Aggressive Fluid Passing Football (In the mold of Wenger)

[The3points]

Arsene Wenger is one of the best managers in footballing history. 

Often his most prominent achievements, such as the Invincibles and League+Cup doubles are the sides that rightfully get all the glory, but the other 14 years of his reign are ignored due to a lack of league titles or any trophy at all for 9 consecutive and a tendency to be “weak”, injury-prone, and collapsing in the key moments. Despite this (and the lack of money due to a new stadium), Arsenal stayed consistently in the top 4, with the rise of Tottenham and Manchester City doing nothing to stop their yearly Champions League run.

Despite Arsene Wenger’s poor European reputation, Arsenal in this era had some great European nights: they beat the best Bayern side of all time 2-0 and only lost out on away goals: while they also battered Barcelona at the Emirates 2 years before (10-11), and crashed out only due to a questionable Van Persie red card.

The football was also unquestionably the prettiest of Wenger’s reign. Arsenal seemed to have too many #10s: in 07-08 Fabregas played in a deeper role and often carried the ball forward , while Hleb and Rosicky interchanged fluidly between the left and centre. Van Persie hadn't started his transition to a 9 yet. A more solid midfielder: Gilberto or Flamini, accompanied all the playmakers. Sometimes the side would make a back 3: with Sagna inverting, but also capable of getting forward and assisting the play. 

Later, similar players fit the mold: Arshavin, Nasri, Arteta, Benayoun and Ramsey were all creative players who played behind the striker (with the exception of Arteta), and this caused good interplay and players dropping deep and playing 1-2s. Song was more defensive, but also a brilliant foil to these lot

Again, you could find parallels in the future: Ramsey took a more prominent role, Ozil came in, and Cazorla started high but ended up player deeper with Coquelin playing more defensively.

With Braga, I’ll try to imitate this football going player by player to cultivate beautiful, interchanging passing football and hopefully attempt to challenge for the title and the Europa league.

PRD (plus PIs)

GK: SK-S to support play cover and sweep up (like Szczesny)

RB: CWB-A to overlap very often and basically be a wide outlet in the final third (The more attacking fullback in the duo, like Bellerin)

CBs: CB-D (with stay wider on LCB) to keep it simple on the ball instead of playing Hollywood passes. Stay wider is meant to help create a back 3 (fits pretty much every CB from Gallas to Djourou to Mertersacker)

LB: WB-S to sometimes help play, while also sometimes overlapping (The more conservative in the duo, like Monreal)

LCM: DLP-D to keep in front of the defence and help circulate possession (Arteta more than any of the other deeper midfielders)

RCM: CM-D with stay wider to cover for the RB and also make a back three on occasion (more of the time Wenger would do this with a fullback, but I made the choice to tweak this. Doesn't fit well to a player per se)

LW: IW-A with roam from position to help with possession but also threaten in behind to keep fluidity. (Alexis Sanchez, maybe a little bit of Walcott from the wrong flank)

CAM: AP-S with roam from position to pass and circulate the ball quite well when dropping deep while also playing through balls in behind and linking with the ST. (Every Arsenal #10, even applies to Odegaard today)

RW: Was originally AP-S but decided that it was overkill after preseason: IW-S with stay narrower and roam from position to act like a 10, and also add threat out wide. (Probably every left winger in the era as well, with the exception of Sanchez and moved to the other side)

ST: CF-A to replicate the “9.5”, dropping deep while also getting in the box, and dribbling. (RVP more than Giroud)

The front 4 originally all had take more risks (for the ones not hardcoded), but cancelled it because it seemed like overkill with the mentality.

TIs

Mentality: Attacking to take risk and provide entertainment

Shorter Passing to link play and retain the ball.

Fairly Narrow to make congested passing contest before spreading to players with Stay Wide PIs.

Overlap Left and Right to decrease the mentality of the wingers (so not to play too risky) and increase the mentality of the wingbacks (to stretch the width of the play)

Higher Tempo to pass quickly and preferably to have players with PPMs plays 1-2s as to move around the opposition with quick player and ball movement.

Be More Expressive to make it so players feel tactically free like they did under Wenger.

Originally had Pass into Space for through balls but didn’t play well on the pitch with the players taking too much risk.

Wenger never actually played out from the back, normally goal kicks went long and the team secured possession in the middle third.

Work Ball into Box seems like a little overkill in terms of retaining possession, so it is off.

Distribute to Centre-Backs really is good for replicating playing out the back. 

Counter to replicate quick play in transition.

Lower DL+LOE. With an attacking mentality, this will be a mid-block instead of pressing aggressively (something Wenger never did due to the era).

Tighter Marking to help keep tight to opposition key players

Narrow defence for compactness.

In the first game of the season: we were brilliant. Great passing moves and cross led to a load of chances. However, a lazy ball in buildup led to Braga conceding on the counter, and we lost our first game undeservedly to Gil Vicente.

One such good chance with the 9.5 finding a good through ball for a good chance.

More analysis to come in the next post: but I see this loss as a positive (half-jokingly) as this certainly seems like the type of game Wenger's sides of the time would've lost or drawn

 

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by The3points

[The3points]

I will post a couple more clips of good chances we had, and break them down:

First of all, the DLP has the ball in front of the defence and plays a vertical pass straight to the AP dropping deep dragging a midfielder in their 4-4-2 out of position.

Meideiros, the IW-S, makes a 3rd man run and finds space in the halfspace to turn and play a through ball to Vitinha, the CF-A. The ball is blocked so Vitinha picks it up and can get his head up. Because of the narrow attack, 3 of their defenders fit into the width of the D and Couto (CWB-A) can overlap. Medeiros receives the pass, and slides the ball to Vitinha whose shot is blocked.

We have a 2-3-5 shape with the RB waiting his time to overlap on the other side, and the DLP creating a triangle on the wing and an option to recycle the play.

This helps us cross and when it is cleared, our CM-D (the centre of the 3 in the 2-3-5 in the picture) sweeps up.

The WB dropping back makes a 2-4-4 before the #10 swaps with the LW and makes another triangle

The overload allow the #10 to find a brilliant ball over the defence, and the RW misses a one-on-one

Which is certainly a good way to beat the packed defences. It is clear that only finishing was missing and that we were unlucky to lose

[The3points]

You can quite easily see from the pass map that we were quite fluid. A 2-4-4 starting shape, shifting to a lopsided 2-3-5, and briefly a 3-2-5 or a 3-1-6 in moments. The wing triangle on the left is quite strong, and the #10 was picking the ball a lot off of the midfield due to progressive passing and dropping deep which is a positive. It is interesting how the IW-S is higher than the IW-A on average, although maybe that is because of the difference in player. (It seemed like Medeiros was more willing to get in behind.

