[Capello's Juventus 2004-2006]

They didn't care much about possession. Neither do I  It varied from 35% to 65%. I'll share some stats from Champions League matches:

https://m.football-lineups.com/match/17121/

https://m.football-lineups.com/match/17115/

https://m.football-lineups.com/match/17101/

https://m.football-lineups.com/match/15449/

https://m.football-lineups.com/match/7365/

https://m.football-lineups.com/match/7364/

https://m.football-lineups.com/match/7361/

Comparing to what I'm getting - pretty similar. For example, Manchester United in CL 1/4F:

Averages in CL and Serie A

It most certainly doesn't feel Dutch, the attacks are simple, without useless passes across the field. Against a weaker opponent, faced with a defensive opponent (Serie A mostly), I managed solid 60s, but with stronger, more open sides, 30s to 40s were maximal.

[Capello's Juventus 2004-2006]

9 hours ago, Jean0987654321 said:

Looks like a good tactic but it's wrong if you want to emulate that team. From watching Serie A on tape delay via the then-PBS affiliate WNYE (and live on GolTV/FSC), I have great remembrance of that team.

Zambrotta was an attacking FB. Chiellini was more of a disciplined FB. I don't remember him coming forward too often. Zlatan was a CF while Trezeguet was more of a classic 9 (AF is fine). Emerson was DLP (d). Very disciplined but he has good ball playing abilities. Viera could be either RPM or a SV (a) depending on how you shape your tactic. He made a lot late runs into the box.

Pablo Nedved was a WP (a). He certainly was more attacking than you put him in. Hit a lot of killer balls and cut in often. Cameronesi I agree he was a WM (s). Zambrotta and him tend to overlap and underlap each other.

I don't remember much pressing from this side. Capello was in a stage of his career when his team would regroup and put 8 or 9 men behind the ball and play narrow and compact. The only time they would press is if the ball was in their own half. But the first priority was to get back into shape.

I won't say you are wrong, but you are not completely right as well, since you are not looking at the whole picture. Zambrotta was an attacking FB indeed. However, Zebina on the right wasn't. The only reason why - they interpret the role in a completely different way. This is something I used here, focused on the squad building and utilized default roles in order to complement them.

Zaniolo/Nedved cuts inside, Zaracho/Camoranesi as well. Vieira/Pogba gets forward whenever possible, even with a CM role. Everyone passes into space (TI selected).

The only thing I'd change would be Zlatan's role. However, CF tends to work a lot better when used as a lone striker, so I went on with this. Del Piero/Zlatan were also different interpretations of the role.

As for pressing - they would press the defense, and then get back into shape. I've looked through a lot of matches during the past few weeks, I'm positive about pressing. However, it doesn't look nearly as intensive as nowadays. As for shape, you can see in the screenshots.

 

8 hours ago, Robson 07 said:

Talk that structure and rigidity are key.  Certainly sounds like Capello to me.

But then you have chosen six roles with a support duty.  I don't follow the logic of that?  Not in the sense of this being a recreation.  I bet Team Fluidity doesn't say structured.

Stop thinking in FM terms, use your logic. Does the defense in the screenshot look structured (2 banks of four)? Is the striker isolated upfront, waiting for the ball?

[Capello's Juventus 2004-2006]

Hi! I started a career during this Covid lockdown, experimenting with tactics in Italy. Since the beginning in Viterbese, I’ve had an idea to start some tactical threads, but only now did I have the time to actually write a piece. The tactics won’t be published chronologically, but from now on, I’ll probably start a thread for each of the clubs I’m managing. I’ll recreate a historical tactic from an Italian squad (not necessarily the team I’m managing).

Moving on with my Italian adventure, I was approached by Juventus after Roma. Looking at the squad, it was an opportunity I couldn’t miss. After the fall of Sarriball, I wanted to restore the real spirit of Juventus, from squad building to tactics.

I didn’t even need to look for inspiration in their historical sides, there is one squad I was impressed with, but never lived up to its potential – Capello’s 2004-2006 Juventus.

