Afterthefact
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 7 Mar 2018
- Messages
- 1,131
Curious if anyone ever sees any interesting recurring tactical patterns they feel we can exploit more or fix. For instance:
1. relatively late in first half against spurs, bernardo was on the right, near the 18y box; probed a little and knocked it back to walker innocuously, and walker casually switched it over to the left. Par for the course. But I feel like rather than a switch, so many times there’s a fast give and go back to bernardo to be done into the empty space behind the covering fullback. See it time and again where a fullback switches off from the “relief” of the ball moving away from them, almost as if they say “job done” to themselves and exhale. Wish we’d try it more where bernardo knocks back to walker, walker takes a beat to fake to the left and then releases bernardo into the space behind the sleeping fullback. (They do this in a triangle with kev, but I don’t think the triangle is always necessary, which means an extra attacker available to crash the goal from a more central position.)
2. wish we’d play the ball into the vacant space that exists around the general depth of the penalty spot a little more. Are there ways that a central kdb or d.silva can create just enough angle against defenders and then slip more little passes into that space, where overlapping fullbacks are providing the depth and width to stretch the defense, while sterling, bernardo, Mahrez, etc., cut very aggressively into the middle-depth of the box to meet these balls that would be just sort of tapped into those pockets (tiny empty no man’s lands) to meet them/for them to run onto. I feel like sometimes the missed-chances lament would be addressed with a little more central and mid-box chances (which admittedly are the toughest to create with regularity against packed boxes).
3. on spurs first goal, wish we would collapse back toward goal a lot less. We do that a lot and I think there’s got to be a sooner point more often where Laporte (in that case) or whoever steps into it rather than retreats. I get that you don’t want to get beat and allow someone in on goal; but often the over-retreating either allows time for more attackers to stream in, or gets the attacker close enough to have a go. Personally i think our defense is under appreciated, but the collapse-back-to-goal tendency (especially against top attacking sides) gives me a sinking feeling every time.
1. relatively late in first half against spurs, bernardo was on the right, near the 18y box; probed a little and knocked it back to walker innocuously, and walker casually switched it over to the left. Par for the course. But I feel like rather than a switch, so many times there’s a fast give and go back to bernardo to be done into the empty space behind the covering fullback. See it time and again where a fullback switches off from the “relief” of the ball moving away from them, almost as if they say “job done” to themselves and exhale. Wish we’d try it more where bernardo knocks back to walker, walker takes a beat to fake to the left and then releases bernardo into the space behind the sleeping fullback. (They do this in a triangle with kev, but I don’t think the triangle is always necessary, which means an extra attacker available to crash the goal from a more central position.)
2. wish we’d play the ball into the vacant space that exists around the general depth of the penalty spot a little more. Are there ways that a central kdb or d.silva can create just enough angle against defenders and then slip more little passes into that space, where overlapping fullbacks are providing the depth and width to stretch the defense, while sterling, bernardo, Mahrez, etc., cut very aggressively into the middle-depth of the box to meet these balls that would be just sort of tapped into those pockets (tiny empty no man’s lands) to meet them/for them to run onto. I feel like sometimes the missed-chances lament would be addressed with a little more central and mid-box chances (which admittedly are the toughest to create with regularity against packed boxes).
3. on spurs first goal, wish we would collapse back toward goal a lot less. We do that a lot and I think there’s got to be a sooner point more often where Laporte (in that case) or whoever steps into it rather than retreats. I get that you don’t want to get beat and allow someone in on goal; but often the over-retreating either allows time for more attackers to stream in, or gets the attacker close enough to have a go. Personally i think our defense is under appreciated, but the collapse-back-to-goal tendency (especially against top attacking sides) gives me a sinking feeling every time.