Tactics Under Maresca

[shen]

On 26/09/2023 at 01:18, LFox99 said:

 

A few of those moves are ending up with a low percentage ball (lofted cross) though. In those cases, I'd argue the build-up play is rather pointless.

With positive glasses on, I suppose variety will give a split second more time & space as defenses will have to be reactive.

[Bourbon Fox]

7 minutes ago, shen said:

A few of those moves are ending up with a low percentage ball (lofted cross) though. In those cases, I'd argue the build-up play is rather pointless.

With positive glasses on, I suppose variety will give a split second more time & space as defenses will have to be reactive.

I think the variety is important - I was pleased to see Hermansen ping it over the top last weekend, too.

 

Not that it's the bread and butter of our style, but it gives the opposition something else to think about.

 

We've scored a couple of headers, KDH and Kasey Mac come to mind, and Vardy should arguably have buried one on Wednesday.

 

If we're mixing it up 20% of the time I'm OK with a few low percentage balls, as long as we're creating plenty.

[messerschmitt]

7 hours ago, Ashley said:

I'd argue we are exciting to watch. 

 

We're dominating games some off the passing and movements have been silly good. We're still not the finished article either. 

 

Give me this type of football any day of the week. 

 

Suppose it's all on preference but I love it, it'll get better and better too. 

 

 

The performance on Saturday was about as dominant a game as I've ever seen. Some of the passing was brilliant and winning the ball back, and defending from the front was unbelievable. I'd hate to be playing against us.

[Spudulike]

On 26/09/2023 at 00:18, LFox99 said:

 

And you can still hear an angry voice shouting FORWARD!!! 

[davieG]

 

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/leicester-city-notebook-willy-caballero-8783280

 

By

Jordan Blackwell

18:58, 26 SEP 2023

 

Leicester City notebook: Willy Caballero fixing old problem as former players return as coaches
Enzo Maresca's assistant manager is working on set-pieces in his first role as a coach, having retired from playing in the summer to take over as Leicester City's number two

When Leicester City conceded from the fourth corner against them this season, it would have been feared that their perennial problem had followed them down to the Championship.

However, since Kyle McFadzean’s header for Coventry, City have successfully defended 40 corners in the league without conceding. They’re not giving up many chances either.

According to Opta data, only five teams in the Championship have given up fewer expected goals from set-play situations. Whatever City are doing, it’s working.

 

And to thank for that, they may have their new assistant manager. Willy Caballero was a surprise appointment this summer, with the Argentinian on Southampton’s books as a player last term and not even announcing his retirement until he joined City.

But he knew Enzo Maresca already from their time together at Malaga, and the City boss felt he was the right man to work with him and first-team coach Danny Walker. Alongside Walker, Caballero is coaching set-pieces at Seagrave.

“I knew very well, Willy, because we played together 10 years ago,” Maresca said. “Since we played together, we always talk about football. I knew his intention was to start as a coach and leave football as a player. So I saw what I was looking for in an assistant.

“Now he’s in charge of set-pieces. Him and Danny both. They are also in charge to make some extra work with some young players to try to improve them.”

 

Where City could get better is at attacking set-pieces. According to Opta, they have the fourth lowest expected goals tally from dead balls. That’s despite having had 44 corners, which is the 13th most in the division.

[Spudulike]

"Where City could get better is at attacking set-pieces. According to Opta, they have the fourth lowest expected goals tally from dead balls. That’s despite having had 44 corners, which is the 13th most in the division." 

 

Peter Beagrie disagrees. 

[AjcW]

Intrigued by tonight.

I've seen some subtle tweaks from Enzo when we've been put under pressure but nothing massively significant in terms of a system change.

 

Towards the end against Cardiff when they were battering us and it looked like we were going to have to cling on for a draw, he told Ricardo to sit as a regular right back to give us a more rigid back four, mainly to help Faes who was blowing out of his arse at that point.

 

Part of me actually wants to see us being confident in our plan against any side, no matter the level, BUT with the idea that we might well be a flat 4 quite a lot this evening. 