Things to improve: Get the striker more on the ball: not every single one of their touches has to be a brilliant through ball like earlier, but certainly some lay-offs would be welcome

CM-D a little deeper and more involved in the back 3. This is just a personally preference, and the CM-D idea came from @Lordluapin the 3-16 thread

IW-A more runs in behind and a bigger threat

[The3points]

I'm not going to go game by game, but the second game was pretty key against Sporting, who ripped us to shreds for a lot of the game. Our lack of the press allowed them to keep and hold the ball, moving us side-to-side, and finding our weak spots. In the Super Cup, they raced out to 3-0 and I switched a 4-3-3 (same roles bar for midfield: DM-S, RPM-S, DLP-S) and took off R. Horta for Abel Ruiz. Abel Ruiz got a goal and an assist as we ran them close. The match finished 3-2. I had started that match with an AP on the right, and I though changing it to a IW-S would be good enough, but it wasn't. They were brilliant. Their first goal we are too late to come out and press and we allow Nunes to find a brilliant ball over the top to which we concede.

In the second half, my lack of the "Play out of Defence" instruction costs me. The goalie passes to a centre-back, they exchange passes, and then suddenly one hoofs it. They counter, and make it 2-0. And then again it happens. They counter and win a penalty which is saved. After that, we dominated proceedings and got one back with a great counterattacking move.

When the cross came in, we had 10 players in the penalty area.

After Vitinha picks it up and dribbles, he makes a basic third man run; he passes it to the LW, who finds the CAM, who plays a through ball for him

We nearly equalised as well: late on, Vitinha was in on goal, fouled, yet only a yellow card was given.

[Rugrat123]

Loving the thread so far, this era of Wenger is what initially drew me to Arsenal and sparked my love of football. Funnily enough I was looking at the 3-6-1 thread for that same stay wider tip earlier.

[The3points]

That thread is top in terms of tactical discussion; that thread helped me a lot with this

[The3points]

Perhaps the hardest part of the Arsenal role are the players behind the strikers. In 13-14, against Manchester United, Cazorla, Rosicky and Ozil played behind the striker. Often sometimes Ozil shifted wide and Rosicky moved to the ten. Often the wingers would start wide in a 2-4-4 and drop deep or cut inside and interact with the #10 and the striker.  The 10s weren't always playing aggressive through balls for other players: most of the time they would pop off passes and find balls wide.

This would be "Positive" individual mentality. Unfortunately, it's impossible to try and get this for the #10. It seems like the bug with Positive+Support=Very Attacking still stands, and this is so so frustrating as my #10 will now play too many hopeful balls in behind. This problem makes me quite angry as there is no TI to lower the mentality of the #10: The IWs can at least be regulated by Look for Overlaps, but the 10 too often tries to play "Hollywood" balls that I have previous showed disdain for. This makes the system hard to play.

Our defensive line is also too low, which means with have 40% of our passes in our defensive third when we win the ball.  That's the cost of being faithful to a system that was created 10 years ago. I'll up the line from lower to higher and up the press a little bit. Due to poor results and possession retention the mentality has to go down to Positive, which I suppose seems more Wenger-ish anyways. The first RB, who is injured, makes way for the 2nd RB, who has Get Forward at All Times PPM so CWB-A becomes CWB-S.

The shift to positive also means the DLP is now DLP-S.

Ultimately it is quite frustrating that I can't play the brand of football I want to play due to weird mentality calculations, which messes with the balance of my save.

[Rugrat123]

Regarding the 10s Hollywood passes id try changing him to an attacking mid with the less risky passes player instruction and see if that helps. Also might be worth teaching the traits plays 1-2s and switches ball to flanks. 

[The3points]

1 hour ago, Rugrat123 said:

Regarding the 10s Hollywood passes id try changing him to an attacking mid with the less risky passes player instruction and see if that helps. Also might be worth teaching the traits plays 1-2s and switches ball to flanks. 

Cheers! In my next update I'll talk about how I went about fixing the problem; at least, in the short term

My #10 also has long range passes on as PPM I found out which is quite annoying (although when I tried another player the problem did persist)

1-2s is on all my attacking unit bar 2

Switch ball to flanks is a nice one thanks for that

Edited August 30, 2022 by The3points

[_mxrky]

Wengerball is just the result of playing lots of very technical players next to each other. It’s not really a tactical system as such

[The3points]

It isn't really a tactical system: it's a style of play that's based on fluidity. Tactical systems have basic structures attached to them, and trying to reject structure as much as possible is a bit of a system in itself.

[The3points]

I have reached the milestone of 10 games in charge (11 if you count the super cup) divided among 2 Europa League games and 8 league games. I’ve won 30% of those matches, all in the league, lost 2 league matches and 2 European matches and drawn 3 times, each time the score being one-one. This puts me 6th in the Primera Liga and 4th in the Europa League group. In other words, I’ve been around average.

In the first 1-1 draw, against Vizela, we were poor, creating poor quality chances and losing on xG (1.71-0.83) (xG, however, counted a 0.24 chance that was offside). Our Attacking mentality and Lower DL was easy to breach, with chance after chance rolled in, particularly to Kiko, who scored their goal and had a second disallowed for offside.

 

Osama Rashid was world class at beating our line, and our lack of pressing certainly didn’t help

The lack of pressure wasn't the only problem as again here we are breached.

We scored by winning the ball up high from a long goal kick of our opponents. Vitinha (the CF-A) received a pass and slowed it down, sliding in Horta (normally the IW-A but deputising as AP-S). Horta struck and scored. It was a very unsatisfying goal, due to the emphasis on playing out of the back and nice interplay. 

The only other threat we had was through long shots. A free kick caused the keeper problems. The IW-S inverted from the right and hit the post. And the keeper made a great save unsighted after diving just a second earlier.

Our possession was too low: when we got to the opponent's half, we often had to dribble long way to get to goal, and often there weren't any numbers in the box. 75% of our passes were in our own half: 95% were in the first two thirds.

The xG battle (1.61 for them-1.25 for us) was closer in the next match, a 1-1 draw against Vitoria, we conceded a set piece goal early. However, this time we pushed forward a bit more and created more. Nice move up the right leads to cross and a goal.

But the issues still remain. Our line (standard) and pressing (standard), can be waltzed past. We don't win the ball back quickly enough to enjoy it. We had an ominous looking fixture against Porto on the horizon

I switched to Positive and CWB-A to CWB-S so that I didn't send my backup RB too far forward (he has get forward at all times). The line is Higher. So is the press.

With half the shots we ended with more xG and a 3-0 victory. We did have the aid on a penalty which the #10 won, driving into the box just after half-time.

For the second, we actually fail at a wide overload

before we regain the ball

Castro finds A. Horta, the #10 and his Hollywood ball is actually successful, and has the opposition 1v1 with our winger, who leaves him behind, squares it and we go on to score.

The 3rd is quite ridiculous: for some reason our CB stayed up at a throw in and scores a near post header after a cross. 3-0. Game over.

Perhaps a sign of good news, however, this really only worked because we had 3v2 in midfield and were thus better in the middle.

Our next opponents played a 5-3CM-2, so a CB could easily step out and mark our 10 out of the game.

This prompted my swap to the 4-3-3, another formation of the Wenger era. When Wilshere broke through, this was the formation being used to fit him in to allow him freedom to carry the ball.

