Barcelona - a different concept

This post may be a bit late, but its pertinence remains valid, since we will be analysing consolidated (defensive) processes. Tito Vilanova was appointed as Pep Guardiola's successor in order to maintain a certain philosophy, one that has proved fruitful over the past few years. While it's true that most of the major guidelines subsist, it's also true that Vilanova has virtually given up on the three-man defence (except when his team are trailing) and that the defensive pressure is not as intense and effective. Let's take a quick look at the match versus Real Madrid from October 7.

• Real Madrid goal #1

Real Madrid were being successful in shifting the ball from side to side, namely through Xabi Alonso's accurate long balls. The ball had just traveled from left to right, with Özil moving it back to the centre. With a far less intense defensive pressure, Barcelona's wingers seem unsure of what to do without the ball and often forget about defending. In this particular case, there are five Real Madrid players in the box against an equal number of defenders. Notice how Ronaldo (blue) is left one on one against Dani Alves with a huge space for his trickery (shaded area).

When the ball gets to Benzema, one of the centre-backs comes out to meet him, as he is supposed to, and Dani Alves (orange) hesitates between covering for this team-mate or worrying about Ronaldo. Again, the right winger is nowhere to be found and neither Xavi or Fàbregas (the midfielders in this particular match) help out near the box.

That simple hesitation is enough for Ronaldo to get past Dani Alves (orange) and bury the ball in the net with a powerful left-footed shot.

• Real Madrid goal #2

For Real Madrid's second goal, there was another pressing issue. Barcelona have been less precise and giving the ball away more cheaply recently, especially in tougher matches. Here Barcelona have once again lost the ball and the team take longer than expected to get back into (defensive) shape. The middle is completely unprotected (shaded area) and Dani Alves is not between the goal and his man, as he should. Furthermore, there is no one goalside of Özil (inside the shaded area).

With none of the defenders coming out to meet Özil, Ronaldo sprints past Barcelona right-back. With no pressure from midfield (the two shuttlers are very far from the action), the German international can pick his pass and the offside trap is no obstacle for Ronaldo's speed and intelligent movement.

• Conclusion

Despite their perfect start to the season up to that moment, Barcelona's displays have been far from perfect. Their possession has been sloppier at times, but most importantly, their defensive approach seems to be changing, voluntarily or not. The immediate pressure they used to exert after giving the ball away is nowhere near what it used to be, but their defensive approach and positioning have not changed accordingly, which partly explains the sudden hike in conceded goals.

England - pragmatic or ordinary?

This piece was originally intended as a tactical report on tonight's (postponed) match between Poland and England. However, since this contest was as tactically irrelevant as they come, I chose to go down another path and analyse specific details about the English squad.

With both teams arranged in a 4x4x1x1 and virtually mirroring each other in every aspect, there was good cause to believe this would turn out to be a match right up Sir Bobby Robson's alley - "if everyone wins the battle against their direct opponent, we will win the game". Unfortunately, due to both teams' fear and ineptitude, neither didn't. The outcome? A fitting draw, with both goals coming from set pieces - Rooney scoring with his shoulder, Glik putting the ball in the net after an ill-timed approach from Joe Hart.

