Roma 3-2 Bayern: Ranieri’s half-time switch from 4-3-1-2 to 4-3-3 prompts superb comeback
The starting line-ups
Claudio Ranieri tinkered at half-time, and the change meant Roma went from 2-0 down at the break, to 3-2 up by full time.
From the start, Ranieri chose the 4-3-1-2 formation he’s favoured in recent weeks, with Jeremy Menez as the trequartista. Francesco Totti was on the bench with Mirko Vucinic and Marco Borriello upfront, and Matteo Brighi started in midfield alongside Leandro Greco.
Bayern kept their 4-2-3-1 formation but made changes from the weekend draw with Leverkusen – Franck Ribery and Martin Demichelis returned, whilst Thomas Kraft made his Champions League debut in goal.
Roma were disjointed in the first half, particularly in the way they played when they didn’t have the ball. They were canny enough to press Bayern at goal-kicks, and the inexperienced Kraft played the ball out to his centre-backs a couple of times when they were clearly in no position to receive it, almost resulting in a calamitous Roma goal.
Roma make it easy for Bayern
Further back, however, they simply let Bayern play. Menez didn’t look to do any defensive work whatsoever – in stark contrast to the equivalent Leverkusen player at the weekend, Renato Augusto, who spent the game tirelessly closing down Bayern’s two holding midfielders.
As a result, Anatoliy Tymoschuk and Andreas Ottl had plenty of time on the ball, and Roma’s 4-3-1-2 system also meant that the Bayern full-backs were completely unoccupied, and were always outlets in wide zones, stretching the play and allowing the Bayern wingers to move inside. Roma were forced to try and close the full-backs down by their midfield three shifting across the pitch from flank to flank, but Bayern simply knocked the ball across the pitch and constantly forced Roma’s midfield to change position.
Bayern patient
This season when Bayern are playing well, there is much more emphasis than last season upon retaining possession of the ball. This was evident in the opening day win over Wolfsburg when the opposition barely touched the ball in the first half, and has also been notable in their goals this week. At the weekend Gomez finished off a brilliant patient passing move in the 34th minute – here he did so in the 33rd, pouncing on Ribery’s reverse pass and finishing well. The second goal was less beautiful but no less ruthless – Thomas Mueller pounced on a loose ball and slipped Gomez in – and he finished well into the far corner.
Half-time changes
After half-time, Roma changed to 4-3-3
Ranieri’s first change was to replace Greco, who had made three ‘cynical’ tackles to break up Bayern counter-attacks, and was therefore very lucky not to have been dismissed. On came Fabio Simplicio in his place.
The most dramatic change, however, was to switch Roma’s system from a 4-3-1-2 to a 4-3-3. Vucinic went to the left, Menez came over to the right, and Roma now had width when they had the ball.
Perhaps more importantly, however, they were occupying the Bayern full-backs. Whereas Philip Lahm and Danijel Pranjic had all the time in the world in the first half, suddenly they were immediately faced with an opponent. Bayern couldn’t use them as a passing option and they couldn’t get their full-backs high up the pitch, and their easy passing pattern in the first half was no longer viable. Roma were still 3 v 3 in the centre of the pitch, and therefore they were not overrun in that zone.
Another key was that Roma’s full-backs pushed on more. There’s no explicit reason why this would be easier playing in a 4-3-3 rather than a 4-3-1-2 – in both formations they have space in front of them and in both halves they had a direct opponent – they were simply braver and played higher up the pitch.
Menez the dangerman
Granted, like Tottenham’s similar comeback over Arsenal at the weekend, Bayern’s slackness played a part in the turnaround. However, Menez being pushed over to the right was clearly a fantastic move from Ranieri – Roma started hitting direct passes out to him to take on Pranjic (a 70-yard ball from John Arne Riise was a highlight) and Menez was a constant danger.
Menez created the first goal back when he beat Tymoschuk and Demichelis and then crossed for Borriello to convert, and he should have had a second assist from a similar move, where Simplicio somehow managed to miss an open goal.