With the space that we would be allowed in the DM strata, I moved the key playmaker there as DLP-D (replacing the previous DM-S). On the left of midfield, I used CM-S and on the right an RPM: the AP that had been giving me trouble with his passing was moved there and we kept the ball brilliantly against a side that was higher in the table.

Instead of the Overlap Left to try and control the wingers, I let the team breathe and play a little more, and they repaid me with a 2.03 xG performance, with instantly better ball retention, and with a quick start.

You'd be forgiven for thinking we continued with 4-2-3-1

As the lack of Overlap Left allowed the IW-A to be more aggressive with his movements. Surprisingly, the dent in mentality of the LB was not felt, and the LB (WB-S still) pushed high and overlapped.

Like before our narrow play sucked in their defence and midfield, before A. Horta (the RPM), found a brilliant ball wide for the LB. Now that the balls weren't 1v1s and we had move our opponent, the ball was perfectly timed. Sequeira (the LB) found R. Horta (IW-A) inside and after some exchanged passes, Horta shot and scored.

We make more chances: Vitinha (CF-A) should be redfaced for missing a one-on-one for example (after a quick move of play from left to right)

And we have a goal disallowed for offside after some brilliant play on the right shift to the centre a ball from Abel Ruiz (sub CF-A) is just a smidge late.

I'll cover the next 4 games in the next post

 

[The3points]

Our European adventure began against Fernabache; we were generally better on the ball than them and created better chances (1.33 xG-0.4xG) although we didn't have a good xG per chance (we had 19 shots vs their 3). Their goal exploited our high line and still relatively sluggish press. 

Berisha comes deep, drags out my CB, and has enough time to turn and find Can, who dribbles and smashes his shot into the top corner. Fair enough.

Our best chance was 0.18 xG, and it fell to Abel Ruiz:

First we make an IW-A, CF-A, CM-S triangle, before spreading it wide to the WB up the left. Good left-sided passing

Then after a quick one-two (IW and WB), the IW makes a run in behind for the CM-S to pick out brilliantly. The one on one is saved.

That was perhaps the best team move of the day: the other 2 big chances we had were due to dribbling brilliance from my RPM and a set piece. Legia Warsaw suprised Monaco for the other result in the group.

The next match we played was against Martimo, a team low in the league. I followed the advice of @Rugrat123 and used AM-S with Less Risk.

We smashed them 4-0. The AI had get stuck in on, and we started the scoring with a direct free kick and hit the woodwork from the same means 10 minutes later.

We got our second goal after a high press and a third man combination (CF-A coming deep, finding IW-S, who plays AM-S in to score).

For the 3rd the CWB sprinted up, dribbling through their weak midfield and slid in the striker to score.

While for the 4th it was a goal showing the capabilities of the #10 and vindicated my decision to go to a 4-2-3-1. The 10 picked the ball in the midfield, and played a top class through ball for the IW-A to score. A composed victory.

It was back to the 4-3-3 for the next match due to our opponents, Tondela, also playing the formation and we started well.

The 4-3-3 with CF-A allow us to make a diamond, which is one of the best shapes in football to make. He also drags out the defenders, and the RPM in the diamond runs into the space and is fouled for a penalty

Notice how instead of being like Guardiola and using width to pull apart defences, we instead use our superior technique, quick passing, and fluidity (not only in movement but in shape).

But we don't really make any great passing moves: our best chances other than the goal were from a set piece and direct counterattack (which had a sitter missed).

So when we concede from the second phase of a set piece, we find it hard to fight on late and make our possession pay.

OK: we face pot 4 side Legia Warsaw in the Europa League. Surely they can't replicate their Monaco performace?

They did. We lost 2-1

Just after 10 minutes, a long ball over the top comes and my young RB hacks down their attacker for a penalty. "You will pay for the education of your young players in points."

But it doesn't seen so glum 7 minutes later. Our LB makes a 3rd man run the minute possession is won, and his cutback results in the DLP-D smashing in a screamer from outside the box

Although our xG per shot in the end was awful (1.39 xG for us both, 17-7 in terms of shots), we did have good chances

A really deep cross from Moura (the backup LB), finds our striker in behind 1 on 1, but again he misses the chance.

As you might remember by the first screenshot, Tormena was a starting player at the beginning of the season. But due to the brilliant performance of Oliveira against Porto, Tormena has to resort to Europa League appearances. 

He dropped a disasterclass today. In buildup he would limit us by turning inside on his stronger foot, and his body shape constantly ignored the wide areas.

Out of possession, he starts chasing out to the wing to follow someone (I do not have Tighter Marking on the 4-3-3, nor did I assign him a job). He then ignores his man and tries to double up on the man in possession, leaving a massive gap and a 2v1 in the box. Before the RB can even try to rectify Tormena's awful error, we concede.

If there was a positive to take from the match, it was that ball in behind to the wingers were threatening and that the CF-A is quite useful and performs well in the 4-3-3 system with more space to operate.

We desperately, however, need chance conversion training!

 

Edited September 1, 2022 by The3points
Forgot a screenshot

[haier_fm]

Very nice to see other people trying to replicate/interpret Wenger's ideas, I'm all for it. And I like how you fluidly switch between various phases of positional play.

Just out of curiosity - what was the thinking behind the CMd and DLPd pairing in the 4321 rather than, let's say, a CMd/BWMd + RPMs pairing behind a APs/AMs as a no.10? I thought that the DLPd AND a CMd is a very conservative midfield pairing, considering Wenger proposed players to express themselves on the pitch, giving them freedom to play.

With the 433, I agree with your role selection in midfield (could also perhaps switch the CMs to a MEZs/BBM and give that a spin (something I'll try myself too!)).

I like your interpretation, and it looks like you are onto something. Great work!

Edited September 1, 2022 by haier_fm

[The3points]

Thanks!

Originally I went DLP-S and CM-D. My reasoning for switching was the the DLP-S gets way too far forward (at least with the option I had) and we end up with a 3-0-7 if everyone goes forward, and I think we could be exposed. That seems like a rare scenario, but still quite scary none the less.

I've never liked RPM in a 2, but perhaps it could better replicate Arteta-Wilshere-Rosicky in the 4-2-3-1. I'd probably compensate with WB-D and maybe Overlap Left to keep it a little more secure though.

BBM would probably work, however, MEZ doesn't seem good in a narrow formation on paper: but it probably it helps overload one side so I've got no idea how it works. Please report back with your findings and thanks again for reading!

[The3points]

October 2021 was a difficult month when we approached it after horrible defeats to Legia and Fernabache, and an annoying draw against Tondela. But 6 games and 13 goals later we have come through the month with all wins.

With some (just a little bit!) of pragmatism, we won 6 out of 6 games, securing me my first manager of the month in my FM career (I did pull off a manager of the season once at Fulham in FM20, without the smaller honour). 

We kick off the month vs Arouca and a key piece of our good start is flexibilty in shape: which is the key principle of our side. In this instance, from a starting shape of 4-3-3, we play a 2-4-4 pinning the defence narrow. The CM-S joins the front three playing wide left, while the RPM takes a deeper passing role. The midfield five, to prevent the IW-S and CF-A from picking up the ball between the lines, pack the centre.

