Tactics Under Maresca

[iancognito]

4 hours ago, Dames said:

The sole responsibility of getting players out of the door lies with Rudkin ans not the players in question. You play games with Rudkin and the only one that loses is the club. Rodgers tried the same thing last season and ended up having to bring players back in from the cold after treating them a similar way and it didn’t work out. We pay these guys big wages, at least keep them involved and in the shop window. 

Absolute rubbish.

 

We have no idea what bids have been made or conversations had behind the scenes. He's making it clear to these players that they aren't going to be involved, their agents will want to get them elsewhere and they'll think about lowering signing on fees and wage demands to make it happen. And a manager who's been here 5 mins is surely keeping Rudkin up to speed with his team selection and plans anyway? Jon's not getting a surprise when the FB team sheet pops up.

 

One other thing, we played most these guys on big wages last season and they showed no interest in getting us out of the shit. I don't care if they never get involved again. Let them rot.

[Mickyblueeyes]

The move for Praet’s chance was some of the best movement/passing I’ve seen us do for two years. He needs time. His style will be excellent. Needs more players who are capable of playing it though.

[gw_leics772]

1 hour ago, StriderHiryu said:

 

He's certainly more magnanimous than pep and his crew (Rodri etc)

 

Rather than moaning abiut the opposition he appears to give them credit for limiting us. 

 

Move over pep, there's a new king in town (for interviews.... for now)

Edited 12 August 2023 by gw_leics772

[brookfox]

He’s just cool AF isn’t he. I hope I’m like him when I’m him age <checks age>… 2 years ago!

[Col city fan]

34 minutes ago, Mickyblueeyes said:

The move for Praet’s chance was some of the best movement/passing I’ve seen us do for two years. He needs time. His style will be excellent. Needs more players who are capable of playing it though.

I think he’ll get them as well

👍

[inckley fox]

1 hour ago, StriderHiryu said:

Huddersfield (0) vs Leicester (1) Notes

 

- We played the same system we've used all season: 433 / 3241

- Huddersfield played high press (to an extent) and man-for-man. The Atalanta of the Championship! They played 4231.  They pressed everyone but our CBs when is possesion, so Vestergaard especially often had ages on the ball.

- Helik seemed to be man-marking either Winks or Ricardo, resulted in being ridiculously high up the pitch such that he was sitting on our 18 yard box. This led to him having a fantastic chance, which he should have scored.

- Huddersfield were very physical, leaving a bit in on challenges and working the crowd.

- We play differently with Iheanacho compared to Vardy. Vardy looks to run in behind, Nacho drops deep to link up. I think this was a tactic specific for this match, as it's the infamous "False 9" scenario. Look at the clip below to see why we went this way, man-for-man means you can drag defenders with you. Remember when Maresca said "we will have to come up with a different solution"? False 9 was the solution.

- False 9 was also the reason why a lot of our chances were Vestergaard clipping a ball over the top. Seems basic, but if Nacho drags men with him, there are spaces for the attacking 8's.

- Nacho had lots of good chances and moments but poor decision-making in the final third. More effective than Vardy though IMO.
- Praet started over Ndidi, but I felt he was quite wasteful throughout the game, squandering chances both in terms of passing and shooting. Clear why we want an attacking midfielder.

- Wanya Marcal was pretty good, got into some great positions at time. Honestly, I was a bit surprised he was taken off. My feeling is we started the half slow and were getting bullied in the middle of the park. So putting Ndidi in sorted that out.

- Mavididi scored but was a threat throughout. Hugged the touchline to create space in the half-spaces for the attacking 8s, and really attacked his man. I think he's still finding his feet but if starts getting confident I think he will tear this division a new one. Teams won't be able to match his pace and power.

- Special mention for Wout Faes! Mopped up everything defensively. But also showcased a different side to our tactics. When one of the outside CBs steps up to win the ball, they have licence to push forward if the space is there to make another attacking player. He did this against Coventry and a few times today, Doyle does the same on the other side.  Faes was class, he made one small error when a clearance went straight up rather than out, but otherwise he looked elite at this level.

 

Move of the Match

 

Full highlights aren't out yet, so I haven't got the full move but will put it here later. Really slick vertical transition to unleash one of our attacking 8's! Shame it wasn't put away. Winks and Ricardo combine, Nacho false 9 drags defenders with him, so Praet can run through in acres as Ricardo plays a delicious sliding pass through the lines.

 

 

Overall Thoughts

 

We won the game but I think Warnock edged the tactical battle given the relative resources both teams have at their disposal. The man for man approach was surprisingly effective and I think we will see other teams employ it until we demolish someone that does. I don''t think we ever looked like losing, but we were running out of ideas before Mavididi scored. That said, this could be a rare game where both managers tactics worked, because we did make chances, we just didn't put them away!

 

 

Some very interesting points, but I have to disagree about Kelechi. I thought he was wasteful, and Huddersfield enjoyed getting the better of him. When Vardy came on we went a bit more direct once or twice and he seemed to have the legs to get in behind. He made his presence felt. Their high press fell apart and we walked it thereafter. I honestly don't think Iheanacho worried them too much. His decision-making is substandard and he was rightly taken off.

