Tactics Under Maresca

[Jimmy]

2 minutes ago, Fox 4 Life said:

I respect what Enzo is trying to do but it really isn't that effective. Hull were terribly average today but us fizzing it around the back and going down the middle did absolutely **** all to scare them. The only time we looked remotely threatening was when Stephy or Abdul ran at them but our incessant playing out the back to a non existent midfield was comical at times. Let's just start with the team that finished today and have a go at teams ffs

we have a tactical plan but the players on the pitch still need to use their eyes and play what's in front of them, they should have been feeding Abdul when he came on and shown he could skin the full back but stopped giving him the ball

[westernpark]

1 minute ago, CosbehFox said:

I have been doing a little opposition report before every league this season. Partly to educate myself with the division and the players. 
 

Actually going through YouTube watching highlights of each game and extended highlights of certain games 

I remember reading your stuff on Rotherham was good, very accurate!

[Guest Col city fan]

Looking at this very simply, it’s clear we need a goal scorer!

13 shots off target…?

We couldn’t hit a barn door.

[Fox 4 Life]

Just now, Jimmy said:

we have a tactical plan but the players on the pitch still need to use their eyes and play what's in front of them, they should have been feeding Abdul when he came on and shown he could skin the full back but stopped giving him the ball

Totally agree but I don't know that the players are on the same page. The back 4 are not the way to unlock defences in the championship, we need players on the ball that can make things happen, such as Abdul and Mavi but the whole game was dictated by the defence. They all played well including vesty but none of them are near creating or scoring goals 

[alanf0x]

How about 3-5-2 with Ricardo and Justin as wingbacks. 3 in the middle and 2 up front. That’s a winning formula on the PlayStation. 
 

Lets not overcomplicate things  

[StriderHiryu]

13 minutes ago, WigstonWanderer said:

Despite the the brilliant points haul for the first 4 matches, the performances have been less than convincing, and the Hull result could have occurred in practically any of them.

 

After a disjointed pre-season and having changed a large portion of the squad, Enzo now knows what he has to work with. Perhaps he’ll be able to get his system working more convincingly over the international break.

Everyone would agree with you, this defeat was coming because we were getting bailed out by quality from individuals, not by team performances. Maresca has only now got his squad together, so only now can he really get to work. It's going to take time though, and this part of the process is to be expected. 

 

5 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

I have been doing a little opposition report before every league this season. Partly to educate myself with the division and the players. 
 

Actually going through YouTube watching highlights of each game and extended highlights of certain games 

Post it in this thread please!

[cityfanlee23]

3 hours ago, sbfox said:

Not sure that's true. Almost every game we won has been a result of Maresca. We're going to tire teams out with crazy amounts of passing and we've seen Cov and Rotherham flake after about 70 minutes. 

I'm not sure tiring teams out with sideways passing is really part of the "tactic" and more that teams are sitting back against us and we are forcing them to press us by sideways passing a lot. We could easily have lost every game this season if the opposition took their chances, we are not playing well enough to put games to bed unfortunately. We just don't yet look comfortable imo. 

[Tielemans63]

I would like to see Maresca go with two up front. The lone striker has looked peripheral in the league games so far.

[cityfanlee23]

3 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Best way to learn is to use it.

 

You will lose games, sure, but when it clicks...

 

Largely agree, but at the same time I think a balance can also be effective, we don't need to go 100% or nothing, personally I'd prefer to see us put games to bed or atleast go ahead before we start really trying to embed the system. And just to add, I do agree with the statement "but when it clicks...." but I'd replace the "when" with "if". I do feel like it will come good though!

[Guest glasgowfox]

Ffs guys get a grip,  5 games in and 12 pts.....I would have taken that all day.  The football is not great but neither was my French after 5 weeks...chill and give the guy a chance to put his stamp on the now known players he has at his disposal 

[BenTayfour]

@StriderHiryu @Ric Flair Hi mates !

 

As we all saw from last games we control the game by having possession but without any threat to the opposition, I know that we are not expecting Man City domination in opposition final third/penalty box, but we want to see the results/benefits of this system not just basically playing for the sake of implementing it, we need to see alot many quality chances during the game and being really composed and aware of what we doing in the final third (runs/through passes/crosses.. etc)

 

Anyways since few are afraid of the system might not click and the manager is too keen with the same tactic every game that it'll be too late to try new things and players adapt to it.

 

What do you think about this minor changes that can being some flexibility to the team without the need to make subs or only 1/2 subs?

 

Justin for Vestergard might be the key, you gain mobility and option to switch to familiar setups

4-4-3 / 4-2-3-1 

4-1-4-1 / 4-4-2

Having overlapping fullbacks with these new winger can come in handy in some stages of the games than switching back to the pep system when we secure the win, also we will be very unpredictable many players can Interchange positions trick their Man-Markers. 