Of course, this leaves the CWB with enough grass to feed all of Thomas Muller's horses. Once the ball is moved right, he makes his move.

He cuts it back and the resulting shot is skied by R. Horta.

But suddenly we can't keep the ball and feel suffocated in our own half. The LB, Sequeira gives away a pen that they convert. We push and do not replicate our earlier weak antics. The CM-S, RPM-S and CF-A are all pretty fluid, and sometimes the RPM runs beyond the striker and maintains the 2-4-4.

Tormena makes up for his poor European performance partially and wins a penalty off of a set piece. 1-1 at half time. I want to forget that half as quick as possible.

But we start the next half so well, and we're unlucky not to be ahead. We find space behind the lines, and the CF finds Ruiz, IW-A, who misses a 1 on 1.

It's the move a minute later that impresses me more though.

We constantly outnumber them in midfield: 4v3, 3v2, 4v2, before spreading it wide and Horta crosses for what should be a tapin for Ruiz, but he hits the post.

We create chance after chance and Ruiz wastes another, hitting the post after a back post header. Ultimately it comes down to a header from a set piece by Leite, our centreback.

Our next match, vs Benfica CB, we batter them, hit the post twice, but we only score 1 against them. In the next round we will face Porto.

But the next match vs Monaco should be our main focus. A loss practically eliminates us from the competition, and we play in front of our fans. It is a very tight first 30 minutes, with half chances for both sides, their main threat being Boadu at the back stick. Half time it was still 0-0. Although they played 4-2-3-1, I started with 4-3-3 and then I wanted changed to a 4-2-3-1 to help find space early on in the second period. But before I could change the shape, we won the second ball after an aerial duel, and R.Horta slotted the ball in behind for Vitinha to score. We hold on for 20 minutes but their physicality at the back post allows them to head it and Ben Yedder puts us level.

We hit back late on, a ball to their back post and they allow Horta to control and square for Vitinha to score another. There was very little between our two sides, but we've come up with a win.

In the league we faced table toppers Santa Clara and won 3-1 This time I started with a 4-2-3-1 to match them. The first goal, the IW-S comes short and slings the ball in behind their LB and we work the ball well and score.

For the second goal, we overload the right

Then he striker receives the ball between the lines and carries the ball up and to the left to slide in the  overlapping fullback, and the resulting cross is eventually converted.

Our #10, with the sometimes pesky "Takes Long Shots" trait, scores a 3rd out of nowhere and smashes a loose ball into the top corner. We concede one but hold one for a resound 3-1 win.

With just over half of October played, we are now back into the running for all the competitions

[haier_fm]

On 02/09/2022 at 01:54, The3points said:

Thanks!

Originally I went DLP-S and CM-D. My reasoning for switching was the the DLP-S gets way too far forward (at least with the option I had) and we end up with a 3-0-7 if everyone goes forward, and I think we could be exposed. That seems like a rare scenario, but still quite scary none the less.

I've never liked RPM in a 2, but perhaps it could better replicate Arteta-Wilshere-Rosicky in the 4-2-3-1. I'd probably compensate with WB-D and maybe Overlap Left to keep it a little more secure though.

BBM would probably work, however, MEZ doesn't seem good in a narrow formation on paper: but it probably it helps overload one side so I've got no idea how it works. Please report back with your findings and thanks again for reading!

I actually have a thread with the updates from my current thread, where I implement my understanding of the system and philosophy. I'll link it here if you are interested. 

Glad to see your interpretation doing well too, interesting where this will take you going into the middle part of the season. Just need to pray you don't have on of those annual injury-crises Arsenal tended to have coming up to the winter period. 

Keep at it!

[The3points]

Apologies for inactivity, have been alternating saves (including a nice second place with Marseille in a similar style).

A half season update will come soon (7 game winning run at 17 games games and counting! Alongside a total 18 match unbeaten run)

Some cracking results: 3-0, 5-2, 4-0, 6-0.

Feeling like Arsenal on their day, every day

[The3points]

From October 27th to November 27th

When I last left off, in late October, all was good, and I had the chance to finish a 6 game October against annoying Vizela in the league cup, and Boavista in the league. 

The Portuguese League Cup (Taca da Liga) when we enter is divided into groups of three and played in a single round-robin. Win the group, you are in the semifinal. In another words, 4 points should suffice with a good goal difference.

I chose the 4-2-3-1 to match the formation of Vizela, hoping that it allows A. Horta space between the lines. 

Something about the tactic, and Wenger’s ideas as a whole always has the fullback just making the forward run at the correct time into space made by his creative teammates.

The main strength of the 4-2-3-1, vs the 4-3-3 I prefer, is that the #10, Andre Horta, drifts into wide areas to pick up the football.

In this example, the 10 makes a 3v2, with the IW-A dragging the FB out of position. This gives us space to attack.

Unfortunately, since there are not enough numbers in the box, we slow down. But the DLP-S, Lucas Mineiro (a player eager to drift forward and wide), exchanges multiple passes with the LB and the resulting ball is converted (albeit after a few tries)

The other important part of the match was their centre-forward, Cassiano. He is great in the air, and his knock-downs led to the only chances of the match for Vizela. He dried up once I had him man-marked however.

After 60 minutes of the match, we had 2.00 xG from 10 shots, a brilliant total. Their keeper was great though, keeping us out with a special double save. A set piece sealed the victory.

Against Boavista (in which we played 4-3-3 vs 4-4-2), once again the first goal was key.

We make a 2-3-2-3, not with eights really high, but deep enough to receive off of the CBs. The CM-S does so. Then, he spread it wide and covers. We haven’t changed shape but we have changed positions. More Pep than Wenger but still key to possession nonetheless.

The cross is failed and we recycle. Our CBs can beat their front two and our DLP is in space. The RPM comes deep and receives the ball. The CF-A moves into where the RPM was before and plays a 1-2.

Suddenly, the CWB, waiting his time to overlap, runs onto an exquisite ball into space wide of the fullback (the IW-S doing his job quite well). The cross is great, and at the back post the IW-A does his job. 1-0

Their 2 in midfield ultimately gets overrun for our 3rd goal (the second goal was a DFK). The DLP sits between the two strikers, gets the ball. The midfield, dropped off, allows time for a ball in behind their defence. We win a penalty and score it.

The 6 wins in October (3 of them league wins) gets me Manager of the Month.

In Europe, we face the second of two key back-to-back matches against Monaco. I matched the 4-2-3-1 they played and added the TI “focus play up right” to exploit their weak left side (in the double pivot, AP, at LB, CWB, at LW, IF). But our great start has nothing to do with tactics. Our IW-S takes a DFK and hits the post. Off the rebound, Tormena puts us in front.

Perhaps too timid away from home, I try to slow things down and shut up shop when I shouldn’t. They completely overload us, attacking with 7. Ultimately they find a free man wide and Volland has good enough movement to score.

Ultimately, neither side can score our chances. We make a tapin the same way they do, albeit without the seven, and we score. They overload us again and we crumble to concede a second. A 2-2 draw away from home to Monaco is certainly not a bad result.

