Football Tactics
Tactical Analysis: How Manchester City undid themselves against Chelsea in the Champions League final
After three encounters this season in the Premier League and FA Cup, Manchester City and Chelsea squared off in the biggest match of the European club football season – the Champions League final. Pep Guardiola’s side played Frank Lampard’s men off the park in Stamford Bridge to kick off an incredible winning streak at the very beginning of 2021, but new manager Thomas Tuchel won both in the FA Cup semi-final and reverse league fixture. All of that would not have a big bearing on this match, as City were looking to lift the first-ever Champions League trophy while Chelsea were looking to win their second. After an intense strategic battle, Chelsea emerged 1-0 winners thanks to Kai Havertz’s first-half goal. There were many intriguing tactical aspects to the game, right from player selectio...
Analysis: How Villarreal’s adaptability helped them beat Manchester United
In the second-last match of continental football in Europe for the 2020/21 season, Villarreal and Manchester United prepared to square off for the UEFA Europa League trophy. Ole Gunnar Solskjær was leading the Red Devils into his first-ever final as a manager, meaning that this was also his first chance to lift a trophy for the club, and it would also be United’s first major honour since 2017 when they won the same competition. Villarreal, meanwhile, were battling for their first-ever coveted piece of silverware barring the Tercera División and UEFA Intertoto Cup, as Unai Emery was eyeing his fourth Europa League success in five finals. The Yellow Submarine had an additional incentive as this was a bonus shot for them to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League, as their sevent...
Analysis: Why Chelsea’s tactics weren’t enough to stop Leicester magic
Just more than two weeks before this day in 2016, Leicester City were celebrating a miraculous Premier League title after Chelsea halted Tottenham Hotspur’s title charge for good at Stamford Bridge. Fast forward five years and those two accidental allies had become adversaries in the FA Cup final. Chelsea’s season had started well under Frank Lampard, but a terrible run of form which saw them slump out of the European spots from the top of the table spelt the end of the English manager’s tenure. His replacement was German tactician Thomas Tuchel, who almost instantly got a supremely talented squad firing their way back to the top-four and into two cup finals, one of which was the Champions League. A triumph in the FA Cup final would mean that the ex-Paris Saint-Germain manager delivered ne...
Tactical Analysis: How Chelsea halted Manchester City’s Premier League title party
Just over three weeks after their FA Cup semi-final success, Chelsea faced Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, with the hosts having the chance to seal the Premier League title with a victory. The two sides were fresh after midweek Champions League semi-final successes – against Paris Saint-Germain for City and Real Madrid for Chelsea – but with wholesale changes to the line-ups (nine for City and five for Chelsea), this was no dress rehearsal. Psychologically, though, this was a significant battle, and Chelsea came away with a crucial win (for their top-four hopes, too) after going a goal down in the first half. The match was filled with plenty of controversies, but we will strictly restrict ourselves to focusing on the tactical aspects of the clash. Manchester City in poss...
Analysis: How a dominant Man City took apart Neymar, Mbappe and co
After a hard-fought 1-1 draw between Real Madrid and Chelsea, the Champions League served up another semi-final feast as Paris Saint-Germain hosted Manchester City at the Parc de Princes. The home side were certainly in the mood in this season’s Champions League, having knocked out Barcelona in the round of 16 and exacting their revenge over holders Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals. Naturally, last season’s final disappointment was not forgotten in Paris, and an instant redemption would be the best way to heal that wound. City are arguably the best team in Europe this season – unquestionably after the turn of the year – so anything short of a Champions League success would be considered a small failure at the very least. Pep Guardiola had received a fair amount of criticism for his inab...
Tactical Analysis: How Real Madrid overcame Barcelona in El Clásico
Real Madrid and Barcelona may be two falling giants of European football, but their reputation remains high despite their struggles. Therefore, their clash – El Clásico – is still one of football’s biggest attractions, even if not the best from a quality perspective. The latest Clásico on Saturday had something much bigger at stake than pride – the La Liga title. Atlético Madrid looked intent on breaking Madrid and Barça’s duopoly on the Spanish top-flight, getting 50 points in the first half of their season and going clear at the top of the table, but they have slumped incredibly since. Their drop has allowed Madrid and Barcelona back into the title race, with Los Blancos just two points behind their Catalonian rivals going into this match. The hosts came away with a m...
