Rafael Benitez's début: food for thought

[SeB 1,281]

http://theweststando...od-for-thought/

My take on the Chelsea-City game. It's in english for once! :blue scalf:

About the game

• Manchester City, scarecrow
  
• The Benitez way
  
• Observations
  

Defensively

• Wing men track back
  
• Double pivot is closer to the center backs
  

Offensively

• Get the ball out of the back via triangles
  
• To a systematization of creating triangles on the wings
  
• Macazar's availability
  
• Fast break situations, less players upper to the ball
  

[Spike 12,049]

In my opinion, the fowards do not have to track back, however they must always close down the the ball player. Consider the terminology as follow, a player should close down the ball player if the ball player is within a 10 metre radius and the tracking back is running 30 metres or so to get in line with or just in front of the defence. I think strong foward players like Moses should track back, whereas the more nimble players like Mata, Oscar and Hazard should ruthlessly hound the ball players. If Messi can hound players, I believe that Juan, Dos Santos and Eden are more than able.

IF that makes any sense.

[Backstreet09 499]

In my opinion, the fowards do not have to track back, however they must always close down the the ball player. Consider the terminology as follow, a player should close down the ball player if the ball player is within a 10 metre radius and the tracking back is running 30 metres or so to get in line with or just in front of the defence. I think strong foward players like Moses should track back, whereas the more nimble players like Mata, Oscar and Hazard should ruthlessly hound the ball players. If Messi can hound players, I believe that Juan, Dos Santos and Eden are more than able.

IF that makes any sense.

Idk why Torres is always running after ball players , when he knows Mata , Hazard , Oscar is not helping him closing down . Someone needs to tell him to stay on the last defender , i hope Benitez would tell him that , RDM didnt even tried to help him

[Slam Dunk 1,442]

Excellent read SeB, good job.

Now i'm looking forward to tomorrow's game, purely to see how Benitez sets the team up against a lower team, just because I want to know how much the cautious approach to Sunday's game was down to the fact it was his first game and he wanted to avoid defeat at all costs.

[OneMoSalah 8,778]

Read this earlier SeB.. seeing as you had spammed twitter with it Great stuff as usual...

In my opinion, the fowards do not have to track back, however they must always close down the the ball player. Consider the terminology as follow, a player should close down the ball player if the ball player is within a 10 metre radius and the tracking back is running 30 metres or so to get in line with or just in front of the defence. I think strong foward players like Moses should track back, whereas the more nimble players like Mata, Oscar and Hazard should ruthlessly hound the ball players. If Messi can hound players, I believe that Juan, Dos Santos and Eden are more than able.

IF that makes any sense.

Kind of agree but if the forward is going to do closing down the player with the ball then the rest of the team are going to have to press higher up which could end up leaving more space for the opposition to get into if they get a sequence of passes together behind the defence (similar to Balotelli's goal against us last year)

http://www.soccer-blogger.com/2011/12/12/chelsea-vs-man-city-2-1-highlights-goals-2011-video-balotelli-meireles-lampard-clichy-red-card/

5:20 in on that video I think, shows Balotelli's goal. High pressing by us, Coles up beyond half way line two simple passes, expose space behind Terry and Branna, goal.

If JT and Cahill play at the back, the space will get exposed by faster forwards and they will get one on ones with Cech. I would of liked us to press under Robbie but there is always that threat but pressing and closing down as individuals imo is pointless, they can just pass the ball back and fourth around a player. I think Torres would be better up the field (maybe just in our half so he can't be played offside) rather than tracking back so if we get the ball we can just play a long pass into space for him (eg. goal vs Barca).. or we could have had more regularly he not lost his pace ... the cunt now has pensioners knees... even Moses' pace could be utilized like that, have him sitting just at the halfway line for corners, long ball exposing the space and boom hes in! Maybe Hazard would be more useful because Moses is a big lad and for defending corners he'd be useful.

[VIALLI 9]

How much £ is Rafa on?

[Rmpr 8,977]

Great post SeB, really good!

Some of what you wrote was pretty obvious, but excellent overall...

Are you a coach yourself? You talk just like mine, LOL.

[Fulham84 0]

I think it was a bad call of Abramovich and I agree with: http://www.giga-sport.co.uk/chelsea-fans-against-rafa-benitez-27112012/ Rafa will have it tough at Chelsea and will sooner rather than later have to apologize to us.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Food for thought. Love the pun haha. Excellent read as always SeB.

[Backstreet09 499]

I dont know but i have this strange feeling , Benitez will win fucking everything at Chelsea . Rafa and Roman are made for each other lol

[Spike 12,049]

Food for thought. Love the pun haha. Excellent read as always SeB.

Haha, you know 'food for thought' is a very common saying in English?

[HNKS 508]

Food for thought. Love the pun haha. Excellent read as always SeB.

Lol I think your giving him too much credit. I dont think it was a pun....but i could be wrong.

[SeB 1,281]

In my opinion, the fowards do not have to track back, however they must always close down the the ball player. Consider the terminology as follow, a player should close down the ball player if the ball player is within a 10 metre radius and the tracking back is running 30 metres or so to get in line with or just in front of the defence. I think strong foward players like Moses should track back, whereas the more nimble players like Mata, Oscar and Hazard should ruthlessly hound the ball players. If Messi can hound players, I believe that Juan, Dos Santos and Eden are more than able.

IF that makes any sense.

That's a matter of terminology. Usually you've two ways to regain the ball: more individual one relying on one's ability to win challenges, and another relying on a collective process. Very simplistically every player tends more to be a ball winner or more a player who'll change something to the game with the ball.

