… 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 […]
Tag Archives: Tactics
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
All in the mind – Is the brain the new frontier in football training?
Today’s soccer professionals have a battery of physios, fitness trainers and doctors all striving to fine-tune their players’ physique for optimum performance. But are football clubs missing a trick in overlooking dedicated training for the most important organ of all — the brain? Scientists at London’s Brunel University believe the game’s top talents, such as […]
Benetiz’s tactical changes vs United
Spaniard’s substitutions enabled Ramires, Oscar, Eden Hazard and Juan Mata to overload their opponents in the central areas. Benítez’s favourite buzzword is “compact” but in the opening stages Chelsea were a rabble, strung out across the Old Trafford pitch. The centre-backs were terrified of Javier Hernández’s pace, so dropped deep (which wasn’t enough to prevent […]
Super Santi shows his range
For this current generation of gifted Spanish passers, their precise position isn’t a major concern. Whereas midfielders who predominantly cross want to be fielded on the side of their stronger foot, and prolific shooters prefer to start on the opposite flank, where they can cut inside, passers are much more adaptable.The quartet of attacking midfielders […]
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