to Inter and full caps for Italy and this week has been declared De Rossi's heir, by De Rossi himself. so he and Sturaro will give us even more stability..there's no way Edinburgh are playing through us, no way at all.
The Trident:
Iniesta is our #10 - everything good about our team flows through him, even with a man marking him he always finds space for a touch, blessed with such technique, will really look to link the play for us today
Immobile is better than his name suggests, full of running and will look to take a defender away creating some space and one on ones for Zlatan to exploit...Zlatan is just Zlatan and will play his natural game today - this team is built to get the best out of him.
Subs 65 mins:
Berardi > Immobile
Wellington Phoenix tactics – vs someone
-------------------------Valdes------------
Jung---Alderweireld--Ginter--Grimaldo
---------------Pjanic-----Gueye----------
Pedro------------------Mhki---------------Carrasco
---------------------------Milik------------------
Subs: Galloway, Gnabry, Alonso, Gray, Eggestein, Ndidi, Vieira
Captain – Alderweireld
Vice – Valdes
Corners – Pjanic
FKs from deep – Pjanic
FKs at goal - Pjanic
Pens - Milik
Big game today, trying to recover our absent start. We line up with a more traditional 4231 again today, but our system will be very similar to last season's - Pjanic will hold the deep space allowing Gueye to press the ball high up the pitch. Essentially we will be looking to win the ball back high up the pitch and from there we have great ball playing defenders and the maestro Pjanic, picking out passes. The plan is that with such pace and movement in attack we can flood the attack, give us the upper hand due to the shock factor and the extra player will mean that the opposition defence will always be occupied. While they'll probably have contingencies in place, hopefully by flooding the box with fluid attackers we can have their defenders falling each other and giving this side the big defeat they've been due all season. Obviously our midfield two will be put under more strain, but Pjanic is such an intelligent reader of the game who has never relied on pace or an all action style and Gueye is just an animal who is in great shape and great form, who can cover a lot of ground, support the defenders and the attacks and has enough ability to move the ball on to the better players.
Our defence will play high, but our defence is as fast and powerful as anyones, not to mention as intelligent and experienced as they come and will be playing on the front foot. Although we will have to be more wary of midfield runners with this formation, I would bet that we will still have a free man along the back line, which really means our players can attack the ball with confidence, keeping the oppostion (hereby known as Team X) in their own half. As always, although we are playing a high line and pushing to keep the play in the opposition half, we will not play an offside trap unless it’s clear – this means the defenders can read the game and drop off half a yard in anticipation of a ball coming over the top to give them the edge on the striker. This, matched with their pace, should be enough to mean that it will take something very special for Team X to get in behind us and even when they do, they have the vast frame of Valdes to try and get past.
IN SUMMARY – we’re looking to press Team X into either playing themselves into trouble and making mistakes at the back or resorting to clearing the ball, which our defence can deal with comfortably given their attributes and recycle position back to Alonso, to get us started again.
Valdes - Classic DL keeper, bags of experience. He will play as you want a keeper to play – alert all game and full of confidence. He’ll command his box and inspire confidence throughout the rest of the team. Otherwise, usual stuff (off his line quickly when needed, big at one on ones, great shot stopper and collect crosses).
As usual his good feet will come into play - we start attacks with him, thus drawing a man onto him, passing beyond him and leaving us with a man spare which we look to exploit with with passing
Grimaldo & Jung – both players with incredible engines, pace to burn and ability on the ball. It’s important to keep them grounded and remind them they’re defenders first – but these qualities listed above will make them very hard to beat in any 1v1 situation. Given our formation, they won’t really be getting forward too often, but they will have their chances. Mainly we want them getting the right side of their attacker and making us hard to beat, but when we’re with the ball I do want them to be hugging the opposite touchline, not too far up the pitch, just to give an option to switch the play and keep our width if the wide forward drifts inside to join the play. I don’t want them making overlapping runs all the time when the play is on their side though, just stretching the play with the switch option.
Alderweireld and Ginter – IMO two of the most complete defenders in the world right now, one at the height of the game with a lot of experience & another still relatively early on in his career, but playing at the top. I want them to work with each other and use their intelligence and experience to cover each other, playing to their strengths with Ginter being the younger, fitter & faster of the two. We won't be letting one or the other attack the ball specfically, they will take control of their area and the other CB will work around them accordingly. They are decent in the air, quick on the ground, great at reading the game, great at picking out passes from the back and both experienced defenders. Alderweireld will lead the line a little more in terms of organisation but I'm really excited to see what the two of them can do together.
Pjanic - Allowed to get on the ball and dictate the pace of the game, he'll play in a similar way to Alonso but with more bite and energy, given his age, which should stand us in good stead. He has a very talented, energetic side around him and he’s the cool head in the middle to bring it all together and make them tick. He’ll be protecting the defence as ever, with his reading of the game and picking up the ball from the defence and spraying passes around. This should be a fun challenge for him, something slightly different which I believe he will relish. The movement in front of him will make this aspect of his game relatively easy given his ability to pick a pass, but more importantly a lot of fun for him! Defensively he may get caught 2v1 now and again but he has the intelligence to know when to foul, when to hold people up and allow Gueye to get back and when to call a defender out to help him.
Gueye – A big coup for us - he's essentially a luxury version of Diame, on steriods and smarter and more technical. And we'd been doing well with Diame! He has bags of energy, good passing, good shot, good decision making. These attributes make this man the perfect box to box player for our formation today. He will play slightly ahead of Alonso, his main role will be to put the Tewm X DM under too much pressure to settle on the ball and play them out of trouble. He should thrive on getting on the ball in dangerous areas, rather than a more reserved role, with a lot of movement and pace around him causing problems for the opposition, giving him a little more space than usual as well. Defensively, I just want him to be very aware of the counter attack and when Alonso is being doubled up on bust a gut to get back and help him. But when we are pressing the opposition in a normal situation he will be up high on the DM.
Pedro & Carrasco – hungry, direct, pacey and unpredictable, which will make them a constant pain for Team X. I want them always looking to get forward, beat a man, taking the quickest route into the box, whether that be a direct run in or down the line and whip a ball in. I want them always wanting the ball too, always moving off the ball. Off the ball it’s simple, just drop in and get goalside of your FB as soon as you can. Not so much defensive responsibility today with our FBs playing as defenders, not wing backs, so they will look to get at the full backs in 1v1 battles, keep them pinned back and just try to beat them and get the ball in the box. If the opposition FBs do try and push on, let them – we will try and stop the attack very quickly and aggressively at the back and then when we get the ball back, the wingers will have space and we will outnumber the defence 4 to 3. They're also hard workers which was make us more solid as a team, as well as having huge experience of turning big games on their heads
Mhki - naturally he'll put in a shift closing people down and without the ball he'll beat people, pick passes and create things. He gets a chance to do this as he pleases and let others play to his tune
Milik - a classic CF who will play to his strengths, bringing players into the game and coming alive when hes in the box.
If winning at 65 mins - Mhki, Carrasco & Gueye off for Ndidi, Alonso & Gnabry.
Move to 4-3-3:
-------------Alonso--------
---------Pjanic--Ndidi---
Pedro-----Milik----Gnabry
Alonso to see the game out with his passing ability and experience, Ndidi to bring great energy levels to the MF to allow Alonso to do his thing. Gnabry just a talented hard working player who is ideal for this situation.
Pedro stays on because of his defensive awareness and workrate.
If losing/drawing on 65 mins - Ndidi, Gray & Gnabry on for Gueye, Pedro & Carrasco - all straight swaps.
Ndidi is a more attacking version of Gueye, with fresh legs. Gray & Gnabry are young direct and unpredictable, so should trouble tiring legs.
——————————Donnarumma
———Christensen————Tah————Romagnoli
Pereira—————-Verratti——-Tielemans————Rodriguez
————-O.Dembele—————————I.Williams
———————————Aubameyang
Subs: Kepa, J.Vallejo, N.Chalobah, M.Asensio, H.Lozano, M.Marega, T.Abraham
Captain: Youri Tielemans
Free Kicks: Youri Tielemans/Ricardo Rodriguez
Corners: Ricardo Rodriguez/Youri Tielemans
Penalties: Ricardo Rodriguez
Hardest game of the season but away from home we can still beat anyone given our solid base and ridiculous amount of pace going forward. We look to first and foremost defend as a unit, focusing on squeezing out the space in our third with a 7 man block, formed of a back 5, and a line of 4 in midfield, with Aubameyang sticking to the deepest midfield player to stop him being able to dictate the tempo. Once we win the ball we counter at 100mph.
Today we defend as an 11 in that we will always be compact no matter where the play is, so the forwards are back helping out in that they’ll be between the opposition CMs and FBs so that off the ball they help us defend by pressing the passing lanes between FB and midfield, Dembele and Williams close to Verratti and Tielemans in order to make a tight 4 man midfield, with Auba hounding the deepest CM, stopping him dictate the play but ready to burst into space either side of him when we win the ball. With the 3 CBs and line of 4 that hard working it means that other than squeezing the space, the forwards can focus on getting forward and hurting the remaining Juve defenders, looking to transition quickly to 3 v 3’s if we can catch them quickly when they have a FB or two out of position. As previously stated we stay as a group to make it compact, with Verratti and Tielemans looking to use this to their advantage, it allows them to work in tandem to slow Juve attacks down, squeezing the space the man on the ball wants to use, which will allow the energetic WBs and the two wide CBs to then press the passing lanes, these four working constantly around our CMs, the WBs narrowing, with Christensen and Romagnoli able to step out of the back line and use their excellent aggressive form of defending to shut space off quickly, knowing that we will always have Tah’s power and pace behind them to cover as well as two WBs who can drop in if needed, using their pace to get back quickly if we make a mistake. This allows us to quickly shut off all the space and be very compact, for Juve backwards and sideways and then into the mistakes that lead them vulnerable to our speed. This leaves Tah as a sweeper to deal with the central striker’s movement in behind, looking to bully him out of the game, always putting his body in the way. We force the opposition to have to play faster passing to try and work an opening but make sure their only room is to keep going wide, once we get them in the wide areas we are able to double up with WB and wide CB, working together to stop the cross, whilst the opposite WB tucks in to give us a back 3 to guard against any crosses that come in, with both Rodriguez and Pereira good at getting in front of their men and winning headers. Forcing them wide also takes play across to where we can be most dangerous, with the CB, WB and CM able to work together to quickly transition the ball to the inside forwards.
Attack starts from the back today but no faffing, quick direct attacking football. Christensen and Romagnoli will stretch out slightly so that there are no big gaps left by the WBs pushing up, getting close to the WBs in the initial build up phase(most attacks starting wide as this is where we look to force them out to win the ball back), along with the CMs. By narrowing these players to the play it allows for much faster build up with the 4 players (WB, wide CB and CM’s) all excellent on the ball, allowing us to transition attacks into space quickly and push our WBs high up the field before the opposition can fully reorganise. The CMs are key to us dominating this game, they have the energy and the ball playing ability to play as box to box midfielders covering the ground between our defence and attack, chase the opposition down before they can turn and face forward, hunt them together, narrowing angles, make tackles, winning the ball back and using their excellent passing ranges to find our attackers, with Tielemans allowed to use his box to box abilities to get close to the attack and force the CMs to worry about something other than our Inside forwards, crowd the free spaces and break the oppositions defensive structure; he has a great long range shot on him too. The WBs are looking to overlap and stretch the defence out, looking get to the byeline where they can whip in the crosses, or make inside runs if the forwards move out wide, looking to break into the box, these two are key to keeping the opposition on the back foot, two players that are excellent driving forward and look to run at players, they will stretch this game right out and stop the FBs from being able to narrow and cover the inside forwards, if they do they risk leaving our WBs unmarked and both are dangerous, especially Rodriguez. That then leaves the front three. Williams and Dembele play in the half space, neither out wide nor in the whole, they occupy the positions between, roaming where they can effect the game in the way they like, occupying defenders with their trickery and pace. We introduce the two inside forwards into the spaces between WB and central players where they can overload and bully the players that others are attacking(especially the opposition FBs in the initial build up phase) or occupy the vacant spaces between lines and players where once they receive the ball they will have time and space to turn which makes these two very dangerous. Aubameyang leads the line, he adds a certain amount of experience to this team and really with the quality of players we have to get involved in build up play just has one job, score the goals. He will occupy the CBs with his movement, they know they have to stay close because if they give him an inch he’s too quick to catch but if they go with him they free space for the two supporting forwards, this leaves them in a catch 22 and any moment of hesitation is a chance for Auba to pounce, keep using his movement off the CB and the chances will arrive for him and his team mates. If we are being pegged in we use the long passing of Romagnoli and Christensen to break forward and attack them with 3 forwards when they’ve over committed to the attack, particularly we can have Christensen drop deeper and play as a quarter back, as well as either CM.