[StriderHiryu]

1 hour ago, inckley fox said:

Some very interesting points, but I have to disagree about Kelechi. I thought he was wasteful, and Huddersfield enjoyed getting the better of him. When Vardy came on we went a bit more direct once or twice and he seemed to have the legs to get in behind. He made his presence felt. Their high press fell apart and we walked it thereafter. I honestly don't think Iheanacho worried them too much. His decision-making is substandard and he was rightly taken off.

Fair argument.

 

My reasoning is the clip I put above, and also some other chances in the game where his false 9 positioning led to clear-cut chances. However, he was very wasteful and there was a chance where he was selfish and should have passed to Mavididi. Put it this way, I don't think either striker had a great game.

[blaaklint]

5 hours ago, lfu said:

Ward's missed header in the 46th minute apparently

Must be using an odd xG model

i might be wrong but i think markstats' xg model isn't supposed to be very good. opta or statsbomb for instance are more widely used by professional clubs - although i would imagine some clubs have built their own proprietary models

[Bluearmyfox28]

You know what’s been super refreshing both games in the pre-presser for Coventry and Huddersfield, Enzo has been spot on with regards to how they will approach us and how they will set up. It’s nice to see a manager actually doing his homework and setting a team up based on that teams weaknesses. 
 

Like I’ve stated in the post match thread, Mark Robins and Neil Warnock are both two of the best in the league for being very good positionally and instructing individual roles. We have to take notice the way teams have set up defensively against us as well. Cov playing with a back 5 (normal for them) and it felt at times today Huddersfield played with a back 6! It’s gonna take time to break teams down who are committing so many men behind the ball.  

[DionDublinsThirdLeg]

Something to take into consideration too, is that 7 of that starting 11 today, have never been regularly involved here (Vestergaard/Praet/Madivadua/Stolarczyk) or only arrived this summer (Doyle/Winks/Madvididi). So the players are not only adapting to a new manager and way of playing, but they're also adapting to each other.

[Steve Earle]

As ever a comprehensive note by @StriderHiryu 👏🏼. A few additional thoughts:

- Huddersfield presented a very different challenge to Coventry (& Burton), allowing our back 3 time and space and denying it to our midfield and front 3 with man-to-man marking. Their approach was largely successful with us creating few clear chances

- as well as the man-to-man tactics, Town were clearly under instructions to be physical, every challenge taking part of the man as well as the ball. Ndidi & Choudhury coming on as subs evened up the physical battle

- Praet’s game-changing cameo v Cov was, as I’m sure we all expected, shown to be the exception, not the rule as Dennis delivered another of his anonymous performances as well as wasting our best chance. If he wanted to stay (big if!) he’d have to be 3rd or 4th choice number 8

- Stolarczyk is good enough to be Hermansen’s understudy already

- we don’t yet have a championship level right winger. Madivadua did enough to suggest he might stick around the squad rather than be sent out on loan

- once again Mavididi came alive as defenders tired having done little in the first hour. But he worked hard throughout 

- for me the biggest plus was seeing Iheanacho start. He didn’t have a great game but Maresca’s ‘idea’ suits a deep-lying 9 more than a Vardy/Daka type. I also like the change up in bringing Vards on as the game opens up.

 

Oh, and we are desperate for a cutting edge! Creativity in 8 positions & quality out wide needed by the end of the window!

 

Onwards & upwards!

Edited 13 August 2023 by Steve Earle

[trooky]

I think once we get a proper right winger and an attacking midfielder we'll see more goals from the team and his tactics.

[Dames]

11 hours ago, iancognito said:

Absolute rubbish.

 

We have no idea what bids have been made or conversations had behind the scenes. He's making it clear to these players that they aren't going to be involved, their agents will want to get them elsewhere and they'll think about lowering signing on fees and wage demands to make it happen. And a manager who's been here 5 mins is surely keeping Rudkin up to speed with his team selection and plans anyway? Jon's not getting a surprise when the FB team sheet pops up.

 

One other thing, we played most these guys on big wages last season and they showed no interest in getting us out of the shit. I don't care if they never get involved again. Let them rot.

Okay. We’ll see come the end of the window and Maresca more than likely has to reintegrate a few of these players because Rudkin was unable to move them on. I’m sure it’ll be great for morale.

 

I’m all in on Maresca btw but i don’t think freezing players out in this day and age is the right way to handle things, look what happened last season. The place stank because Rodgers upset so many players.

[Sparrowhawk]

26 minutes ago, Dames said:

I’m all in on Maresca btw but i don’t think freezing players out in this day and age is the right way to handle things, look what happened last season. The place stank because Rodgers upset so many players.

There isn't even the tiniest reason to suggest he's 'freezing players out.' It's at least as likely that he's being perfectly open and honest with everyone about how he wants to play and who he sees as fitting in with that or not.

