The final analysis, part one: the basic shapes, and pressing
Here is Holland’s basic shape when they have the ball with their goalkeeper, Maarten Stekelenburg. This shows their defence (red), their holding midfielders (yellow), the attacking band of three (green) and the striker (blue).
Note how wide their side is, starting from the centre-backs. Another interesting feature is how much more advanced Mark van Bommel (the right of the holding midfielders) is compared to Nigel de Jong.
Here is the same photo, outlining the positions of Spain’s XI. Again, we have their defence (red), their holding midfielders (yellow), the attacking band of three (green) and the striker (blue).
This is a fairly typical 4-2-3-1 shape when defending, although the two wide players are slightly narrower than one might expect.
Pressing
Holland were struggling early on because their pressing was so poor in midfield. Here’s an example – Xavi has the ball (light blue), but none of Holland’s midfielders (pink) are attempting to put pressure on him:
Here’s another example – Xabi Alonso (green) has far too much time on the ball to pick a pass, with the Dutch midfielders (pink) standing off:
Another beneficiary of this was Pedro, who got too much time between the lines. Here, he (light blue) has the space to play a pass through the defence to David Villa (pink) who was flagged just offside.
After ten or fifteen minutes, this approach was changed for a more high-tempo pressing game. Here, Xavi (green) receives the ball and is immediately forced to turn back towards his own goal, because of the presence of van Bommel (pink):
Spain’s pressing, meanwhile, was exemplary. Each Dutch player was effectively occupied whenever their centre-backs got the ball. This picture shows the situation in midfield, with colours corresponding to the Dutch player each Spaniard was accountable for – but this was not fixed, the players simply carried out appropriate duties as they drifted around the pitch – Iniesta/Pedro and Alonso/Xavi were two common switches.
As a result, Joris Mathijsen wasn’t able to play the ball into midfield – he was forced to either pass it back to Stekelenburg (bizarrely, Mathijsen-Stekelenburg was the most-common passing combination in the first half) or knock hopeful long crossfield balls to Arjen Robben.
The final analysis, part one: the basic shapes, and pressing
everybody knows that champions league is better than world cup, so the real football is mourinho’s inter, and not the bad version (without messi) of barcelona
Oh, and here I was thinking that this article was part of a review about the WORLD CUP final. Thanks for making me stand corrected, mate.
Pretty sure that’s the quickest a comments section has gone wildly off-course.
With a growth of the audience to your blog, the number of people having nothing to say on topic rises. This is nothing new: quantity increases, quality decreases. Comments will not moderate themselves on their own.
That is sadly true. I hope this site stayed free from fan trash-talking like one can find in other sport websites though. I wouldn’t mind heavy moderation on ZM’s part, even. If comments getting out of line, it’s better to be erased before the discussion go out of topic.
How about a user based moderation system a’la reddit? I’m sure ready made plugins can be used…
This is the stuff I look forward to, ZM. My own ability at deciphering this aspect of the game is lacking and your articles are educational for me. Please continue.
@carlos: yeah, sure…
@ZM: This site has been about the best new discovery for me in all the world cup, it’s a pity I won’t be able to watch as many mathes covered by you in the near future (you don’t do Bundesliga, do you?), but still I am looking forward to your analysis of Champions League and – in two years time – EURO matches.
Keep up the good work and thanks a lot.
This site has been about the best new discovery for me in all the world cup
ME TOO! ^_^
@Keano: He did a couple Bundesliga matches toward the end of last season, though obviously not as many as he covered from the other major leagues.
Yeah did some Bundesliga, will do much more next season
Awesome, glad to hear!
Spain’s pressing is essentially man-marking, an interesting turn from the Sacchi dominated zonal pressing of years past. Look how high Busquets is in that last picture as he follows Sneijder as he drops deep. People praise Busquets for doing the “quiet” work in the center of midfield, but essentially he marks one on one. One of the things Spain does well defensively (and offensively, but for different reasons) is mark off the ball well. They are quick to realize when to drop off their specific man and clog the midfield. I guess I’m rambling but they essentially are great advocates of Total Football for, though they may man mark, they keep a good shape and maintain defensive order.
That’s how you press – it’s called “through-marking” in Dutch. What you have to do is eliminate all passing options – so as the first player presses, the others back him up and stop the pass to other players by marking those “free” making pressing more efficient.
I’ve talked about the difficulties Arsenal had in my ten conclusions for last season on my blog doing this, as well as a series of other pressing articles, so if you want please feel free to click on my username.
Van Marwijk talked about doing similar to Barcelona and as they have done in the past but – maybe because of the individuals or the difficulties as were his concerns before the WC – he seemed to have dropped it for a more conventional and conservative approach. i.e dropping back into a compact block in own half.
