"The objective is to move the opponent not the ball"
-Pep Guardiola
In a time where patient build-up from the back is becoming less and less fancied just how important is it to have a detailed first phase of play? With defending teams going in for an aggressive press it would seem like the ideal solution to cut short the build up and keep it simple and direct. The easy way out of this would be to play a long ball aimed at a distant player. Although this relieves pressure temporarily it doesn't give much of an advantage for the team. In most of these cases, the ball reaches the forward player who is isolated with no real momentum to take the attack further.
Apart from lacking momentum, this style of playing relies heavily on the Qualitative superiority of the forward players while essentially taking out the other players from having any real effect on the game. And unless this forward player is like a Gareth Bale, a Neymar or a Hazard it would most likely result in the attack fizzling out.
It is therefore essential to aid this Qualitative superiority with the tactically achievable Positional and Quantitative superiority. Quantitative superiority, is the more obvious of the two; it involves positioning of team-mates in close vicinity for support in attack and defense. This would result in achieving numerical superiority across different areas of the pitch by the players remaining connected to each other.
On the other hand, positional superiority is achieved by staggering the team across different lines of the opposition. Suppose the opposition midfield and defense are in two banks of 4 it is essential that the team in possession occupies positions in between these lines. This staggering, can be observed to stunning extents in a Pep Guardiola coached side. Rarely do 3 people occupy the same horizontal line and it is never(Ever!) more than 3. This forces the opposition defenders and midfielders out of their positions and disrupts their rhythm which creates openings to be exploited.
On the other hand, positional superiority is achieved by staggering the team across different lines of the opposition. Suppose the opposition midfield and defense are in two banks of 4 it is essential that the team in possession occupies positions in between these lines. This staggering, can be observed to stunning extents in a Pep Guardiola coached side. Rarely do 3 people occupy the same horizontal line and it is never(Ever!) more than 3. This forces the opposition defenders and midfielders out of their positions and disrupts their rhythm which creates openings to be exploited.
In order to draw the opponents out from their positions it is necessary to tantalize them with a patient buildup. This build-up should allow team mates further up the field to occupy certain positions from where they can hurt the opposition. Although these positions vary depending on the manager I would like to highlight two prominent styles; those of Guardiola and Eddie Howe(Yes, the guy from Bournemouth!)
As the world already knows Pep likes to build up patiently from the back, no surprises there. But many a times people dismiss this thinking it is needless and crazy to play short passes when the opposition presses so high up the pitch. And this is where Guardiola stands out; he is ready to take risks and poses the opposition with the question. He is pro-active which forces the opposition to be reactive. The Catalan is a huge fan of the La Salida Lavolpiana and does this often while building up. Although other than this one holding midfielder, the rest of the central midfielders stay higher up the field placing trust in their defenders and waiting for the ball to come to them. The fullbacks also occupy advanced positions on either flank if not for their inverted roles in some cases. Here the opposition has to make a decision to either press the defenders high up the field while squandering space for the midfielders or to stay back while the Center-Backs advance to the half-line.
Another distinct feature of Guardiola's build up is the free-man. Villa/Messi in Barcelona, Ribery/Robben/Costa/Coman in Bayern and now Nolito/Sterling in City. It is here only in the final phase of play when Qualitative superiority comes in to play. The attack is basically started on one side to draw out the opposition and finished on the other. The objective here is to isolate the attacking team's best players with the opposition's weak players in order to exploit the blatant Qualitative Superiority. By doing so external variables like a secondary defender doubling up against the attacker is taken out of the equation. And in order for this isolation to happen, there needs to be enough focus on the first phase of build-up. On occasions, in Barcelona Iniesta would literally pause with the ball at the center of the pitch inviting pressure while releasing the ball to the free man at the right instant.
Guardiola essentially sees the players on his field as patterns of diamonds and triangles. And this more or less applies to Eddie Howe's philosophy. Eddie has managed to take up these principles of positional play and alter them accordingly to suit the strengths and limitations of his Bournemouth side. Given the technical shortcomings of Bournemouth's Center Backs Francis and Cook and Elphick previously(in Comparison with Guardiola's CBs) Eddie Howe doesn't always insist on building out from the back with short passing. Instead he likes to mix it up and is not reluctant to play the ball long unlike Guardiola. But, there are stark resemblances to Guardiola's teams in the way Bournemouth players position themselves.Bournemouth's key players Arter and Surman are mostly involved in the center of the pitch and focus on patiently circulating the ball horizontally while allowing their full backs to push higher up the pitch. With the full backs pressing high up the wingers tend to come in so as to facilitate staggering of the lines. The wingers are now in the dangerous half-spaces which enables them to look for gaps in the opposition defense. They achieve this by dynamically occupying positions in reference to their team-mates.
Howe also concurs to the importance of involving the free-man in the attack. Through majority of last season Matt Ritchie operated in this role while he's trying to replicate the same with new signing Jordan Ibe. Although one notable variance in the way Bournemouth play is the absence of La Salida Lavolpiana(I'm kind of obsessed with the name now). Howe prefers to have more players beyond the first line of pressure and achieve quantitative superiority in the midfield.
