[Thoughts out loud about on ball principles- THREAD]

Way too many people give credits to the formation a manager will use when it actually doesn’t matter much when his team has the ball. It is much more important when his team doesn’t have the ball. I will expand on that right now.

Most teams attack with a front five, whether they are playing in a 4–2–3–1, a 4–3–3 or a 3–5–2. They respect the rule that the five channels are occupied by five players with one player for each corridor. They will be close to each other to facilitate ball circulation.

City played with 2 high 8’s and 2 wingers wide in a 2–3–5 or a 3–2–5 when they had the ball. Liverpool played with wingers inside instead of City’s high 8’s and with their FBs out wide. It depends on the profiles the manager has at his disposal. This is the most important thing.

These shapes have been played for so many years as well. This is the lineup from a game from 1930 between Arsenal and Huddersfield. While one team was using a 2-3-5, the other used a 3-2-5.

In Pep Confidential, Pep explains that he changes his strategy at Bayern. At Barca, it was about playing down the middle and releasing runners through Messi playing centrally. At Bayern, he had two 1v1 wingers so it is evident he had to find them in 1v1 situations.

In buildup, there are key principles that should be respected imo. In the first place, spacing. Spacing is important to give time on the ball to your ball-carrier. You need to stretch your opponent, whether it is in width or in depth.

By having a runner, it helps your other teammates as you will get away from them and an opponent will follow you. By following you, they will make the space between their defensive and forward lines bigger which will allow your teammate more space and more time on the ball.

For that, one player on each side has to hug the touchline and you need to have at least one runner in your front five. The example with Sané running in behind while a teammate provides width on the other side is telling. For United, Shaw provides no width therefore no spacing.

In buildup, I like to have one left-footed player on the left and one right-footed player on the right. It gives you new routes of ball progression. But now let me expand on it.

When a right-footed CB receives on the right, he will release the ball to his RB quicker because his strong foot is on the same side as his RB. These few milliseconds will get a bit more time on the ball to the RB. Same principle for a left-footed CB on the other side.

Now, about verticality. There are multiple routes of central ball-progression but I want to highlight two of them where it’s absolutely crucial to have a CB on the side of his strong foot. Ball-progression through halfspaces and through diagonal passing.

I will start with half-spaces. There, you can see Laporte taking the ball and finding Foden on the half-turn. It seems like nothing but this is mostly due to the fact his angles are natural. A right-footer wouldn’t have been able to make that pass.

Then, it’s about diagonal passes. I first heard about that in City’s documentary on Amazon. Pep said to his players ‘’find David Silva on the left and De Bruyne will always be free on the right’’. There, you have to understand both midfielders are playing centrally in that case.

De Bruyne wasn’t free out wide. He was free centrally. Then, I started paying attention to that and it appeared that Pep was right. In the first example, you can see that the ball-carrier is right-footed but can progress the ball to a teammate free in the left halfspace.

Then, you see Camavinga switching the play. However, if nobody was there for the swtich, you can see his teammate free centrally and a diagonal pass would’ve been enough to find him. On the second pic, this is something Sassuolo has used last season in buildup.

Then, I will talk about the final third and the front 5. The most important thing about this front 5 is the wide dynamics. Let’s take two examples. In my team, I have TAA as my RB and I need to buy a RW to go with him.

What are TAA’s strengths? He is good at progressing the ball but his main asset is his crossing and his offensive instincts (when to over/underlap). So, I position him high and wide as the right-sided member of this front 5. Now, let’s move the RW’s profile.

I need someone who can complement him. Someone who is more comfortable inside than outside but who can still provide width when the front 5 rotates in particular moments. Salah is the perfect profile for that. Liverpool have done well to accomodate both.

Let’s now talk about AWB and a partnership with either Sancho or Ousmane. AWB struggles at taking the over/underlap due to a lack of offensive instincts. He doesn’t know where to position himself. Defensively, he is also better suited to 1v1 situations deeper in his own half.

That’s why you wouldn’t want him anywhere near your front 5 except on rare occasions when rotations occur. If your RB can’t keep the width in your front 5 then you need your winger to do that. Who is more suited between Ousmane and Sancho? I would say Ousmane, but why?

Ousmane is faster and more skillful which makes him a better 1v1 player. While Sancho is more than good in 1v1, he prefers to come centrally when playing on the right, as seen below. Hakimi was the one taking the overlap and/or providing width. Ousmane likes to stay out wide.

You also need to understand these shapes are moving according to how the game is developing. For example, since Arteta has been appointed, Aubameyang plays on the left wing. He either provides width when it’s needed but often finds himself inside and close to his striker.

Finally, let’s close this topic with verticality. Verticality is extremely important if you want to find gaps into your opponent’s shape. Below, you can see a GIF with 3 principles I talked about. Verticality, central ball-progression and front 3 close to each other.

This thread included a bit of everything but I thought you would like it. Let me know your thoughts and I could do something similar for off the ball principles. RTs appreciated if you feel it’s worth spreading!