 

🔶 Enzo's 3-2-2-3 :

 

 

Ricardo drops to make 4-3-3:

 

 

4-2-3-1 Ricardo drop to RB and Casadei drops to holding CM I think Praet is more suited to this one though (McAteer is deeper that it should be in this pic he I didn't position him properly):

 

 

Traditional 4-4-2 for those old school fans 🦊🤜 (In this one we need to know which Winger/midfielder can pair the striker) :

 

I consider trying praet instead of Kdh when he is so he can iterchange roles with Winks as I'm curious to see Winks as a 10 maybe he can be like Eriksen feeding attackers with slick through balls and quality key passes. 

[StriderHiryu]

@BenTayfour that could work, but until I see Maresca do it, I won't comment on it, just because I think there's a ton to look at and examine with his plan A.

 

I think most people would ask "if we switched to more traditional tactics would be see better performances and results"? And it's likely we would. But Maresca clearly wants to stamp his identity on a team and get them playing a way that he thinks can compaete at a higher level. Will he pull it off? We find out in the next 12-24 months!

[FoxTrott]

I’m very concerned that with the gulf of squad quality, and being down a goal for 70 mins, we put up 1.2 xG against a pretty dour Hull. It’s all good and well playing this brand of football with the likes of Grealish, Foden, when a player’s individual quality can create a goal out of nothing. But we aren’t there. And we’ve fully invested in this vision. 
 

People saying we are the Man City of the Championship are wearing blue tinted glasses. I really hope Maresca can make this team look more coherent over the break. 

[FoxTrott]

It also concerns me Maresca saying “we need to be more clinical”. Not really. Not scoring from 1.2 xG is hardly being wasteful. It’s clear we aren’t creating enough.

Edited 2 September 2023 by FoxTrott

[Gamble92]

2 minutes ago, FoxTrott said:

I’m very concerned that with the gulf of squad quality, and being down a goal for 70 mins, we put up 1.2 xG against a pretty dour Hull. It’s all good and well playing this brand of football with the likes of Grealish, Foden, when a player’s individual quality can create a goal out of nothing. But we aren’t there. And we’ve fully invested in this vision. 
 

People saying we are the Man City of the Championship are wearing blue tinted glasses. I really hope Maresca can make this team look more coherent over the break. 

You're bang on with what you're saying but we really do have that gulf in quality to the rest of the league. It will come I'm sure of it.

 

Even today I reckon one goes in and we get another. I think it's just a matter of waiting for us to click.

 

Having said that, and as much as I am a huge fan of Maresca, I can't help but keep thinking to myself if we'd gone with a less philosophy based manager that was being touted then would a simple more direct 4-2-3-1 with the players we have just been steam rolling results. I don't know.

[Lesta2014]

1 minute ago, FoxTrott said:

It also concerns me Maresca saying “we need to be more clinical”. Not really. Not scoring from 1.2 xG is hardly being wasteful. It’s clear we aren’t creating enough.

He may also mean being clinical when in promising positions and nothing comes of it, no shot/chance created etc. 

[FoxTrott]

Just now, Gamble92 said:

You're bang on with what you're saying but we really do have that gulf in quality to the rest of the league. It will come I'm sure of it.

 

Even today I reckon one goes in and we get another. I think it's just a matter of waiting for us to click.

 

Having said that, and as much as I am a huge fan of Maresca, I can't help but keep thinking to myself if we'd gone with a less philosophy based manager that was being touted then would a simple more direct 4-2-3-1 with the players we have just been steam rolling results. I don't know.

That’s definitely my thoughts and fears as well. I worry we’ve essentially locked into this system now, financially. It’s a huge gamble.

[Qwerty]

2 minutes ago, Gamble92 said:

You're bang on with what you're saying but we really do have that gulf in quality to the rest of the league. It will come I'm sure of it.

 

Even today I reckon one goes in and we get another. I think it's just a matter of waiting for us to click.

 

Having said that, and as much as I am a huge fan of Maresca, I can't help but keep thinking to myself if we'd gone with a less philosophy based manager that was being touted then would a simple more direct 4-2-3-1 with the players we have just been steam rolling results. I don't know.

I know what you’re mean, but without Maresca I don’t think we’d have some of the players we’ve got.  I think they came because he was inspiring.  We know for a fact that 6 players were ready to push for a move, but changed their minds after working with him for a while. 