Analysis: Liverpool’s poor pressing and TAA horror show ensured resounding thrashing by Real Madrid
As far as UEFA Champions League quarter-final ties go, they don’t get much bigger than this. Real Madrid hosted Liverpool at the Alfredo Di Stéfano in the first leg of the repeat of the 2018 Champions League final, but a number of key players were missing from both sides. Neither team had either of their two senior centre-backs available, while Eden Hazard and Dani Carvajal were also out for Los Blancos. Two depleted defences meant that we certainly had goals in store, and that was just the case as Real Madrid emerged 3-1 winners – just as they had done nearly three years ago. There was no Gareth Bale to bag a brace for Zinedine Zidane’s men, but Vinícius Júnior stepped up more than adequately with a match-winning performance. We will take a look at that and much more as we ...
Tactical Analysis: Perfect Lille outclass PSG in potential Ligue 1 title-decider
For the first time in four seasons, we have a serious title race in Ligue 1 with someone other than Paris Saint-Germain in pole position. Monaco and Lyon are fairly close in the mix, but the side leading the way are Lille, who were facing PSG in a crunch top-of-the-table clash. With the two sides level on points going into the match, this certainly had the potential to be a title-decider. The two sides fought hard at the Parc de Princes, and it was Lille who emerged victors thanks to the only goal of the match. PSG looked the better side overall, but they were held by the disciplined and extremely hard-working Dogues. In this analysis, we will take a look at how they overcame the French champions. Resolute defence With just 34.9% of possession and a relatively early lead, Lille found ...
How Atlético Madrid’s tactical missteps cost them huge against Chelsea
With a 1-0 deficit to overturn, Atlético Madrid visited Stamford Bridge to face Thomas Tuchel’s still-undefeated Chelsea in the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 clash. Coming back from a goal down was not Atlético’s game – they had never won a Champions League tie after losing the first leg. By contrast, Tuchel’s Chelsea were unbeaten in 12 games, winning eight of those. The German tactician would become the first Chelsea manager to avoid defeat in his first 13 games in charge if he kept this run going, so this was quite an important match from the record-keepers’ point of view too. The Blues cruised to a 2-0 victory despite a couple of initial scares, as goals from Hakim Ziyech and Emerson helped them advance to the quarter-finals. In this analysis, though, we wi...
Tactical Analysis: Pep Guardiola’s experimental field day for Manchester City against Fulham
After returning to winning ways in an emphatic manner against Southampton, Manchester City travelled to Craven Cottage to face a resurgent Fulham. Just after Thomas Tuchel’s failed experiment against Leeds United, Pep Guardiola decided to cross the back line bridge in the opposite direction as he went from a four to a three, and the Spaniard was a lot more successful. Despite a slow and disjointed first-half performance, City eased to a 3-0 victory thanks to quickfire goals in the first 15 minutes of the second period. In this analysis, we will attempt to break down the league leaders’ new system and see if it could have any reusage in the near future. They lined up in a 3-4-3, with Ederson in goal and John Stones, Rúben Dias and Aymeric Laporte in front of him. João Cancelo and ...
Tactical Analysis: How Guardiola schooled Mourinho as Manchester City breezed past Tottenham Hotspur
After watching Liverpool lose yet again to Leicester City, Manchester City took on Tottenham Hotspur on the back of an English top-flight record winning-streak spanning 15 games. The last side to beat Pep Guardiola’s rampant side were indeed Tottenham, but this was a completely different affair with both sides on opposite ends of the form table. The result was completely different from the reverse fixture too, as Manchester City emerged deserved 3-0 winners after another brilliant performance. In this analysis, we will attempt to dissect all of the tactical nuances on display in this match. Line-ups Manchester City lined up in their favoured 4-3-3, with Ederson shielded by a back-four of João Cancelo, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte and Oleksandr Zinchenko as Rúben Dias only made th...
Tactical Analysis: How Leicester City dealt a potentially decisive blow to Liverpool’s title-hopes
After that demoralising 1-4 reverse against Manchester City, Liverpool had another tough task on their hands as they took on high-flying Leicester City, who were three points and one spot above them in the table. The Reds’ title-hopes were already a distant memory in this rapid season, but they needed to win here to keep a spot in the top-four. However, it was the Foxes who emerged victorious thanks to a late flurry of goals, denting Liverpool’s top-four hopes and boosting theirs. In this analysis, we will take a look at what went right – and wrong – for both sides. Line-ups Leicester City lined up in a 4-4-1-1, with a necessary change in defence as James Justin had to miss out due to an ACL injury. So, Kasper Schmeichel had Daniel Amartey, Jonny Evans, Çağlar Söyüncü and Ricardo...