Subs:
If Winning: Asensio for Dembele 70’, 3-5-2 with Asensio dropping to make it 3 CMs and give us a stronger midfield base. Chalobah for Tielemans 75’, plays as the DM, shield in front of the defence. Marega for Williams 80’, speed and power on the break.
If Drawing: Asensio and Lozano for Dembele and Williams 75’, like for like in terms of tactics but getting fresh legs and fresh ideas in important areas. Chalobah for Tielemans 80’, fresh legs in CM.
If Losing: Asensio for Pereira 60’, 4-2-3-1 with Asensio playing in behind Auba. Lozano for Williams 70’, fresh legs with bags of speed. Abraham for Rodriguez 75’, 3-5-2 with Abraham on as a goal poacher.
Lafont
F.Mensah Alvarez Maguire Emerson
Kante Vidal
Sterling Alli Mbappe
Sanchez
Gabriel Locatelli Werner Mendy
In goal Lafont a young fantastic shot stopper and a keeper that instills confidence in the back four, shouting instructions to his defenders. Out very quickly to shut down strikers and close there shooting angles down. Punches clear what he cant catch from high balls and likes to release early to set up quick counters.
Alvarez and Maguire at CB on this occassion Alvarez will man mark the CF. Alvarez is quick and skillfull for a CB, with great marking abilities, powerfully built so marking the CF should be no trouble as he has to man up to him, will keep him away from goal and be on to him quickly as he comes forward so he can intercept any though he has of going for goal. When in possession he will carry the ball out and start attacks from the back. Maguire alongside is fantastic in the air, so will mark any other big players that come into our danger area, strong in the air and strong in the tackle and make sure he is strong enough to get the ball away from danger. Both go up for corners and are a huge threat.
TFM and Emerson at fullback, we must keep the wingers quiet, stop them and we stop a lot of there attacks. They will look to keep them away from shooting areas where is dangerous in any position. This is a vital clash in this game. They will be up against quality wingers so look to force him away from goal and backwards. I want them to attack when in no danger so time these runs perfectly. One sits back a bit and allowing the other to attack, this is keeping a 3 at the back at all times. Their marking abilities are sound, both have good positional sense and very quick, do not make rash desicions and will stay on their feet. Both FBs can attack. When one goes the other stays as they look to make an extra man down the flank for our wingers to cut inside or play neat one twos to free the wingers up as there fullbacks get dragged out of position.
Kante to stop the AM getting the ball from midfield to the striker, he must be right on top of him looking to close him down at the quickest opportunity, let him dictate play and there striker will get plenty chances, we must not let this happen. So quick and into him, fairly and stop this! Kante himself will look to dictate from deep as he picks up from the defence and looks to drive us forward with precision passing. Vidal v the second most advanced midfielder much the same, but obvs when we have the ball he is allowed to move forward and move into dangerous areas where he is best and force there players back, Vidal should have a bit of time to look around him for the pass as he looks to find his team mates with ease. Use his upper body strength to get him away from the player. Pass and move always look for the return pass. When they have then close down the CM, he will look to ping the ball about so get to him before that opportunity arises. We have put Alli in a No.10 role or just slightly withdrawn No.10 against there DM he must be strong, Alli is an all round fantastic midfielder,, however he will look to take the DM on one v one drag him about open up spaces for others to drive into, with the ball at feet look to play quick one twos with those around him so he makes the runs into the box looking for that return ball that will get him in on goal. If the ball is played to him with his back to goal hold it up, draw the foul from the DM, if it doesnt come then look to lay it off, look to play the slide pass into Sanchez. At times he playes as a second striker alongside Sanchez, basically I want him him running the channels. This midfield I would pressing hard against them not giving them any time to dictate anything.
Sterling and Mbappe are known for their creativity, speed, and technical ability, and are fearless, explosive attacking midfielders who can change the game with a turn of pace or a dribble. More importantly both scorers of wonderful and important goals. Both technically excellent in limited areas, fast explosive acceleration during the first ten yards. Which more often than not takes them passed defenders and allows them to get into dangerous areas. Always play with there heads up looking for the runs of others to get the ball into there feet. When they have the ball look to stick close to fullbacks and stop them coming forward. Just track the fullbacks and use pace to get back and in around there faces to stop them becoming a threat. Always be looking for Alli inside as the four make an awesome quartet attack wise in behind Sanchez and a scary proposition for there slow back line
Sanchez will get plenty chances, he must put away there side who will be solid at the back, however I want to target the slower of the two. Get into positions that he can go for goal or at very least drag players away for other players to drive into the space. Target the slower of the cbs, split them apart to create space, Sanchez is very hard working and if he needs to go and get the ball he will he has 3 players around him that can move beyond him if needed, we are quick, so our forwards must hit them with pace to drag them all over the place. He can score from various angles/ranges..All of our front four/five will be a threat today we must go for it and keep pace with the league leaders. Can hold it up and look for runners, in particular Sterling, Alli and Mbappe will be making his runs also so be watchful of him just to lay it off to the side
Captain - Vidal
Penalties - Sanchez
Free kicks - Sanchez
Corners - Wingers
Subs -
Losing
70 Mins - Gabriel for Alli 442
Winning
70 Mins - Locatelli for Alli 451
Drawing
70 Mins - Gabriel for Sterling
-----------------Pickford-----------------
Semedo--M.Keane--van Dijk--Tierney
-----------Wanyama-Dembele------------
Robben---------Barkley----------Lanzini
------------------Lukaku-------------------
Sakho, Dier, Davies, Burke, Roberts, Kelechi, Moussa
We have Pickford in goal who is a big target to aim for, he oozes confidence and this will run through out the team. Will dominate his box and look to start quick counter attacks from the back.
Keane will mark the striker, and van Dijk will be the ball player who will take it out of defence. Both comfortable on the ball especially van Dijk who will start attacks from the back. he is also top class in the air and strong in the tackle, both big men so they can attack high balks and win them no problem . They will remain tight when we are under attack! The fullbacks can attack if they see fit, Tierney is especially good and supporting the winger so he will be up and down the pitch, Semedo will attack sporadically. When they do attack, get beyond the wingers and scream for the ball even if it is just a decoy for the wingers. Defend as a four, stay in a line and stay strong.
Wanyama is our defensive midfielder he takes no prisoners a very hard man to get in behind especially with Dembele beside him, Wanyama takes total care of there most advanced central midfielder and stops him becoming a danger. Dembele and Barkley are our playmakers and attacking midfielders, Dembele is the playmaker from deep but will make lung bursting runs forward, this is a good combination with the other two as we have all basis of what a midfield needs covered, once Wanyama has the ball won, a little pass sideways/forwards to either of the two and we are away very quickly on the attack, Dembele who will look to pass it forward to the attacking players, both can tackle so dont let their midfield near our defence! Barkley is the one likes to support the striker so he will be making the late runs into the danger area. He has skills to take him passed players and his passing i svery good as he will look to get Lukaku into a shooting opportunity. Will link well with Robben and Lanzini
Robben and Lanzini, both are very quick and can score spectacular goals, so we have given them freedom to attack the fullbacks, Robben tends to cut inside and use his pace and power to get him passed players and into the opposition area whereas Lanzini will use his skill and pace to go to the outside of defenders and cross in, Both can score from distance with accuracy so on they go. Use Barkley as a pivotal player as they look to support Lukaku
We defend as a team, it isnt all about attack, so again a strong 4 in a line when we defend, two banks of 4/5 are always difficult to penetrate.
Lukaku is quick, powerful and good eye for goal, will look to link up quickly with Barkley as he comes forward with as they will be a big threat today hopefully. All about movement as they look to put away the chances to win this game. Always stays on the last man moving across the line. He is good with his feet and not many will beat him in the air, he will be a constant threat to them, will also look to bring our other attackers into the game if he cant create an opportunity for himself.
Captain van Dijk
Penalties Lukaku
Free Kicks Barkley
Corners The wingers will take
if we are losing Kelechi will come on for Dembele, Barkley will drop into CM and we play 442 on 70 minutes and on 80 minutes Roberts will come on for Robben
If we are winning Dier will come on for Barkley on 80 minutes and sit in midfield and Kelechi for Lukaku at the same time
If we are drawing Davies for Dembele on 70 minutes will add some drive from midfield, Roberts for Robben and Kelechi for Lukaku at the same time
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Goodwick United
<u>injured</u>
Daniele Baselli
Dries Mertens
Ante Coric
Lucas Hernández
Captain: Carrick
Penalties: Dzeko (Llorente)
Free Kicks: Bernardeschi/Forsberg
---------------------------Rajkovic
Vrsaljko---------Elvedi------------ Gibson------T. Hernández
------------------Carrick-----------Höjbjerg
-----Bernardeschi-----Ödegaard--------Forsberg
-----------------------------Dzeko
Subs: Weidenfeller, Durm, Augustinsson, Andersen, Romeu, Llorente
Our defensive unit consists of Nico Elvedi and Ben Gibson paired up at centre-back, Sime Vrsaljko at right-back and Theo Hernández at left-back, with Michael Carrick and Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg as our midfield ‘double pivot’ screening them.
This ‘double pivot’ is the key to our team and in Carrick and Höjbjerg we have a perfect pairing to initiate attacks by distributing the ball in an intelligent fashion, to be key players in circulation and to prevent dangerous opposition attacks, being disciplined in positioning and limiting space in between the lines.
The strength of our double pivot is that Höjbjerg can press the ball without leaving lots of space, as Carrick can maintain a good position to react if the initial press is bypassed. Our double pivot will offer huge defensive stability and will ensure that a structured shape is maintained.
Having two defensive midfielders centrally prevents others being dragged out of position to press.
Helping the defenders maintain solid positioning is a key part of Höjbjerg’s role, he will press almost anywhere in his own half to allow defenders to stay in the defensive line.
With Höjbjerg running his socks off for the team, our high tempo will dictated by his partner in holding midfield, Michael Carrick.
A holding midfielder through and through, Carrick is not just your “win the ball and pass it on to the closest player” – there is a real creative mind in his locker, but it’s his ability to be the shield of the back four and then be creative once he gets the ball that makes Carrick such a talent.
The attacking unit consists of Federico Bernardeschi, Martin Ödegaard and Emil Forsberg as our band of three attacking midfielders, with Edin Dzeko as our lone central striker.
Our 4-2-3-1 is set up to have that wonderful ‘springy' quality - it absorbs pressure without breaking and then snaps back with surprising force.
In defence our 4-2-3-1 covers space very effectively, with the band of three attacking midfielders and centre forward able to press the opposition high up the pitch while the two defensive midfielders ensure that there is no space left in front of the defence. Then the back four can either play a high line, compressing the space even further, or drop deeper as preferred.
Once we have won the ball back, often by Carrick or Höjbjerg, then our 4-2-3-1 can spring into attack.
Vrsaljko and Hernández can surge up the wings in the knowledge that Carrick and Höjbjerg can drop into the space left behind if needed. As they come up the wings, both Bernardeschi and Forsberg who are fleet-footed speed merchants, excellent in tight spaces and fantastic dribblers will cut inside or make runs into the box. Martin Ödegaard our attacking central midfielder’s diminutive physique and low centre of gravity will enable him to navigate away from defenders at a frighteningly quick pace. Martin Ödegaardis blessed with an instant first touch and can dribble with the ball at such a close proximity to his feet that it makes him almost impossible to tackle this creative passer who will look to play Bernardeschi, Forsberg or Dzeko in via fast passing combinations.
Upfront Dzeko will operate in fluid attacking system— looking to latch onto through balls, intelligently lofted passes, one-touch movement and drilled crosses from our full backs.
Subs – Llorente on for Dzeko and Augustinsson on for Hernández on 75 mins
**************************Week 14***********************
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Dream League Tactics Page
Page 16 of 21
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posted on 15/3/17
Goodwick United
<u>injured</u>
Martin Ödegaard
Roman Weidenfeller
Edin Dzeko
Nico Elvedi
Captain: Carrick
Penalties: Llorente
Free Kicks: Mertens (Forsberg)/Bernardeschi
------------------------------Rajkovic
Vrsaljko---------Andersen-------L.Hernández---T. Hernández
------------------Carrick-------------Baselli
-----Bernardeschi---------Coric------------Mertens
------------------------------Llorente
Subs: Stekelenburg, Durm, Gibson, Augustinsson, Romeu, Höjbjerg, Forsberg
Our defensive unit consists of Joachim Andersen and Lucas Hernández paired up at centre-back, Sime Vrsaljko at right-back and Theo Hernández at left-back, with Michael Carrick and Daniele Baselli as our midfield ‘double pivot’ screening them.
