Tactics Under Maresca

[VictorFox]

I watched the Burnley game earlier and there are so many similarities between Kompany and Enzo. We would seriously struggle in the premier league without serious investment 

[Guppys Love Child]

2 hours ago, HarryDee8 said:

What is our Plan B? cos if we make the premier league, we gonna need that aswell

According to Enzo, It's do Plan A better,  by the looks of it. 

 

Its his idea and if we don't like it or question it he's going to bugger off..

[Tuna]

7 minutes ago, VictorFox said:

I watched the Burnley game earlier and there are so many similarities between Kompany and Enzo. We would seriously struggle in the premier league without serious investment 

It would be madness to play the way we do in the Premier League, we'd need to adapt

[OnlyOneCity]

7 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

People suggesting he could cross them low, but don’t recall seeing Marc do that many times.

Albrighton puts in various crosses. He puts  them in on the run so that the defenders are more likely to not connect properly. At the moment, our wingers are coming inside and putting in crosses which the defenders can see clearly and have time to deal with.

[ozvaldo]

7 hours ago, Lionator said:

Everyone talks about crosses from Albeighton and what not, but who is heading them in? Our team is tiny. 

Canon. 

[Dahnsouff]

1 minute ago, OnlyOneCity said:

Albrighton puts in various crosses. He puts  them in on the run so that the defenders are more likely to not connect properly. At the moment, our wingers are coming inside and putting in crosses which the defenders can see clearly and have time to deal with.

This is true and a good point, hitting on the run rather than when everyone has seen what happening might well produce better results.

[Dahnsouff]

2 minutes ago, ozvaldo said:

Canon. 

Not from the left wing he ain’t. 

[Aleksz]

I do think we’ll see something new over the next two. I think he’ll of been back at the drawing board this morning. Whether that’s a centre back stepping into midfield instead of a full back, Iheanacho playing one of the 8 positions. Something. I think he’ll want to try something new. 

Edited 3 March by Aleksz

[Aleksz]

2 hours ago, KFS said:

I’ve come to the conclusion that there were one too many ‘experiments’ yesterday, and that’s ultimately why we came unstuck. I think he tried to be a bit too clever and it’s ultimately landed him with egg on his face. For example:

 

- JJ trying to ‘invert’ 

- KDH on the right 

- Not starting Coady and bringing in Nelson

Neither of the 8’s could turn to play their passes (Akgun was poor and KDH on the wrong side), and neither provided running support either. You had two poor ball players in Hamza and JJ given way too much time on the ball, and all of the above ended in a shit show. 
 

No Pereira, Ndidi and a second 8 (Casadei) means he’s going to have to look for some inspiration out of the academy for Tuesday’s game. Please god don’t try and get a tune out of this system team with round pegs in square holes. It’s clear from yesterday that doesn’t work.

 

If he goes back to basics and Sunderland don’t get ridiculously statistically lucky like QPR did, we’ll be fine this week. If Wilf is indeed back for Saturday then we can survive with one senior player out in Pereira, but not both. Yesterday we carried 4-5 players.

Sorry but none of the three things you’ve listed were experiments. They’ve all happened already lots this season - some more successfully than others (I also hate KDH on the right side of attack).

 

Not sure I buy this talk that Justin was inverting either, just had a license to get forward a bit more, and being right footed he’s never going to bomb around the winger on the overlap, we miss Doyle in that regard. 

[Chelmofox]

1 minute ago, Aleksz said:

Sorry but none of the three things you’ve listed were experiments. They’ve all happened already lots this season - some more successfully than others (I also hate KDH on the right side of attack).

 

Not sure I buy this talk that Justin was inverting either, just had a license to get forward a bit more, and being right footed he’s never going to bomb around the winger on the overlap, we miss Doyle in that regard. 

I'm a little dumbfounded why Doyle wasn't playing or even subbed on in the 2nd half. Doyle's isn't as good defensively, but that wasn't our biggest issue after we went 2-0 down.  