 

The big difference we will notice this year from Liverpool is they have the midfield they've been craving now, even the back up version (Endo, Gravenberch and Elliot) is strong and will likely see a lot less opportunities to exploit the middle of the pitch as we have done in the league this season.

[StriderHiryu]

On 26/09/2023 at 00:18, LFox99 said:

 

The first passage of play in that clip highlights the biggest improvement I've observed in recent games, our ability to sustain attacks. The first cross in makes a chance, but is defended, but we keep the ball with Fatawu who recycles it inside their box to keep us on the ball and make another chance. There were times against Bristol where we had them under sustained pressure, and that was always going to lead to a goal. Against Hull we played through the lines well, but could not sustain our attacks.

 

The way we are playing, someone is going to get a big tonking sooner rather than later. 

[Spudulike]

1 hour ago, StriderHiryu said:

The first passage of play in that clip highlights the biggest improvement I've observed in recent games, our ability to sustain attacks. The first cross in makes a chance, but is defended, but we keep the ball with Fatawu who recycles it inside their box to keep us on the ball and make another chance. There were times against Bristol where we had them under sustained pressure, and that was always going to lead to a goal. Against Hull we played through the lines well, but could not sustain our attacks.

 

The way we are playing, someone is going to get a big tonking sooner rather than later. 

I suspect that any tonking will occur away from home as, if the first 4 home matches are a yardstick, almost all teams will set up with the same low block, parked bus, spoiling, frustrating tactics resulting in low scoring wins (with the occasional loss/draw if they get lucky and with a sympathetic ref). 

[filbertway]

1 hour ago, AjcW said:

Intrigued by tonight.

I've seen some subtle tweaks from Enzo when we've been put under pressure but nothing massively significant in terms of a system change.

 

Towards the end against Cardiff when they were battering us and it looked like we were going to have to cling on for a draw, he told Ricardo to sit as a regular right back to give us a more rigid back four, mainly to help Faes who was blowing out of his arse at that point.

 

Part of me actually wants to see us being confident in our plan against any side, no matter the level, BUT with the idea that we might well be a flat 4 quite a lot this evening. 

 

The big difference we will notice this year from Liverpool is they have the midfield they've been craving now, even the back up version (Endo, Gravenberch and Elliot) is strong and will likely see a lot less opportunities to exploit the middle of the pitch as we have done in the league this season.

Assuming we're going there with the idea of winning I could see it being like the second halves vs Norwich and Southampton. We look to sit in and let them have the ball, but when we do win the ball back and are able to do so, we'll spring forward at pace and look to hit them on the counter.

[CheeseHead]

3 hours ago, davieG said:

That’s despite having had 44 corners, which is the 13th most in the division.

So, in the bottom half for number of corners. Interesting way to present a statistic

[Lillehamring]

4 hours ago, Spudulike said:

And you can still hear an angry voice shouting FORWARD!!! 

I noticed that and, not surprisingly, it was after Justin ignored the ocean of space in front of him - the lad still really doesn't have any confidence - I think this is what we'll miss most about Doyle - Doyle would have attacked that space.

[Lillehamring]

1 hour ago, CheeseHead said:

So, in the bottom half for number of corners. Interesting way to present a statistic

I assume it was significant compared with the xG rank?

[Drink Water]

Waiting for the inevitable @StriderHiryu post 

[StriderHiryu]

1 minute ago, Drink Water said:

Waiting for the inevitable @StriderHiryu post 

I will do a small one tomorrow.

 

There's seriously too many games to follow!

 

Next international break I will do a summary of the season so far, looking back at preseason up until this point. I think this stat shows progress in the team, though TBH 2.36 seems pretty low for Liverpool!

 

 

[Lillehamring]

25 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

I will do a small one tomorrow.

 

There's seriously too many games to follow!

 

Next international break I will do a summary of the season so far, looking back at preseason up until this point. I think this stat shows progress in the team, though TBH 2.36 seems pretty low for Liverpool!

 

 

well, they had three cleared off the line, but the second and third goals would have registered very low

[Bablemikey]

Why is Liverpools press so effective against us and why are our championship opponents seemingly unable to do it?