This ‘double pivot’ is the key to our team and in Carrick and Baselli we have a perfect pairing to initiate attacks by distributing the ball in an intelligent fashion, to be key players in circulation and to prevent dangerous opposition attacks, being disciplined in positioning and limiting space in between the lines.
The strength of our double pivot is that Baselli can press the ball without leaving lots of space, as Carrick can maintain a good position to react if the initial press is bypassed. Our double pivot will offer huge defensive stability and will ensure that a structured shape is maintained.
Having two defensive midfielders centrally prevents others being dragged out of position to press.
Helping the defenders maintain solid positioning is a key part of Baselli’s role, he will press almost anywhere in his own half to allow defenders to stay in the defensive line.
With Baselli running his socks off for the team, our high tempo will dictated by his partner in holding midfield, Michael Carrick.
A holding midfielder through and through, Carrick is not just your “win the ball and pass it on to the closest player” – there is a real creative mind in his locker, but it’s his ability to be the shield of the back four and then be creative once he gets the ball that makes Carrick such a talent.
The attacking unit consists of Federico Bernardeschi, Ante Coric and Dries Mertens as our band of three attacking midfielders, with Fernando Llorente as our lone central striker.
Our 4-2-3-1 is set up to have that wonderful ‘springy' quality - it absorbs pressure without breaking and then snaps back with surprising force.
In defence our 4-2-3-1 covers space very effectively, with the band of three attacking midfielders and centre forward able to press the opposition high up the pitch while the two defensive midfielders ensure that there is no space left in front of the defence. Then the back four can either play a high line, compressing the space even further, or drop deeper as preferred.
Once we have won the ball back, often by Carrick or Baselli, then our 4-2-3-1 can spring into attack.
Vrsaljko and Theo Hernández can surge up the wings in the knowledge that Carrick and Baselli can drop into the space left behind if needed. As they come up the wings, both Bernardeschi and Mertens who are fleet-footed speed merchants, excellent in tight spaces and fantastic dribblers will cut inside or make runs into the box. Ante Coric our attacking central midfielder’s diminutive physique and low centre of gravity will enable him to navigate away from defenders at a frighteningly quick pace. Ante Coric is blessed with an instant first touch and can dribble with the ball at such a close proximity to his feet that it makes him almost impossible to tackle this creative passer who will look to play Bernardeschi, Mertens or Llorente in via fast passing combinations.
Upfront Llorente will operate in fluid attacking system— looking to latch onto through balls, intelligently lofted passes, one-touch movement and drilled crosses from our full backs.
Subs – Höjbjerg on for Baselli and Forsberg on for Mertens on 75 mins
posted on 15/3/17
TATUNG Tactics
--------------------------Hassen
-----------------Glik-----------------Matip----------------
TAA-------------------------------------------------Telles
-----------------Can-----------------Keïta
Mane---------------------------------------------Ziyech
------------Lacazette--------------Fekir
Subs: Gomez, Traore, Bakayoko, Kessié, Woodburn, Ünal, Tousart
Captain: Glik
Freekicks: Telles/Ziyech
Corners: Telles/Fekir
Penalties: Lacazette
Possession, Positioning & Defending:
Building attacks starts from the back or deep midfield. Intelligent use of the ball from your midfielders & defenders enables your attackers to receive the ball in better positions making it easier for them to create chances & score goals. This does not necessarily mean a slow passive build-up with the ball. We still attack with intensity, press with intensity & defend with intensity. However we feel possession of the ball enables us to play with the strength in movement of our players with & without the ball to aid us in creating chances against teams that will look to defend deep. The formation isn’t the restricted position of our players when in possession. It is however a system in positioning to retreat into when our initial high press fails & we need to structure ourselves defensively. To enable us to dominate possession we need to position ourselves intelligently as we look to create overloads within the opposition’s structure enabling our players to pass their way out of the opposition’s press by moving the ball to an area of the pitch which then becomes less saturated & more vulnerable to penetration. The aim is to pass & lure the opposition to one area of the pitch with the compact positioning of players close to the ball & then quickly switch the play to the other side of the field thus catching the opposition out of position. So the vertical spacing between the defence, midfield & attack needs to be needs to remain compact at all times.
In Emre Can & Naby Keïta we have 2 midfielders who are capable of dictating the play as well springing a quick counter attack with a splitting pass or bursting run through midfield. Together they will look to get on the ball as much as possible. Once the play is moved to our forwards they will position themselves intelligently so that they can dictate the play by redistributing the ball to our creative workhorses in Mane, Ziyech, Lacazette & Fekir.
Can & Keita more than have the physical attributes to dominate any midfield but they can also speed up or slow down the play depending on the rhythm of the game before making the right pass that will result in checkmate for us. Most teams will look to shut us out through the centre of the pitch so building attacks from wide areas will be utilised as well.
If the play is towards the left/ left-centre of the field we will use the positioning of Keita, Matip, Telles & Ziyech to create the overloads that enable us to keep possession. While those four players look to dominate the space & ball, Can & Fekir will move infield to make sure we are not neglecting the centre of the pitch which helps us both defensively(to press) & offensively(to pass). Lacazette will make runs which will enable us to create chances and Mane will balance out the attack by either keeping himself free for us to switch the play or occupying the centre backs should Lacazette move towards the play. The defence also moves as well, keeping an eye on the opposition’s forwards as they will look to cut off the passing options in the event that we lose the ball. This allows the defenders to press quickly.
When the opposition tries to win the ball back we have enough players to play around their press however should we find the play congested, we will quickly switch the play (via a combination of passes or a long pass) to less congested right side & utilise the individual abilities of Mane, TAA or Can (a collective of pace, power, speed of thought, vision & technical ability). Also by spacing our players close together, it also enables us to press the opposition quickly & in numbers aiding us to win the ball as quickly as possible thus counter-pressing the opposition & catching them disorganised which enhances the quality of our attacks.
If the opposition goes for the long ball, Matip & Glik more than have the physical attributes to deal with the scenario. The ball should only ever be passed to the defence to relieve the team of pressure as we re-evaluate the play & build again or to mislead the opposition out of their defensive shell & open up space in-between the lines for us to quickly move the ball forward & create more quality chances.
When the play is on the right hand side of the field the philosophy is the same, only the personal changes. So Can, Glik, TAA & Mane will create the overloads. Lacazette & Keita will move infield & Ziyech will balance our play depending on the movement of Fekir. Defence performs their same role as well.
Possession of the ball is only the tool with which we need to fully express our style of play based on positional structure & movement of our players. Without the ball this is not possible. Chances are created from the positional structure, dynamic movement & spacing in the final third, which surprises opponent thus creating breakthroughs towards the opponent’s goal – especially when the creativity of Ziyech & Fekir is paired with the sheer speed of Mane & Lacazette. We understand that our forwards are not blessed in height therefore we will mainly utilise cutbacks instead of crosses. This should also play into the box-2-box strengths of Can & Keïta.
Counter-pressing is also a tool should we lose the ball in the attacking third. As mentioned above the compact positioning of our players aids our intense pressing tactic.
Through balls, chips & lobs coupled with the movement of our forwards all contribute to our attacking style. Attackers are allowed freedom of movement & expression.
Part of our defensive strategy is intense pressing & counter-pressing the player with the ball & man-marking the immediate passing options available to the opposing player with the ball. However we do understand that the high press will not always win the ball there we will look to defend in a narrow 442 structure (Lacazette & Fekir being the front 2).
• The default posture of the team is to sit deep in a narrow, compact shape in order to prevent the opponent from creating chances.
• The team only breaks the shape to press the ball when the odds of success are high. (And even here it might be better to say that the whole team moves together, causing the shape to temporarily change, rather than saying that the shape "breaks"
• When the ball is won, it is played forward quickly because fast attacks can catch opponents off balance & turning the ball over in the attacking third is less costly than turning it over in your own defensive third or in midfield.
• Every player in the team has to assist defensively.
• Position ourselves compactly, offering less space between our lines & force the opponent into less dangerous areas of the field away from our goal.
We have intelligent players that have this dynamic movement & intelligent positioning in their arsenal & thus we are comfortable implementing this style of play.
Subs
65mins: Kessié for Can. Fresh legs in midfield to help with pressing.
78mins: Woodburn for Ziyech. Fresh legs to run at their defence
85min: Tousart for Keïta. Mins for the youngster
posted on 15/3/17
Cambuur Tactics :
Captain : Fabinho
Vice Captain : Lemos
Team:
------------------Ederson
William---Lemos---Dória----Santos
------------------Fabinho
-----------Rafinha--Arrascaeta
Malcom--------------------------Costa
--------------------Icardi
SUBS: Batalla, Arana, Montes, Walace, Moreno, Martins, Martinez
Goalkeeper: Ederson is a big mobile keeper and very agile. A great shot stopper, he will communicate with the back 4 and be commanding with the high ball. He will not take any risks. He is a great distributor with both hand and foot and we will look to this as a way to launch quick attacks.
Defence: Our 2 full backs are there firstly to defend and make sure they stay on the right side of their opponents whether they be out wide or cutting inside. When we are on the attack they will be allowed to use their power and pace to provide the overlap on the flanks. They both have the power and the lungs to work the touchline for 90 minutes. They will make the pitch wide and always offer themselves as an option in attack. Our 2 centre halves are big 6 feet plus ball playing defenders. Both good in the air and equally as good with the ball at their feet. They will be asked to do the simple things well. Be aggressive but controlled in the tackle and never lose your man when defending dead ball situations. They will be able to bring the ball out of defence but if in doubt take absolutely no chances and clear it. Both big men will be a real aerial threat at set pieces.
Midfield: Fabinho will be the midfield general. A physical pacey midfielder he will be there to boss this area for us. Breaking up play and filling in as an extra defender if one of our back 4 has ventured forward. He will be there to protect the defence and do a lot of the unseen dirty work in the centre of the park. He is essential to our game plan and while sitting deep will still offer a lot with his great passing ability. He also has a thunderbolt right foot. Rafinha and Arrascaeta will play just in front of Fabinho. Rafinha will be a more box to box type. He will be involved all over and will offer as much in defence as in attack. Arrascaeta will be the midfield magician. Clever, elusive and tricky we will look to him for creating the midfield openings with his eye for a pass. We will look at their enthusiasm and relentless pressing of the opposition as a way to hopefully get a bit of a grip on the midfield and at the very least not make it plain sailing for the opposition.
Wingers/Centre Forward: When in possession both Malcom and Costa will be expected to go for the direct approach and use their power and speed to take on the opposition defence and beat them and bring Arrascaeta, Rafinha and Icardi in to play. They can vary their attacks by going wide or cutting inside as they see fit. Both players can play all across the middle so don’t be surprised to see them swapping wings. At times Rafinha may sit a bit deeper allowing Arrascaeta to slot in between both wingers, just behind the CF. As well as an attacking force both wingers will also have to put a defensive shift when called upon and act as back up for their respective full backs.
Icardi starts as the CF. He won’t be short of support or ammunition with the attacking talent behind him. Great playing off the shoulder of the last man he is deadly in and around the box. A bag of energy and very strong we will also look for him to hold up and bring others in to play if it doesn’t seem to be on for him. We will look to get bodies in the box when attacking so he should always have an outlet. He is also great in the air and will provide an option from set pieces. When the shot is on he will take it but we also want to put himself about in the box and think that his lightning pace will be a real handful for defences. He will also be alert to any scraps in and around the goal. He has the ability to produce something sublime and create a chance out of nothing.
Free Kicks/Corners: Arrascaeta, Costa or Malcom with Lemos, Dória, Fabinho and Icardi to offer an aerial threat. Arrascaeta and Costa (with his thunderbolt left foot) may try their luck with several free kicks from distance.
Substitutions: (if winning) Martins for Malcom, Martinez for Icardi and Walace for Fabinho, 3 like for like substitutions.
(If losing on 70 minutes) Martinez for Rafinha, Martins for Malcom. Shift to a 4-1-3-2 attack. Martinez and Moreno offering fresh legs, pace and a bit of the unknown in attack.
-----------------------Fabinho
Moreno---------- Arrascaeta----------Costa
---------------Icardi --------Martinez
posted on 16/3/17
----------------Strakosha-----------------
Semedo--M.Keane--van Dijk--Tierney
-----------Wanyama-Pellegrini----------
Robben---------Barkley----------M.Reus
------------------Lukaku-------------------
Pickford, Holgate, Kouassi Eboue, Davies, Burke, Roberts, Kelechi
We have Strakosha in goal who is a big target to aim for, heoozes confidence and this will run through out the team. Will dominate his box and look to start quick counter attacks from the back.