[StriderHiryu]

4 hours ago, notnow john said:

Coaches have worked out how to neutralise our threat and it’s not just a low block.

How are they accomplishing this @StriderHiryu?

From my observations:

• Defenders mark space instead of marking their man, so they don't get dragged out of position.
• Not over committing to our wingers getting the ball and showing them the outside more often, which puts them onto their weaker foot.
• There's some other weird stuff as well, like KDH moved to the right number 8, meaning when he received the ball in the pocket he can't shoot first time because he's right footed. This feels more like Enzo's doing than the opposition, though.

Rather than having a "Plan B", I think we need some newer attacking patterns of play. Here's a blog post from a few years ago with the numerous patterns of play Man City use:
https://spielverlagerung.com/2020/09/21/analysing-manchester-citys-attack-chance-creation-methods/

 

Some things we could try:

• Switch the wingers to the other sides so that they get to the byline and cross / cut-back instead of cutting inside. Then flip them round and go to the inside. Do this a few times a match. In some games we have started with the wingers on the opposite sides but change it back after 5 minutes.
• Use the outside CBs to make overlapping runs past the wingers. As they do this, Ricardo / Hamza could drop deep to protect us on the transition. Both of them often make "underlapping" runs, but think we need to mix it up between underlapping and overlapping. JJ or Ricardo we know are excellent fullbacks who can make great overlapping runs, so why not try to use this sometimes?
• The 8's and the 6's could interchange in attack during some patterns. E.g. Winks could bomb on and Praet could drop.
• Fully change formation and just go 433. But with Kristiansen and Thomas out on loan I don't see us doing this. JJ could go left hand side, but Ricardo is out injured.

If the opposition is parking the bus, there are two ways in my book you can try and beat them:

• Go more direct. More strikers, more attackers. Accept the game will be messier and more chaotic, but try to overwhelm the opposition with superior quality. This is why teams like Southampton and Ipswich have been better at winning or drawing games where they've been behind IMO. This strategy can go wrong, because you are more vulnerable on the transition, leading to 4-3 games and the like. But a win is a win.
• Change / create new attacking patterns of play. Our style is to try to find a free man, but recently we aren't able to do it because teams are getting wise / finding it easier to defend against our movements. But if we make new movements, then the opposition won't know what to look out for.

Under Brendan we played 4141 / 433 very often. That meant you had two fullbacks and two wingers to attack games with. That system got found out in the Premier League in the end, but I think it would beat 90% of teams in the Championship. I don't expect Enzo to go this way though.

 

[Aleksz]

23 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

I'm a little dumbfounded why Doyle wasn't playing or even subbed on in the 2nd half. Doyle's isn't as good defensively, but that wasn't our biggest issue after we went 2-0 down.  

Agreed totally mate. Those awkward right footed balls Justin was trying to put in weren’t happening. Needed the left footer.

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/enzo-maresca-joke-shows-leicester-9139512

 

Enzo Maresca joke shows Leicester City predicament as recall needed for difference-maker
Talking points from Leicester City's 2-1 loss to QPR, looking at the midfield, injuries, Kelechi Iheanacho's absence, whether experienced players could be called upon, and more

 

ByJordan Blackwell
18:08, 3 MAR 2024

And then there were two. Leicester City have used seven different players in their two attacking midfield roles this season, and five of them won’t be available to face Sunderland on Tuesday.

Cesare Casadei has long since been recalled by Chelsea, and now four players are injured, with Wilfred Ndidi and Kasey McAteer already out, with Ricardo Pereira’s hamstring issue emerging in the hour before the defeat to QPR, and Dennis Praet hobbling off after 15 minutes. That leaves just Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Yunus Akgun. The situation is so desperate that Enzo Maresca joked he would have to come out of retirement to play half-an-hour at the Stadium of Light.

After three straight defeats, City are in a wobble. They are in their most difficult moment of the season. To get out of it, it’s helpful to have their best players available. They don’t have that.

