Tactical view of some European League games last weekend featuring West Ham 1-2 Manchester United, Tottenam 0-3 Chelsea, PSG 2-1 Lyon
Over the weekend came some very interesting games from European leagues. We at BraggsSports took our time to watch Live some of the games and have decided to uncover some tactical ideas and issues from the games.
West Ham 1-2 Manchester United
Maguire has had a poor start to the season – too many unnecessary errors in possession which could have cost United points and although it didn’t directly with that Armstrong missed chance and now Bowen’s missed chance, it has indirectly by ruining United’s control/potential to win.
People probably laughed at Ronaldo making a mess of the chance prior to the goal thanks to a brilliant McTominay pass but they’re analyzing the wrong things. The fact that he constantly gets into these clear goal scoring positions is what makes him inevitable.
West Ham pressed Man United high in a 4-2-3-1 to prevent any sort of rhythm in their build-up and then changing into their 4-4-2 mid block as soon as the ball is moved into Phase 2. Without Antonio, their main target man. Moyes is a very good coach.
Even though they’ve been brilliant so far, Michael Antonio has been a big miss for West Ham in this game. They’re constantly finding themselves in their chance creation areas i.e crossing positions in the final third, but are/were lacking any sort of movement in the box.
Man United’s press has gone wayward as the half has gone on again. It’s something Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has to improve upon in the coming weeks. The opposition fullbacks and midfielders cannot be receiving with as much time and space in possession as they are. Likes of Pogba/Ronaldo are lazy.
Wan Bissaka is a really lucky fella. And he should definitely learn to stay on his feet more.
Amount of corners United get, they should score one. Minimum 1 in 4 games on average
Fred is infuriating.
That’s a penalty for West Ham. 100%.
Footballing justice. Ronaldo stonewall penalty not given. Ball don’t lie.
Man United need to improve off the ball. Their pressing was lax today, & it’s something Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs to consider when picking his front four opposed to just on-ball dynamics. Complementing Ronaldo AND Pogba in the same front 4 vs good technical teams is something that can’t continue.
Why bring a player off the bench to play a penalty? Is he in your FPL?
Moyes can’t have brought Noble on to take that penalty as a gesture because it’s Noble’s last season. Noble does take penalties, he usually scores them, but he doesn’t play anymore. He couldn’t have even completed a warm up. Seems like uncharacteristically bad management.
There might be nothing behind it, I could be wrong and it might make no difference, but I see very little sense in bringing on a player solely to take a penalty. They’re cold, out of the game, no fluency. An already psychologically difficult challenge made more difficult.
That De Gea save is a title chasing save by the way
So much chaos in the game. Fred and particularly Maguire were absolutely shocking. Difference between United and City, Pool and Chelsea is chaos. With those 3, it always feels like they’re in control of the game totally and systematically break teams down.
EDITOR’S PICK
- Why Jose Mourinho is struggling in recent times
- Statistics in modern day football- a discrediting idea?
- Top 10 most underrated footballers in the world right now
- Arsenal boss Arteta plays down Luiz and Ceballos fight
- The modern football goalkeeper
- Top 8 best African Midfielders right now
- Cameroon National Team All-Time Top 5 Scorers
Tottenham 0-3 Chelsea
This is the highest press Nuno has implemented in his reign at Spurs so far. They’re squeezing up and winning the ball back in some very dangerous areas.
Mount and Havertz together is so unaesthetically pleasing. Need a proper creative threat on the pitch. One that creates 1v1 danger.
World, world class. All world class centre backs score goals from corners, and Thiago Silva has just donPochettino explains why he subbed Messi off against Lyon(Opens in a new browser tab)e that.
For example with Arsenal before you knew they’d crack if you sustained enough pressure, City are uncomfortable in transitions. There’s no game state where you feel like you have Chelsea where you want them.
PSG 2-1 Lyon
Related Post: Pochettino explains why he subbed Messi off against Lyon
Bonus: Featuring Norwich City and Young CM
- Watching Norwich City over the past few years has given me a lot more respect for the way Sean Dyche sets up his Burnley side. Just like Diego Simeone. Give me a team that’s going to dig in deep and make it hard for the opposition over a team that poses zero threat to the rest of the league whatsoever. It’s not even just attractive football, you need to be able to adapt to the opposition and the circumstances. Farke’s in-game management is arguably the worst in the league
- You notice that the young CMs in Germany/Italy/Spain people are excited about aren’t goal-scorers. That’s a mature football culture. English football hypes young midfielders based on goal-scoring, not technical competence. The goal-scoring CM then abandons technical development and is ruined 5 years later.
RECOMMENDE FOR YOU
- Modern football defensive midfielder/Mediocentro/Regista
- Who is a FALSE Full Back in Football?
- CAF CL: PWD Boss reacts to draw against Kaizer Chiefs
- Tactical approaches and theoretical concepts in football
- Liverpool vs Man City: Pre-match tactical analysis
- Olivier Giroud a perfect example of Mental Resilience in modern football