[StriderHiryu]

4 minutes ago, FoxTrott said:

I’m very concerned that with the gulf of squad quality, and being down a goal for 70 mins, we put up 1.2 xG against a pretty dour Hull. It’s all good and well playing this brand of football with the likes of Grealish, Foden, when a player’s individual quality can create a goal out of nothing. But we aren’t there. And we’ve fully invested in this vision. 
 

People saying we are the Man City of the Championship are wearing blue tinted glasses. I really hope Maresca can make this team look more coherent over the break. 

 

Just now, FoxTrott said:

It also concerns me Maresca saying “we need to be more clinical”. Not really. Not scoring from 1.2 xG is hardly being wasteful. It’s clear we aren’t creating enough.

Both fair assessments, and that is the argument against him - he's trying to play a style that our players (even with acquisitions) cannot play. And in time, that might even turn out to be true.

 

But as we are invested in his vision, we know it's going to take time. Burnley who won the Championship last time round did not start off results wise as good as we have. Frankly, I think people making decisions about his tactics now are short-termist and incredibly impatient. Two players made home debuts today, another one was in the stands who hasn't featured in the 18 man matchday squad yet! If we are struggling results and performance wise around 15-20 games into the season, then the argument against them is much stronger to make. He literally made the best ever start of any Leicester City manager, despite massive player turnover and a comedy tour to Asia in pre-season. I think he deserves some slack.

[Aus Fox]

2 hours ago, Col city fan said:

Looking at this very simply, it’s clear we need a goal scorer!

13 shots off target…?

We couldn’t hit a barn door.

The worst thing about this is, those 13 shots fell to almost all of our different attacking players.

Ricardo, Vardy, Iheanacho, KDH, Winks, Issahaku, McAteer all had efforts they could and probably should have done better with.

If we are going to persist with this formation we need to be ruthless and we need someone to hit some form.

I don’t think we’ve had a player score in two different games yet - other than Ndidi in the cup.

We just seem to be trying to hard at times, and players having pop shots when  there’s a better option.

[CaliFOXnia]

Assist for Kristiansen on his debut today for Bologna in a 2-1 win, coming back from 1-0 down. 

[FoxTrott]

Just now, StriderHiryu said:

 

Both fair assessments, and that is the argument against him - he's trying to play a style that our players (even with acquisitions) cannot play. And in time, that might even turn out to be true.

 

But as we are invested in his vision, we know it's going to take time. Burnley who won the Championship last time round did not start off results wise as good as we have. Frankly, I think people making decisions about his tactics now are short-termist and incredibly impatient. Two players made home debuts today, another one was in the stands who hasn't featured in the 18 man matchday squad yet! If we are struggling results and performance wise around 15-20 games into the season, then the argument against them is much stronger to make. He literally made the best ever start of any Leicester City manager, despite massive player turnover and a comedy tour to Asia in pre-season. I think he deserves some slack.

Yeah -  you’re not wrong. It’s early days to say one way or another. These changes are part of a process. What makes me worried is that (1) we’ve not seen this tactic succeed at a lower league level (probably because of the reliance on individual brilliance) and (2) forward thinking, if we were to be promoted and use this style that EM has said he won’t change, are we just going to be pumped by most teams, week in week out. 
 

It’s too soon to say if this will or won’t work (and I really hope it does), but inflexibility is not a good trait in football management. (Bielsa comes to mind)

[Aus Fox]

14 minutes ago, FoxTrott said:

It also concerns me Maresca saying “we need to be more clinical”. Not really. Not scoring from 1.2 xG is hardly being wasteful. It’s clear we aren’t creating enough.

We were wasteful today though - Vardy header, Iheanacho cleared off the line, KDH and Ricardo both had chances unchallenged on the edge of the box - That’s at least 4 chances we should have at least worked the keeper and he had nothing to do. 
We actually created more today I thought than in some of the other games this season, just very wasteful and only Issahaku hitting the post came close form a decent position.

[CaliFOXnia]

1 hour ago, glasgowfox said:

Ffs guys get a grip,  5 games in and 12 pts.....I would have taken that all day.  The football is not great but neither was my French after 5 weeks...chill and give the guy a chance to put his stamp on the now known players he has at his disposal 

What’s your French like now, and how longs it been..? 

[AaronH]

4 hours ago, Stadt said:

Our wingers are too wide and high up during our build up. The idea is it creates space for the 8s to attack but they’re so isolated they get the ball and have no option but to play it back to LCB Doyle or inverted Ricardo.

 

Mavididi and Doyle in particular don’t combine well. 
 

Man City’s system works with Haaland, Grealish, Foden et al but for us we need to play to our strengths - this system doesn’t. 
 

Vardy and Iheanacho have barely had a sniff. Maresca has to learn quickly.

Or we need to also adapt to it as a team and supporting base