 

Ricardo’s injury is particularly exasperating after the week he’d had. His performance at Leeds showed he was perhaps the best option to play alongside Dewsbury-Hall while Ndidi was out, the Portuguese producing one of the best individual displays of the campaign. Then he changed the game off the bench at Bournemouth too.

Ndidi’s return can’t come soon enough. In the 17 games he’s started this season, City have earned 2.71 points per game, in the 18 games he’s not started, it stands 1.78 points per game.

But while Maresca’s options are limited, it doesn’t feel like he helped himself with his configuration on Saturday. When Praet limped off and Yunus was introduced, Dewsbury-Hall switched to the right of the two attacking midfield roles. Maresca moved him there because, out of possession, it’s the more defensive of the two roles, with the left-hand player pressing with the striker.

However, it made City worse. It makes Dewsbury-Hall, so often City’s most influential player this season, ineffective. Immediately, City struggled on the right. Even in 15 minutes, Praet had made a lot of runs in behind to both support Abdul Fatawu and create space for the winger. Dewsbury-Hall doesn’t do that. He seems a little lost on that side.

He’s much better driving forward on the left, and working with Stephy Mavididi, who he has built up a good relationship with. QPR were sat deep and closed out the space, and naturally that didn’t help. But Maresca’s decision to move him to the right seemed to blunt him just as much.

 

No reason to leave Iheanacho out of the squad
Kelechi Iheanacho still can’t get into the City team, and on Saturday, it felt it was to the detriment of the performance. Despite Maresca admitting that the Nigerian is the best at linking play of his four strikers, he chose to leave him out with Patson Daka starting and Jamie Vardy and Tom Cannon on the bench.

His first touch can be frustratingly poor at times, and he doesn’t press as energetically as the other strikers, but it cannot be denied that Iheanacho can make things happen. And, more importantly, he offers something different.

Daka, Vardy, and Cannon are all similar. Iheanacho is the outlier. It doesn’t make sense for him to be the one who missed out.

And that was especially true on Saturday, when Maresca introduced Cannon for Yunus in attacking midfield. Cannon is at his best on the last shoulder. Playing in attacking midfield, he was at a loss. He touched the ball twice in 13 minutes, and one of those was in his own half.

Iheanacho, who is very good at getting into position to receive the ball to feet, would have been a much more effective option at that point. Maresca may have a hierarchy and all of the strikers did well while Iheanacho was away with Nigeria, but he does now need to be back in the squad.

 

Maresca has to weigh up pros and cons of experienced heads
Now City are in the predicament they’re in, there will be louder calls for the experienced heads to come into the team. Not only are Vardy, Marc Albrighton, and Conor Coady three of the oldest four players in the squad, they have all won titles before.

They have been there and done this, and come through countless tricky periods before. They know what it takes mentally to win pressure games. They have that experience.

But if Maresca wants to bring them in, he may have to sacrifice other qualities. He may not value that experience over say, Ben Nelson providing greater speed in defence compared to Coady, Abdul Fatawu bringing greater ability in one-v-ones that Albrighton, Daka pressing more consistently than Vardy.

Those are the kinds of calls Maresca will now have to make. But his commitment to his style of play means it’s unlikely he will bring in players solely for their experience. For the Italian, the gameplan trumps all.

Maresca's toughest moment as he looks to get City winning again
So don’t expect any tweaks to the system as City try to recover from their three straight defeats. That’s not Maresca’s style.

Asked if he would look to do anything differently in response to the run of losses, he said: “No. In this moment, it’s just a matter of trying to win games. We already analysed the previous two defeats. Today, more or less the dynamic of the game has been the same. Probably the quality in the last third was not so good.”

 

City definitely don’t need to rip up their blueprint. Having such a clear style of play has helped them win as many games as they have. However, it shouldn’t be closed to small changes here and there.