I’m not sure what you’re saying about the width of the Dutch backline when in possession. You often see sides at all levels getting their full backs to get up the pitch and tight to the touchline at many levels (of English football certainly). I recall seeing Stekelenburg thrusting his pointed hands outwards on a number of occasions during the final, telling his backline to make space for him to pass into.
In the first image, I can only assume that Van Bommel is being pushed higher up the pitch when the keeper has the ball to try and win headers and second balls from any long punts.
Actually van Bommel played very high up the pitch a number of times during that game, especially the first half. Remember him and Puyol going at it? I think that was an aborted tactic, and it sort of made sense. He’s so incredibly disruptive that you can see Spain actually avoid going through him numerous times.
You make an interesting observation about Spain’s man-marking/pressing. I recently watched the U17 European Championships final between Spain and England.
In that game Spain used a similar ploy, whenever England had possession of the ball Spain marked the majority of the England players. They appeared to leave the players they regarded as the weakest out of their marking schemes. These ‘weaker’ players were given a little more time to try and find passes but with no easy balls on they were left with little option but to pump hopeful balls into the channels.
Perhaps, like the 4-3-3, this is part of the tactics setup used though all levels of Spanish football? It certainly makes sense to allow the least threatening players have the ball.
You either go with that strategy, or leave the more threatening player free and once he passes to a weaker player and then swarm him.
This is what Barcelona did to Arsenal in the CL. Whenever Alex Song , the Arsenal player with the least technical & creative ability , had the ball, they press him to make a mistake. Seems to work …
Rocco,
indeed this is a feature of Spanish youth football. The youth coaches like J.Lopez Caro are all expected to coach the players in a 4-2-3-1 template (though naturally they will add variations during specific games and as the players mature).
But what makes this possible is the practice of defending in three banks (as opposed to just two); regardless of whether you play 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-1-2, all these players are instructed to form three defensive banks (not including the centre-forward) and thus cover as much space as possible.
Yes, I agree with this based on what I’ve seen of Spanish football. It is helped further by playing very high and compact when defending. Little space to move the ball between the lines etc.
The CBs also understand the necessity to drop back as soon as they win the ball back, make the pitch huge so that it is easier to keep the ball.
This is fantastic. As someone who is trying to learn the game of football as an adult, this hugely helpful. Now I want to go back and rewatch the final.
That’s exactly the same feeling I have! I found an analysis of the Man United v Liverpool game of last season and rewatch it, it was really useful. Thanks ZM for enlighting us.
At risk of being one of sibelkacem’s people with “nothing to say”, I would like to make a point about triangles. Pictures 1-4 demonstrate some fine positional triangles from Spain: clearly, in their basic set-up and particularly in the first 20 minutes of the match, they were able to move the ball about, and up, the field with ease.
In picture 5, however, we see that the triangles don’t extend into the final third of the pitch. This is a problem that I’ve seen with Barcelona, and to a greater extent, with other teams that try to play the same style with less quality (Arsenal and West Brom come to mind). It’s partly because of the high defensive line, but we can see that there’s nobody up with Pedro: Spain should have an attacking midfield about where referee (Webb in a blue shirt) is positioned. When Messi is playing, we compliment his ability to find space between the lines, but it’s largely just a continuation of the deeper midfield triangles into dangerous attacking space.
In picture 7, we see that Holland have no positional sense — no triangles — and so there’s nowhere for the ball to go.
ZM, do you make most of these observations when you watch games live or do you see more re-watching them later?
ZM has been the best site I’ve ever discovered! The in depth analysis has been very educational. I can’t wait for ZM to cover the Premier league, especially Liverpool’s matches as I follow them every week. Thanks so much for the site and please keep those articles coming!
Great analysis. I am fairy a young coach and some of your analysis has been both a great education and confirms of what I think/believe what certain formations/methods actually does and functions. I am somewhat a firm believer of the 4-2-3-1 system and your write-up and analysis of this particular system does give me more insights and knowledge. Keep it up.
ZM if it possible to have topic about how to break SPAIN midfield down? I don’t like the idea that all you can do with them is a “Counter attack”
Even though it might be written between the lines, it would be great if you implemented a view on what a particular team specifically should have/could have done to counter their opponent’s strategy (Spain here, for instance)!
While Spain has many players in the centre of the field, the best tactic would be to play through the centre. You saw that both Robbens chances came from the through-ball in the middle.
Spain are amazing at their pressing on the wings, so the best idea basicly is to pack the midfield (like they do) and fight your way through the middle.