Keane will mark the striker, and van Dijk will be the ball player who will take it out of defence. Both comfortable on the ball especially van Dijk who will start attacks from the back. he is also top class in the air and strong in the tackle, both big men so they can attack high balks and win them no problem . They will remain tight when we are under attack! The fullbacks can attack if they see fit, Tierney is especially good and supporting the winger so he will be up and down the pitch, Semedo will attack sporadically. When they do attack, get beyond the wingers and scream for the ball even if it is just a decoy for the wingers. Defend as a four, stay in a line and stay strong.
Wanyama is our defensive midfielder he takes no prisoners a very hard man to get in behind especially with Pellegrini beside him, Wanyama takes total care of there most advanced central midfielder and stops him becoming a danger. Pellegrini and Barkley are our playmakers and attacking midfielders, Pellegrini is the playmaker from deep but will make lung bursting runs forward, this is a good combination with the other two as we have all basis of what a midfield needs covered, once Wanyama has the ball won, a little pass sideways/forwards to either of the two and we are away very quickly on the attack, Pellegrini who will look to pass it forward to the attacking players, both can tackle so dont let their midfield near our defence! Barkley is the one likes to support the striker so he will be making the late runs into the danger area. He has skills to take him passed players and his passing i svery good as he will look to get Lukaku into a shooting opportunity. Will link well with Robben and Reus
Robben and Reus, both are very quick and can score spectacular goals, so we have given them freedom to attack the fullbacks, Robben tends to cut inside and use his pace and power to get him passed players and into the opposition area whereas Reus will use his skill and pace to go to the outside of defenders and cross in, Both can score from distance with accuracy so on they go. Use Barkley as a pivotal player as they look to support Lukaku
We defend as a team, it isnt all about attack, so again a strong 4 in a line when we defend, two banks of 4/5 are always difficult to penetrate.
Lukaku is quick, powerful and good eye for goal, will look to link up quickly with Barkley as he comes forward with as they will be a big threat today hopefully. All about movement as they look to put away the chances to win this game. Always stays on the last man moving across the line. He is good with his feet and not many will beat him in the air, he will be a constant threat to them, will also look to bring our other attackers into the game if he cant create an opportunity for himself.
Captain van Dijk
Penalties Lukaku
Free Kicks Barkley
Corners The wingers will take
if we are losing Kelechi will come on for Pellegrini, Barkley will drop into CM and we play 442 on 70 minutesa and on 80 minutes Roberts will come on for Robben
If we are winning Eboue will come on for Barkley on 80 minutes and sit in midfield and Kelechi for Lukaku at the same time
If we are drawing Davies for Pellegrini on 70 minutes will add some drive from midfield, Roberts for Robben and Kelechi for Lukaku at the same time
posted on 16/3/17
————————Donnarumma
——Christensen———Tah———Romagnoli
Moses———Verratti———A.Blin———Rodriguez
——Williams———Aubameyang———Zivkovic
Subs: Kepa, Ake, P.Pereira, Chalobah, Moreno, Lozano, T.Abraham
Captain: Alessio Romagnoli
Free Kicks: Marco Verratti/Ricardo Rodriguez
Penalties: Ricardo Rodriguez
Corners: Marco Verratti/Ricardo Rodriguez
We want revenge this week after they came to Mexico and beat us and we are willing to do it the ugly way, with a more solid defensive display, using a back and 4 man midfield to cut out their attacking threat and give them no space between players, knowing that their CMs aren’t the best when up against a deep back line and the likes of Lacazette and Mane don’t work as well when there isn’t space to run behind. We then have Williams and Zivkovic in between their CMs and FBs, hoping to stretch the opponents midfield out and find space where they aren’t easily marked, either by a FB who isn’t as comfortable in field on his weaker foot, or by a CM who isn’t as comfortable in wide areas where he is caught one v one,from there we counter with lethal pace.
Today we defend as an 11 in that we will always be compact no matter where the play is, so the forwards are back helping out in that they’ll be between the opposition CMs and FBs so that off the ball they help us defend by pressing them from the sides, Zivkovic and Williams close to Verratti and Blin in order to make a tight 4 man midfield, with Auba waiting behind the CMs, ahead of the two CBs ready to see the space down the sides of their defence and run into it. With the 3 CBs and line of 4 that are solid defensively it means that other than this pressing, the forwards can focus on getting forward and hurting the remaining Tatung defenders, looking to transition quickly to 3 v 3’s if we can catch them quickly when they have a FB or two out of position. As previously stated we stay as a group to make it compact, with Verratti and Blin looking to use this to their advantage, it allows them to work in tandem to slow Pumas attacks down, squeezing the space the man on the ball wants to use, giving Can and co the type of game they don’t suit, which will allow the energetic WBs and the two wide CBs to then press the oppositions forward players, these four working constantly around our CMs, the WBs narrowing, with Christensen and Romagnoli able to step out of the back line and use their excellent aggressive form of defending to break down attacks quickly, knowing that we will always have Tah’s power and pace behind them to cover as well as two WBs who can drop in if needed, using their pace to get back quickly if we make a mistake. This leaves Tah as a sweeper to deal with the central striker’s movement in behind, looking to bully him out of the game, always putting his body in the way. We force the opposition to have to play faster passing to try and work an opening but make sure their only room is to keep going wide, once we get them in the wide areas we are able to double up with WB and wide CB, working together to stop the cross, whilst the opposite WB tucks in to give us a back 3 to guard against any crosses that come in, with both Rodriguez and Moses good at getting in front of their men and winning headers. Forcing them wide also takes play across to where we can be most dangerous, with the CB, WB and CM able to work together to quickly transition the ball to the inside forwards.
Attack starts from the back today but no faffing, quick direct attacking football. Christensen and Romagnoli will stretch out slightly so that there are no big gaps left by the WBs pushing up, getting close to the WBs in the initial build up phase(most attacks starting wide as this is where we look to force them out to win the ball back), along with the CMs. By narrowing these players to the play it allows for much faster build up with the 4 players (WB, wide CB and CM’s) all excellent on the ball, allowing us to transition attacks into space quickly and push our WBs high up the field before the opposition can fully reorganise. The CMs are key to us dominating this game, they have the energy and the ball playing ability to better their opposite numbers, they play as box to box midfielders covering the ground between our defence and attack, chase the opposition down before they can turn and face forward, hunt them together, narrowing angles, make tackles, winning the ball back and using their excellent passing ranges to find our attackers, with Verratti allowed to use his box to box abilities to get close to the attack and force the CMs to worry about something other than our Inside forwards, crowd the free spaces and break the oppositions defensive structure; he has a great long range shot on him too. The WBs are looking to overlap and stretch the defence out, looking get to the byeline where they can whip in the crosses, or make inside runs if the forwards move out wide, looking to break into the box, these two are key to keeping the opposition on the back foot, two players that are excellent driving forward and look to run at players, they will stretch this game right out and stop the FBs from being able to narrow and cover the inside forwards, if they do they risk leaving our WBs unmarked and both are dangerous, especially Rodriguez. That then leaves the front three. Williams and Zivkovic play in the half space, neither out wide nor in the whole, they occupy the positions between, roaming where they can effect the game in the way they like, Zivkovic linking midfield to attack and Williams occupying defenders with his trickery and pace. We introduce the two inside forwards into the spaces between WB and central players where they can overload and bully the players that others are attacking(especially the opposition FBs in the initial build up phase) or occupy the vacant spaces between lines and players where once they receive the ball they will have time and space to turn which makes these two very dangerous. Aubameyang leads the line, he adds a certain amount of experience to this team and really with the quality of players we have to get involved in build up play just has one job, score the goals. He will occupy the CBs with his movement, they know they have to stay close because if they give him an inch he’s too quick to catch but if they go with him they free space for the two supporting forwards, this leaves them in a catch 22 and any moment of hesitation is a chance for Auba to pounce, keep using his movement off the CB and the chances will arrive for him and his team mates. If we are being pegged in we use the long passing of Romagnoli and Christensen to break forward and attack them with 3 forwards when they’ve over committed to the attack, particularly we can have Christensen drop deeper and play as a quarter back.
Subs:
If Winning: Chalobah for Zivkovic 70’, 3-5-2, solidify the midfield. P.Pereira for Moses 80’. Ake for Williams 85’. 5-4-1.
If Drawing: Lozano for Zivkovic 70’, go and attack tiring defenders. Moreno for Blin 75’. Abraham for Tah 80’ 4-4-2.
If Losing: T.Abraham for Moses 60’, Zivkovic play RWB as a more offensive option, Abraham up with Auba. Moreno and Lozano for Blin and Rodriguez 70’, 3-5-2, push them right back.
posted on 16/3/17
Wellington Phoenix tactics – vs someone
-------------------------Valdes------------
Holding---Alderweireld--Ginter--Grimaldo
---------------X.Alonso-----Gueye----------
Pedro------------------Mhki---------------Carrasco
---------------------------Milik------------------
Subs: Galloway, Gnabry, Goretzka, Gray, Rashford, Barkok, Wimmer
Captain – X.Alonso
Vice – Alderweireld
Corners – X.Alonso
FKs from deep – X.Alonso
FKs at goal - X.Alonso
Pens - Milik
Big game today, trying to recover our absent start. We line up with a more traditional 4231 again today, but our system will be very similar to last season's - Alonso will hold the deep space allowing Gueye to press the ball high up the pitch. Essentially we will be looking to win the ball back high up the pitch and from there we have great ball playing defenders and the maestro Alonso, picking out passes. The plan is that with such pace and movement in attack we can flood the attack, give us the upper hand due to the shock factor and the extra player will mean that the opposition defence will always be occupied. While they'll probably have contingencies in place, hopefully by flooding the box with fluid attackers we can have their defenders falling each other and giving this side the big defeat they've been due all season. Obviously our midfield two will be put under more strain, but Alonso is such an intelligent reader of the game who has never relied on pace or an all action style and Gueye is just an animal who is in great shape and great form, who can cover a lot of ground, support the defenders and the attacks and has enough ability to move the ball on to the better players.
Our defence will play high, but our defence is as fast and powerful as anyones, not to mention as intelligent and experienced as they come and will be playing on the front foot. Although we will have to be more wary of midfield runners with this formation, I would bet that we will still have a free man along the back line, which really means our players can attack the ball with confidence, keeping the oppostion (hereby known as Team X) in their own half. As always, although we are playing a high line and pushing to keep the play in the opposition half, we will not play an offside trap unless it’s clear – this means the defenders can read the game and drop off half a yard in anticipation of a ball coming over the top to give them the edge on the striker. This, matched with their pace, should be enough to mean that it will take something very special for Team X to get in behind us and even when they do, they have the vast frame of Valdes to try and get past.
IN SUMMARY – we’re looking to press Team X into either playing themselves into trouble and making mistakes at the back or resorting to clearing the ball, which our defence can deal with comfortably given their attributes and recycle position back to Alonso, to get us started again.
Valdes - Classic DL keeper, bags of experience. He will play as you want a keeper to play – alert all game and full of confidence. He’ll command his box and inspire confidence throughout the rest of the team. Otherwise, usual stuff (off his line quickly when needed, big at one on ones, great shot stopper and collect crosses).
As usual his good feet will come into play - we start attacks with him, thus drawing a man onto him, passing beyond him and leaving us with a man spare which we look to exploit with with passing
Grimaldo & Holding – both players with incredible engines, pace to burn and ability on the ball. It’s important to keep them grounded and remind them they’re defenders first – but these qualities listed above will make them very hard to beat in any 1v1 situation. Given our formation, they won’t really be getting forward too often, but they will have their chances. Mainly we want them getting the right side of their attacker and making us hard to beat, but when we’re with the ball I do want them to be hugging the opposite touchline, not too far up the pitch, just to give an option to switch the play and keep our width if the wide forward drifts inside to join the play. I don’t want them making overlapping runs all the time when the play is on their side though, just stretching the play with the switch option.
Alderweireld and Ginter – IMO two of the most complete defenders in the world right now, one at the height of the game with a lot of experience & another still relatively early on in his career, but playing at the top. I want them to work with each other and use their intelligence and experience to cover each other, playing to their strengths with Ginter being the younger, fitter & faster of the two. We won't be letting one or the other attack the ball specfically, they will take control of their area and the other CB will work around them accordingly. They are decent in the air, quick on the ground, great at reading the game, great at picking out passes from the back and both experienced defenders. Alderweireld will lead the line a little more in terms of organisation but I'm really excited to see what the two of them can do together.
X.Alonso – Playing a similar role to how he has operated at Bayern in the last year or so. He has a very talented, energetic side around him and he’s the cool head in the middle to bring it all together and make them tick. He’ll be protecting the defence as ever, with his reading of the game and picking up the ball from the defence and spraying passes around. This should be a fun challenge for him, something slightly different which I believe he will relish. The movement in front of him will make this aspect of his game relatively easy given his ability to pick a pass, but more importantly a lot of fun for him! Defensively he may get caught 2v1 now and again but he has the intelligence to know when to foul, when to hold people up and allow Gueye to get back and when to call a defender out to help him.