[WigstonWanderer]

Do we have to play Russian Roulette at the back quite so much, regardless of the opposition? I’m not sure if it was responsible for any of their goals, but we were getting caught out over and over again, and still persisted, often losing possession before making it to the halfway line.

[Dahnsouff]

Just now, WigstonWanderer said:

Do we have to play Russian Roulette at the back quite so much, regardless of the opposition? I’m not sure if it was responsible for any of their goals, but we were getting caught out over and over again, and still persisted, often losing possession before making it to the halfway line.

Whilst we embed the system I think yes we should, I understand it was terrifying at times, but we have to learn to play this system under varying degrees of pressure/opponent.

[Dahnsouff]

15 minutes ago, Bablemikey said:

Why is Liverpools press so effective against us and why are our championship opponents seemingly unable to do it?

Because they are PL quality with PL quality coaching I assume   

I noted yesterday that what I was listening to commented on hoe under appreciated the jump in fitness is once you to PL level, so maybe this to?

[Happy Fox]

54 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Because they are PL quality with PL quality coaching I assume   

I noted yesterday that what I was listening to commented on hoe under appreciated the jump in fitness is once you to PL level, so maybe this to?

Difference between Liverpool and the likes of Luton / Sheffield United, I would say our fitness is on par if not better than the majority of teams in the bottom half of the prem, we Aren’t going to be playing the likes of Liverpool , Manchester City every week when we get promoted.

Edited 28 September 2023 by Happy Fox

[coolhandfox]

1 hour ago, Bablemikey said:

Why is Liverpools press so effective against us and why are our championship opponents seemingly unable to do it?

Better players who are more technically aware, with a world-class coach.

 

 

[ParkerPen]

and dont forget Liverpool have been playing this way for a long time, we're on a steep learning curve at the moment (but you can see the progress we are making)

[filbertway]

If we played that same team in the Championship and the opposition backed themselves instead of sitting deep, they would likely be able to win the ball back just as often. The main difference would be that they wouldn't have the quality to consistently make use of winning it back so we would likely get the ball back.

 

Remember we let Coventry run through us for fun and were probably fortunate not to ship 4 or 5 that game.

[StriderHiryu]

1 hour ago, Bablemikey said:

Why is Liverpools press so effective against us and why are our championship opponents seemingly unable to do it?

Because that is Jurgen Klopp's speciality. Over the last 10 or so years, he has coached the best counter pressing teams in the world at both Dortmund and Liverpool. This season they finally refreshed their midfield too so have the legs again. If you look at the way they press, they are better than any other team, better than Man City even. They sign athletic players and "close the net" around players so quickly that the pressure is hard to keep up with.

 

1 hour ago, WigstonWanderer said:

Do we have to play Russian Roulette at the back quite so much, regardless of the opposition? I’m not sure if it was responsible for any of their goals, but we were getting caught out over and over again, and still persisted, often losing possession before making it to the halfway line.

We won't get better at it if we don't practice it. I fully understand the point you're making, and if I were the manager I might do something a bit different. But if Enzo has a long-term plan, then having the team play this way will give us long-term benefits. When he feels the team is ready to compete at the highest level, perhaps then we will mix our style and go longer when needed. A lot of our attacks were started by playing through the press and we even scored that way, so that's the reason for practicing it. It's a way to genuinely setup to challenge the very best teams in the world.

 

I also think it's worth noting that this was the first game of the season for Coady and Souttar, and Storlaczyk is not our usual number one. Although you could say that's exactly what we *shouldn't* have played this way!

 

4 minutes ago, filbertway said:

If we played that same team in the Championship and the opposition backed themselves instead of sitting deep, they would likely be able to win the ball back just as often. The main difference would be that they wouldn't have the quality to consistently make use of winning it back so we would likely get the ball back.

 

Remember we let Coventry run through us for fun and were probably fortunate not to ship 4 or 5 that game.

I disagree. Yes we were poor against Coventry, but that was our first league game of the season. In fact we flattered to deceive probably all the way through our first set of fixtures up to the international break. Since then we've clearly gone up a gear. Look at the xG and the xGA. We have the best defence in the league now and are consistently outperforming other league teams.