Resources

• Hello Capello
• Capello's Masterpiece
• Fabio Capello Wiki

 

Theory

“At Juventus, Capello rejected the club's board members' requests to field a three-man front line and once again reverted to his preferred 4–4–2 formation. Capello won consecutive league titles, and put together a balanced and efficient side which was built upon a strong and highly organised back-line, which was further supported by two dynamic, defensive-minded box-to-box midfielders in the centre, such as Manuele Blasi, Stephen Appiah, Alessio Tacchinardi, Emerson, and later Patrick Vieira, who both alternated defensive and playmaking duties in midfield; the team's attacking wingers, Pavel Nedvěd and Mauro Camoranesi, were required both to drop back defensively and also assist the strikers from an offensive standpoint.”

Key concepts:

• Structured 4-4-2 shape in defense
• Tight at the back
• Physically dominant squad, especially in central areas
• Wingers heavily involved in all phases

I do believe his rigidity was the key factor of unsuccessful CL campaigns in both 2005 and 2006, but this Juve literally destroyed Serie A opponents through physical dominance.

Tactical Style

Capello’s Juventus was a counter-attacking team. Able to sit back and absorb pressure, with swift counter-attacks. However, they were not shy of pressing the opponents once they’ve lost the ball. In case the ball was not won, they would defend zonally in 4-4-2.

This would explain some of the instructions. After some trial and error with previous teams, I’ve learned that Balanced mentality provides an excellent base for counter-attacking tactics. In order to actually perform lethal counter-attacks, the players must be positioned behind the ball – but that will be addressed later.

Quick attacks require a bit higher tempo than the Balanced mentality offers, along with riskier passes into space. It was often the strategy to utilize wingers and Trezeguet.

Counter-attacks are a must in transition, along with counter-press. However, note that this is significantly different from Klopp-like heavy metal pressing.

In order to execute pressing and create a more structured team (as opposed to fluid), the lines would be separated – Line of engagement is higher.

Formation

 

"I'm gonna knock Ajax out of your body," he [Capello] said. "I don't need that Dutch style. One, two, one, two, play the wall, play nice and technical. Dribble through the whole team. I can get by without that. I need goals. You understand? I need to get that Italian mindset into you. You've got to get that killer instinct." 

• Forwards are not heavily included in defensive play – their role is to score some goals. However, I didn’t expect a Capocannoniere from my squad, as goals were distributed between world-class forwards.
• Wingers are the key players, involved in virtually all phases
• Fullbacks retain a default role, but interpret it differently due to player traits

Player Roles

Goalkeeper (Defend): N/A

Right Full Back (Support): Cross More Often

Central Defender (Defend): N/A

Central Defender (Defend): N/A

Left Full Back (Support): Cross More Often

Right Wide Midfielder (Support): Cut Inside With Ball, Roam From Position

Central Midfielder (Support): N/A

Central Midfielder (Defend): N/A

Left Wide Midfielder (Support): Cut Inside With Ball, Roam From Position

Deep Lying Forward (Support): N/A

Advanced Forward (Attack): N/A

 Nedved and Camoranesi were the only players with any freedom in the team, therefore allowed to roam within a structured system. Fullbacks provide width, but don’t rush forward too much (except from Zambrotta/Adjapong).

 

The Squad

Squad building was challenging for this one – complete wingers such as Nedved are difficult to find nowdays, so I had to improvise.

Key principles

Mostly Italian squad

Physically dominant players, especially in central areas

Avg. height 184cm, mentally strong squad, possibly used in a totally wrong way, due to their technical ability.

 

Goal Analysis

Two beautiful banks of four in defensive phase, Pellegri waiting for the counter. Zaniolo recovers the ball, runs down the wing and crosses for Pellegri’s easy finish.

Pressing is executed after a throw-in. Skriniar is pressed by Esposito and his only option is the goalkeeper. Pellegri intercepts the pass and scores for the Champions League title.

Special thanks to @Ö-zil to the Arsenal! for the structure of the thread and inspiration on starting my own series this year!

[Arsene Wenger's Invincibles]

Hey Ozil, out of curiosity, how would you do Jupp Heynckes's treble winning bayern's playing style?They were extremely flexible, so I ended up with a stunted 4-4-2(a mirror image of yours)with Vidal and Alonso/Thiago in midfield with Prevent GK distribution(something they surely did), Play out of defense and Pass into space.Everything else can be changed manually(D-line, offside trap, pressing etc).Another thing I did was give the team OIs to never tightly mark any opposition player(this should help us stop players getting dragged out of position and helps us keep our shape)do you think this will work?