The next key match is a cup tie against Porto, which we win 2-1. We first score by a quick counter, and score our second by winning a penalty after some great passing and shape in midfield, with the IW-S keeping narrow negating any effect the manmarking of the CM-S would have.

We conceded late after sitting back after brilliant play by Vieira.

Against Legia, we dominate, passing round their midfield, finding goals from a previously poor Vitinha, and keep up our normal pattern of narrow, then wide, then goal. The LB, Sequeira, also continues a contribution with his screamer of the week.

We ended the month with a poor draw where we gave up a 2-1 lead in the last few minutes. 

I finish as the 3rd best Manager of the Month, while Abel Ruiz, given a lot more chance by me replacing Vitinha, wins Player of the Month

[Miragepredator]

Ive been trying to replicate the same style and have been using the team instructions, lower tempo and standard passing with dribble less. This makes the build up very good and it speeds up in the final third

Giving everyone bar the front 4 the PI, shorter passing. The attackers + midfield have dribble more as PI's(contradicts the TI's i know). The striker has dribble less. Front 4 have roam from position and i play around with the width

A few player have dictates tempo (I think that helps).

So far i have seen quite a few good moves with silky football and movements

 

Edited September 15, 2022 by Miragepredator

[The3points]

Why don't you just leave Dribble TI blank and then just add the PIs?

[The3points]

Also, how have you distributed the roles?

[Miragepredator]

On 15/09/2022 at 14:32, The3points said:

Why don't you just leave Dribble TI blank and then just add the PIs?

I tried that initially but it didnt feel like it had the same effect. My thought process was that although their first thought should be to pass the ball rather then dribble, sometimes the better dribblers could dribble more and move the opposition about then with quick essentially one-two passes break through the defence

[Miragepredator]

On 15/09/2022 at 14:32, The3points said:

Also, how have you distributed the roles?

What do you mean by this?

[The3points]

I mean like: 

Which position stretches width? Who is coming deep?

I want to learn more about your tactic and what you're doing

[Miragepredator]

33 minutes ago, The3points said:

I mean like: 

Which position stretches width? Who is coming deep?

I want to learn more about your tactic and what you're doing

IW(S) and WB(A) both sides, i've tried IF(S) and WB(S) aswell but wanted the wingbacks to be more advanced. The IW's had sit narrow applied

Team width was fairly narrow i think, currently dont have the game on but am fairly sure it is right

Edited September 18, 2022 by Miragepredator

[haier_fm]

On 16/09/2022 at 22:30, Miragepredator said:

IW(S) and WB(A) both sides

Interesting. What role is your AM?

[Miragepredator]

22 minutes ago, haier_fm said:

Interesting. What role is your AM?

It was AP(S) with PI's of pass shorter, roam,move into channels and i think (not fully sure) dribble less

I wanted the ball to move quickly especially when it was in the centre of the pitch.

[The3points]

The First Half Of December

We kicked off the month with a very tough trip against Benfica.

Against their 4-4-2, I hoped to dominate the middle with a 4-3-3. Their main danger was a front pairing of Yaremchuk and Nunez, and this pairing made me nervous.

After 32 seconds, my worries were proven true as Yaremchuk dropping deep allowed Rafa to run into space in behind. The early miss was a warning that we would be punished if we didn't capitalise on our dominance.

Ultimately, we scored not too much later, with Nuno Sequeira scoring another direct free kick. But Benfica then took the ball and suffocated us, and scored using Yaremchuk to drag out a CB for Nunez to make a run into.

We found the winner from the spot after a foul at a corner, but we made many chances: 3 one on ones missed by Vitinha, 2 created by the IW-S overloading the middle, and a 3rd made by IW-A and matchwinner Ruiz dribbling centrally before finding the key ball. Despite these misses we were never under pressure due to the sending off of Benfica fullback Gilberto

In Europe, the last match against Fernabache was one where we had to match Monaco's result. We did, with an un-Arsenal like performance. A cross and knock-down sealed the victory, while the opposition capitulated and made errors to put the result beyond doubt. Our laziness in the last few minutes showed, as ex-Wenger star Ozil smashed home a screamer under little pressure and Fernabache turned 3-0 to 3-2.

Now was a double-header against 7th Familicao: once in the league and once in the league cup, the latter to seal a semifinal place.

They smash home a screamer to threaten our unbeaten run. At halftime I rally the troops and we comeback strongly.

The IW-S makes himself available between the lines, the IW-A runs in behind. We have to recycle, but Andre Horta curls a brilliant technical effort into the top right-hand corner.

Right after the kickoff we win the ball and pass it brilliantly. No movement in particular is stunning, but the passing is great. We move up the right, but move back to solidify. Their midfield is chasing shadows: the 2 CMs not afraid to recieve from the CBs and play one-touch. Tormena, his awful European night long forgotten, charges forward, bringing Familicao's LW just high enough for there to be a 2v1 on the right, which quickly becomes 3 as the RPM exploits their weakness. After Horta finds him, Medeiros cuts in a plays a through ball. Ruiz finishes. In no time we've turned our deficit into an advantage.

Although our 3rd was a long shot, all the plaudits has to go to our RPM for finding a brilliant angle between the lines and into the right halfspace. That brilliant pass allowed the fullback to get on his bike and when the RB worked it back, the IW-S found another great goal.

The 4th was simple: when you combine a narrow defence with a fullback that is a great crosser, you'll make chances at the very least. Horta does a brilliant job of smashing home a volley however, which makes it the best finish of the lot.

Familicao show why they're 7th: they play nice football and get a second, but we kill their hopes once and for all.

We make a diamond up the right: the CF-A at the top, moving into position. When we finish the beautiful interplay, the A. Horta rushes forward and plays a brilliant through ball for his brother to add a 5th goal on a 5-star performance.

I'll cut the December tactical recap to actually make gifs of all 5 of these beautiful goals

[The3points]

[The3points]

[The3points]

[The3points]

[The3points]

Second Half of December to Present Day:

We batter Familicao the second time 4-0: A set piece, a team goal, a long shot and a penalty win us the match. Vitinha gets his hat trick and show his striking prowess.

We shift the ball from left to right finding space to attack quite easily, and put ourselves about nicely, securing a semi-final of the League Cup against Benfica.

In the next match against BSAD, just 7 minutes after gaining a man advantage, we make a wing triangle before a dinked cross to the back post allow Abel Ruiz to continue his brilliant scoring run. We are pegged back however, and have to rely on late heroics.

Again we move the ball from left to right quickly, finding the the free man on the right who scores one on one. Awful distribution by their keeper allow us to counter quickly and seal the match. 

We win another game against Madeira. Their low defensive line allows us to play vertical balls into their area, and we are quite comfortable with a 2-0 match

The next game, against Portimenense, was probably the most ruthless of my tenure. We start with a set piece goal: OK, good start.

5 minutes later we get a second, with the IW-A making space for the WB-S to overlap and cross for an own goal.

For the third we score a another great set piece, showing our dominance in the area.

The fourth we win a penalty from a set piece and finish it, putting us up 4-0 at halftime.

