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StriderHiryu

Tactics Under Maresca

By StriderHiryu, in Leicester City Forum

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FoxesWalk

FoxesWalk

Posted
Posted (edited)
9 hours ago, Finnegan said:

I would rather have been relegated and got Maresca than stayed up and got Martin. 

 

Honestly. 

I know the quality of opposition is lower, but I genuinely think we are already better than the vast majority of football of the last ~2 years under Rodgers, and that’s only a few months in. We have signed well, which helps, but the speed with which Enzo has overhauled the style of play and had us looking pretty slick for extended periods is very impressive… 

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blue blood

blue blood

Posted
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On 13/09/2023 at 11:36, StriderHiryu said:

Southampton Pre-Match

 

This is my take, would love to get thoughts from others on this one.

 

Both teams have a very small sample size to really dissect exactly how they work, but on the surface, it seems like both teams to do a similar thing. Recirculate possession around the team to activate a pressing trigger from the opponent, and then pass it around that team to exploit the spaces they leave behind.

 

The biggest differences I can see is that Maresca prefers to have a fixed block of 5 men back and 5 men forwards, whereas Martin starts that way but commits more and more players forwards as they get more and more possession. This has pros and cons, the pro is that this means they make more chances as they generate more and more numerical advantage. But the disadvantage is that it leaves even more gaps in their team that get exploited on the transition. This is what happened in their 5-0 defeat, every time they lost the ball they were ruthlessly exploited. And here's the thing, Maresca has set our team up to be a team that plays through the gaps at high speed to create quality chances. On paper, if Southampton play the way they did against Sunderland, they will get picked off. This will be the first game we play where the team against us doesn't play a deep block and has the quality to make it matter. That should suit us as the game will be a lot more open.

 

Image-23-05-2023-at-18.06.jpeg

 

^ An example of the pressing structure Russel Martin used at Swansea. This has pros and cons. With so many players around the ball, it makes it more likely to get the ball off a player receiving a pass. But if that player can play out of the press, so many players are taken out of the game, chances are easy to create.

 

cOW1nxu.png

 

^ Some Southampton passing stats. The big stylistic difference between us and them is that both their fullbacks invert at times to give them midfield superiority, but they are also the players that are used the most to make passes and circulate the ball.

 

Screenshot-2023-06-23-at-01.48.44.png

 

^ Russell Martin's tactics at Swansea. They build with just 2 CBs (we do it with 3), but they invert TWO players (both full backs) to make more passing triangles.

 

oBRxqdk.png

 

^ Compare that to our team, and you see that Harry Winks is our main man, with Riccy P as his deputy. Vestergaard and Bednarek fulfil the same role in both teams, they are the centre back / quarter back style player that will hold onto the ball for a long period of time before passing it.

 

So the game comes down to this: Does the extra man Southampton use in their build up work to play through us, or do they end up with both fullbacks out of possession, meaning they are even more vulnerable on the transition? For this reason, I think Ndidi might start, because he's better at winning the ball higher up on the pitch than Casadei, even though the latter is a far better player technically.

 

The Right Wing position is one of the most important parts of the tactical battle for this one. Ryan Manning starts at LB but inverts into midfield for the Saints, meaning that any time we turn the ball over, there is a pass on for our right winger immediately. Our system of play already looks to isolate our winger and one of their players 1 on 1, but in this game there will be times when the player is totally unmarked if we find them quickly. And we are good at finding them.

 

Harry Winks and Ricardo need to be on point for this one!

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Aleksz

Aleksz

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Saw a different side to Enzo tonight - less stubbornness towards “The Idea”.

 

Made a selection to play a bit more in transition including Vardy, Mavididi and McAteer in the side - and was happy to soak up pressure second half and surrender a bit of the ball knowing Vardy/Mavididi/McAteer/KDH would kill the game off on the break.

 

Fair play Enzo.

 

 

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CosbehFox

CosbehFox

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Just now, Aleksz said:

Saw a different side to Enzo tonight - less stubbornness towards “The Idea”.