That said, when Spain is in posession, manmark their midfielders. When Iniesta drifts inwards, they always get a spare man in midfield, which means they will dominate posession. Deploy four central midfielders and sacrifice a winger. Wingers are pretty much pointless against Spain because they will never get a good ball with Spain’s pressing on the wings.
To stay with Holland, something like this:
Kuyt;
Robben;
Sneijder, Van Persie (or Afellay for more mobility);
De Jong, Van Bommel;
Gio, Mathijsen, Heitinga, Vd Wiel;
Stekelenburg.
That way Van Persie can press Alonso and when in posession Sneijder and Van Persie can double up against Busquets (Alonso will never keep following Van Persie around) so one of them get’s free. Robben makes his diagonal run, Kuyt creates space.
very impressive!!!
I thought Chile gave example of how to shut down Spain. If they had possessed more creative players as well as goal scorers, it could have been a very different game than it was at the group stage.
Paraguay did quite well too ….
well personally i think theres nothing wrong with ‘counter attack’, since that probably is the natural play against a side playing such a high defensive line, especially against centre backs lacking pace if anything.
you could argue that, since spain overcrowds the central midfield, playing it wide and running against the full backs might be an idea too, but then again the way to score would be crosses into the box, which could be rather hard owing to the quality of both puyol and pique.
You can always beat them by winning the midfield. The problem is, you would need at least as good footballers as Spain has, in regard of technical skill. Brazil comes to my mind.
None of the teams tried to play their own football when facing Spain, so we cannot really tell how the game would end up in such circumstances. The coaches presumed that it would end fatally for their teams. That is why I so much pity that Brazil didn’t reach the final. I believe this would be one of few teams playing their normal tactics against Spain. Having excellent players and also pressing quietly, I believe they would bring the game to a thriller.
I would say Chile played, suicidal some may argue, rather close to what their football under Bielsa has been for some time now. They clearly dominated the midfield for 20-25 minutes until their keeper decided to stretch his legs and with a little of misfortune (rebouncing ball finding inmediatly Villa) and a little of Villa’s skills they were promptly 0-1. They went on playing even riskier attack football after the goal (now definitely suicidal) and soon they were 0-2. The way Chile, without stars or disequilibrating players, played until the first goal can perhaps be used as a blueprint for teams wanting to match Spain (or similar) without recurring to extreme defensive approaches or just pure counter attack. The problem with Chile was that their forwards were a total disappointment. Of course, to play 90 minutes like Chile did in the first 25 it will be needed eleven players with three lungs or training for two years in La Paz, Bolivia, before coming down to the beach in Rio de Janeiro to play WC 2014.
I agree in general. Chile fought Spain hard for the midfield, and it showed in Spain’s disjointed play. Admittedly, maintaining that level of pressing is extremely difficult, but even Spain don’t press that hard (nor Barça). The other component people aren’t even addressing is basically retaining possession. This is how Spain and Barcelona are able to press as well as they do–they can rest when in possession of the ball whilst the opposition tire themselves out chasing the ball. What needs to happen is more sides need to consider ball possession. This is also partially why Spain have scored so late in matches: they’ve tired the opposition enough to finally create holes in their defense.
Ball possession is actually a powerful defensive measure as well.
Agree about ball possession, the problem is that you need a squad filled with extremely gifted technical players to pull it off. Few teams in the world, club or international, could successfully imitate Barcelona or Spain.
Refer to this website:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/apr/06/question-pressing-crucial-modern-game
in short, the pressing game of spain can be disrupted. Deploy 2 wide forwards to pin back their full backs and force them to spread out their play so that they cant press efficiently. Players like walcott or ashley young is good. having players to pass to them immediately once in possession will be good too.
One of the Barcelona players remarked that Theo Walcott was the only thing they feared from Arsenal. Nobody (in my memory) was successful at pinning back Sergio Ramos, who I think was one of the most under-rated assets on the Spanish side this tournament.
In my opinion, the thing that happens for teams go against spain is that they become a team that so rigid and severely lack of self confidence when they’re in possession. This also happen to the Dutch the final. Often they delivered a direct ball to Robben and ask him to do a miracle with it, of course it never happen thanks to the excellent defensive triangle of Alonso, Puyol, and Capdevilla is always there to block him.
None the less, Spain pressing strategy is amazing, compare to the Dutch, Spain often press the space rather than the man. It limits Dutch’s flair and the range of passing, added by the fear of making mistakes, it completely ruin Dutch passing and possession.
The effectiveness of play also shown by Spain, by having Xavi standing close to the two DM (Busqet and Alonso) Spain has better flair on the ball and able to construct their attack well from deep. Even with less width, but their fluidity of play is giving the likes of Pedro and Iniesta to drifts into channels between Dutch defense and midfield.