On Saturday, with QPR defending deep and City looking for vulnerabilities in an organised defence, they resorted to putting in a lot of crosses. The middle was completely closed off, so they went wide and tried to hurt QPR that way.

But Fatawu and Mavididi often didn’t find a blue shirt with their balls into the box. Just six crosses of 30 swung in found a City player. But if that was the way City were going, could Albrighton not have been introduced? They have a player who knows how to deliver a mean cross waiting in the wings. He could have come on for Yunus, Dewsbury-Hall could have switched back to the left, and Albrighton could have taken up a position in the right-sided attacking midfield role, dropping into pockets and curling in crosses after Fatawu had drawn the attention of markers.

It just felt City kept doing the same thing over and over again, even when there was very little sign of it threatening QPR. They didn’t need a plan B, they just needed something slightly different.

This is where Maresca earns his corn. He’s done a terrific job to this point, introducing a style the players love, that has earned results, and (mostly) got supporters enjoying their team again.

But everything has gone swimmingly up to this point. He needs to find a way to get his team winning again, even if that means making tweaks here and there.

Perhaps more importantly, he needs to keep his team mentally steady. He doesn’t want panic or nerves setting in. He needs to ensure a quiet confidence is maintained so that City can go back to getting the results they looked so good at picking up not too long ago.

It's a test for him because he's an inexperienced manager. But he's passed nearly all of the tests so far, and there will be faith he can do so again.

 

[Guppys Love Child]

4 hours ago, davieG said:

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/enzo-maresca-joke-shows-leicester-9139512

 

Enzo Maresca joke shows Leicester City predicament as recall needed for difference-maker
Talking points from Leicester City's 2-1 loss to QPR, looking at the midfield, injuries, Kelechi Iheanacho's absence, whether experienced players could be called upon, and more

 

ByJordan Blackwell
18:08, 3 MAR 2024

And then there were two. Leicester City have used seven different players in their two attacking midfield roles this season, and five of them won’t be available to face Sunderland on Tuesday.

Cesare Casadei has long since been recalled by Chelsea, and now four players are injured, with Wilfred Ndidi and Kasey McAteer already out, with Ricardo Pereira’s hamstring issue emerging in the hour before the defeat to QPR, and Dennis Praet hobbling off after 15 minutes. That leaves just Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Yunus Akgun. The situation is so desperate that Enzo Maresca joked he would have to come out of retirement to play half-an-hour at the Stadium of Light.

After three straight defeats, City are in a wobble. They are in their most difficult moment of the season. To get out of it, it’s helpful to have their best players available. They don’t have that.

 

Ricardo’s injury is particularly exasperating after the week he’d had. His performance at Leeds showed he was perhaps the best option to play alongside Dewsbury-Hall while Ndidi was out, the Portuguese producing one of the best individual displays of the campaign. Then he changed the game off the bench at Bournemouth too.

Ndidi’s return can’t come soon enough. In the 17 games he’s started this season, City have earned 2.71 points per game, in the 18 games he’s not started, it stands 1.78 points per game.

But while Maresca’s options are limited, it doesn’t feel like he helped himself with his configuration on Saturday. When Praet limped off and Yunus was introduced, Dewsbury-Hall switched to the right of the two attacking midfield roles. Maresca moved him there because, out of possession, it’s the more defensive of the two roles, with the left-hand player pressing with the striker.

However, it made City worse. It makes Dewsbury-Hall, so often City’s most influential player this season, ineffective. Immediately, City struggled on the right. Even in 15 minutes, Praet had made a lot of runs in behind to both support Abdul Fatawu and create space for the winger. Dewsbury-Hall doesn’t do that. He seems a little lost on that side.

He’s much better driving forward on the left, and working with Stephy Mavididi, who he has built up a good relationship with. QPR were sat deep and closed out the space, and naturally that didn’t help. But Maresca’s decision to move him to the right seemed to blunt him just as much.