Ö-zil, sorry to hijack your thread, but this is quite an interesting topic.

I'd start with 4-4-1-1, Control mentality and Fluid team shape. This way you get 4-4-2 when defending and pressing, but AMC starts a bit deeper when . Double pivot in midfield is impossible to implement, even with two DMs on Support (tried it, didn't go as planned), so you'd probably have to go with CM(S)+CM(D) combo. I woudn't go for a DLP, although Bastian was a DLP/RP, because CM's movement in attack resembles Bastian/Gustavo in Heynckes' Bayern more. Ribery as a WP(A), Robben WM(A) with Cut inside, Sit narrower and Dribble more. Up front AM(A) and DLF(S), for a start. However, there are a "few" tweaks:

• If Müller plays AMC and Mandzukic up front, Mandzukic would be more DF(S/D), depending on the opposition. Against Barcelona, he was a clear DF(D).
  
• If Kroos is an AMC, he is more AM(S) than AM(A). In that case, depending on the opposition, forward could be DLF(S/A) (Gomez/Pizzarro), or DF(S) (Mandzukic).
  
• Müller on the right is a Raumdeuter, so just try and copy Raudeuter's instructions
  
• If Shaqiri played with Robben (two left-footed players, probably same would go for two right-footed), wing combo would be W(A) - WM(A). See
  .

Also, TIs and even mentality changes were noticable.

• Against weaker teams, they maybe even started with Attacking mentality. When they gained solid lead, they moved to Control even with Retain possession in later stages of the match
  
• Against stronger teams, they had two approaches:
  1. Start with strong, aggressive, high press, attack until they score, and then pull back and play on the counter.
     
  2. Play on the counter from the start, with strong pressing only from AMC and ST.
     

If you want to emulate them, you should open a new thread, so we don't spoil Ö-zil's masterpiece here. They were far more complex than this short post could explain.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

Blind also has quite low closing down, and left-central area in front of penalty box isn't really his area, but 5's. As a matter of fact, I don't want anyone to step forward, but invite pressure. Any ideas on midfield, then?

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

I'd expect #5 to cover that space, since I'm using a back 5, certainly not Blind. Had #5 left his position, his area would be partly covered by Blind and #4. It's illogical, because Blind covers the space that is already covered (as it should) by someone else. He also has Hold position, and yet he leaves whole side unmarked for a diagonal pass.

As for Fluid, I would ditch it, but without it, my attacks totally lack creativity.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

are there any fixes to this defender stupidity?

Now that he mentioned it, a question.

Why on Earth would a Full back on Support in a back five track down Rodriguez (Southampton MR) here? Definitely not 1 on 1 situation, but it is happening almost every match. If it's tactics, I'd like to try and correct it. I am playing Defensive+Fluid, TIs: Higher tempo and Work ball into box, while Blind's instructions are shown here.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

Not as much as you'd expect from looking at roles. I have chosen relatively low strategy, so my team is quite compact, two FB(S) ensure that I don't leave only two players behind. If one goes forward, the other one stays back, so I have something like a loopsided 3-man defence.

Still tinkering with left MC role, CM(A) might be overkill.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

It's my favourite role on the game and playing in front of 3 CD is such a good base. Mind posting your set up?

Here it is.

Getting closer to 100.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

I was a bit closer to Regista due to roaming, but wasn't qute sure. Even in 4-3-1-2/4-4-2 diamond at Juventus, his role didn't change, so Regista it is. Thanks

I guess I'm satisfied with passing percentage, 10 key passes, 5 interceptions and an assist. First time I use Regista, I should have tried it earlier. Very Pirlo-esque.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

I was a bit closer to Regista due to roaming, but wasn't qute sure. Even in 4-3-1-2/4-4-2 diamond at Juventus, his role didn't change, so Regista it is. Thanks

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

More of a discussion starter than question - "Pirlo role". Is it closer to a Regista or a DLP? I can't quite manage to implement a playmaker in front of defence that has such control over the game as Pirlo had especially during his Juventus years, so I would like to hear some opinions.

[Johan Cruyff's 3-4-3 Diamond (Very Fluid)]

For me, this is exactly how a tactical thread should be.