Gueye – A big coup for us - he's essentially a luxury version of Diame, on steriods and smarter and more technical. And we'd been doing well with Diame! He has bags of energy, good passing, good shot, good decision making. These attributes make this man the perfect box to box player for our formation today. He will play slightly ahead of Alonso, his main role will be to put the Tewm X DM under too much pressure to settle on the ball and play them out of trouble. He should thrive on getting on the ball in dangerous areas, rather than a more reserved role, with a lot of movement and pace around him causing problems for the opposition, giving him a little more space than usual as well. Defensively, I just want him to be very aware of the counter attack and when Alonso is being doubled up on bust a gut to get back and help him. But when we are pressing the opposition in a normal situation he will be up high on the DM.
Pedro & Carrasco – hungry, direct, pacey and unpredictable, which will make them a constant pain for Team X. I want them always looking to get forward, beat a man, taking the quickest route into the box, whether that be a direct run in or down the line and whip a ball in. I want them always wanting the ball too, always moving off the ball. Off the ball it’s simple, just drop in and get goalside of your FB as soon as you can. Not so much defensive responsibility today with our FBs playing as defenders, not wing backs, so they will look to get at the full backs in 1v1 battles, keep them pinned back and just try to beat them and get the ball in the box. If the opposition FBs do try and push on, let them – we will try and stop the attack very quickly and aggressively at the back and then when we get the ball back, the wingers will have space and we will outnumber the defence 4 to 3. They're also hard workers which was make us more solid as a team, as well as having huge experience of turning big games on their heads
Mhki - naturally he'll put in a shift closing people down and without the ball he'll beat people, pick passes and create things. He gets a chance to do this as he pleases and let others play to his tune
Milik - a classic CF who will play to his strengths, bringing players into the game and coming alive when hes in the box.
Subs: 60 mins - Goretzka for Alonso, straight swap fresh legs
65 mins - Rashford & Gnabry for Milik & Carrasco - again straight swaps just to keep our energy levels high
posted on 16/3/17
week 12
Injuries- Chiellini, Lindelof, DiMarco, Aduriz
------------------------------Storari--------------------------------
Hysaj---------Kimmich-----------Zouma------------Raphael
---------------------Tolisso----------Saul----------------------
Lemar---------------------Bernardo-----------------------Pjaca
-------------------------------Dybala----------------------------------
subs: Lirola, Passlack, Renato Sanches, Horta, Maksimovic, Emre Mor, Silva
Out of possession game plan: We're setting up in a 4-2-3-1 shape in this match, we will look to press high up the pitch from the front and very centrally, we know of Goodwick's attacking threat so we need to negate that by keeping them away from the box, we've added the pace, strength and quality of Zouma who will bring great qualities and solidity to the defence, a real leader. Bernardo Silva will join Dybala in the first line to pressurise the Wick defenders while Pjaca and Lemar move narrower to cut off the supply to midfield, this will only open up passing avenues for the opposition out wide, when the ball goes wide, it is the job of Raphael and Hysaj to push quickly onto the fullback(whichever flank the ball is distributed to), forcing them either backwards,to launch the ball long or to hurry them into a mistake, the advantage of this is that should a mistake happen we have plenty of numbers forward to punish mistakes.
---------------------Kimmich-----------Chiellini-------------------
-------------------Tolisso
Hysaj---------------------------Saul-------------------Raphael
-----------------Lemar----------------------Pjaca--------------
(opp FB)---------(opp MF)----------------(opp MF)---------(opp FB)
---------------Dybala-------------------Bernardo-------------------
--------------(oppCB)--------------------(oppCB)---------------
In possession game plan: we are a side full of energy and pace, and will be looking to fully utilise this in our attacking game. In Tolisso, Saul and Bernardo we have great central presence to move the ball in the opposition half. As the deepest of the midfield three, Tolisso has the most responsibility in moving the ball from the deep phases of build up, Saul next to him is very adept at carrying the ball and his passing both long and short is superb, Bernardo, Pjaca and Lemar all possess pace, trickery and the ability to score and provide goals, they will look to get on the ball as much as possible and interchange as all are equally comfortable across the attacking line. Paulo Dybala will lead the line and we all know how good he is, his explosiveness, trickery and shooting ability will be very much on show today, can go in behind or come short and try and create, a real all round fantastic forward who will create havoc for defences.
Subs:
Renato Sanches for Saul on 75 minutes, straight swap, fresh legs
if losing after 65 minutes: switch Andre Silva for Lemar, Silva to move up front alongside Dybala who will use his pace and movement to get in behind and stretch the defence of Goodwick creating more space and pushing them back while Bernardo Silva moves to the right
if winning after 80 minutes, Felix Passlack comes on for Lemar or Bernardo, switch to 4-5-1, Kimmich to hold in front of the defence, using his strength and power to marshall the Goodwick attack while still retaining the ability to distribute and begin counter attacks, Passlack to play as a defensive right midfielder in front of Hysaj while Pjaca plays a more disciplined role on the left.
posted on 17/3/17
Sorry its just a re-hash of last week
Injuries
Davide Calabria
Daniele Rugani
Danilo Cataldi
Umar Sadiq
…………………………………......Buffon……………………………..
……………………….Barzagli……Mascherano….Caldara……………
………………………………Gagliardini….Sturaro…………….
Berardi…………………………….Iniesta……………………………Ribery
……………………………Immobile……Zlatan………………………
Subs: Cragno, Santon, Iorfa, Winks, Munir,De Sciglio, Enzo
Well welshy crippled my midfield options, this week so it’s a change of system amd we go 3-2-3-2, giving us a rock solid back five with a pretty potent front five.
Mex we expect to continue in his 4-2-3-1 so our midfield trident will match his man for man, our LCB and RCB will shuffle wide to deal with his wingers leaving Barzagli one for one with Juves’s lone striker.
I am aware this is a risky strategy defensively atleast. However, offensively we will take the game the to the visiting team, get the fans behind us and take them man for man at the back, force a gap and hit them hard. Immobile is a very mobile centre forward who will do a lot of the leg work pulling his centre-back with him and leaving Berardi one-v-one with the other defender.
Munir and Ribery will push as high and as wide as they can, with no defensive duties today – we have a back 5 so they’re not needed. The job they will do by staying high up the pitch is to force Mex’s full-backs to stay in defence, if they do attack don’t track them, come back far enough only to stay onside because we’ll smash them on the counter. As I say it is risky but we go 4vs4 up front so you have to bank on yourself.
Iniesta is back from injury and comes in as the #10 this afternoon, has a great touch on him and will look to link the play, when we have the ball he will look to play off the shoulder of Immobile effectively giving us 3 central strikers.
Gagliardini is our pure midfield enforcer and in the first phase will stay centrally based looking to cut off the passing lines and forcing Juve to go wide – here’s where my plan hinges, Because Sturaro plays the enforcer role for Juventus and Italy he’ll hold the middle ground WHEN Juve go wide, Gagliardini will drop off as a second CB – A role he now does for Inter…this means when either Mascherano or Rugani shuffle we pretty much have a flat back four…so we end up transitioning seamlessly from a 3-2-3-2 in possession to a 4-1-3-2 without the ball with Munir and Ribery dropping off to the half-way line…..Juve won’t have any easy passing routes and will have to go long.
In terms of our actual game plan I want us with a high pressing fast paced game today, no ball retention for retentions sake, we want to win the ball quickly and smash them hard before they re-group, some would call it long ball I prefer the term direct passing – get it going long and wide stretch the play and bypass their hardworking midfield – Immobile is the perfect out-ball and with the support we can offer him it would be stupid not to utilise his talents.
Subs:
60 mins fresh legs
Cataldi > Sturaro
----------------------------------------------------------------------
posted on 17/3/17
sorry ignore the Cataldi sub he's injured
posted on 17/3/17
copy and paste and cba changing Mex to Fan lol
posted on 17/3/17
yea borderline better than a walkover
posted on 17/3/17
na
posted on 17/3/17
not for you, no
posted on 27/3/17
**********************Week 13 Tactics********************
posted on 28/3/17
Fishguard Sports
Captain: Hummels
Penalties: Dolberg
Free Kicks: Pulisic
-----------------------Horn
Weiser-------Süle-------Hummels---Alex Sandro
--------------Weigl-----------Dahoud
---Sané---------------Amiri-----------Pulisic
-----------------------Dolberg
Subs: Sommer, Klostermann, Kempf, Stark, Goretzka, Schöpf, Jörgensen
Our defensive unit consists of Niklas Süle and Mats Hummels paired up at centre-back, Mitchell Weiser at right-back and Alex Sandro at left-back, with Julian Weigl and Mahmoud Dahoud as our midfield ‘double pivot’ screening them.
This ‘double pivot’ is the key to our team and in Weigl and Dahoud we have a perfect pairing to initiate attacks by distributing the ball in an intelligent fashion, to be key players in circulation and to prevent dangerous opposition attacks, being disciplined in positioning and limiting space in between the lines.
The strength of our double pivot is that Dahoud can press the ball without leaving lots of space, as Weigl can maintain a good position to react if the initial press is bypassed. Our double pivot will offer huge defensive stability and will ensure that a structured shape is maintained.
Having two defensive midfielders centrally prevents others being dragged out of position to press.
Helping the defenders maintain solid positioning is a key part of Dahoud’s role, he will press almost anywhere in his own half to allow defenders to stay in the defensive line.
With Dahoud running his socks off for the team, our high tempo will dictated by his partner in holding midfield, Julian Weigl.
Weigl is not just your “win the ball and pass it on to the closest player” – there is a real creative mind in his locker, but it’s his ability to be the shield of the back four and then be creative once he gets the ball that makes Weigl such a talent.
The attacking unit consists of Leroy Sané, Nadiem Amiri and Christian Pulisic as our band of three attacking midfielders, with Kasper Dolberg as our lone central striker.
Our 4-2-3-1 is set up to have that wonderful ‘springy' quality - it absorbs pressure without breaking and then snaps back with surprising force.
In defence our 4-2-3-1 covers space very effectively, with the band of three attacking midfielders and centre forward able to press the opposition high up the pitch while the two defensive midfielders ensure that there is no space left in front of the defence. Then the back four can either play a high line, compressing the space even further, or drop deeper as preferred.
Once we have won the ball back, often by Weigl or Dahoud, then our 4-2-3-1 can spring into attack.
Weiser and Alex Sandro can surge up the wings in the knowledge that Weigl and Dahoud can drop into the space left behind if needed. As they come up the wings, both Leroy Sané and Christian Pulisic who are fleet-footed speed merchants, excellent in tight spaces and fantastic dribblers will cut inside or make runs into the box. Nadiem Amiri our attacking central midfielder’s diminutive physique and low centre of gravity will enable him to navigate away from defenders at a frighteningly quick pace. Amiri is blessed with an instant first touch and can dribble with the ball at such a close proximity to his feet that it makes him almost impossible to tackle this creative passer who will look to play Sané, Pulisic or Dolberg in via fast passing combinations.
A complete striker, Dolberg will act as a presence up front whilst also possessing the ability to go past defenders, by unleashing his pace on our opponents defence.
His skill-set goes against the stereotype which states that the lanky forwards can only act as target men up front, or use their hold-up abilities to allow the team-mates to join the attack. And apart from pace, a main part of Dolberg’s armoury is his lethal finishing.
Subs:
70th Minute – Schöpf on for Amiri (like for like, but good to get some fresh legs on and just like Amiri, Schöpf is very much a gifted talent with an eye for a pass and an eye for goal)
80th Minute Goretzka on for Dahoud (again like for like as we bring on some fresh legs in a key position. Goretzka has a massive engine which will bring fresh intensity into the midfield for the final minutes)
posted on 29/3/17
Cambuur Tactics :
Captain : Fabinho
Vice Captain : Lemos
Team:
------------------Ederson
Bernardo---Lemos---Dória----Santos
------------------Fabinho
-----------Rafinha--Arrascaeta
Malcom----------------------------Costa
--------------------Simeone
SUBS: Batalla, Arana, Montes, Walace, Driussi, Martins, Martinez
Goalkeeper: Ederson is a big mobile keeper and very agile. A great shot stopper, he will communicate with the back 4 and be commanding with the high ball. He will not take any risks. He is a great distributor with both hand and foot and we will look to this as a way to launch quick attacks.