 

No reason to leave Iheanacho out of the squad
Kelechi Iheanacho still can’t get into the City team, and on Saturday, it felt it was to the detriment of the performance. Despite Maresca admitting that the Nigerian is the best at linking play of his four strikers, he chose to leave him out with Patson Daka starting and Jamie Vardy and Tom Cannon on the bench.

His first touch can be frustratingly poor at times, and he doesn’t press as energetically as the other strikers, but it cannot be denied that Iheanacho can make things happen. And, more importantly, he offers something different.

Daka, Vardy, and Cannon are all similar. Iheanacho is the outlier. It doesn’t make sense for him to be the one who missed out.

And that was especially true on Saturday, when Maresca introduced Cannon for Yunus in attacking midfield. Cannon is at his best on the last shoulder. Playing in attacking midfield, he was at a loss. He touched the ball twice in 13 minutes, and one of those was in his own half.

Iheanacho, who is very good at getting into position to receive the ball to feet, would have been a much more effective option at that point. Maresca may have a hierarchy and all of the strikers did well while Iheanacho was away with Nigeria, but he does now need to be back in the squad.

 

Maresca has to weigh up pros and cons of experienced heads
Now City are in the predicament they’re in, there will be louder calls for the experienced heads to come into the team. Not only are Vardy, Marc Albrighton, and Conor Coady three of the oldest four players in the squad, they have all won titles before.

They have been there and done this, and come through countless tricky periods before. They know what it takes mentally to win pressure games. They have that experience.

But if Maresca wants to bring them in, he may have to sacrifice other qualities. He may not value that experience over say, Ben Nelson providing greater speed in defence compared to Coady, Abdul Fatawu bringing greater ability in one-v-ones that Albrighton, Daka pressing more consistently than Vardy.

Those are the kinds of calls Maresca will now have to make. But his commitment to his style of play means it’s unlikely he will bring in players solely for their experience. For the Italian, the gameplan trumps all.

Maresca's toughest moment as he looks to get City winning again
So don’t expect any tweaks to the system as City try to recover from their three straight defeats. That’s not Maresca’s style.

Asked if he would look to do anything differently in response to the run of losses, he said: “No. In this moment, it’s just a matter of trying to win games. We already analysed the previous two defeats. Today, more or less the dynamic of the game has been the same. Probably the quality in the last third was not so good.”

 

City definitely don’t need to rip up their blueprint. Having such a clear style of play has helped them win as many games as they have. However, it shouldn’t be closed to small changes here and there.

On Saturday, with QPR defending deep and City looking for vulnerabilities in an organised defence, they resorted to putting in a lot of crosses. The middle was completely closed off, so they went wide and tried to hurt QPR that way.

But Fatawu and Mavididi often didn’t find a blue shirt with their balls into the box. Just six crosses of 30 swung in found a City player. But if that was the way City were going, could Albrighton not have been introduced? They have a player who knows how to deliver a mean cross waiting in the wings. He could have come on for Yunus, Dewsbury-Hall could have switched back to the left, and Albrighton could have taken up a position in the right-sided attacking midfield role, dropping into pockets and curling in crosses after Fatawu had drawn the attention of markers.

It just felt City kept doing the same thing over and over again, even when there was very little sign of it threatening QPR. They didn’t need a plan B, they just needed something slightly different.

This is where Maresca earns his corn. He’s done a terrific job to this point, introducing a style the players love, that has earned results, and (mostly) got supporters enjoying their team again.

But everything has gone swimmingly up to this point. He needs to find a way to get his team winning again, even if that means making tweaks here and there.

Perhaps more importantly, he needs to keep his team mentally steady. He doesn’t want panic or nerves setting in. He needs to ensure a quiet confidence is maintained so that City can go back to getting the results they looked so good at picking up not too long ago.

It's a test for him because he's an inexperienced manager. But he's passed nearly all of the tests so far, and there will be faith he can do so again.

 

Quite a good article from Blackwell, and he backs up his suggestions with some valid points.