Finally, I believed that the Spain 4-2-1-2-1 have much more space, freedom, and better links between players compared to Dutch rigid 4-2-3-1.
Yes we have already seen the result! SPAIN won the match
but why don’t we start talking more about how to handle those superior midfield system of SPAIN!
How about using a sweeper that push forward from the center back area ? When the opposition sweeper moves to the midfield area, the Spanish midfield will have to press him.. and that leaves one free opposition midfielder for a pass. If they don’t press him… then the sweeper can continue moving forward
In the picture example above, Joris Mathijsen , if he is a sweeper, should continue moving forward with the ball.
I think it will disrupt the Spanish way of pressing. What do you guys think ?
This is an interesting idea. To me it comes down to the personnel.
Clearly Spain had planned ahead of time to allow Mathijsen to be the free player with time on the ball. However, it was clear that Spain had chosen the right player, illustrated by the fact that Mathijsen was visibly uncomfortable on the ball.
This situation was similar to the first half of the Camp Nou leg of Barca-Inter, when Milito (admittedly playing left back) was given the freedom of the park to tiptoe up to the edge of the final 3rd, but was nowhere near sharp enough with his penetration or delivery to trouble the Inter defense.
Beckenbauer, Matthaus, and other ball handling center backs — Pique, Carvalho, Lucio, Thiago Silva — are marvelous because they bring an uncommon dimension to “Center Half.”
The width of the Dutch side during the first half was the first thing I noticed. They tried to stretch Spain out but instead stretched themselves too far apart to press Spain’s dominant midfield effectively. On the other hand having their full backs hugging the lines whenever in possession meant they could pump the ball down the line for Robben to run at Spanish defenders without having to worry too much about risks if possession was lost.
right so, Chebz. One could see the lack of confidence with the Dutch as with the Germans in semi-final. The young Germans were paralyzed (due to the huge respect Löw shows towards Spain) the experienced Dutch started an ugly fighting the man (not the ball).
Ahh, and thank you ZM for a superb football blog. The best, when it comes to strategy and tactics.
How to win against a Team playing like Spain?
Firstly – Show (and have) no fear. That happens naturaly, when a team has nothing to loose (the underdog, the B-team because we’re through). And it happens with a self-confident coach. Van Marwijk, the Dutch don’t like him, is seen as an interim solution and Löw was given no prolonged contract. Both are therefore weak coaches/leaders.
Not so with Jose Mourino. And Inter won against Barca in CL. His approach is “let them do their tici taca or triangels or whatever they are doing but don’t let them finish.” They are even not allowed to try to finish. And when they get bored by their play, take the ball and give it to a superb striker (Milito). Do this twice, that’s enough.
By the way: Mourinho did exactly the same thing in the CL final against Bayern Munich. A team also praised for playing triangles. And BM-coach (ex-Barca van Gaal) afterwards claimed: “the better team lost”.
The Dutch could not adopt this system because they had no superb striker.
I see. So it’s all about patient , discipline and sharpness to fight with those TAKI TAKA.
One more question what if a Team like Spain has an aerial attack striker. Does it gonna make any change? cause it allow them to have more option to attack.
(actually Toress in a good form is quiet good with it)
“…Firstly – Show (and have) no fear. That happens naturaly, when a team has nothing to loose (the underdog, the B-team because we’re through). And it happens with a self-confident coach. Van Marwijk, the Dutch don’t like him, is seen as an interim solution and Löw was given no prolonged contract. Both are therefore weak coaches/leaders…”
Löw was anything but a weak manager. His refusal to sign a contract before the tournament or after the victories against England and Argentina (which was proposed by the DFB-(German FA)-President), showed his strong belief in his abilities. The lack of an continuous contract of the manager may be a problem for a struggling club side, but should not for a young national team surprisingly being led in a world cup semifinal by a manager in such a convincing fashion due to praised tactics.
The respect Löw showed for the Spanish team beforehand is what every manager does in press conferences. Should he instead ridicule them? He tried to made his team the underdog, as he has done against England and Argentina.
“Löw was anything but a weak manager.” Is that really true?
His team, though able to play superb, could not compete with the spanish. They were weak and fearful when the stakes were high. That’s the true sign of weak management/leadership.
Anyway, i would like to hear other opinions and suggestions how to beat the “Barca-type” teams.