Defence: Our 2 full backs are there firstly to defend and make sure they stay on the right side of their opponents whether they be out wide or cutting inside. When we are on the attack they will be allowed to use their power and pace to provide the overlap on the flanks. They both have the power and the lungs to work the touchline for 90 minutes. They will make the pitch wide and always offer themselves as an option in attack. Our 2 centre halves are big 6 feet plus ball playing defenders. Both good in the air and equally as good with the ball at their feet. They will be asked to do the simple things well. Be aggressive but controlled in the tackle and never lose your man when defending dead ball situations. They will be able to bring the ball out of defence but if in doubt take absolutely no chances and clear it. Both big men will be a real aerial threat at set pieces.
Midfield: Fabinho will be the midfield general. A physical pacey midfielder he will be there to boss this area for us. Breaking up play and filling in as an extra defender if one of our back 4 has ventured forward. He will be there to protect the defence and do a lot of the unseen dirty work in the centre of the park. He is essential to our game plan and while sitting deep will still offer a lot with his great passing ability. He also has a thunderbolt right foot. Rafinha and Arrascaeta will play just in front of Fabinho. Rafinha will be a more box to box type. He will be involved all over and will offer as much in defence as in attack. Arrascaeta will be the midfield magician. Clever, elusive and tricky we will look to him for creating the midfield openings with his eye for a pass. We will look at their enthusiasm and relentless pressing of the opposition as a way to hopefully get a bit of a grip on the midfield and at the very least not make it plain sailing for the opposition.
Wingers/Centre Forward: When in possession both Malcom and Costa will be expected to go for the direct approach and use their power and speed to take on the opposition defence and beat them and bring Arrascaeta, Rafinha and Simeone in to play. They can vary their attacks by going wide or cutting inside as they see fit. Both players can play all across the middle so don’t be surprised to see them swapping wings. At times Rafinha may sit a bit deeper allowing Arrascaeta to slot in between both wingers, just behind the CF. As well as an attacking force both wingers will also have to put a defensive shift when called upon and act as back up for their respective full backs.
Simeone starts as the CF. He won’t be short of support or ammunition with the attacking talent behind him. Great playing off the shoulder of the last man he is deadly in and around the box. A bag of energy and very strong we will also look for him to hold up and bring others in to play if it doesn’t seem to be on for him. We will look to get bodies in the box when attacking so he should always have an outlet. He is also great in the air and will provide an option from set pieces. When the shot is on he will take it but we also want to put himself about in the box and think that his lightning pace will be a real handful for defences. He will also be alert to any scraps in and around the goal. He has the ability to produce something sublime and create a chance out of nothing.
Free Kicks/Corners: Arrascaeta, Costa or Malcom with Lemos, Dória, Fabinho and Simeone to offer an aerial threat. Arrascaeta and Costa (with his thunderbolt left foot) may try their luck with several free kicks from distance.
Substitutions: (if winning) Martins for Malcom, Martinez for Simeone and Walace for Fabinho, 3 like for like substitutions.
If losing (on 70 minutes) Martinez for Rafinha, Martins for Malcom. Shift to a 4-1-3-2 attack. Martinez and Driussi offering fresh legs, pace and a bit of the unknown in attack.
---------------------Fabinho
Driussi---------- Arrascaeta----------Costa
-----------Simeone --------Martinez
posted on 30/3/17
TATUNG Tactics
--------------------------Reina
-----------------Glik----------------Matip----------------
Sidibé----------------------------------------------Telles
----------------------------Can
--------------Kessié-----------------Keïta
Mane---------------------------------------------Bailey
------------------------Lacazette
Subs: Orban, Bakayoko, Tousart, Ziyech, Traore, Fekir, Ünal
Captain: Glik
Freekicks: Telles
Corners: Telles
Penalties: Lacazette
Possession, Positioning & Defending:
Building attacks starts from the back or deep midfield. Intelligent use of the ball from your midfielders & defenders enables your attackers to receive the ball in better positions making it easier for them to create chances & score goals. This does not necessarily mean a slow passive build-up with the ball. We still attack with intensity, press with intensity & defend with intensity. However we feel possession of the ball enables us to play with the strength in movement of our players with & without the ball to aid us in creating chances against teams that will look to defend deep. The formation isn’t the restricted position of our players when in possession. It is however a system in positioning to retreat into when our initial high press fails & we need to structure ourselves defensively. To enable us to dominate possession we need to position ourselves intelligently as we look to create overloads within the opposition’s structure enabling our players to pass their way out of the opposition’s press by moving the ball to an area of the pitch which then becomes less saturated & more vulnerable to penetration. The aim is to pass & lure the opposition to one area of the pitch with the compact positioning of players close to the ball & then quickly switch the play to the other side of the field thus catching the opposition out of position. So the vertical spacing between the defence, midfield & attack needs to be needs to remain compact at all times.
In Emre Can, Franck Kessie & Naby Keïta we have 3 midfielders who are capable of dictating the play as well springing a quick counter attack with a splitting pass or bursting run through midfield. Together they will look to get on the ball as much as possible. Once the play is moved to our forwards they will position themselves intelligently so that they can dictate the play by redistributing the ball to our creative workhorses in Mane, Bailey & Lacazette.
Can, Kessié & Keïta more than have the physical attributes to dominate any midfield but they can also speed up or slow down the play depending on the rhythm of the game before making the right pass that will result in checkmate for us. Most teams will look to shut us out through the centre of the pitch so building attacks from wide areas will be utilised as well.
If the play is towards the left/left-centre of the field we will use the positioning of Keita, Matip, Telles & Bailey to create the overloads that enable us to keep possession. While those four players look to dominate the space & ball, Kessie & Can will move infield to make sure we are not neglecting the centre of the pitch which helps us both defensively(to press) & offensively(to pass). Lacazette will make runs which will enable us to create chances and Mane will balance out the attack by either keeping himself free for us to switch the play or occupying the centre backs should Lacazette move towards the play. The defence also moves as well, keeping an eye on the opposition’s forwards as they will look to cut off the passing options in the event that we lose the ball. This allows the defenders to press quickly.
When the opposition tries to win the ball back we have enough players to play around their press however should we find the play congested, we will quickly switch the play (via a combination of passes or a long pass) to less congested right side & utilise the individual abilities of Mane, Sidibe or Kessie (a collective of pace, power, speed of thought, vision & technical ability). Also by spacing our players close together, it also enables us to press the opposition quickly & in numbers aiding us to win the ball as quickly as possible thus counter-pressing the opposition & catching them disorganised which enhances the quality of our attacks.
If the opposition goes for the long ball, Glik & Matip more than have the physical attributes to deal with the scenario. The ball should only ever be passed to the defence to relieve the team of pressure as we re-evaluate the play & build again or to mislead the opposition out of their defensive shell & open up space in-between the lines for us to quickly move the ball forward & create more quality chances.
When the play is on the right hand side of the field the philosophy is the same, only the personal changes. So Kessie, Glik, Sidibe & Mane will create the overloads. Keita & Can will move infield & Bailey will balance our play depending on the movement of Lacazette. Defence performs their same role as well.
Possession of the ball is only the tool with which we need to fully express our style of play based on positional structure & movement of our players. Without the ball this is not possible. Chances are created from the positional structure, dynamic movement & spacing in the final third, which surprises opponent thus creating breakthroughs towards the opponent’s goal – especially when the creativity of Can, Keïta & Bailey is paired with the sheer speed of Mane & Lacazette. We understand that our forwards are not blessed in height therefore we will mainly utilise cutbacks instead of crosses. This should also play into the box-2-box strengths of Kessie & Keïta.
Counter-pressing is also a tool should we lose the ball in the attacking third. As mentioned above the compact positioning of our players aids our intense pressing tactic.
Through balls, chips & lobs coupled with the movement of our forwards all contribute to our attacking style. Attackers are allowed freedom of movement & expression.
Part of our defensive strategy is intense pressing & counter-pressing the player with the ball & man-marking the immediate passing options available to the opposing player with the ball. However we do understand that the high press will not always win the ball there we will look to defend in a narrow 451 structure (Lacazette being the front 1).
• The default posture of the team is to sit deep in a narrow, compact shape in order to prevent the opponent from creating chances.
• The team only breaks the shape to press the ball when the odds of success are high. (And even here it might be better to say that the whole team moves together, causing the shape to temporarily change, rather than saying that the shape "breaks"
• When the ball is won, it is played forward quickly because fast attacks can catch opponents off balance & turning the ball over in the attacking third is less costly than turning it over in your own defensive third or in midfield.
• Every player in the team has to assist defensively.
• Position ourselves compactly, offering less space between our lines & force the opponent into less dangerous areas of the field away from our goal.
We have intelligent players that have this dynamic movement & intelligent positioning in their arsenal & thus we are comfortable implementing this style of play.
Subs
60mins: Ziyech for Can. Switch to 4231 with Ziyech in front of Kessie & Keita. Adds more creativity.
75mins: Bakayoko for Kessie to get some fresh legs to help press and keep the midfield fresh.
80mins: Fekir for Bailey to run at their defence and help Lacazette.
posted on 30/3/17
week 13
Injuries-
Renato Sanches
Saúl Ñíguez
Felix Passlack
Aritz Aduriz
------------------------------Storari--------------------------------
Hysaj---------Zouma-----------Chiellini------------Raphael
---------------------Tolisso----------Kimmich----------------------
Lemar---------------------Bernardo-----------------------Pjaca
-------------------------------Dybala----------------------------------
subs: Lirola, Lindelof, Maia, Horta, Maksimovic, Emre Mor, Silva
Out of possession game plan: We're setting up in a 4-2-3-1 shape in this match, we will look to press high up the pitch from the front and very centrally, we know of PUMAS' attacking threat so we need to negate that by keeping them away from the box, we've added the pace, strength and quality of Zouma who will bring great qualities and solidity to the defence, a real leader. Bernardo Silva will join Dybala in the first line to pressurise the Pumas defenders while Pjaca and Lemar move narrower to cut off the supply to midfield, this will only open up passing avenues for the opposition out wide, when the ball goes wide, it is the job of Raphael and Hysaj to push quickly onto the fullback(whichever flank the ball is distributed to), forcing them either backwards,to launch the ball long or to hurry them into a mistake, the advantage of this is that should a mistake happen we have plenty of numbers forward to punish mistakes.
---------------------Zouma-----------Chiellini-------------------
-------------------Kimmich
Hysaj---------------------------Tolisso-------------------Raphael
-----------------Lemar----------------------Pjaca--------------
(opp FB)---------(opp MF)----------------(opp MF)---------(opp FB)
---------------Dybala-------------------Bernardo-------------------
--------------(oppCB)--------------------(oppCB)---------------
In possession game plan: we are a side full of energy and pace, and will be looking to fully utilise this in our attacking game. In Tolisso, Kimmich and Bernardo we have great central presence to move the ball in the opposition half. As the deepest of the midfield three, Kimmich has the most responsibility in moving the ball from the deep phases of build up, Tolisso next to him is very adept at carrying the ball and his passing both long and short is superb, Bernardo, Pjaca and Lemar all possess pace, trickery and the ability to score and provide goals, they will look to get on the ball as much as possible and interchange as all are equally comfortable across the attacking line. Paulo Dybala will lead the line and we all know how good he is, his explosiveness, trickery and shooting ability will be very much on show today, can go in behind or come short and try and create, a real all round fantastic forward who will create havoc for defences.
Subs:
Thiago Maia for Kimmich on 75 minutes, straight swap, fresh legs
if losing after 65 minutes: switch Andre Silva for Lemar, Silva to move up front alongside Dybala who will use his pace and movement to get in behind and stretch the defence of PUMAS creating more space and pushing them back while Bernardo Silva moves to the right
if winning after 80 minutes, Pol Lirola comes on for Lemar or Bernardo, switch to 4-5-1, Maia to hold in front of the defence, using his strength and power to marshall the PUMAS attack while still retaining the ability to distribute and begin counter attacks, Lirola to play as a defensive right midfielder in front of Hysaj while Pjaca plays a more disciplined role on the left.
posted on 30/3/17
Blyth Spartans
Injuries:
Davide Calabria
Mattia Caldara
Stefano Sturaro
Franck Ribery
..............................Buffon.................
Santon..................Rugani......Barzagli......De Sciglio
..............................Mascherano................
.......................Gagliardini....Sturaro.............
...............................Iniesta.................
......................zlatan.............Immobile.........
Subs: Cragno, Iorfa, Winks,Munir, Sadiq, Aarons, Berardi
Home against Edinburgh, tough game against a side only a few weeks back was challenging for the title, we're going with the tried and tested 4-4-2 diamond day
It's not everyones cup of tea but for me it covers all the bases, strong all italian defence, protecting the greatest ever in goal. Solid spine through-out the midfield to enable us to control the game, and a potent strike-force.
This system was good enough for Carlito and his all conquering Milan side, so it's good enough for us today.