• The new life of Wayne Rooney. As his speed dwindled down over the years, Wayne Rooney has been clever in making the most of his footballing and match reading abilities. Never one willing to stay up front waiting for service to come, his work rate has been beneficial for both his club and country. The former Everton forward has now become an almost full-time midfielder, and an all-around one at that. He was often seen deputising for Cleverley when the Manchester United youngster pushed forward and covering for Ashley Cole, as well. By dropping back a few yards (a bit like Paul Scholes did), Rooney's influence may grow exponentially and he may become one of the most dangerous attacking midfielders in the world.
• Carrick and Gerrard in midfield. Are you sure? Steven Gerrard has been one of England's mainstays and trustworthy lieutenant for the last decade or so. While it is impossible to overstate his historic importance - despite the apparent physical impossibility for him and Lampard to play on the same side -, it's an indisputable fact that his speed, stamina and work rate have been on the wane over the last couple of years. To entrust him with the task of shielding his back four alongside Michael Carrick borders on wishful thinking. As for the Red Devil, he is indeed a masterful passer of the ball and excellent at dictating his team's tempo, but he needs both a ball-winning partner by his side and his team-mates to provide darting runs in front of him. Otherwise, his lack of pace and almost non-existent physicality will become far too exposed and constitute a liability for this team.
• Hart, the foundation. Joe Hart is undoubtedly one of the best goalkeepers in Europe. He has often stepped up to save his team's ambitions and his evolution has been undeniable. However (like Iker Casillas, for instance), he really has to master the art of dealing with crosses, at the risk of jeopardising his reputation and the faith his team-mates are willing to put in him. Every good team must have a faithful, solid, reliable goalie at the back. Hart only needs to improve that bit to become one of England's all-time greats.
• The young guns. From everything I watch and read, I have been under the impression for several years now that England's future was bleak - there was an apparently ever smaller talent pool, foreigners (some with limited ability) were stifling the evolution of youngsters and kids these days were less and less interested in playing football (or doing any sort of physical activity, for that matter). Watching tonight's match, I couldn't help thinking that England's future was alive and well. In fact, Welbeck, Milner (he's still only 26, mind you), Walcott, Carroll, Lennon, Cleverley and Oxlade-Chamberlain all provide a strong bedrock upon which to build. Cleverley has the makings of an intelligent midfielder, Walcott and Lennon have the speed to offer the necessary width, and Oxlade-Chamberlain can provide the intensity and versatility so often lacking in English national teams.
• Pragmatism or excessive fear? As an outsider looking in, I have always felt that English teams (both at club and international level) were too often isolated from the rest of the world. While it has numerous upsides - the atmosphere in an English stadium is still miles away from anything else, to name but one example -, it also has its disadvantages. Although the 4x4x2 (or 4x4x1x1) many teams resort to is not necessarily a thing of the past, the way most squads play it is absolutely outdated. In fact, it's not that hard to remember that the English teams that thrived the most in European competitions have seldom been arranged in such fashion. For instance, since Sir Alex Ferguson decided to step away from 4x3x3, Manchester United have dropping further and further away from Barcelona (admittedly one of Sir Alex's yardsticks) and even Manchester City, their numerous stars notwithstanding, found life in the Champions League hard and were eliminated by Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League. If England are serious about reclaiming their place in European football, they must analyse their performance, but they mustn't be wary of learning from others.

In conclusion, while England's performance in Warsaw was far from impressive, there are still a lot of positives to take from it. A draw is a good result and hopefully Roy Hodgson will realise he has enough weapons in his squad to strike fear in his opponents' hearts. There is one thing the manager of the English team (and their fans) must realise, though: England are neither the powerhouse that must win every single match against every single opponent - as many seemed to believe not so long ago -, nor are they some minor team that should quake in their boots every time they go out on the field.

Sabotage Times

My first piece for Sabotage Times revolves around João Moutinho and is already out there. If you want, you may check it out here.

Portugal fail to capitalise

Starting elevens

Portugal and Russia met in Moscow for a potential decider about which team gets top spot in the group (thus avoiding the dreaded play-off). Ruben Micael played in what is usually Raúl Meireles' position, while Russia named an expected side, with Dzagoev's absence the only surprise.

On a synthetic turf, Portugal faced some initial difficulties trying to knit together a string of passes. Russia's original plan was very clear: allow the centre-backs time on the ball and pounce whenever the ball got to the midfielders or the full-backs, biting them at the ankles. When the ball was sent back to the Portuguese centre-backs or goalkeeper, the Russian players would exert intense pressure. That was the backdrop against which the first and only goal of the match came about.

Micael has just been caught out in possession.
Pepe (red) realises it and sprints to close the gap.

Bruno Alves (green) misreads the whole situation and is late to react.
He does not follow Pepe's move and is nowhere near the ideal positioning.

Portugal actually reacted quite well to Russia's goal and managed to find their footing. Pressuring high up the field, Paulo Bento's charges managed to win numerous balls back, stifling Russia's initiative. Nevertheless, the Eastern team proved very dangerous whenever they bypassed the Portuguese initial pressure. Micael remained too high up for the most part of the time he was involved in the match and Moutinho was lost as to whether join forces with Micael or help out Miguel Veloso, who was often left stranded.

Miguel Veloso was often left to fend off Russian attacks by himself.

Russia seemed both happy with the result and confident that their quick transitions would end up punishing Portugal eventually - and therefore dropped back. Nevertheless, their defending was sloppy at best, and Portugal actually managed to create a string of chances through virtually the same play via their 4x3x3 - much like FC Porto versus Paris Saint-Germain - on the right flank (Fábio Coentrão's injury was not exactly a blessing in disguise).

Nani (blue) passes the ball to Postiga, who in turns gives it to Pereira.
The presence of Micael (orange) keeps the centre-back
from providing the necessary coverage.

Nani takes full advantage of Postiga's movement
and Micael's presence to run into space.

This was relatively easy for Portugal to achieve because both Fayzulin and Shirokov would remain too high up (somewhat similarly to Micael), which meant Bento's men had no trouble finding either Postiga or Ronaldo unchecked in the middle. Despite several opportunities, Portugal's decision-making in the final third was seldom as good as it should have been.