I also don’t think that Löw is a weak manager – and one third place in the WC 2006 and second in the European Final is IMO a very good outcome….
wrt quote: “….His team, though able to play superb, could not compete with the spanish.”…:
this German team has not only a lot of young players but also the whole formation is very young, e.g. Thomas Mueller had just 2 caps before the WC started! …2 caps!!!!! … so how can anyone expect that they outplay a superb Spainish side playing together since 3 years?? Credit goes to Löw that he was brave enough to start this development (and not copying the mistake of Italy, France and partly England) and considering what he achieved so far the next game of both teams will be even more exciting…
yes
, I know he (Thomas Müller) didn’t play against Spain, but Kedira, Özil, Toni Kroos, Boateng, Badstuber etc. had not much more caps before this WC started…
that is probably exactly what Löw thought and told his lot: “we are so young, they play together for years, they have won everything; how can anyone expect that we outplay this Spanish side, .. and so on and so on. – Let us wait for the next competition.” That’s weak but understandable though.
The next time they meet the Spanish might be tired of winning ..
@moldo
we don’t know what Löw said so I suggest we stick to the facts…
From your first argumentation “…was given no prolonged contract…therefore weak coach/leader”, I concluded you judge Löw having had a weak standing/reputation by his players (in contrary e.g. of Mourinho usually being loved by his players). As said, after showing much self-confidence and leading the team in the semi finals, I consider his standing *strong*.
Now, you write:”His team .. could not compete … were weak and fearful.”
That sounds like you argue because the team played badly he is a weak = bad manager.
Here, I agree with Harry Goolees. They were simply outclassed. Spain was simply the technically better team with a much more practiced proven system, both on national as on club level (Barca).
If you think of the fact how little time he got with the team and they speak nevertheless that the young German team has developed something like a recognizable positive style, that says much of the great achievement of Löw as a manager.
After beating England & Argentina in such a remarkable way, and looking back at the how the game against Spain went down, I would hardly say they lost due to weak management/leadership.
Spain played better that day, no doubt about it. There were chances to turn the tide though.
One might wonder what Müller would have done with that chance Kroos sadly failed to capitalize on…
yep
Even Kroos must wonder about that ^_^
So…Sir Alex is a weak manager too?
Oh and Guss Hiddink?
I saw my team destroyed in UCL final a year back, and I have seen us play miserably before, but I shall never forget what happened that night.
Spain just have the best players in their team currently. You think Bielsa was a weak manager too?
You may have all the confidence in yourself, but sometimes the easiest explanation is also the best explanation. Spain have the better players currently.
I don´t buy into Löw and van Marwijk being weak coaches. They have successfully changed the way their team plays and they have shown strong character against people who criticised them for doing so.
Of course Inter employed very effective defensive tactics. However: They had the defenders to stop Barca: Zanetti, Lucio, Samuel, Maicon and Cambiasso. Compare that to the Dutch or the German backline. The strength of the German team at this world cup was to go forward fast, not to defend solidly. The Germans tried to keep true to their style in the semifinal – a sign of confidence in themselves, I´d say – but were outclassed. I truly do not believe they could have won like Inter did.
Okay, Löw and van Marwijk are good coaches. Good – not more. Not good enough to help their teams at the top level.
And yes, the Inter defenders are world class. But – Löw himself said in interview during the World Cup, that nowadays teams like New Zealand and Latvia (or was ist Azerbaidshan) know how to defend effective against top-teams. One should expect that a German or Dutch defense can do as good as Latvia.
They didn’t defend badly.
Spain wasn’t able to score a goal in open play in 90 minutes neither against Germany nor the Netherlands (one should expect that a German defense can defend corners – especially against a side that isn’t packed with air-threat).
Germany’s problem was to switch to attack when finally getting possession. Spain was able to set the player with the ball under immediate pressure and to cut out all possible ball receivers.
I don’t think that Spain created to much goal scoring opportunities – given their quality, they will always get some. But Germany didn’t create enough opportunities themselves. The Netherlands created a few more but also didn’t convert.
But both had at least one obvious goal scoring opportunity before Spain scored. With a little luck (or more) they could have won – like the two sides which beat Spain in the last two years. But none of them really outplayed them or cracked the Spanish system – they luckily won like every underdog may win occasionally.
I also don’t think Inter really mastered Barca in the Champions League. They had a great defensive (both individually and as a team) and fought bravely, but also had that little bit of luck needed.
Barca could have won by the same luck. Inter has proven that Barca can be beaten – but they weren’t really superior and didn’t provide a masterplan how to overcome the Spanish/Barca possession play.
One masterplan against Spain:
1. let the Spanish have the ball and do whatever they want to do with it;
2. avoid them getting the ball into the penalty area; thus put 9 players in and around p.a.
2. avoid free kicks around p.a.
3. have one extraordinary good attack player linger in the midfield (Sneijder, Özil);
4. have one fast and willing striker (Robben, Klose) linger around center circle;
5. if anyone of the 9 in and around p.a. gets control over the ball kick it fast in direction of midfielder; he knows how to get and handle the ball. If that fails, don’t worry, start with 1.