[StriderHiryu]

 

This was another good move with some "Maresca-ball" philosophies in place. I like how Winks calls out to Vestergaard that the man marking him has moved so telling him to make the pass and so that Ricardo can see the bounce pass is on. I love these fluid one-touch moves that move us up the pitch quickly! That's the biggest difference with Maresca compared to Rodgers and Puel. Under those two we would do the slow stuff, but rarely got the fast passes working.

 

What I like about our system and what @Aleksz is highlighting is that when it's time to go, we play the ball fast and direct. This is much more like Roberto Di Zerbi at Brighton than Man City.

[StriderHiryu]

Kelechi showing off some of his "False 9" play. Drops deep to receive the ball, makes a great spin and drives at goal. I suppose he's entitled to have a shot here, but if he lays it off to Mavididi, I think we have a better chance to score!

 

 

 

[Chelmofox]

8 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

Kelechi showing off some of his "False 9" play. Drops deep to receive the ball, makes a great spin and drives at goal. I suppose he's entitled to have a shot here, but if he lays it off to Mavididi, I think we have a better chance to score!

 

 

 

These clips are brilliant thanks! I was really critical of Nacho at the time but his work to start the move was excellent. There are 2 passes that can be made there but his side step creates lots of space for Madavidi. It would have taken something very special to beat the keeper from where he was so it’s disappointing he took the selfish route. If that had been Barnes to his left would he have played the pass I wonder? Lovely move but an example of where we need to be much more clinical and where the teamwork could be significantly improved.  

[Big_Nige]

2 hours ago, Dames said:

Okay. We’ll see come the end of the window and Maresca more than likely has to reintegrate a few of these players because Rudkin was unable to move them on. I’m sure it’ll be great for morale.

 

I’m all in on Maresca btw but i don’t think freezing players out in this day and age is the right way to handle things, look what happened last season. The place stank because Rodgers upset so many players.

We don’t know if they’ve been frozen out a-la Soyuncu/Verstergaard/Praet/ Perez etc last season. There’s a difference when the window is open, I’d like to think there’s been some adult conversations all round about allowing these guys the time to find new clubs, and if they are still here come September 1st I’d imagine they’ll be in the squad, but until that point they won’t be selected

 

Enzo has also said he only wants players here who want to play for us, so it works both ways. That says to me the lads who aren’t in the squad and indicated they see their future elsewhere

 

 

[SouthStandUpperTier]

Think we can assume Enzo's "it was a technical decision" means that he's technically decided that he doesn't rate a player.

[Aleksz]

Great moves in this clip. My word that pass to break lines from Vestergaard in the first one. 

[Aleksz]

33 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

 

This was another good move with some "Maresca-ball" philosophies in place. I like how Winks calls out to Vestergaard that the man marking him has moved so telling him to make the pass and so that Ricardo can see the bounce pass is on. I love these fluid one-touch moves that move us up the pitch quickly! That's the biggest difference with Maresca compared to Rodgers and Puel. Under those two we would do the slow stuff, but rarely got the fast passes working.

 

What I like about our system and what @Aleksz is highlighting is that when it's time to go, we play the ball fast and direct. This is much more like Roberto Di Zerbi at Brighton than Man City.

That clip is a great example of it all. Huddersfield are baited and baited until they jump and the space is free behind them - they could have even missed out the Winks-Ricardo combination and gone straight for the pass lane that opens up for Kel.

[StriderHiryu]

3 minutes ago, Aleksz said:

That clip is a great example of it all. Huddersfield are baited and baited until they jump and the space is free behind them - they could have even missed out the Winks-Ricardo combination and gone straight for the pass lane that opens up for Kel.

This is also why seeing Vestergaard or Coady walk 40 yards forward with the ball is something we all need to get used to!

 

What do you think happens if we play Brighton? Mexican standoff whilst each team waits for the other to do something?  Lewis Dunk and Conor Coady giving each other a Clint Eastwood stare down? 

 

 

Edited 13 August 2023 by StriderHiryu

[Aleksz]

Ederson this, Guardiola that. Someone give Enzo, Mads and Jakub their flowers for doing this weeks ago 

[Bourbon Fox]

18 minutes ago, Big_Nige said:

We don’t know if they’ve been frozen out a-la Soyuncu/Verstergaard/Praet/ Perez etc last season. There’s a difference when the window is open, I’d like to think there’s been some adult conversations all round about allowing these guys the time to find new clubs, and if they are still here come September 1st I’d imagine they’ll be in the squad, but until that point they won’t be selected

 

Enzo has also said he only wants players here who want to play for us, so it works both ways. That says to me the lads who aren’t in the squad and indicated they see their future elsewhere

 

 

Enzo was pretty honest in his interview with RL - he said it was better for certain players if they weren't around the team at the moment, but that could change in time. He's clearly talking about wantaways and players who've been told to look for a move.

[dayday]

Interesting that he wants at least 4 more players in, getting the points is a big bonus for the start of the season with a team slowly gelling