… Van Gaal has never been a “template” manager, someone who brings an identical approach to different sides. He’s often used 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 as his first-choice formations. The question then, is simple. Why is he so keen to play a 3-4-1-2 at Manchester United? The latter part of the formation makes most […]
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Rodgers’ tweaks key to Liverpool’s success
Brendan Rodgers’s tactical tinkering has been crucial to Liverpool’s fast starts to games. Liverpool have an excellent starting XI but not great strength in depth, so this was a genuine challenge. (Eds note: without Henderson and Sturrdige) Rodgers was expected to return to a 4-3-3 in Sturridge’s absence, but instead he persevered with a shape […]
Arsenal and Manchester City: the key Champions League lessons
Forget all the nonsense being written across the tabloids…. This by Michael Cox is what clubs and their fans should be concentrating on. Playing a more ‘English’ style can cause problems … Bayern are a more powerful side than Barcelona, but they had no answer to Arsenal’s extremely forceful start at the Emirates, seemingly unable to deal with […]
Manchester United’s confidence-sapping tumble has long roots
David Moyes will receive the majority of the criticism for a run of form that extinguishes Manchester United’s title ambitions before the equinox and leaves the confidence of their fans and players in tatters. While the new manager is performing badly, the blame cannot be laid solely at his door. Those in the directors’ box […]
Zonal Marking: United 1 Arsenal 0
…The word ‘cagey’ is generally used to describe matches that are slow to get going, but this was an interesting contest because it was simultaneously rather defensive, yet also played at a high tempo. With just one shot in the first half hour, neither side were attacking particularly dangerously, but this was partly because both […]
Tactics: David Moyes is making mark at Manchester United
The most obvious feature of David Moyes’s coaching philosophy is his emphasis upon width – asking his central midfielders to spread the play, and encouraging the full-backs forward to create overloads with the wide midfielders. This was an unspectacular performance from Manchester United but suggested Moyes’s players are becoming familiar with their duties. At Everton, Moyes created the […]
4-4-2 is becoming trendy again
…When Barcelona were Europe’s dominant force between 2009 and 2011, for example, it was extremely difficult to tell whether strategy would move in the first respect (further evolution) or the second respect (a shift toward an opposing style of play). In the end, Bayern’s success last year probably represented a hybrid of the two: They […]
Zonal Marking: Manchester Derby
Zonal Marking takes a look a the tactical battle in the Manchester Derby. The key issue #1: Nasri’s narrowness … He did something pretty similar here, and in a match that wasn’t far off 4-4-2 against 4-4-2, he was the only player who varied his positioning to drag opponents around. His clever positioning was in stark […]
Football Manager Craze
As the computer game that discovered Lionel Messi prepares to launch a 21st edition, its popularity has never been greater. … “I went and did a gig at Manchester City and met a load of the players,” says the self-confessed City fan. “I met Micah Richards, the defender, and I was a bit rude to him. Afterwards my […]
Football and the obsession with attacking
Whether a team leads the hunt for trophies or languishes at the foot of the league table, it seems as though every club has come to demand an attractive brand of football from their coaches and players. Is it feasible? Well not always, yet despite living in a result-oriented age where even the slightest […]
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