6. the midfielder sends the striker towards goalkeeper with a pass no defender ever expected. If that fails, don’t worry, start with 1.
7. the striker after a dribbling against a CB scores. If that fails, don’t worry, start with 1.
The Outcome:
You can’t keep the Spanish 90 Minutes out of your p.a. or commit no fouls. So, they will get a few goalkicks/freekicks and score 1 or 2 goals.
Of 20 real attempts to reach the midfielder 10 go wrong. Of 10 attempts of the midfielder to reach the striker 5 go wrong. Of 5 runs towards the goalkeeper 3 go wrong. The striker scores 2.
If it is appropriate (the spanish slumbered away with their tiki taka) defenders with attacking skills (Kuijt/Müller) support the attack. This results in one goal.
The result of the masterplan: Spain 2 : 3 Opponent; voila
moldo,
Pretty sure that many teams meeting Spain in the future will definitely adopt at least one component from your masterplan, regardless of whatever plan they apply or what are the no. 1, 2, 3 … phases in their strategy. Yeah, they will repeatedly use the “If that fails, don’t worry, start with 1.”
Nice try!
Inter didn’t won by losing 1×0. They won by winning 3×1…
Quote: “Spain’s pressing, meanwhile, was exemplary. Each Dutch player was effectively occupied whenever their centre-backs got the ball. … As a result, Joris Mathijsen wasn’t able to play the ball into midfield – he was forced to either pass it back to Stekelenburg … or knock hopeful long crossfield balls to Arjen Robben.”
Or, if the defender is good at running with the ball, he may try to run between the pressing Spaniards, drawing one or more of them out of position, thus liberating some dutch player from being marked. Then he can pass to latter.
I guess that is the last thing their coach wish them to do. No one want to see their CB dribble the ball around those striker >_<
I guess that depends on the strength of the CB on the ball. I do not want to advise reckless runs, just little incisions that may disrupt the excellent marking by Spain. However, you are certainly right, this may be a dangerous tactic, to be employed sparsely and only if alternatives (long balls) do not work.
Anyway you maybe right about that ^_^
To have 1 good dribble and ball possession CB could make it different. ( Most of Brazilian defensive player are quiet good with it)
Since I don’t know much about football player could you mind to make a example of a good ball possession CB around this tournament?
Pique, Lucio.
any defender should avoid a dispossession under all circumstances. He may run with the ball a few meters to get better angles for passing (movement with the ball is certainly better than just sit and wait) but never try to dribble around opponents (if not in the last minutes and desperate for a goal or when the pitch is wide open during a counter attack).
No matter how good the defender is with the ball, he may lose the ball at any time. It’s just not worth the risk.
Dribbling defenders *as a strategy* is suicidal – simply.
“He may run with the ball a few meters to get better angles for passing”
That´s what I mean. A few meters, horizontally but also vertically, a bit up the pitch, without taking too great a risk, of course.
Exactly, but that requires more talented players than Netherlands has. Imagine Lucio doing that if Brazil got to the final. But perhaps Spain knowing that, would alter their tactics.
Well, that’s what Piquet does (or tries to do) a number of times in matches where the opposition is closing well at the midfielders. He crosses the midline with dominated ball looking for possible diagonal passes to advanced midfielders or the forwards (to their feet or deep into open spaces). When targets are not obvious or when opposition press is closing at him, he returns the ball (with a somewhat disguise turn) back to Puyol to start all over again. This kind of manouvre of course requires 1. a CB that is not afraid of controlling the ball longer than 1-2 seconds and lift his head to scrutinize the field, 2. marked midfielders and at least one fullback that are moving properly and wide in order to create channel space for the CB to move forward or receive his passes, 3. trust in the reception abilities of those receiving passes from the CB so to minimize inmediate loses of the ball. To me, the key for this (CB moving ahead in possesion, receptor players with fine first touch, etc) is to feel comfortable with the ball. In other words, training, training and more training (reception, moving, passing) with the ball. Strong emphasis in these aspects of football playing is what I often miss when watching kids (and their trainers) in organized football. Note: I do not live in South America or in Barcelona close to La Masia.
Never been a true manager also (just playing FM), but IMHO, Mou showed us all how to beat this Spain side when Internazionale meets Barca (more less Spain + Messi) by making a perfect zonal (not a man 2 man marking) inside Inter half. Inter player wasn’t committing many fouls to the Spanish side, but effectively limited their option in the most dangerous area Barca often exploit (1/4 Inter defensive area). Inter player also denies Barca “space” in this area, giving them hard time to really exploit Inter with their through passes or neatl one touch play among their strikers.