The 5th is based off of quick interplay between the IW-A and the CF. 

And finally off of the second phase of a set piece, we score #6 and home fans are loving it.

Don't let the goals fool you however: we had 2.46 npxG on 23 non-penalty shots and created many one on ones by overloading the midfield like we normally do: it was just we used other methods a lot more successfully. We had 6 half chances and 1 clear cut chance: clearly showing our dominance on the day.

In the next cup match, we smash Salgueiros, with the same quick passing to find space wide that we normally use.

But against Sporting: our unbeaten run ends. The most frustrating part of the match was that they had a man sent off, and we were at 1-1 pushing, when they scored a late set piece to win in stoppage time.

But against rivals VTSC we draw 2-2, in part due to their 4-4-2 diamond that allows runners (the 2 shuttlers) that occupy and beat our defence.

We have troubles holding on to the ball, and this is the worst time to have a crisis, especially when our next two matches are Benfica (cup) and Porto (league).

[The3points]

Portuguese League Cup Semifinal vs Benfica

Benfica are a class side and I knew it would be a difficult match, but we had beaten them before and I fancied our chances. Our 4-3-3 would allow space for somebody against their 4-4-2, but there was the trouble of some fatigue, and CB Oliveira demanding more playing time. I made purchase from Porto (Zaidu Sanusi) to get a backup LB, and sold the aging Moura to Genoa and due to AFCON this would be his first time in the squad. 

We started awfully. Off of a set piece they counter attacked, and won a dubious penalty. In my opinion, Tormena got the ball, but ultimately the referee and VAR thought otherwise, and Benfica scored after 3 minutes. I trusted the process and decided to stick not twist despite our nervous start. And nervous it was indeed. Despite the CM-S,  Lucas Mineiro, finding himself free, in buildup we would turnover the ball too often. This type of turnover led to the second goal.

Ignoring the fact Castro could have run onto the ball instead of waiting for it. Castro has many options. He can go to the fullback, which is the easiest option but against the ethos of how I want to play football. He can try an ambitious pass between their CM and LW to the IW-S which is probably the best option (it was even easier if he ran onto the ball!). He can try a pass to the DLP-D one-touch with his left boot so that the CM-S can be released into space. He can dribble towards his goal to try and drag out his marker and find the CB or keeper. However, Castro dallies and when he tries to find the DM he loses it and we concede again.

After a combination of shouting and motivational speak allows the midfield to step more into the game after half-time.

Julian Weigl's deep positioning in midfield didn't help their cause was we created a great chance.

Here Castro is free in the middle, and Lucas Mineiro finds Al Musrati who completes the triangle with Castro. Casto then slides in Vitinha, who misses the chance.

When we get one back 3 minutes later it is the exact same pattern.

They've lost the ball at a throw in and their defence and midfield are shifted over. Castro finds Mineiro who is rushing onto it, and Mineiro plays a one-touch in between the gap between the CBs for Vitinha to convert.

A minute later we're level.

There's space outside the box for Mineiro and he smashes it in the top corner.

And then we score our 3rd on 62 minutes. 

Mineiro finds Vitinha who pops it back to Castro. Castro plays one-touch in behind for Vitinha to spin, run on to, and score to put us in the final.

That was the type of football I want to play

Edited September 25, 2022 by The3points

[The3points]

Ultimately, Oliveira demanded to leave and kicked off a civil war on deadline day. This overshadowed the signing of Castilla youngster Victor Munoz, but I don't many of the players care. GK Matheus (who also demanded to leave for Brazil), rival CB Tormena, RPM A. Horta, CF Vitinha, and CB/DM David Carmo are all on my side, while captain R. Horta, backup GK Sa, LB Sequeira, CF/LW Abel Ruiz and DLP Al Musrati all support their teammate

Edited September 25, 2022 by The3points

[The3points]

Portuguese League Cup Final

So I was expecting my next match to be Porto in the league, but it turned out the league cup final was scheduled the exact same day. We could have faced Sporting or Porto themselves, 2 completely different teams in terms of my record against them. Porto pulled through, which was a negative in one way: CB Leite, on loan from them, could not play in the final and would have to watch from the stands.

The other absentee was  Abel Ruiz, injured just 2 days before the final, and R. Horta ended up moving to the left to takes his place. Medeiros was back on the right to the key match. Moaning Oliveira got a chance in the centre of defence.

The match was a tense, tight affair, before we scored in stoppage time of the first half.

After half time they started to dominate and were pushing more and more, especially after Oliveira got injured. We broke their momentum with another goal however, with the FB dragging out their FB, leaving room for sub Plazon to place a brilliant finish into the bottom left corner. 

Braga have won the Taca da Liga 2021-22!

 

 

Edited September 25, 2022 by The3points

[JoOSTAR]

Maybe you can do a detailed tactical write-up about your current developed tactic?

 

Very curious about it all!

[The3points]

Updated Tactical Setup: The Wenger 4-3-3

There was a period of time were Arsenal shifted from more quick "counterattacking-possession" to slower "retaining possession" while still playing fluid passing football. From 2010 to 2013 or so, Arsenal were undoubtedly a 4-3-3 team, and from then to Wenger's last trophy they were a are-they/aren't they in a 4-3-3.

Player by Player

In goal Szczesny and Alumunia were the main netminders. SK-S still applies for both of them, if just a touch more modernised.

My backline of WB-S, CB-D, CB-D and CWB-S perhaps is more faithful to Wenger's creation than expected. Both the fullbacks help in the middle while timing their runs in behind to threaten. The right-back, as expected, attacks more acting like Bellerin. .

In the middle of the park things start to get interesting. Arteta was the standout in the deeper supporting role for me, with the current Arsenal manager always pushing the team a little bit forward while covering the defence. 

In the CM strata at MCR is the creative centre of the piece, the RPM modelled off of Rosicky, Wilshere and co. The RPM provides link-up, and gets forward and often plays the second to last ball.

A CM-S is the 3rd midfielder. This player is based on nobody from a Wenger side: maybe Ramsey, but I didn't want another playmaker in a midfielder packed with playmakers, so I leave it up to the player what he wants to do. 

On the left an IW-A. This player is one of the main attackers of the tactic, a threat in behind, and always ready to convert crosses from the right flank. However, this player isn't just a poacher. The IW-A often drops into midfield and links up with the striker, while at times the player finds himself wide and crossing.

On the right an IW-S joins the midfield at times, and also sits between the lines available for a vertical pass into his feet. A common pattern is for the IW-S to drop into the midfield and play a great through ball over the top for the IW-A to run in on goal.

Up front the CF-A is key to the tactic, linking up with the midfield, making space for the IW-A, and of course scoring goals. My top scorer is the main CF-A, while the backup (who also often plays at IW-A) is second.

Team Instructions

Shorter Passing and Higher Tempo are simply a must for replicating the quick pass and move linkup from Wenger's attacking players. WBIB could slow things down to an extent and restrict the freedom of the players. The Counter Instruction follows a similar line of thought: encouraging quick moves. Playing a narrow brand of play does not hold back the fullbacks or wingers at all: with the stay wider PI for the fullbacks, there will be appropriate width and the narrow TI allows the central players to get close to one another. 