To make matters worse for the Portuguese, their effective pressure high up was not combined with effective defending at the back, either derived from individual distractions or from the excessive space allowed after the initial pressure area.

Resorting to a familiar strategy, Paulo Bento replaced Ruben Micael with Varela and Portugal were rearranaged in a 4x2x3x1. Moutinho sat closer to Veloso, and Nani shifted to the centre off Postiga. This B plan has yielded its results in the past - against Denmark, for instance -, but this time it was Portugal's final straw. Despite Bento's laudable intent, the midfield became unbalanced and the Selecção were never again able to exert the same pressure or create another scoring chance.

Even though this was not Portugal's finest hour, the result may seem a bit harsh, considering the displays from both teams. By half-time, Portugal had had lots more shots, a higher number of passes and a higher percentage of accurate passes - even if their second half was not quite as bright and it was hard to see how Portugal would end up scoring.

PortuGOAL - a cause to believe in

Did you ever wish you lived in a world filled with people with passion about what they do, with a dedication that often surpasses the logical mind and showing perseverance for almost a decade? I know I would, because the world would definitely be a better place.

PortuGOAL, one of the sites this blog contributes to,  is proposing a wonderful idea to its readers: Tom Kundert (the site's owner, so to speak) and Ben Shave (his right arm and gifted journalist) will write a summary of the 2012/13 Portuguese league in a very appealing A4 book with 120 pages, including 50 photographs. The idea behind this project is not to make money for the authors, but rather to help to support the cause and hopefully revamp the site, so it's more user-friendly.

There are no kind enough words to talk about Tom. His dedication to the idea of informing the world about Portuguese football in English has been of great service to many - particularly second- and third-generation Americans of Portuguese descent. Also, Zonal Marking's own Michael Cox, one of the leading references in the footballing world, has admitted publicly he uses PortuGOAL to keep up with Portuguese football.

There are literally thousands of people that read PortuGOAL. I was one of them and I was fortunate enough to be included in this absolutely amazing team, sharing everything I know to help Tom and all the other hard-working fellows in trying to offer the best contents we can. Neither one of us makes a cent while writing for PortuGOAL. Neither Tom and Ben are writing the book to capitalise on anything - except maybe the fact that it would be great to have a PortuGOAL book in our hands. All of this comes from our heart and soul. We just want to do the best job we can and offer one heck of a site to you, the readers.

For this pitch to be successful, we must have 400 people buying the book. I've just done my part and bought my copy for myself, because I would like everyone to know that this is indeed a cause I truly believe in. I can only hope many of you will do the same (and some have already done it) - because I really think this site deserves it and because I promise to post a photo of Tom with a huge smile on his face if we do get to 400 contributors.

FC Porto punish Sporting for bad start

Starting elevens

FC Porto and Sporting met in absolutely opposite sides of the spectrum. The Dragons were on the back of a good display and subsequent win against Paris Saint-Germain, whereas the Lions had been trounced by Videoton, with the subsequent dismissal of Ricardo Sá Pinto. Therefore, it was only natural that Vítor Pereira chose not to make any changes on his eleven. Sporting caretaker coach Oceano Cruz kept the same basic structure, going with Schaars and Elias in the centre and Pranjic in front of Insúa on the left, supposedly to keep Danilo in check and exploit James Rodríguez's back, since the latter often tends to drift into the middle.

Oceano's plan seemed to rely on tying Porto down and avoid a goal during the game's initial stage, instructing Schaars to stick tight to Lucho almost all over the place. With Elias occupied by João Moutinho, Fernando was often free, since Izmailov was acting as some sort of no. 10 and letting FC Porto holding midfielder free, which meant the Portuguese champions kept enjoying numbers-up situations.

Despite all the flak he's been getting from the stands, Vítor Pereira has to be credited for getting FC Porto to play more fluid football in the early stages of the season, with an accompanying higher defensive line. By winning many balls back during Sporting's build-up or transition phase, FC Porto were able to exploit Schaars' absence, since Lucho would drag him around. This move would in turn open up space for James, who tried to hit the target from that very area (in front of the centre-backs, were Schaars should be) moments before Danilo provided the assist for Jackson Martínez's cheeky back heel.

Sporting seemed a bit stunned for a few minutes, while FC Porto remained compact, but dropped back up front. With Mangala coming on for the injured Maicon, the Dragons were bound to run into trouble, since the French centre-back does not react as quickly and is more prone to misplacing passes. Furthermore, Vítor Pereira's men started to decompress after the goal, apparently reliant on the fact that they would be able to create danger as soon as they hit the throttle.