I believed by seeing Spain’s performance in this world cup, one factor that to consider is not to get over excited to chase for the ball, because many times we see that Spain punish teams that fallen into fatigue. As we see Dutch and Germany try to press on high up the pitch and getting deeper and deeper as minutes goes by.
With a deep and tight defensive line, and providing option with 2 or 3 forwards that has good partnerships to exploit Spain in an counter attack presumably the best way to stand up against the “tiki taka”. The partnership of Sneijder and Milito is better since they positioned them close to each other, instead of the Dutch forwards that standing to far away between each other.
That is exactely what i saw too with Spain in semi-final and final.
“The partnership of Sneijder and Milito is better since they positioned them close to each other, ..” – Sneijder they had and they had Robben (to play the Milito). But that “Milito-Space” was mostly occupied by failing van Persie, whom van Marwijk (the weak
) only dared once to replace with a lot of turmoil following, including vPs Sneijder-bashing and a team meeting.
What if van M. left van P. out and instead lined up a defending midfielder, Sneijder played Sneijder and Robben played Striker. I could have happened more than twice, that Robben runs free towards Casillas.
I could have happened more than twice, that Robben runs free towards Casillas. !!!
ZM, ive just heard that puyol has retired from international football. I imagine marchena/albiol will replace him, how do you think this will affect spains tactics ? As i think the other 2 are more similar to pique in playing style.
Fewer hair-clogged shower drains?
I don’t see a big difference. Puyol’s an exceptional defender, and he has a great partnership with Pique, but he’s hardly the lynchpin of their formation.
My idea to play against Spain would be:
1. Play physical (not like de jong)
2. In game change between deep lying defense and pressing high up the pitch. Dont let the Spanish team get used to your strategy.
3. Having two players ready for fast attacking exploiting puyol’s lack of pace.
4. Force them to play crosses into the box by defending deeply and narrowly.
I love most of you idea but
4. Force them to play crosses into the box by defending deeply and narrowly.
??? I don’t get it.
In my idea the more you go deeper and narrower the more those winger will choose to dribble in to the box. They only cross when they think they can’t cut in to the first post.
please advise.
I would offer Spain space on the flanks and prevent them from coming through the middle. I would deny them entering the penalty area at all costs. When defending deep I would do it rather narrowly also like Switzerland. As I see they are not very dangerous on crosses. Giving them some space to hit crosses should prevent the players from trying to enter the penalty area. They are likely to dribble to the area where there is space.
I think this was the gameplan of Hitzfeld. I would mix it with periodical pressing high up the pitch. This way Spain should have difficulties to accomodate.
in other words, Spain prefers playing narrow. Force them to play wide.
I see.
so provide those winger an offer (space and time )they hard to refuse to make a cross. Then Intercept it.
exactly.
Just a tip mate, maybe you’ve got it before, but here goes: For drawing arrows and such, paint.net is a free simple image editing program with some nice features.
@ZM
can you comment on the perceived lack of width exhibited by Spain throughout the tournament? Would it be erroneous to postulate that this approach may allow a quicker transition to an effective defensive shape if the ball is lost?
Probably rubbish but I assume there has to be a reason for constantly wanting to pass through the middle…
Yeah, you could argue that I suppose. As evidence by the first shot, it’s certainly easier to take up defensive positions if you’re narrow, but then I’m not sure that’ the case if you have Villa staying up the pitch and Iniesta drifting into the centre, I think that’s just attacking instincts.
@ZM i have heard many people complain that the dutch dont pass the ball to van persie that much. Is there any truth in that statement ?
I’m not sure. Apparently there were problems between SNeijder and van Persie? To be honest, van Persie didn’t look 100% throughout the tournament…
It’s obvious Sneijder and Van Persie aren’t the best pair of friends, at least on the pitch. It could be the case though that Sneijder, the main man for the dutch up front, was just playing for the best possibilities to score goals. Which he was sure not to find via Van Persie, only himself and Robben were worth trying.
Not including Van Persie in the team might have caused troubles off the pitch, which were forbidden.
And the wings were Robben’s (attacking, needed) and Kuyt’s (defending, needed too) positions.
So playing Sneijder and Van Persie (and Van der Vaart) in their standard positions this tournament might have been optimal.
Not football wise, but this time it was all about the result. Which they didn’t get, in the end.
Otherwise I would have written we in stead of they.
There’s little real evidence suggesting that there’s some sort of falling out between Sneijder and Van Persie. Neither seem to be characters who couldn’t set aside some differences in order to win the World Cup. I think Van Persie’s anonymity during the final is a result of tactical instructions from the manager. It’s clear from the beginning that the Dutch are looking for the counter through Robben. Van Persie is relegated to making off the ball runs to create space for Robben, and, with Sneijder closed down quickly, Dutch possession generally get distributed from deeper in their own half, trying to find Robben’s feet or space in front of him. The Dutch knew Spain has trouble sealing a win, so scoring at least one goal from a good counter would definitely keep Netherlands in the game. That’s the game plan they went for.