With our technically gifted players, interception is more suited than sitting back and recover via tackles. Pressing is a choice from the managerial staff, but basically what I would have expected from them is at least blocking the passing lines to prevent the opponent to get the ball out of the back way to easily as it has been the case. Not throwing themselves like dummies by running straight to the opponent as well, Mata was dribbled an insane amount of times last season.

And I tried to show in my piece on the MU game that Hazard's defensive work wasn't enough as he got dribbled past by Valencia too easily

AVB tried to implement possession football, so did Robbie this season. The main issue wasn't the high line, Fernando Torres or Ron Gourlay ; it was the lack of pressing to recover the ball. This season, despite some good specific sequences, we relied too much on the opponent making a mistake and giving the ball away to recover the ball.

In my article in french, I spoke about 3 things that were likely to happen on the channels: Hazard and Mata not defending, Bertrand and Moses gaining game time. I didn't thought the third one would be so obvious, that was Mata and Hazard applying specific positionings... As I said the week before, it would defintely throw discredit to AVB and Di Matteo's ability to make their players applying their instructions.

Again, massive respect for Robbie but that's another proof that the sacking was 'right' considering he wasn't either able to make his players applying tactics, either changing anything (even with the board's instructions, that we don't actually know what extent it was)

Cole and Azpilicueta, even Luiz' reveving that much praise was too much in my opinion, but that didn't surprise me. When Torres doesn't get the ball despite a good run, that's his fault.

When Azpilicueta is able to come out and intercept, he has quality to do so... But that's just the consequence of a normal protection around him,

• he didn't had Gary the new Terry Cahill but Ivanovic who's actually able to cover him properly.
  
• he did have Juan he's so good wonder why he doesn't defend Mata who for once kept an eye on what could happen in front of him (Azpi).
  
• Thus, the double pivot wasn't stretched to death and kept under control the zone in front of the penalty box
  

[SeB 1,281]

Lol I think your giving him too much credit. I dont think it was a pun....but i could be wrong.

I just used a saying I already read somewhere

[termninja 5,290]

Brilliant article and analysis @SeB, finally and article on English from you! Keep them coming mate

[SeB 1,281]

Brilliant article and analysis @SeB, finally and article on English from you! Keep them coming mate

Look at the right column, I did several other pieces. I did create a thread for my articles with my notes on the Chelsea-MU game until it became a mess but wonder why it was unnoticed... #Clattenburg

[termninja 5,290]

Look at the right column, I did several other pieces. I did create a thread for my articles with my notes on the Chelsea-MU game until it became a mess but wonder why it was unnoticed... #Clattenburg

I was pretty much busy in the last few weeks so I haven't looked at articles at all. Will give it all a go

[SeB 1,281]

Kind of agree but if the forward is going to do closing down the player with the ball then the rest of the team are going to have to press higher up which could end up leaving more space for the opposition to get into if they get a sequence of passes together behind the defence (similar to Balotelli's goal against us last year)

http://www.soccer-bl...lichy-red-card/

5:20 in on that video I think, shows Balotelli's goal. High pressing by us, Coles up beyond half way line two simple passes, expose space behind Terry and Branna, goal.

If JT and Cahill play at the back, the space will get exposed by faster forwards and they will get one on ones with Cech. I would of liked us to press under Robbie but there is always that threat but pressing and closing down as individuals imo is pointless, they can just pass the ball back and fourth around a player. I think Torres would be better up the field (maybe just in our half so he can't be played offside) rather than tracking back so if we get the ball we can just play a long pass into space for him (eg. goal vs Barca).. or we could have had more regularly he not lost his pace ... the cunt now has pensioners knees... even Moses' pace could be utilized like that, have him sitting just at the halfway line for corners, long ball exposing the space and boom hes in! Maybe Hazard would be more useful because Moses is a big lad and for defending corners he'd be useful.

That's how pressing works actually. Imagine the snooker triangle used to position the balls on the table, imagine it to be bigger, rectangular: that's the shape of your team. Pressing's aim is to outnumber zones of the pitch by blocking as much passing lines as you can, that's why that's exhausting on full 90mn

You make a fair remark on the space created by a whole team pressing in a specific zone of the pitch. That's why you can't press the center back when he has the ball because he'll obviously go long and stab you in the back.

There's two ways to skirt pressing: the first one is direct play. That's what Swansea managed brilliantly last season, Caulker (@) and Williams were very good to keep the ball as much as they could, play stupid Mikelesques backwards play in their defensive third... In fact they waited for the opponent to come at them and then they played directly onto Allen and Gower/Sigurdsson's feet.

Thus where comes their efficiency at passing football, one's obviously easier to play possession football in inbalanced situations like those ones where the opponent's attackers were eliminated,

This is about giving the feeling you're uneasy with the ball (because you keep it allegedly too much), the opponent will be even more convinced you'll lose it under pressure. And when he's close enough not for your pass to be intercepted and with the guy having freed enough space, you play through that space or above him with a chipped pass

And the other way is the one City brilliantly used there. When you've such gifted players able to keep the ball and play so accurately there's no effective option (you can still commit tactical fouls but not all game long )

Here you've a triangle as Zabaleta runs toward the touchline, with Kompany on the ball and Yaya Touré. Interception is about blocking the passing lines, you can't obviously block every line.

Silva drops, Cole closes him down high up the pitch. Zabaleta pushes forward, Silva keeps the ball and magnetize three players. Zabaleta picks Agüero who's the second player to have dropped deep. And at the same time Balotelli runs through space.

Doesn't it remember you anything? Rooney drops, Van Persie drops at the same time and Ashley Young runs through space. Exactly how Manure kicked our arses at the Bridge in Prem