UEFA's average position diagram shows the change in shape (Vucinic is 9, Menez is 94). Copyright UEFA.
Vucinic, quiet in the first half, was also now having an excellent game on the left. His clever ball down the line for Riise on the overlap created the second goal, converted by De Rossi. It was poor tracking of Riise by Pranjic, who by this time had been moved out to the right wing.
Francesco Totti had come off the bench in place of Brighi – shifting Roma’s formation slightly to 4-2-1-3. He had an impact on the game at 2-2 – he found a pocket of space in midfield to send a ball over the top for Borriello, who was brought down by Kraft, and Totti scored the penalty to complete the comeback.
Conclusion
Ranieri has a reputation for crazy changes, but sometimes he gets them very, very right. In a situation reminiscent of this year’s first Rome derby when he switched from a 4-3-1-2 to a 4-2-3-1 at half-time, Roma took the game to the opposition and were superb in the second period.
Could Louis van Gaal have done more to stop Roma in the second half? Menez was the clear dangerman, and it was very surprising that van Gaal didn’t attempt to make Bayern more secure down that side of the pitch. He even brought on an extra left-back, Diego Contento, but rather than fielding him and Pranjic down the same side of the pitch to double up against Menez, he moved Pranjic over to the right, where he was eventually partly responsible for Roma’s second goal. As a whole, Bayern played high up the pitch in the second half, which helped Roma get the ball to their wingers with space to run into.
Roma 3-2 Bayern: Ranieri’s half-time switch from 4-3-1-2 to 4-3-3 prompts superb comeback
Didnt had the live telecast. Looks like it was a great game. Missed it. Thanks ZM
was waiting for this article all day today… Amazing changes by Ranieri. Couldnt agree more about the Pranjic Contento on the same side, didnt really understand what he was trying to do. If I remember correctly, van Gaal didnt even shake hands with Ranieri after the game, he should have atleast commended the comeback and shook hands out of respect.
the first look at the starting line-up and I thought about the typical Italian 7-3 disjointed team.
But now to Bayern. To stop Bayern you have to give Lahm and Pranjic defensive work and don’t give the holding midfielders time on the ball -> you need pressing and wingers.
As long as Schweinsteiger, van Bommel, and Badstuber (and Robben but he is not a defender) are not in their usual positions Bayern will have problems with teams playing pressing. The centre backs are not the best on the ball (Demichelis is not useless but better at moving forward with the ball and not a passer). Lahm is like a playmaker on the full back position, he should be occupied by an inverted winger. Pranjic also is a threat when Bayern has the ball (staying wide left) and needs some defensive work to keep him quiet (and Ribery needs an attacking fullback). If you occupy the passing options for the centre backs, they can’t play easy balls to the ‘defensive playmakers’. And that’s the key to destroy the Bavarian passing game. (Don’t know if van Gaal has a tactical reply to this strategy).
The Bayern are still searching for their best football (like last season). It is good that they had to change their style a little bit because of Robbens injury and to support Gomez. We have to wait how long van Gaal tries to push Kroos into the playmaking role behind the striker. I think it would be better to play Müller in the centre and Kroos more defensive. Maybe a 4-1-2-3 will be the future system for Bayern.
Great work from Roma to win this game.
I do not know if you watch the Bundesliga from time to time but normally Schweinsteiger plays behind the striker in these days and he is showing world class football on a regular basis.
No place for Kroos there (he ha his chance there in early league games but disappointed) but we will see what will happen when the first eleven of bayern is complete and Schweinsteiger will be drawn back in defensive midfield.
Yesterdays loss of bayern was more because of massive individual mistakes (complete bayern defense) than of tactical reason.
I know that Schweinsteiger played in that position (like you wrote). But now Ribery is back, and some day Robben will be back. And van Bommel … and I think Schweinsteiger will go back to his role in the defensive midfield.
If van Bommel goes back to the Netherlands this summer (like he said months ago), Bayern will need a new second holding midfielder. Maybe Kroos? Maybe a new system? I don’t know, but I don’t think that van Gaals first choice are Ottl or Tymoshchuk.