As it can be seen, Bournemouth have a well connected structure where none of the players are left isolated. They emphasize on forming passing triangles in midfield. And their diamond shape in midfield tends to push the opposition defense back. The wingers tend to drift in to occupy the half spaces while full backs advance on the flanks. This compact shape gives them the superiority in midfield.
Bournemouth's application of positional play is aided by the fact that they are considered relative underdogs in the Premier League. With many teams looking to take the attack to Bournemouth, they tend to lose compactness while defending which only further strengthens the cherries' control of central midfield. With advanced fullbacks, quantitative superiority in midfield achieved by the players being in convenient vicinity to each other and controlling the half-spaces Bournemouth look in really good positional shape. And majority, if not all of this credit must go to Eddie Howe.
CONCLUSION:
Mere possession of the ball without purpose is not going to grant superiority as we saw in LVG's ill fated 2 year spell at Manchester United. Superiority is achieved through qualitative, quantitative and positional exploitation of the opponent.
As the world already knows Pep likes to build up patiently from the back, no surprises there. But many a times people dismiss this thinking it is needless and crazy to play short passes when the opposition presses so high up the pitch. And this is where Guardiola stands out; he is ready to take risks and poses the opposition with the question. He is pro-active which forces the opposition to be reactive. The Catalan is a huge fan of the La Salida Lavolpiana and does this often while building up. Although other than this one holding midfielder, the rest of the central midfielders stay higher up the field placing trust in their defenders and waiting for the ball to come to them. The fullbacks also occupy advanced positions on either flank if not for their inverted roles in some cases. Here the opposition has to make a decision to either press the defenders high up the field while squandering space for the midfielders or to stay back while the Center-Backs advance to the half-line.
Another distinct feature of Guardiola's build up is the free-man. Villa/Messi in Barcelona, Ribery/Robben/Costa/Coman in Bayern and now Nolito/Sterling in City. It is here only in the final phase of play when Qualitative superiority comes in to play. The attack is basically started on one side to draw out the opposition and finished on the other. The objective here is to isolate the attacking team's best players with the opposition's weak players in order to exploit the blatant Qualitative Superiority. By doing so external variables like a secondary defender doubling up against the attacker is taken out of the equation. And in order for this isolation to happen, there needs to be enough focus on the first phase of build-up. On occasions, in Barcelona Iniesta would literally pause with the ball at the center of the pitch inviting pressure while releasing the ball to the free man at the right instant.
Guardiola essentially sees the players on his field as patterns of diamonds and triangles. And this more or less applies to Eddie Howe's philosophy. Eddie has managed to take up these principles of positional play and alter them accordingly to suit the strengths and limitations of his Bournemouth side. Given the technical shortcomings of Bournemouth's Center Backs Francis and Cook and Elphick previously(in Comparison with Guardiola's CBs) Eddie Howe doesn't always insist on building out from the back with short passing. Instead he likes to mix it up and is not reluctant to play the ball long unlike Guardiola. But, there are stark resemblances to Guardiola's teams in the way Bournemouth players position themselves.Bournemouth's key players Arter and Surman are mostly involved in the center of the pitch and focus on patiently circulating the ball horizontally while allowing their full backs to push higher up the pitch. With the full backs pressing high up the wingers tend to come in so as to facilitate staggering of the lines. The wingers are now in the dangerous half-spaces which enables them to look for gaps in the opposition defense. They achieve this by dynamically occupying positions in reference to their team-mates.
Howe also concurs to the importance of involving the free-man in the attack. Through majority of last season Matt Ritchie operated in this role while he's trying to replicate the same with new signing Jordan Ibe. Although one notable variance in the way Bournemouth play is the absence of La Salida Lavolpiana(I'm kind of obsessed with the name now). Howe prefers to have more players beyond the first line of pressure and achieve quantitative superiority in the midfield.
As it can be seen, Bournemouth have a well connected structure where none of the players are left isolated. They emphasize on forming passing triangles in midfield. And their diamond shape in midfield tends to push the opposition defense back. The wingers tend to drift in to occupy the half spaces while full backs advance on the flanks. This compact shape gives them the superiority in midfield.
Bournemouth's application of positional play is aided by the fact that they are considered relative underdogs in the Premier League. With many teams looking to take the attack to Bournemouth, they tend to lose compactness while defending which only further strengthens the cherries' control of central midfield. With advanced fullbacks, quantitative superiority in midfield achieved by the players being in convenient vicinity to each other and controlling the half-spaces Bournemouth look in really good positional shape. And majority, if not all of this credit must go to Eddie Howe.
CONCLUSION:
Mere possession of the ball without purpose is not going to grant superiority as we saw in LVG's ill fated 2 year spell at Manchester United. Superiority is achieved through qualitative, quantitative and positional exploitation of the opponent.
Going through the rigors of achieving positional perfection during build up will reap rich benefits. Among these benefits are scoring more goals, having sustained possession, controlling key areas and acquiring defensive stability.
Possession is therefore only a tool and not the final objective of Positional Play.
Possession is therefore only a tool and not the final objective of Positional Play.
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