Two of fluid attacks were on in form in the Premier League at the weekend via Manchester City and Southampton.
Manchester City
The 4-4-2 has a lot of critics in the modern game. Some say it cannot be played because the shape gets outmanned in midfield. Others say the 4-4-2 is too predictable – too old school.
But Manuel Pellegrini would tell you that it can be the perfect system, and he has a Premier League title to show for it.
The masses are right to be a bit baffled as to why City can succeed in England, at least, with this shape. In the age where your assistant manager on Football Manager is always reminding you in that annoying comments section that you’re getting overrun in midfield, it’s easy to forget that professional football is played with real players, who have thought processes, experience, and a brain.
In addition, it is easy to get into the habit of labeling players. For example, James Milner might be put on the team sheet as a right midfielder, but we have to remember that his status on the flank is just for reference. Manchester City might play 4-4-2, but part of Pellegrini’s tactical philosophy is he does not really use standard 4-4-2, as seen in this UEFA Training Ground video (http:\/\/www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qDfThaxmTU).
Pellegrini never talks specifically about the 4-4-2 or about fluidity, because he’s not going to give away his game plan and coaching philosophy in a PR video, but if you watch his motions on the tactics board, you can see what he’s thinking. Pellegrini moves the players who one might think are wide midfielders into the middle of the pitch to create a tight and compact midfield. In addition to that, we can’t see on the fluid movement of which his systems consist on a tactics board.
To get the fluidity Pellegrini is after, a team has to have the right personnel, because a system has to fit its players, instead of the players fitting into a preplanned system. Fortunately, players like Samir Nasri, James Milner, and David Silva are built perfectly for Pellegrini’s style of play.
In fact, it might be helpful to stop thinking about how Pellegrini sets up City as simply a 4-4-2, because that is just a title for the formation. Sometimes we get too caught up in the shape, and fail to look at the intricate pieces of the system.
We’ll look at the end of last season to see how the fluidity of the system works.
In the penultimate match last year’s campaign for the sky blue, Aston Villa parked the bus. On the day, instead of playing with two strikers, Edin Dzeko was deployed by himself up front, with three advanced midfielders and two holding players behind him. The system remains the same, though. The wingers pinch really far inside and the width comes from the full backs. As Pablo Zabaleta puts in this cross, look at all the sky blue shirts in the middle. All four attacking players are within about 15 yards of each other and each of them is pressing up against Villa’s back line to apply pressure.
A few days later, Nasri, who was deployed as the wide right midfielder in the system against West Ham, came inside to do this.
However, the best example of the fluidity of this team came this weekend, though, in its 2-0 win over Aston Villa.
In order to grasp the example, let’s start with a peak at Silva, who’s reference point is left midfield, even though we think of him as a No. 10. There are few systems where a wide player is consistently coming into the middle of the park to pick the ball up, and this is one of them.
But watch that GIF again, and you’ll notice something else. As Silva plays the ball to Dzeko, who has dropped deep, watch the runner a few yards ahead of him. That’s James Milner – City’s right midfielder. Having not just one wide player, but both of them, pinch that far inside would cause problems for a lot of defenses, especially because the City players understand where each person is supposed to be.
This is not just one sequence, though, there are multiple moves in which the two “wide” players are working off each other. In the 73rd minute, the game is still level, but here’s Silva slipping in Milner.
Even though the move is unsuccessful, City still has control over the ball. As Toure, Silva, and Fernando probe for an opening, the system commits to being completely narrow as Zabaleta makes a striker’s diagonal run behind the Villa defense at the end of the GIF from its bottom right. The work of the full backs in this system is worth appreciating, because they have to provide width and cover for the midfield players that come inside.
The bottom line is that this is a team full of ideas, understanding, and movement. Pellegrini’s system is not held to a rigid shape in attack, because each player is expected to contribute in different ways, whether that’s pinching inside, moving straight into the middle, or even to the opposite side of the field.
The example I’ve built up to illustrates what I’ve drowned on about in the above 800 or so words.
There are about 20 minutes gone in the match, and Villa has a rare opportunity to build out from the back. Manchester City gets into its defensive shape, with the two center strikers switching which one presses, which is pretty standard stuff. The fun starts the second City win the ball back, because all of a sudden, the shape changes. On the upper part of the GIF, Milner starts coming central and Silva looks for space on the bottom of the GIF to do the same, while Toure begins to get forward. Sergio Aguero is on the ball in a center midfield position.
In the GIF below, which follows the sequence of the above GIF, try to follow Milner. He runs all the way across the back line and takes up a center forward position, which is the space opened up by Aguero.
Toure tries to slide the ball in, but the execution isn’t there. Also note that Silva and Milner are again within about five yards of one another by the end of the move.
How does the fluidity help City get a goal in this game, though? Milner comes inside in the 88th minutes, as he is bumped over by Jesus Navas, who was a late substitute. The Englishman finds Aguero for this lovely finish, which ices the match, and comes as a result of City’s movement and understanding.
Southampton
We often think of a striker as the furthest point of the attack, but this is not always the case. For target men like Graziano Pelle, it is essential to have speedy wide players or a strike partner, that have the pace to get behind the defense, for the attack, as a whole, to be successful. Pelle’s job in the Southampton’s build up is to get on the ball, hold it up, and find one of the three center midfielders, or he can turn and hit one of the runners to his left or right.
Against Tottenham, Sadio Mane, one of the late signings in the transfer window, came into Southampton’s lineup and did what Shane Long had done for the Saints in his first few games at the club.
After 12 minutes play, Mane is already causing problems with this run in behind.
As Pelle holds the ball up and has space to turn, Mane has left Younes Kaboul and Jan Vertonghen for dead. This is fluidity at its finest, because now the winger is acting as a center forward. In order to fill in for Mane out wide, Steven Davis has gone into that area.
The move takes the Senegalese winger into the box, where he cuts it back to Davis for a cross, which is cleared away by Kyle Naughton.
Mane keeps trying to move behind Pelle to give the attack of Ronald Koeman’s team another dimension. In the 56th minute, Mane has come central, as left back Ryan Bertrand has moved into the area on the flank. Mane starts his run forward, as Davis, the designated attacker in the midfield trio, gets the ball, though he can’t get it off his feet fast enough.
10 minutes later, Dusan Tadic spots the run of Mane.
It is not always Mane making the runs behind, as Davis does so below. In a fluid system, the striker is not always the striker and the attacking midfielder, for example, is not always the attacking midfielder. The two sometimes have to interchange, and each has to be capable of filling in for the other. If Davis does not make the effort to get onto the end of Mane’s ball here, the move breaks down, and Southampton do not have the opportunity to work with the ball in the box.
However, Mane will be an important piece of the puzzle for the Saints because of his willingness to move. He should have leveled the match, as he missed this sitter on 84 minutes.
Once again, the Premier League newcomer moves into the striker’s position. If Mane can continue to put on performances like he did against Spurs at the weekend, he could have many of the league’s top defenses in for a rough 90 minutes.
