Tactic vs Player

[Bob stark]

This time our game vs Sociedad. It was basically a 343 with Neto and Palestra as wb.

The fun thing with Alonso is that he is not super rigid manager. Sometimes you build with basic 3-2. Sometimes with 4-1, hopefully I don't read anymore of midifelder need to be 2 100% time, dinosaur tactic bs.



That is Caicedo dropping as lcb and Fofana n Colwill playing as fb.



What I also like is this fun stuff with Colwill (lcb) pushing up creating a 3v3. I prefer this to Maresca rigid 3box3

I only watch the 1st half, I don't think we played that well. I don't think we created much. The 1st goal was good pass from James, it created chaos so Sociedad lb was late but neto was still far away. Good cross



But this is 4v2, two defender on Jp, two on rogers. You expected your defender to handle this easily. They didn't and Rogers score a tap in.

Now let's talk about defense. I don't think we defended that well. 2 min into the game, from Sociedad gk.



That should be a tasty pass to the middle but Sociedad cb didn't see him. Doesn't matter.



Palestra is late

Many talk about cb, cb. Now good luck if you are cb. The ball is not far and that is 3v3 on the halfway line with little pressure on the ball.

Palestra need to work on his defense and Roger need to be more active defensively.



Yes that is kubo (I think) receiving the ball quite far from the goal and he can dribble until inside our box.



Kubo once again receive the ball outwide, Palestra allow him to cut inside and Roger doesn't help. There is very dangerous 3v2on the other side.



Imo the performance on the 1st half wasn't great at all. If this is the pressing plan then Roger n Palmer need to run back more.

 

[SydneyChelsea]

Palestra is late

Many talk about cb, cb. Now good luck if you are cb. The ball is not far and that is 3v3 on the halfway line with little pressure on the ball.

Palestra need to work on his defense and Roger need to be more active defensively.

View attachment 42158

Yes that is kubo (I think) receiving the ball quite far from the goal and he can dribble until inside our box.

View attachment 42159

Kubo once again receive the ball outwide, Palestra allow him to cut inside and Roger doesn't help. There is very dangerous 3v2on the other side.

These two stills have me worried, there are huge gaps between the defenders. Even if Palestra doesn't get beaten, Kubo just needs to make a yard of space and then it's a relatively simple cross to two strikers in acres of space. Fofana is on his heels at the back-post, he isn't covering. In Tuchel and Conte's more defensive 3-atb systems, we saw either Matic or Jorginho drop deeper to form a 3rd CB.

Rogers needs to get back to rush Kubo into making a play. He doesn't need to defend directly but I think the issue with our pressing in general seems to be that our players never get close enough to apply pressure.

 

[Bob stark]

These two stills have me worried, there are huge gaps between the defenders. Even if Palestra doesn't get beaten, Kubo just needs to make a yard of space and then it's a relatively simple cross to two strikers in acres of space. Fofana is on his heels at the back-post, he isn't covering. In Tuchel and Conte's more defensive 3-atb systems, we saw either Matic or Jorginho drop deeper to form a 3rd CB.

Rogers needs to get back to rush Kubo into making a play. He doesn't need to defend directly but I think the issue with our pressing in general seems to be that our players never get close enough to apply pressure.

It is pre season so I won't be too worried about player running but it is quite clear that Palestra defending need a lot of work.

 

[Bob stark]

Finally new season start and I can do proper analysis on real game.

Let me start on Fulham first. I have never watched arbeloa team but this is what I called tactico football.



Super wide build up, two CB very wide with gk as the "middle" cb. I don't have to tell you why this is very risky.



You can already see the problem. You basically cannot have any turnover as we have 3 attacker in the middle vs 0/1 defender. Somebody decided to kick a bad long ball.



It is not even close.



Death . Fulham RCB had just received the ball all the way on the right sideline, of course he is late.

 

[Bob stark]

Now let's talk about Chelsea.