The Defence:
Marshalled by Gigi the great we have a pretty solid back line, Buffon will come and collect what he can, even now he's still one of the best in the business.
Santon and De Sciglio are aguably better going forwards than defending and usually that would be an issues but Barz and Rugs are solid at the back and with Mascherano dropping off as a 3rd CB when we have the ball they have that freedom to get forward and give us much needed width.
Not sure if Fud will approach this with one or two up top - if its one then Barz man marks him with Rugs as the insurance policy, if it's two then we go zonal so as not to be pulled out of position by a clever dummy run.
The Midfield:
The middle 3 is probably the least exciting I've ever put out, but this is about control of the middle ground, Mascherano has his detractors but for me is still a gimme at DM..strong in the tackle and keeps it simple in possession, every side needs that kind of steel.
Gagliardini has had a remarkable rise to prominence leading to moves to Inter and full caps for Italy and this week has been declared De Rossi's heir, by De Rossi himself. so he and Sturaro will give us even more stability..there's no way Edinburgh are playing through us, no way at all.
The Trident:
Iniesta is our #10 - everything good about our team flows through him, even with a man marking him he always finds space for a touch, blessed with such technique, will really look to link the play for us today
Immobile is better than his name suggests, full of running and will look to take a defender away creating some space and one on ones for Zlatan to exploit...Zlatan is just Zlatan and will play his natural game today - this team is built to get the best out of him.
Subs 65 mins:
Berardi > Immobile
posted on 30/3/17
Wellington Phoenix tactics – vs someone
-------------------------Valdes------------
Jung---Alderweireld--Ginter--Grimaldo
---------------Pjanic-----Gueye----------
Pedro------------------Mhki---------------Carrasco
---------------------------Milik------------------
Subs: Galloway, Gnabry, Alonso, Gray, Eggestein, Ndidi, Vieira
Captain – Alderweireld
Vice – Valdes
Corners – Pjanic
FKs from deep – Pjanic
FKs at goal - Pjanic
Pens - Milik
Big game today, trying to recover our absent start. We line up with a more traditional 4231 again today, but our system will be very similar to last season's - Pjanic will hold the deep space allowing Gueye to press the ball high up the pitch. Essentially we will be looking to win the ball back high up the pitch and from there we have great ball playing defenders and the maestro Pjanic, picking out passes. The plan is that with such pace and movement in attack we can flood the attack, give us the upper hand due to the shock factor and the extra player will mean that the opposition defence will always be occupied. While they'll probably have contingencies in place, hopefully by flooding the box with fluid attackers we can have their defenders falling each other and giving this side the big defeat they've been due all season. Obviously our midfield two will be put under more strain, but Pjanic is such an intelligent reader of the game who has never relied on pace or an all action style and Gueye is just an animal who is in great shape and great form, who can cover a lot of ground, support the defenders and the attacks and has enough ability to move the ball on to the better players.
Our defence will play high, but our defence is as fast and powerful as anyones, not to mention as intelligent and experienced as they come and will be playing on the front foot. Although we will have to be more wary of midfield runners with this formation, I would bet that we will still have a free man along the back line, which really means our players can attack the ball with confidence, keeping the oppostion (hereby known as Team X) in their own half. As always, although we are playing a high line and pushing to keep the play in the opposition half, we will not play an offside trap unless it’s clear – this means the defenders can read the game and drop off half a yard in anticipation of a ball coming over the top to give them the edge on the striker. This, matched with their pace, should be enough to mean that it will take something very special for Team X to get in behind us and even when they do, they have the vast frame of Valdes to try and get past.
IN SUMMARY – we’re looking to press Team X into either playing themselves into trouble and making mistakes at the back or resorting to clearing the ball, which our defence can deal with comfortably given their attributes and recycle position back to Alonso, to get us started again.
Valdes - Classic DL keeper, bags of experience. He will play as you want a keeper to play – alert all game and full of confidence. He’ll command his box and inspire confidence throughout the rest of the team. Otherwise, usual stuff (off his line quickly when needed, big at one on ones, great shot stopper and collect crosses).
As usual his good feet will come into play - we start attacks with him, thus drawing a man onto him, passing beyond him and leaving us with a man spare which we look to exploit with with passing
Grimaldo & Jung – both players with incredible engines, pace to burn and ability on the ball. It’s important to keep them grounded and remind them they’re defenders first – but these qualities listed above will make them very hard to beat in any 1v1 situation. Given our formation, they won’t really be getting forward too often, but they will have their chances. Mainly we want them getting the right side of their attacker and making us hard to beat, but when we’re with the ball I do want them to be hugging the opposite touchline, not too far up the pitch, just to give an option to switch the play and keep our width if the wide forward drifts inside to join the play. I don’t want them making overlapping runs all the time when the play is on their side though, just stretching the play with the switch option.
Alderweireld and Ginter – IMO two of the most complete defenders in the world right now, one at the height of the game with a lot of experience & another still relatively early on in his career, but playing at the top. I want them to work with each other and use their intelligence and experience to cover each other, playing to their strengths with Ginter being the younger, fitter & faster of the two. We won't be letting one or the other attack the ball specfically, they will take control of their area and the other CB will work around them accordingly. They are decent in the air, quick on the ground, great at reading the game, great at picking out passes from the back and both experienced defenders. Alderweireld will lead the line a little more in terms of organisation but I'm really excited to see what the two of them can do together.
Pjanic - Allowed to get on the ball and dictate the pace of the game, he'll play in a similar way to Alonso but with more bite and energy, given his age, which should stand us in good stead. He has a very talented, energetic side around him and he’s the cool head in the middle to bring it all together and make them tick. He’ll be protecting the defence as ever, with his reading of the game and picking up the ball from the defence and spraying passes around. This should be a fun challenge for him, something slightly different which I believe he will relish. The movement in front of him will make this aspect of his game relatively easy given his ability to pick a pass, but more importantly a lot of fun for him! Defensively he may get caught 2v1 now and again but he has the intelligence to know when to foul, when to hold people up and allow Gueye to get back and when to call a defender out to help him.
Gueye – A big coup for us - he's essentially a luxury version of Diame, on steriods and smarter and more technical. And we'd been doing well with Diame! He has bags of energy, good passing, good shot, good decision making. These attributes make this man the perfect box to box player for our formation today. He will play slightly ahead of Alonso, his main role will be to put the Tewm X DM under too much pressure to settle on the ball and play them out of trouble. He should thrive on getting on the ball in dangerous areas, rather than a more reserved role, with a lot of movement and pace around him causing problems for the opposition, giving him a little more space than usual as well. Defensively, I just want him to be very aware of the counter attack and when Alonso is being doubled up on bust a gut to get back and help him. But when we are pressing the opposition in a normal situation he will be up high on the DM.
Pedro & Carrasco – hungry, direct, pacey and unpredictable, which will make them a constant pain for Team X. I want them always looking to get forward, beat a man, taking the quickest route into the box, whether that be a direct run in or down the line and whip a ball in. I want them always wanting the ball too, always moving off the ball. Off the ball it’s simple, just drop in and get goalside of your FB as soon as you can. Not so much defensive responsibility today with our FBs playing as defenders, not wing backs, so they will look to get at the full backs in 1v1 battles, keep them pinned back and just try to beat them and get the ball in the box. If the opposition FBs do try and push on, let them – we will try and stop the attack very quickly and aggressively at the back and then when we get the ball back, the wingers will have space and we will outnumber the defence 4 to 3. They're also hard workers which was make us more solid as a team, as well as having huge experience of turning big games on their heads
Mhki - naturally he'll put in a shift closing people down and without the ball he'll beat people, pick passes and create things. He gets a chance to do this as he pleases and let others play to his tune
Milik - a classic CF who will play to his strengths, bringing players into the game and coming alive when hes in the box.
If winning at 65 mins - Mhki, Carrasco & Gueye off for Ndidi, Alonso & Gnabry.
Move to 4-3-3:
-------------Alonso--------
---------Pjanic--Ndidi---
Pedro-----Milik----Gnabry
Alonso to see the game out with his passing ability and experience, Ndidi to bring great energy levels to the MF to allow Alonso to do his thing. Gnabry just a talented hard working player who is ideal for this situation.
Pedro stays on because of his defensive awareness and workrate.
If losing/drawing on 65 mins - Ndidi, Gray & Gnabry on for Gueye, Pedro & Carrasco - all straight swaps.
Ndidi is a more attacking version of Gueye, with fresh legs. Gray & Gnabry are young direct and unpredictable, so should trouble tiring legs.
posted on 30/3/17
——————————Donnarumma
———Christensen————Tah————Romagnoli
Pereira—————-Verratti——-Tielemans————Rodriguez
————-O.Dembele—————————I.Williams
———————————Aubameyang
Subs: Kepa, J.Vallejo, N.Chalobah, M.Asensio, H.Lozano, M.Marega, T.Abraham
Captain: Youri Tielemans
Free Kicks: Youri Tielemans/Ricardo Rodriguez
Corners: Ricardo Rodriguez/Youri Tielemans
Penalties: Ricardo Rodriguez
Hardest game of the season but away from home we can still beat anyone given our solid base and ridiculous amount of pace going forward. We look to first and foremost defend as a unit, focusing on squeezing out the space in our third with a 7 man block, formed of a back 5, and a line of 4 in midfield, with Aubameyang sticking to the deepest midfield player to stop him being able to dictate the tempo. Once we win the ball we counter at 100mph.
Today we defend as an 11 in that we will always be compact no matter where the play is, so the forwards are back helping out in that they’ll be between the opposition CMs and FBs so that off the ball they help us defend by pressing the passing lanes between FB and midfield, Dembele and Williams close to Verratti and Tielemans in order to make a tight 4 man midfield, with Auba hounding the deepest CM, stopping him dictate the play but ready to burst into space either side of him when we win the ball. With the 3 CBs and line of 4 that hard working it means that other than squeezing the space, the forwards can focus on getting forward and hurting the remaining Juve defenders, looking to transition quickly to 3 v 3’s if we can catch them quickly when they have a FB or two out of position. As previously stated we stay as a group to make it compact, with Verratti and Tielemans looking to use this to their advantage, it allows them to work in tandem to slow Juve attacks down, squeezing the space the man on the ball wants to use, which will allow the energetic WBs and the two wide CBs to then press the passing lanes, these four working constantly around our CMs, the WBs narrowing, with Christensen and Romagnoli able to step out of the back line and use their excellent aggressive form of defending to shut space off quickly, knowing that we will always have Tah’s power and pace behind them to cover as well as two WBs who can drop in if needed, using their pace to get back quickly if we make a mistake. This allows us to quickly shut off all the space and be very compact, for Juve backwards and sideways and then into the mistakes that lead them vulnerable to our speed. This leaves Tah as a sweeper to deal with the central striker’s movement in behind, looking to bully him out of the game, always putting his body in the way. We force the opposition to have to play faster passing to try and work an opening but make sure their only room is to keep going wide, once we get them in the wide areas we are able to double up with WB and wide CB, working together to stop the cross, whilst the opposite WB tucks in to give us a back 3 to guard against any crosses that come in, with both Rodriguez and Pereira good at getting in front of their men and winning headers. Forcing them wide also takes play across to where we can be most dangerous, with the CB, WB and CM able to work together to quickly transition the ball to the inside forwards.
Attack starts from the back today but no faffing, quick direct attacking football. Christensen and Romagnoli will stretch out slightly so that there are no big gaps left by the WBs pushing up, getting close to the WBs in the initial build up phase(most attacks starting wide as this is where we look to force them out to win the ball back), along with the CMs. By narrowing these players to the play it allows for much faster build up with the 4 players (WB, wide CB and CM’s) all excellent on the ball, allowing us to transition attacks into space quickly and push our WBs high up the field before the opposition can fully reorganise. The CMs are key to us dominating this game, they have the energy and the ball playing ability to play as box to box midfielders covering the ground between our defence and attack, chase the opposition down before they can turn and face forward, hunt them together, narrowing angles, make tackles, winning the ball back and using their excellent passing ranges to find our attackers, with Tielemans allowed to use his box to box abilities to get close to the attack and force the CMs to worry about something other than our Inside forwards, crowd the free spaces and break the oppositions defensive structure; he has a great long range shot on him too. The WBs are looking to overlap and stretch the defence out, looking get to the byeline where they can whip in the crosses, or make inside runs if the forwards move out wide, looking to break into the box, these two are key to keeping the opposition on the back foot, two players that are excellent driving forward and look to run at players, they will stretch this game right out and stop the FBs from being able to narrow and cover the inside forwards, if they do they risk leaving our WBs unmarked and both are dangerous, especially Rodriguez. That then leaves the front three. Williams and Dembele play in the half space, neither out wide nor in the whole, they occupy the positions between, roaming where they can effect the game in the way they like, occupying defenders with their trickery and pace. We introduce the two inside forwards into the spaces between WB and central players where they can overload and bully the players that others are attacking(especially the opposition FBs in the initial build up phase) or occupy the vacant spaces between lines and players where once they receive the ball they will have time and space to turn which makes these two very dangerous. Aubameyang leads the line, he adds a certain amount of experience to this team and really with the quality of players we have to get involved in build up play just has one job, score the goals. He will occupy the CBs with his movement, they know they have to stay close because if they give him an inch he’s too quick to catch but if they go with him they free space for the two supporting forwards, this leaves them in a catch 22 and any moment of hesitation is a chance for Auba to pounce, keep using his movement off the CB and the chances will arrive for him and his team mates. If we are being pegged in we use the long passing of Romagnoli and Christensen to break forward and attack them with 3 forwards when they’ve over committed to the attack, particularly we can have Christensen drop deeper and play as a quarter back, as well as either CM.