 

Made a selection to play a bit more in transition including Vardy, Mavididi and McAteer in the side - and was happy to soak up pressure second half and surrender a bit of the ball knowing Vardy/Mavididi/McAteer/KDH would kill the game off on the break.

 

Fair play Enzo.

 

 

Played deeper. 
 

Pressed their ‘defensive’ six 

 

Didn’t use the inverted full back as much because of Saints most in form player there. 
 

Other big change was midfield shape - as KDH pressed more like a 10/striker. 

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StriderHiryu

StriderHiryu

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7 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

Fook sake @StriderHiryu!

How right were you about this one!!

Ha ha thanks a lot Col, honestly that means a lot coming from you. Got so much respect for you.

 

Use the thread to challenge one another and improve all of our understanding of the game. There are definitely a few things I haven't picked up on in games (like Hull moving Delap 1 on 1 vs Doyle), so everyone do point things out like this!

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Aleksz

Aleksz

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2 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

Played deeper. 
 

Pressed their ‘defensive’ six 

 

Didn’t use the inverted full back as much because of Saints most in form player there. 
 

Other big change was midfield shape - as KDH pressed more like a 10/striker. 

Yep noticed this at times, it was pretty sporadic, but from goal kicks for a period we were building with Ndidi and Winks as the double pivot and Ricardo playing orthodox left back.

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Lionator

Lionator

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2 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

Ha ha thanks a lot Col, honestly that means a lot coming from you. Got so much respect for you.

 

Use the thread to challenge one another and improve all of our understanding of the game. There are definitely a few things I haven't picked up on in games (like Hull moving Delap 1 on 1 vs Doyle), so everyone do point things out like this!

Will Norwich play us set up in the same way?

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cityfanlee23

cityfanlee23

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I still feel like we are missing a link at times between the midfield and attack, this is one of the first games where the opposition havent parked the bus, infact I think Southampton had a morris minor for most of the game, but this is one of the first games where Vardy actually has space to move into and wasnt constantly marked by 2 defenders but we just didnt have the link to get the ball into him. Unfortunately for Vardy he spent a lot of this game being forced to try to make things happen off the ball. I'm really hoping once Alves gets fit he gets a few chances as he's somebody that would really drive into that space.

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StriderHiryu

StriderHiryu

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1 minute ago, Lionator said:

Will Norwich play us set up in the same way?

Ha great question. My understanding is they play more of the murder ball / pressing style instead of possession. Not quite, but Liverpool 19/20 esque. They don't invert both fullbacks, that's for sure. But I would say that if we play our way out of the press, the gaps will be there.

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cityfanlee23

cityfanlee23

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41 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

I think Maresca has been a great appointment for LCFC.

He’s tactically good, we’ve signed players sensibly, he’s giving the youth a chance and he’s outed the players he didn’t want.

He’s also very cool. Didn’t seem to give a shite when we lost to Hull and seems very stable and level headed.

I’m really liking what I’m seeing. I’m still confused re Ndidi’s role, but what’s that now.. two for the season already?

LG under Enzo methinks

I'll keep banging this drum but I think considering he's spent his career as a very rigid defensive midfielder who's main role has been pretty basic in breaking up play and moving the ball to the midfielders next to him to allow them to progress it forward, with that context I think Ndidi has been massively impressive, he's probably playing the most dynamic position in the team. One minute he's outside of our box defending, the next he's moving into a channel between the opponents full back and central defender, the next he's 1 on 1 with the keeper. It's just been such a tactical leap from his old role to his new role and I think with that in mind he's doing a fantastic job.

He was one of the players that I argued we should not sell even with the 15m bids people were talking about as I was hoping he would find some of his old form, but the trajectory he's on right now, if he continues he could end up one of our most pivotal players.

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foxes_rule1978

foxes_rule1978

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A risky appointment but it seems everyone is now pushing in the same direction and on the right page. 

 

You can see the pieces coming together, the movement and passing was phenomenal tonight, and once the shaky defence had tightened up, the game was comfortable.
 

Great watch and to do that within just a couple of months being here is impressive. He has already found ways to win when things aren’t clicking so that is positive but to now turn us up a notch and start to show that we can blow teams away is very encouraging.

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