ZM,
a lovely piece of work there. Congratulations are due for your excellent and incisive coverage throughout the tournament.
In relation to this piece above, I’ll just say that your photo analysis perfectly captures the Capello Dictum; nine men behind the ball and distributed across three defensive bands (something you can’t do with a 4-4-2); either 4-1-4-1 (when Alonso joins Xavi to form a high line of pressing along with Pedro and Iniesta) or 4-2-3-1 (both Alonso and Busquets form the second defensive line behind the mediapuntas) and sometimes even both systems during one sequence of action depending on if/how the opponents (the Dutch) overcome the first wave of pressure.
Thanks!
I’ll just add that whether it is Barcelona playing a 4-3-3 (4-1-2-3), Spain playing a 4-2-3-1 (in the opening game vs Switzerland) or a 4-2-2-2 (in games where Villa started outside-left), all these sides display the ability to recompose themselves in either 4-1-4-1 or 4-2-3-1 during the defensive phase.
Great analysis. Excellent examples.
ZM,
Really superb and incisive commentaries throughout the tournament !
Looking forward to reading more in the new season (and beyond)…
errol1964.
ZM,
You’ve provided some really interesting analysis of Milan in the past; I wonder if you have any insights to share about the addition of Massimiliano Allegri and what it means for the club. We’re trying to make sense of the change and I wondered if you had anything to weigh in on his Ancelotti-throwback style. We don’t know him too well.
3m
Interesting set of articles indeed. Kudos ZM. I’m sorry I only got to them today…
The discussion on them has been very interesting as well. In the second part of the first half and also in huge sections of the second half the Dutch were more in control of the game, and it was more even. Spain only managed a couple of long punts… ZM, I saw that you already posted another part, and maybe a third etc. will follow (I hope)?
Could you then please elaborate on those situations as well? To me it seems Spain was far more vulnerable than has been suggested in this comment thread.
“As a result, Joris Mathijsen wasn’t able to play the ball into midfield – he was forced to either pass it back to Stekelenburg (bizarrely, Mathijsen-Stekelenburg was the most-common passing combination in the first half) ”
I got the impression that this was done, at least some of the time, on purpose by the Dutch. It can’t have come as any surprise to them that Spain was pressing, so the idea then is to make them run extra and harder to try and tire them. Sounds silly doesn’t it ? Uh, no…
because,
What hasn’t been discussed yet, were the playing conditions.
Bear in mind both teams are playing at 1700 m and with a relative humidty of round about 30%. Now check it out for yourselves, European teams play virtually all their football at sea level or close to sea level. A high altitude came would for them be at 400m and then once in a blue moon. The humidity or lack of it is a factor too. High cardio vascular effort in cold and very dry air and you have the delightful feeling of chest burn that Jo’burgers know well.
I am South African and rugby is a big deal here and the altitude of Johannesburg is always treated as a significant factor in the approach to any match. Acclimatization is a problem ,and there is no team in the world cup that spent an entire unbroken month living and training in Johannesburg so neither of these teams were acclimatized (Holland were living near Cape Town for the month). Sea level based rugby teams have discovered a way to offset the altitude and I was surprised when Holland for one didn’t try this – the team will stay at sea level until the day of the match and then travel to Johannesburg at the last possible instance, then get out ASAP(which both teams did, ha, the second part I mean)
So a plan to make a team run more than is neccessary, at 1700m altitude at least, is a good one.
About the question how to acclimatize the altitude a piece of a blog from two south-african Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology:
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2010/06/altitude-arriving-and-adapting.html
They don’t appreciate the get-late-in-get-soon-out approach.
They also have done some other posts about the effect of altitude to football worth reading…
Thanks for the link.I read it, but…
2 studies are at best an indication and are not remotely close to being able to take it as read. I’m not saying that arriving at last second to play game at altitude may be not be bollocks, but the jury is still out.
The first study mentions normal acclimatization,iow the longer you live and train at altitude, the better you will perform. That much is obvious however most visiting teams, be they football or rugby, do not have the luxury of even 2 days let alone days and weeks in order to acclimatize.
This leaves one study in opposition to many years of practice by the world’s leading rugby teams (South Africans and New zealanders take rugby very seriously indeed).
Original point though was that altitude (and dryness) were also a player on the field on Sunday night and that perhaps the Dutch were in some small way trying to use it to their advantage by trading on Spain’s commitment to pressing(running) and therefore trying to make them run the proverbial extra mile.