Subs:
If Winning: Asensio for Dembele 70’, 3-5-2 with Asensio dropping to make it 3 CMs and give us a stronger midfield base. Chalobah for Tielemans 75’, plays as the DM, shield in front of the defence. Marega for Williams 80’, speed and power on the break.
If Drawing: Asensio and Lozano for Dembele and Williams 75’, like for like in terms of tactics but getting fresh legs and fresh ideas in important areas. Chalobah for Tielemans 80’, fresh legs in CM.
If Losing: Asensio for Pereira 60’, 4-2-3-1 with Asensio playing in behind Auba. Lozano for Williams 70’, fresh legs with bags of speed. Abraham for Rodriguez 75’, 3-5-2 with Abraham on as a goal poacher.
posted on 31/3/17
Lafont
F.Mensah Alvarez Maguire Emerson
Kante Vidal
Sterling Alli Mbappe
Sanchez
Gabriel Locatelli Werner Mendy
In goal Lafont a young fantastic shot stopper and a keeper that instills confidence in the back four, shouting instructions to his defenders. Out very quickly to shut down strikers and close there shooting angles down. Punches clear what he cant catch from high balls and likes to release early to set up quick counters.
Alvarez and Maguire at CB on this occassion Alvarez will man mark the CF. Alvarez is quick and skillfull for a CB, with great marking abilities, powerfully built so marking the CF should be no trouble as he has to man up to him, will keep him away from goal and be on to him quickly as he comes forward so he can intercept any though he has of going for goal. When in possession he will carry the ball out and start attacks from the back. Maguire alongside is fantastic in the air, so will mark any other big players that come into our danger area, strong in the air and strong in the tackle and make sure he is strong enough to get the ball away from danger. Both go up for corners and are a huge threat.
TFM and Emerson at fullback, we must keep the wingers quiet, stop them and we stop a lot of there attacks. They will look to keep them away from shooting areas where is dangerous in any position. This is a vital clash in this game. They will be up against quality wingers so look to force him away from goal and backwards. I want them to attack when in no danger so time these runs perfectly. One sits back a bit and allowing the other to attack, this is keeping a 3 at the back at all times. Their marking abilities are sound, both have good positional sense and very quick, do not make rash desicions and will stay on their feet. Both FBs can attack. When one goes the other stays as they look to make an extra man down the flank for our wingers to cut inside or play neat one twos to free the wingers up as there fullbacks get dragged out of position.
Kante to stop the AM getting the ball from midfield to the striker, he must be right on top of him looking to close him down at the quickest opportunity, let him dictate play and there striker will get plenty chances, we must not let this happen. So quick and into him, fairly and stop this! Kante himself will look to dictate from deep as he picks up from the defence and looks to drive us forward with precision passing. Vidal v the second most advanced midfielder much the same, but obvs when we have the ball he is allowed to move forward and move into dangerous areas where he is best and force there players back, Vidal should have a bit of time to look around him for the pass as he looks to find his team mates with ease. Use his upper body strength to get him away from the player. Pass and move always look for the return pass. When they have then close down the CM, he will look to ping the ball about so get to him before that opportunity arises. We have put Alli in a No.10 role or just slightly withdrawn No.10 against there DM he must be strong, Alli is an all round fantastic midfielder,, however he will look to take the DM on one v one drag him about open up spaces for others to drive into, with the ball at feet look to play quick one twos with those around him so he makes the runs into the box looking for that return ball that will get him in on goal. If the ball is played to him with his back to goal hold it up, draw the foul from the DM, if it doesnt come then look to lay it off, look to play the slide pass into Sanchez. At times he playes as a second striker alongside Sanchez, basically I want him him running the channels. This midfield I would pressing hard against them not giving them any time to dictate anything.
Sterling and Mbappe are known for their creativity, speed, and technical ability, and are fearless, explosive attacking midfielders who can change the game with a turn of pace or a dribble. More importantly both scorers of wonderful and important goals. Both technically excellent in limited areas, fast explosive acceleration during the first ten yards. Which more often than not takes them passed defenders and allows them to get into dangerous areas. Always play with there heads up looking for the runs of others to get the ball into there feet. When they have the ball look to stick close to fullbacks and stop them coming forward. Just track the fullbacks and use pace to get back and in around there faces to stop them becoming a threat. Always be looking for Alli inside as the four make an awesome quartet attack wise in behind Sanchez and a scary proposition for there slow back line
Sanchez will get plenty chances, he must put away there side who will be solid at the back, however I want to target the slower of the two. Get into positions that he can go for goal or at very least drag players away for other players to drive into the space. Target the slower of the cbs, split them apart to create space, Sanchez is very hard working and if he needs to go and get the ball he will he has 3 players around him that can move beyond him if needed, we are quick, so our forwards must hit them with pace to drag them all over the place. He can score from various angles/ranges..All of our front four/five will be a threat today we must go for it and keep pace with the league leaders. Can hold it up and look for runners, in particular Sterling, Alli and Mbappe will be making his runs also so be watchful of him just to lay it off to the side
Captain - Vidal
Penalties - Sanchez
Free kicks - Sanchez
Corners - Wingers
Subs -
Losing
70 Mins - Gabriel for Alli 442
Winning
70 Mins - Locatelli for Alli 451
Drawing
70 Mins - Gabriel for Sterling
posted on 31/3/17
-----------------Pickford-----------------
Semedo--M.Keane--van Dijk--Tierney
-----------Wanyama-Dembele------------
Robben---------Barkley----------Lanzini
------------------Lukaku-------------------
Sakho, Dier, Davies, Burke, Roberts, Kelechi, Moussa
We have Pickford in goal who is a big target to aim for, he oozes confidence and this will run through out the team. Will dominate his box and look to start quick counter attacks from the back.
Keane will mark the striker, and van Dijk will be the ball player who will take it out of defence. Both comfortable on the ball especially van Dijk who will start attacks from the back. he is also top class in the air and strong in the tackle, both big men so they can attack high balks and win them no problem . They will remain tight when we are under attack! The fullbacks can attack if they see fit, Tierney is especially good and supporting the winger so he will be up and down the pitch, Semedo will attack sporadically. When they do attack, get beyond the wingers and scream for the ball even if it is just a decoy for the wingers. Defend as a four, stay in a line and stay strong.
Wanyama is our defensive midfielder he takes no prisoners a very hard man to get in behind especially with Dembele beside him, Wanyama takes total care of there most advanced central midfielder and stops him becoming a danger. Dembele and Barkley are our playmakers and attacking midfielders, Dembele is the playmaker from deep but will make lung bursting runs forward, this is a good combination with the other two as we have all basis of what a midfield needs covered, once Wanyama has the ball won, a little pass sideways/forwards to either of the two and we are away very quickly on the attack, Dembele who will look to pass it forward to the attacking players, both can tackle so dont let their midfield near our defence! Barkley is the one likes to support the striker so he will be making the late runs into the danger area. He has skills to take him passed players and his passing i svery good as he will look to get Lukaku into a shooting opportunity. Will link well with Robben and Lanzini
Robben and Lanzini, both are very quick and can score spectacular goals, so we have given them freedom to attack the fullbacks, Robben tends to cut inside and use his pace and power to get him passed players and into the opposition area whereas Lanzini will use his skill and pace to go to the outside of defenders and cross in, Both can score from distance with accuracy so on they go. Use Barkley as a pivotal player as they look to support Lukaku
We defend as a team, it isnt all about attack, so again a strong 4 in a line when we defend, two banks of 4/5 are always difficult to penetrate.
Lukaku is quick, powerful and good eye for goal, will look to link up quickly with Barkley as he comes forward with as they will be a big threat today hopefully. All about movement as they look to put away the chances to win this game. Always stays on the last man moving across the line. He is good with his feet and not many will beat him in the air, he will be a constant threat to them, will also look to bring our other attackers into the game if he cant create an opportunity for himself.
Captain van Dijk
Penalties Lukaku
Free Kicks Barkley
Corners The wingers will take
if we are losing Kelechi will come on for Dembele, Barkley will drop into CM and we play 442 on 70 minutes and on 80 minutes Roberts will come on for Robben
If we are winning Dier will come on for Barkley on 80 minutes and sit in midfield and Kelechi for Lukaku at the same time
If we are drawing Davies for Dembele on 70 minutes will add some drive from midfield, Roberts for Robben and Kelechi for Lukaku at the same time
----------------------------------------------------------------------
posted on 31/3/17
Goodwick United
<u>injured</u>
Daniele Baselli
Dries Mertens
Ante Coric
Lucas Hernández
Captain: Carrick
Penalties: Dzeko (Llorente)
Free Kicks: Bernardeschi/Forsberg
---------------------------Rajkovic
Vrsaljko---------Elvedi------------ Gibson------T. Hernández
------------------Carrick-----------Höjbjerg
-----Bernardeschi-----Ödegaard--------Forsberg
-----------------------------Dzeko
Subs: Weidenfeller, Durm, Augustinsson, Andersen, Romeu, Llorente
Our defensive unit consists of Nico Elvedi and Ben Gibson paired up at centre-back, Sime Vrsaljko at right-back and Theo Hernández at left-back, with Michael Carrick and Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg as our midfield ‘double pivot’ screening them.
This ‘double pivot’ is the key to our team and in Carrick and Höjbjerg we have a perfect pairing to initiate attacks by distributing the ball in an intelligent fashion, to be key players in circulation and to prevent dangerous opposition attacks, being disciplined in positioning and limiting space in between the lines.
The strength of our double pivot is that Höjbjerg can press the ball without leaving lots of space, as Carrick can maintain a good position to react if the initial press is bypassed. Our double pivot will offer huge defensive stability and will ensure that a structured shape is maintained.
Having two defensive midfielders centrally prevents others being dragged out of position to press.
Helping the defenders maintain solid positioning is a key part of Höjbjerg’s role, he will press almost anywhere in his own half to allow defenders to stay in the defensive line.
With Höjbjerg running his socks off for the team, our high tempo will dictated by his partner in holding midfield, Michael Carrick.
A holding midfielder through and through, Carrick is not just your “win the ball and pass it on to the closest player” – there is a real creative mind in his locker, but it’s his ability to be the shield of the back four and then be creative once he gets the ball that makes Carrick such a talent.
The attacking unit consists of Federico Bernardeschi, Martin Ödegaard and Emil Forsberg as our band of three attacking midfielders, with Edin Dzeko as our lone central striker.
Our 4-2-3-1 is set up to have that wonderful ‘springy' quality - it absorbs pressure without breaking and then snaps back with surprising force.
In defence our 4-2-3-1 covers space very effectively, with the band of three attacking midfielders and centre forward able to press the opposition high up the pitch while the two defensive midfielders ensure that there is no space left in front of the defence. Then the back four can either play a high line, compressing the space even further, or drop deeper as preferred.
Once we have won the ball back, often by Carrick or Höjbjerg, then our 4-2-3-1 can spring into attack.
Vrsaljko and Hernández can surge up the wings in the knowledge that Carrick and Höjbjerg can drop into the space left behind if needed. As they come up the wings, both Bernardeschi and Forsberg who are fleet-footed speed merchants, excellent in tight spaces and fantastic dribblers will cut inside or make runs into the box. Martin Ödegaard our attacking central midfielder’s diminutive physique and low centre of gravity will enable him to navigate away from defenders at a frighteningly quick pace. Martin Ödegaardis blessed with an instant first touch and can dribble with the ball at such a close proximity to his feet that it makes him almost impossible to tackle this creative passer who will look to play Bernardeschi, Forsberg or Dzeko in via fast passing combinations.
Upfront Dzeko will operate in fluid attacking system— looking to latch onto through balls, intelligently lofted passes, one-touch movement and drilled crosses from our full backs.
Subs – Llorente on for Dzeko and Augustinsson on for Hernández on 75 mins
posted on 4/4/17
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