To secure the ball, Distributing to CBs and playing out of the back are encouraged: especially when we face team around our level (I have accidentally left this instruction out in the past with little to no reprecussions)

Off the ball however, we keep a mid block with slightly more pressing. This might hold us back from gung-ho winning back the ball and suffocating the opposition, but we conserve energy a little bit more that way.

 

[Halbraum]

2 saat önce, The3points said:

Up front the CF-A is key to the tactic, linking up with the midfield, making space for the IW-A

Can you explain how he creates space for the IW(at)? He creates more for AP(s) and IW(s) by pushing and pinning the opposition CBs thus increasing space between the lines if you ask me.

[The3points]

Not really. 

On 28/08/2022 at 12:06, The3points said:

Moves like in the gif are more common than the CF-A pinning back the back line from what I've seen

[Halbraum]

18 saat önce, The3points said:

Moves like in the gif are more common than the CF-A pinning back the back line from what I've seen

Even Poachers do that every now and then, but like we always say for the game: If it works, it works  

[The3points]

I don't know if it is the player or whatever but that is the majority of the time. The left-footed Vitinha always takes the ball, and then spreads it wide right or in behind. This is my first time using a CF-A, are they more of an attacking player?

[Halbraum]

1 saat önce, The3points said:

This is my first time using a CF-A, are they more of an attacking player?

Actually yeah, but it's mostly a chance-creator role. Probably "Roam from position" and "Hold up ball" instructions cause the pattern you've shown. He drops deep, holds up play thus allow overlaps from others. However your average positions map displays that he is the most advanced player by far. I rarely use the role since it's so demanding in terms of attributes.

Don't get me wrong, i asked the question out of genuine curiosity, i don't want to overcomplicate things for you

[The3points]

4 hours ago, Halbraum said:

Actually yeah, but it's mostly a chance-creator role. Probably "Roam from position" and "Hold up ball" instructions cause the pattern you've shown. He drops deep, holds up play thus allow overlaps from others. However your average positions map displays that he is the most advanced player by far. I rarely use the role since it's so demanding in terms of attributes.

Don't get me wrong, i asked the question out of genuine curiosity, i don't want to overcomplicate things for you

Yeah same, I was previously going to do DLF-A or something like that to match with a Giroud type with good hold-up, but my player was a better CF-A than DLF-A so I gave it to him and pointed to Van Persie

[The3points]

The 07-08 4-4-2/4-2-3-1

Often, when you ask Arsenal fans, they will say 03-04 (quite obviously) was best Arsenal were under Wenger. However, 07-08 will be answer for the prettiest football. That 07-08 saw Arsenal top for extremely long, but a massive injury to key man Eduardo followed by dodgy pen for Birmingham City and a sulk by Gallas led to it falling apart in almost comical fashion. Multiple draws followed and the best Arsenal side post Invincibles finished in a distant 3rd. Prior to City and Liverpool's antics, I think that team was one of the top 5 best non-winning side in the PL.

How did they play? Well the starting formation was a 4-4-2, with an eccentric Almunia in goal, and a backline of Sagna, Toure, Gallas and Clichy. Often Clichy would drive high and dribble forward when he got the ball, or he would creep up the left until he was found by his creative teammates. Sagna, to contrast, was a little more consevative: more Tomiyasu than Tierney in modern terms. Sagna still got forward of course, but just not as often as Clichy. Toure and Gallas were both pretty comfortable with the ball and Toure loved to step out of defence and add another man to the midfield.

The midfield quartet rotated often, but in the centre the duo was Fabregas next to one of Flamini or Gilberto. Fabregas would help out in deeper positions, but also sometimes would push forward for a triangle with the winger and the 6. Fabregas was the key component of the team, always finding threatening passes in behind as well as progressive passes to the striker.

In the wide areas, Hleb, Rosicky, Walcott, Diaby and Eboue were generally all different players, however, in the 3-1 win against Spurs at WHL, the Diaby-Hleb pairing inverted and made triangles with the double pivot and diamonds with the dropping striker. In the 2-2 draw against Man United, the Rosicky-Eboue wing pairing had Eboue as more of a RWB instead of an RW (since Sagna isn't completely and RCB Eboue did end up in narrow positions at times), and Rosicky played narrower, almost as a second 10 in 3-4-2-1.

This brings me to the strikeforce: Adebayor was often the constant, playing the role of a linkup player coming deep but also getting in the box, much like the behaviour of the CF-A. The second striker was sometimes 10, like Hleb in the United game, or it was sometimes an actual AF-A striker like player like Van Persie or Eduardo. In the aforementioned Spurs game, RVP was pretty invisible, but spent a lot of time occupying the defenders and occasionally dropped deep when he was the ball-near striker.

[The3points]

The 07-08 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 Part 2: The FM roles

I think the 4-2-4 in FM is closer to the attacking shape Arsenal had, even if it sacrifices their defensive shape

Almunia didn't really pass out of the back, instead, Arsenal won second balls from long goal kicks. I'd say he was a G-D overall.

At right back, Sagna was a deeper player and tucked in a lot, but overlapped sometimes. I'd say FB-S or WB-S for him depending on the personnel

Left back Clichy matches the CWB-S which I flipped to the other side.

One CB will get BPD-S or BPD-D with the dribble more instruction depending on the match and the opposition. The other will take CD-D

The double pivot, could really be anything. The Fabregas role is more of an RPM for me, instead of an AP. The role description "the heartbeat of the team", "Always offering a passing option to his teammates" and "Picking up the ball in deep positions to move the ball forward with urgency" while the AP "sits between the lines" and "stays between the lines" on a support duty.

A BWM-S or CM-S/D would help keep possession ticking while also sometimes being a little bit more solid like how Flamini and Gilberto would stay deeper on the ball.

In the wide areas, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to play an AP on the opposite side of the RPM, but IW-Ss do the job perfectly well. Roam from position and sit narrower would certainly help get some #10 qualities, as well as PPMs like Comes Deep to Get Ball, Plays One-Twos or Looks for Pass Rather than shot

Up front a if an AF and CF-A look too aggressive, the CF can easily become a CF-S to link play better.

TIs will stay pretty consistent except this time I actual won't use Play out of Defence.

Shorter passing, Higher Tempo and Be More Expressive are TIs that apply to any Wenger side with WBIB optional, and a Standard block with some individual high pressing (perhaps the front 4) while the team stays average. A Positive Mentality also remains

[The3points]

February 2022 Tactical Recap:

Before I can try a fresh tactic, I have a season to finish! We've won the League Cup, and that can be a base we can use to hold onto the last Champions League spot (3rd) and win the Taca de Portugal.

Against Gil Vicente, our DLP-D dominantes with a massive performance: 139 passes with 133 completed, 4 key passes and 2 Chances Created.

First off, Castro, starting as the RPM, scores a peach of a free kick from outside the box. What came next was incredible

Recharged after the break, Castro ran the show from the attacking perspective, if Al Musrati ran it from a passing perspective.