And I think Kroos future role is the passing midfielder, a deep creator. He is not like Özil or Müller (both work with their movement and are half forward, half attacking midfielder).
When van Gaal said, ‘~50m+ for Schweinsteiger is a lot of money, and no player would be worth that much’, I think he said, that you can replace everyone. Of course it is not very smart to tell the truth all the time and to everyone, but vG is not a politician.
Kroos had the problem that before the season started every person at Bayern had the idea that Kroos will be the no. 10. No one realised they don’t need an old-school playmaker. And with Müller they have a new-school no. 10 (playmaker? false ten?). Bayern should have bought a wide striker or a sub vor Müller, and shoud have started a competition between van Bommel and Kroos.
‘Yesterdays loss of bayern was more because of massive individual mistakes (complete bayern defense) than of tactical reason.’
You’re right, even a Bayern B-team should be able to play 0-0 for the last 10 minutes.
Van Gaal’s aim with the subtitutes was not to adjust to the game’s situation, but to give the players a break who needed. Ribery is just recently back from his injury and Müller played the last one and a half year almost every game. And with the thin roster thats available for van Gaal, he didnt either had the chance to substitute in a different way, or he just didnt care because Bayern were in the play-offs, nevertheless. In fact, on the few things I do not like about van Gaal, is him not adjusting too much to the opponent. He slightly did in league matches, against Hamburg for example, but mostly he thinks his superior game plan will knock every team. Great comeback by the Roma.
I think this game shows why the diamond formation (or 4-3-1-2) is dying out. Fullbacks are too dangerous to leave unopposed these days.
Interesting yeah, because in Serie A at the mo they’re going through a mini-obsession with it…
Why doesn’t the wide 4-3-3 / 4-2-3-1 punish those teams in their own league like it does in the CL?
Mainz showed how a 4-3-1-2 (or the tree?) can work against fullbacks. But you need hard working strikers.
In Italy it works coz many teams playing it? like 10 years ago 3 attackers and a defensive double line (4-3 or 3-4)?
A 4-3-1-2 can work well against a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1, but the 2 forwards need to work hard offensively and defensively in the channels and try to occupy the CBs and the FBs. Its difficult for a 3-man center midfield to play against a hard working 4 man midfield with 3 dedicated ball-winners, and if the full-backs move up to support, the 2 forwards in the 4-3-1-2 can drift towards the wings and act as wingers. The threat of a direct playmaker tends to suck the opposition midfield to sit a little deeper, giving the three not so technically good ball-winners (or maybe 2 ball-winners and a deep-lying playmaker) more time on the ball as well.
Against the modern trend of a mobile false nine who is typically short, and inverted wingers cutting in, the full-backs crossing shouldn’t be too troublesome especially if one DM detaches from the middle to go support the flank defense, and the inverted wingers are running into 3 DMs. Against traditional down the line wingers, the 4-man midfield have plenty of manpower to go block out the long passing lanes and to kick the opposition midfield backwards, severing the links to the lone forward.
It can still be a very good formation but the AM needs to work very hard if the opposition’s main playmaking force is deep-lying rather than forward; having the controlling DMs free is probably a greater problem than having the full backs free. Not everybody is playing 4-3-1-2 in Italy; 4-3-3 is rare, but teams play 4-2-3-1 along with 4-4-2, 4-3-1-2 and 3-4-3 generally.
ZM, games like this must go some lengths to re-affirm your belief in tactical theory! Must say, rarely have I seen a game turned on it’s head so dramatically from a simple formation change – definitely a game of two halves.
Menez looked very dangerous in the second half, but was incredibly lazy defensively.. can Roma really afford to carry him in the games against top sides? That is the argument concerning Ronaldinho also..
I have a question. Where do you get those UEFA diagrams that show the change in position?
You can find them here http://www.uefa.com/uefa/mediaservices/presskits/index.html. Unfortunately for some reason they removed all those of previous seasons.