On the half-hour mark, Sporting started loosening their chains, realising that FC Porto's high line was now vulnerable without Maicon. Izmailov got closer to his midfield and started providing a few key passes that a more clinical finish would have turned into assists. Maybe Pereira's intention was just that all along, because Sporting kept making a mistake they have been making for quite some time now, regardless on who the manager is: pushing forward with both full-backs when trailing, opening up huge holes and consequently numerical inferiority situations.

Sporting dictated the first 15 minutes of the second half. With Izmailov ever more present (his substitution's timing was unfortunate, because he was starting to be the linchpin that Sporting needed), FC Porto midfield was at times marooned, namely after Varela's poor decisions in the final third, breaking up the team in some critical situations. However, if Sporting want to fight for a position more suited to their history, Elias has to become more involved and offer passing options, instead of hiding himself from the match, and there has to be better organised attacking moves. As things stand, everyone just seems to expect Carrillo to come up with something.

Rojo's sending off was a natural consequence of Sporting venturing forward (and should have laid the match to rest even before the second penalty). Even though the Argentinean centre-back's approach in not exactly beyond reproach, Sporting's next coach has to make it priority number one to review the full-backs' positioning when attacking, since it often leaves the Lions totally and unnecessarily exposed.

All in all, it was a somewhat scrappy match. Sporting maintain their all too clear lack of attacking options and the next manager will have his work cut out for him. As for FC Porto, even though their victory was not unfair, there were times of poor control and decision making (namely in their transitions into attack) that could have proven disastrous. Nevertheless, Vítor Pereira will be ecstatic after two important victories and no goals conceded.

FC Porto grab an emphatic win

In their first home match for the Champions League, FC Porto put in a dominant display against the group's other top dogs. Vítor Pereira went with Danilo, Fernando and Varela ahead of Miguel Lopes, Defour and Atsu, respectively. Paris Saint-Germain manager Carlo Ancelotti kept most of his team intact, with Ménez alongisde Ibrahimovic and Nenê behind the two forwards.

It's not every day that we see a Portuguese team looking the favourite part, especially in the Champions League and against a team filled with stars, such as Paris Saint-Germain. Apparently unimpressed with the financial numbers that flew around the media over the past few days, Pereira's men set out to give the French team a run for their money and showed how much they have improved from last year (and last match against Rio Ave).

The Dragons presented a quite high defensive line, most likely to prevent Ibrahimovic from playing too close to FC Porto's box, relying that neither Ménez nor Nenê would present any real danger coming from behind. As for Paris Saint-Germain, the order was to sit back and wait for FC Porto's initial pressure to wear down and take it from there.

Facing their opponents' 4x3x1x2 (with Nenê behind Ibrahimovic and Ménez), the Portuguese champions emphasised all the more their usual attacking traits, exploiting and overloading the wings - namely (and almost exclusively) the left one. With James somewhere between the centre and the right and Varela on the left, FC Porto kept ramming down their left side with Alex Sandro, Moutinho and Varela. With the latter's natural width, Ancelotti's diamond-shaped midfield was too open to contain the threat.

The schematics were very simple and lasted throughout the whole match. Alex Sandro would start the move high up the field, immediately occupying Chantôme (who, truth be told, rarely played tucked in, as he should have). Varela was picked up by Van der Wiel and Verratti would then come up to meet Moutinho, afraid to let him in through the centre - effectively opening up the middle to James or Lucho. With the same play and a few triangle-shaped passes, the Portuguese team created a barrage of scoring chances.

Typical FC Porto movement down the left.
Verratti was dragged too easily out of position.

With Ibrahimovic and Ménez offering very little defensively and Nenê switching on and off, FC Porto were often allowed to play at will down the left or the middle, since help would often come (very) late from Matuidi or the centre-backs. Therefore, it would not pose too big a risk that the 20-odd attempts on Sirigu's goal frequently constituted clear-cut chances. As for Paris Saint-Germain's attacking plan, there often seemed to be none, apart from waiting for the Swedish maverick to get his bag of tricks out (which almost panned out after a lovely flick-on on the 11th minute).

The only stage at which the Parisians seemed to offer a real threat was the first 10 minutes of the second half, where the FC Porto midfielders lost their coordinates a bit and were too greedily pushing for the goal, almost getting punished for it. However, Lucho's coolness and Moutinho's stamina brought back the order and the Dragons quickly picked off where they had left off.

Despite all their profligacy, FC Porto deserved the win - so much so that they can might come to regret not scoring some more. James Rodríguez's goal may have come a bit late for FC Porto fans, but it meant that the three points would remain at the Dragão. After the latest wins in succession, Paris Saint-Germain were disappointing and can only blame themselves for such a poor match. In fact, they will probably find themselves lucky to only concede a goal. Also, it's hard to understand why Ancelotti, usually a gifted reader of the game, didn't offer any solution to oppose his adversary's natural advantage down the wings.