Here, Al Musrati has the ball in plenty of space, with a 2v1 in the next line. He goes to the right and finds the RPM, who turns and plays it to the IW-S just behind him. Using the free man again, the IW-S goes back to the DLP-D. 

We make a stellar triangle in midfield: DLP-D to CM-S to RPM-S who dinks it in behind for the IW-A to score. 2-0.

After a cleared corner, the DLP-D outside the area holds the ball and then slides it across to the RPM to smash home a screamer. We are scoring from everywhere!

Here the DLP-D is in space again, basic 4-4-2 vs 4-3-3 midfield battle. Notice how narrow we are playing. Guardiola would faint in shock! The DLP-D finds the IW-A (who is actually second from left to right in the frontline), who plays in the RPM breaking in behind. The RPM got his hat trick, and but the DLP-D impressed he more with his tempo control and passing.

We followed it up with a brilliant performance against Pacos de Ferreira. 

The CF-A's deep position allowed an overload and then the RPM (now Andre Horta), could find Piazon in behind for a goal

For the second, the LB put a deep, whipped ball into the channel for Vitinha to gobble up.

The 3rd was brilliant combination play on the counterattack, right after the opponent strikes a long ball.

Victor Munoz, the young promising player we bought from Real Madrid, got his first goal after more great combination play by us. The CM-S covered for the LB in a 2-4-4, before receiving the ball and passing it to the CF-A coming deep. The CF-A played it back, and with the space made by him dropping back, Munoz runs in a gets his first goal in red and white.

In the end, I allow Munoz to take a pen at the end to put us 5 up. He converts it, and we are in dreamland.

We followed that match up with a 1-0 lost to Porto. I wasn't disappointed: we had picked up a red card after 40 minutes and I foolishly kept a Positive mentality and tried to play with a double pivot instead of shutting things down, and although we held it together for a long time, in the 88th minute, Taremi, barley onside, scored his team's winner.

But again we lose against Maritimo. we dominate: with the same amount of shots we have double the xG, but Tormena in defence drops another stinker the day after I offered him a new deal. He chases his man out of defence and is too slow to get back for both of their goals, and ultimately we drop out of the CL places, with Benfica going above us.

Positively, we come back from 2-0 down away at Besiktas to draw 2-2 in the Europa League, but we draw again in the league, this time against Vizela, who always unsettle us with their long ball football. With both Abel Ruiz and Vitinha fatigued, captain Ricardo Horta is upfront and he doesn't do a good job. Ultimately, I have to throw on the jaded Vitinha to salvage a point.

It seems like we've met our Stoke.

Sadly, our European run ends on pens. I wanted to go for it at home, but after conceding first, when we equalised I shut up shop. Medeiros missed in the shootout to end our chances of an improbable treble.

We almost ended the month in catastrophe, we were losing 1-0 to last place Tondela at half time, but we righted the ship to win and our poor February came to an end

 

[The3points]

March Tactical Recap

March started with a tricky cup tie against Sporting Club de Portugal in the semi of the Taca de Portugal. We played well between boxes, but their narrow defensive block forced us wide and we had trouble crossing and causing harm to their back 3. They press well: win the ball high, play the ball into the halfspace, for them to square it and score. It was so similar to the goal we conceded in January. Lose the ball, bang, bang, goal. 

They are really smart in blocking off the middle of the pitch, pressing with a narrow front 3 so that the pivot, Al Musrati, is unavailable and using Ugarte and Nunes to man mark the CMs.

When Sporting had the ball. the rectified the problem of 3v2 in midfield with a winger dropping deep to help progress play. this 3-1-2 structure along with wingbacks being available dragged my players out of position, and it became significantly harder to stop their buildup. I added the OI to keep tight to the CMs and CBs to try and rectify this disadvantage.

The game goes a bit stale after that: the OIs slow them down a little bit but they still dominate the ball. The score late on a set piece to give us an almost impossible job in the return leg.

Against Arouca however, we were back to our best. Both the CF-A and the IW-A got hat-tricks, and our free-flowing play returned, albeit with some defensive frailties as we won 6-3.

Benfica, who are currently in the last CL spot, are very catchable in this match. Our history suggests we are the favourites just slightly, but they are a great side that have the most average possession and the most xG in the league. They certainly won't be pushovers.

They score in the first minute. After we head out a cross, Nunez picks the ball up and drives a low ball into the six yard box for his partner Martinez. 

They play keep ball, passing from left to right, circulating the ball, toying with us. Even in their 4-4-2 they dominate the ball much better than us. On the half hour mark they find a ball in behind and make it two. They don't relent like they did in the cup however, and are on us even more.

They move the ball wide, a cross and Martinez has a tap-in. They miss a penalty, and add two more later. This isn't a finishing masterclass either. They had chances of 0.75, 0.69 and 0.25 xG, totals that are ridiculously high for the xG deflated FM.

Their keeper has been ridiculous as well. Every promising counterattack he smothers, that is, until late on we finally breach them for a consolation.

I feel like Wenger when Barcelona came to town in 2010: and I'm not even good enough to get a 2-2 draw in the end.

We score two late goal against Santa Clara to end the month: this could have been the month where we take the iniative in overperforming but we've crumbled quite disappointingly.

To make it worse, Abel Ruiz, the key IW-A, wants too much for his contract and it seems like he's destined to leave.

[The3points]

We swept aside weaker teams BVT, Moreirense and BSAD with a flurry of nice goals, but also penalties and counter-attacking football that the Higher Tempo offers. Although the chase for Champions League football was still on, doing the cup double would certainly round off a brilliant season.

Unfortunately we’ve dug ourselves into a massive hole against opposition we haven’t beaten at all in 3 matches. But we survive the first forty minutes, this time stifling their buildup with the OIs. We aren’t good ourselves mind you, but we score just before halftime, winning due to a set piece.

Set pieces is how we get our best chances: and we score a second with Sequeira scoring another free kick. I clamp on until penalties, to which point we win due to awful taking from Sporting.

We’re playing Benfica in the final!

The next match, against Estoril we conceded from a corner. But we find a way with a slightly more direct fashion, the RW running the flank and crossing, and we found the winner with and deep cross finding Vitinha to put us up.

At this time of the season it is about getting it done. Not about tactics or pretty football.

It is a must win against Famalicao to keep our spot in the top 4

But they whip a ball in behind our defence and put themselves in the lead.

After an hour we break through and Andre Horta chips a ball to his brother. The strike is converted! 1-1, and we have a chance

But we can’t break through. We hit the crossbar with a stunner: the CB carries the ball out of the defence, and plays a ball in behind for Abel Ruiz to square for Vitinha to score. Vitinha hits the bar.

We pass brilliantly 3 minutes later in the 90th minute, but captain Ricardo Horta couldn't finish the fairy tale

Here the CM-S finds the passing lane to the CF-A, who is wide of the pivot in their 4-3-3. It is a tough pass to make.

Yet Mineiro makes it, and we are in between lines.

The IW-A on the ball and can dribble, shoot, or pass

He finds the other winger brilliantly one on one, but the keeper saves.

Our Champions League hopes, with H2H, are pretty much over