Thursday, 28.03.2024

Arsenal Dominated by Bielsa’s Leeds before Arteta Changes Turn Game

This FA Cup third-round tie was truly a game of two halves where Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal matched-up against Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds. The game was won in the second half after Arsenal improved dramatically following a poor first-half display. This analysis will discuss Arsenal’s initial issues in their build-up, how Leeds outplayed their pressure much more effectively and then Arteta’s changes for the second half which changed the dynamic of the match.

Gerhard Struber’s intense pressing system at Barnsley

When he was appointed as Barnsley manager in November, Gerhard Struber was a relative unknown to the typical English football fan, but the Austrian had begun to make a name for himself in Europe with his high intensity philosophy and his success at Wolfsberger AC. When he was appointed, Barnsley were rock bottom of the Championship and were without a win in sixteen, and so the aim was very much to fight against relegation.

The SV Podcast: Episode 12

Constantin Eckner and Abel Meszaros dissect PSG’s tactical changes in their win over Atalanta, RB Leipzig’s defensive performance against Atlético, Bayern Munich’s 8-2 demolition of Barcelona, and the potential of Olympique Lyonnais. They also discuss the upcoming match-ups in the semi-final and briefly provide their take on the Pep Guardiola controversy.

Leipzig and City’s Contrasting Results Show Importance of Depth Options for In-Possession Strategy

The Champions League quarter finals treated us to some interesting match-ups over the past few days, two being Leipzig’s victory over Atletico Madrid and Lyon’s shock result over Manchester City.

To an extent, both performances in possession can be explained by the importance of depth options to threaten in-behind. This collaborative analysis between MV and JD will explain their role in Leipzig’s in-possession strategy, while the lack of options led to City struggling against Lyon’s 5-3-2.

The Art of the Long Ball

Ever since the massive success of Guardiola at Barcelona, a lot of people have gravitated towards the philosophy of positional play. This momentum in turn, increased the number of articles and analysis on the subject, putting a large emphasis on playing out from the back in the current literature on the game. Because of this, I thought that it might be interesting to go completely against the grain, and instead focus on long balls and how one is able to utilize them. 

Retro Analysis? How Nagelsmann’s Hoffenheim Outplayed Liverpool’s Press with Expansive 3-1-4-2

Early in the 2017/2018 season, Julian Nagelsmann met Jurgen Klopp in opposing dugouts for the first time. The young coach demonstrated some effective ways of playing against Liverpool’s narrow 4-3-3 press using their 3-1-4-2. This analysis will breakdown those tactics, but does it constitute as a retro analysis?