True story. Great idea, great interpretation, and perfect thread. I particularly like how pressing turned out for you.

Now that I've seen your Total Football 3-6-1, I have a totally different idea, mentioned in SV article - defensive 3-6-1.

The special thing about the counters in this system is the central coverage while maintaining great spacing in the zones. That’s very important for counters: Have width, but still keep the connections and options for combination play alive. The centre forward is the only player to covert he middle first and then he can move laterally to open space, act as supporting player for flick-ons and lay-offs or for direct passes in behind the defense.

Thanks for giving me new idea

[The Art of Counter Attacking]

The principles are all the same no matter the size of the club. However if a team doesn't attack you then it'll become a possession based system as that's the next stage of evolution in the tactical process. Although you can play counter attacking against weaker sides you just have to draw them out and it relies on team instructions or using roles that will allow this.

How about direct attacking/counter attacking hybrid? Possession per se is not what I'm striving for. I'm thinking about relatively deep formation (4-2DM-2-1-1, with mostly support roles, according to principles in the thread), with instructions suited to direct attacking football.

[The Art of Counter Attacking]

I'm not really going to play with Real or any top club for that matter. It's the principles that i'm concerned about. The question is, will wingers and AMC stay deep enough or I may have to drop AMC in order to invite pressure and create opportunities for counter attacking.

[The Art of Counter Attacking]

Having watched this video, I got the idea of trying something similar. Given that Real were playing 4-2-3-1 at the time, which formation would be appropriate, according to ideas in the first post (primarily, number of players behind the ball)? I was thinking about 4-2DM-2-1-1, since I believe that AMC was instrumental in their play when they weren't playing on the counter, so I am reluctant to drop him in order to play 4-2DM-3(MRLC)-1. Any thoughts?

[The Art of Possession Football]

@ben carter - could you post formation and TI? Really interested in your setup. Although it's Bayern, possession percentages are by far highest in this thread. Great job.

Thanks again

[The Art of Possession Football]

How about CM(S/D) with more risky passes? He would still have more freedom, but stay a bit higher than DLP(D)

[The Art of Possession Football]

@ben carter - could you post formation and TI? Really interested in your setup. Although it's Bayern, possession percentages are by far highest in this thread. Great job.

[The Art of Possession Football]

Heavy Luis Enrique influence on the tactic in your opening post, Cleon Actually, highly structured has been a revelation for me. It was the final piece of the puzzle, my possession-based tactics look way more solid than before, getting significantly higher percentages, while retaining sharpness in attack. Great article.

You mention and intelligent attacking play article, if I did get the time early next year, what kind of things would you want to see discussed in it? If you give me a general idea then who knows

I'd suggest something about direct attacking play. Think Dortmund 2011-13. Gegenpressing is impossible to implement, but some elements of their play are definitely possible. KUTGW.

[The Art of Counter Attacking]

Funnily enough, Swansea are the side I've used for the next article on possession. I think people might be surprised at what can happen with a very attack minded tactic based on keeping possession

Does it include pressing, or just focuses on retaining possession and patient attacking?

[The Art of Counter Attacking]

First was a set piece. Second one was a kind of counter but not as you expect I guess. It was triggered because we had men forward already so it came down to a simple ball from my fullback. And the third was a brilliantly worked one;

I really like second one, while third one lacks the beginning of the counter. Execution was perfect in the final third.

haha it'll more than likely be based on why people struggle to have high possession in aggressive mentality structured tactics and show them how to achieve it. This will take some time though as I don't want to ruin my save game (by ruins I mean, I've designed and developed to play a very set way currently) so I'll need to create a new save to demonstrate this.

Just stating what I'd actually love to read

[The Art of Counter Attacking]

Next up is the possession issue people seem to have I think. I just need to find the time.

Now that you mentioned this, I would really like to see similar posts about possession and pressing. Think Pep Guardiola

[The Art of Counter Attacking]

This is bloody fantastic. Simple tactic that works perfectly, proving that balance is the key to success. I always tend to use more attacking duties, but seeing this, I am going to rethink my duty selection when creating a new tactic. Could you please post goals from Newcastle match on youtube? I'm curious to see if any of them came from actual counter-attacks.