 

What scares me is if he can see it and offer suggestions  and also if our very own Strider Hiryu can analyse the offer good options then ....... Oh wait,...stupid me. That would involve Enzo casting of his stubborn mule persona, and differing from his EnzoBall style,  (breaks into song ) NOTTTT GOIIINGG TO HAPPENNNN.

Even Blackwell has picked up on that, along will the chance of a few style adjustments not being entertained.

 

As the saying goes, "only an idiot does the same then over and ov......."

Edited 4 March by Guppys Love Child

[Plastik Man]

19 hours ago, Chelmofox said:

I'm a little dumbfounded why Doyle wasn't playing or even subbed on in the 2nd half. Doyle's isn't as good defensively, but that wasn't our biggest issue after we went 2-0 down.  

 

18 hours ago, Aleksz said:

Agreed totally mate. Those awkward right footed balls Justin was trying to put in weren’t happening. Needed the left footer.

I also couldn't believe he didn't bring on Doyle for JJ on Saturday, it made so much sense.

 

With Vestergaard absent and Nelson partnering Faes we didn't need JJs pace at the back. 

 

Also, with Vestergaard missing we needed better passing forward from the back 3.

 

And of course JJ wasn't having a good game, making the switch seemed one of the more obvious decisions to make.

[Chelmofox]

52 minutes ago, Plastik Man said:

 

I also couldn't believe he didn't bring on Doyle for JJ on Saturday, it made so much sense.

 

With Vestergaard absent and Nelson partnering Faes we didn't need JJs pace at the back. 

 

Also, with Vestergaard missing we needed better passing forward from the back 3.

 

And of course JJ wasn't having a good game, making the switch seemed one of the more obvious decisions to make.

Makes me wonder if either the number of appearances is being managed or Doyle is still struggling a little bit following injury.

[Aleksz]

1 hour ago, Chelmofox said:

Makes me wonder if either the number of appearances is being managed or Doyle is still struggling a little bit following injury.

There’s no deal to buy in place on Doyle’s loan. He’s just struggled since he’s come back from injury I think.

[Plastik Man]

1 hour ago, Chelmofox said:

Makes me wonder if either the number of appearances is being managed or Doyle is still struggling a little bit following injury.

He looked a bit heavy on his initial return, but I thought he looked like he'd lost a few pounds last week. But it could just've been my TV!

[Clever Fox]

1 hour ago, Plastik Man said:

He looked a bit heavy on his initial return, but I thought he looked like he'd lost a few pounds last week. But it could just've been my TV!

His biggest problem is he's to slow. We need players who cover the ground quicker, Especially if we're going into the Premiership.

[Dahnsouff]

8 minutes ago, Clever Fox said:

His biggest problem is he's to slow. We need players who cover the ground quicker, Especially if we're going into the Premiership.

Dude, read the room fgs.

[Clever Fox]

17 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Dude, read the room fgs.

We're still favourites to go up, That hasn't changed because we lost a few games.

 

Our destiny is still in our own hands. 

[Dahnsouff]

1 minute ago, Clever Fox said:

We're still favourites to go up, That hasn't changed because we lost a few games.

 

Our destiny is still in our own hands. 

I totally agree, will hope until there is none.

[CheeseHead]

6 minutes ago, Clever Fox said:

We're still favourites to go up, That hasn't changed because we lost a few games.

 

Our destiny is still in our own hands. 

That's the beauty of it 

[ARM1968]

It really is. Win all of our remaining games and we go up as champions. It’s simple 🤣

[fuchsntf]

Everyone running around the same bowl of negatives

Footbal is so simple cos all ya gottta do is..

 

Baby, let me show you how to do this
You've gotta move this, you gotta move that
Really ain't nothin' to it, you gotta move it
Move, move it, shake that body for me

Shake that body for me, shake that body for me
Shake that body, move that body for me
Move that body, shake that body for me…

 

And ‘we go again’ 

ya gotta,gotta,gotta

go again…