Offensively, it is similar to the post that I wrote before. 343 but sometimes one of the dm drop so you build in 4-1 shape. This suit James as he is not a midfielder (he is not comfortable receiving the ball with back to goal) but this also mean Colwill will receive the ball in lb position, not sure this suit him.

Not sure there is much to talk about offensively. The front 3 were good Palmer was fantastic. But Fulham gameplan was so strange. Many say we look dangerous in transition but a lof of them were harmless turnover. Fulham ran this very risky build up where they empty the middle so when the lost the ball bizzare stuff.

Playing with just 3 attacker is very hard. Palmer many times managed to get something even when he was being double teamed but this is not a good plan long term. Preferably, you want to get something either from your wb or from your midfield.

Let's talk about defensively, it was legit 532 mid block.



It is rare to see big team do this anymore. When you have a lot of talent especially attacker, most of them are not comfortable being asked to defend for long period of time so you run press ball but Alonso played 6 defenders + a dm.

The 1st goal was bad mistake by sanchez and Rogers being late defensively.

2nd goal was 100% on Colwill. Most of the time when fans blame cb, it is not that simple because if you expose them any CB will be poor but this time, it is on Colwill. It is very hard to protect wide cb from long ball, you just need to win your duel.

It was a good result and imo fine perfomance but not sure I like 6 defender. It got nothing to do with the system, we simply have too many attackers to play this system.

 

[Bob stark]

Why do we look good in offense? Arbeloa football is just insane. Our first goal is simply not possible.

The same thing for our 3rd goal.



This is impossible.

 

[All Barco no bite]

Why do we look good in offense? Arbeloa football is just insane. Our first goal is simply not possible.

The same thing for our 3rd goal.

View attachment 42369

This is impossible.

I don't think it is impossible because you just posted 2 examples of us doing it

 

[Bob stark]

I don't think it is impossible because you just posted 2 examples of us doing it

This is not about Chelsea, it is about how Fulham defend and attack.

 

[SydneyChelsea]

This is not about Chelsea, it is about how Fulham defend and attack.

It's high-risk, high-reward. It was a bad pass that led to the first goal, an error rather than a tactical failing. Berge defended shockingly there, failing to anticipate Lacroix's clearance and then hesitating to deal with it.

Lacroix also deserves a tonne of credit defending the space correctly and calmly getting the ball down and forward towards Palmer instead of booting it into the stand, and Berge's hesitation is what let Palmer get on the ball in the first place. There also needs to be a tonne of credit going Palmer's way, if you look at the close up he anticipates the moment when he realises Lacroix is going to clear and scans to see exactly where Pedro is. Most players, 20 seconds into a game, are concerned about retaining possession and not pissing off their manager, and those inclined to attack likely dribble and take the shot themselves instead of the first time pass. Palmer sees the opportunity and seizes it; only Bruno Fernandes or Martin Odegaard would ever attempt a similar play.

When it works for Fulham, and it probably will a few times this season, they are going to overload most teams out wide and completely bypass the 'box midfield' that PL clubs are obsessed with. If that ball gets through to Robinson or Garcia through the centre they have 3 v 1 or 4 v 2 and most teams are screwed.

Even for the second goal, there are not many wingers in this league that are going to beat Calvin Bassey to a header; Rogers is 6ft 2" and as good in the air as any centre-forward in this league not called Haaland. Castagne is most at fault here, with Bassey out of position he should have been pelting back full speed to deal with the situation but for some reason he stays behind Rogers?

Again Berge was at fault again thinking he could simply jockey Joao Pedro. Josh King has gone AWOL upfield because he's more interested in self-validation for last year's VAR fiasco than seeing his team win. Palmer is free to run a training lap from right to left because there are no DMs or fullbacks. This has less to do with the tactic itself and more to do with Fulham over-extending and failing to seize the moment.

In saying that, it's also on Arbeola to realise that King and Berge are not Tchouameni and Valverde, and they don't have the ability to cover gaps the size of the Amazon Basin.