"To read exactly what is happening, to see not only what is happening with my body but to read in every moment exactly what is going on, those are the really intelligent players. And there are players who are intelligent to read what is happening. There are players who are intelligent when the ball is at their feet and who can make incredible decisions. There are players with incredible skills to do something. "It all depends on the intelligence of the players," Guardiola explains.Īnd there are different types of intelligence too. For example, whether Bernardo or Lewis, they must anticipate the turnovers in possession and when to form a four-man defence. Having players who can adapt to situations is critical and the role of full-back turned midfielder is more complicated than most. Image: Rico Lewis was tasked with moving between left-back and midfield at Tottenham Adapting to that is one of the keys to understanding how we need to play." For example, Arsenal make it man-to-man so the way you attack and defend is completely different than against a team that defends their 18-yard box with 11 players. "Every team plays in a different way," says Guardiola. At half-time in that game at Stamford Bridge, Guardiola introduced Lewis and tasked him with taking on this role from right-back instead. The problem is that a gap in the middle of the defence can be even riskier than one out wide. Rodri started there alongside John Stones at Chelsea last month. Often, teams look to do this with a centre-back. Instead it made more sense for a defender to step in. Adding a second body in there could open up the game.īut Guardiola was reluctant to lose a player further forwards. Because the opponents caused us problems and you have to find the solutions." Teams began to recognise that the holding midfielder in Guardiola's team needed to receive close attention. It took time for Guardiola to arrive at his answer. Though Guardiola points to the quality of the players being a key element in persuading him to attempt this tactical ploy, it seems reasonable to assume that Dani Alves would have been capable at Barcelona. The technically sound full-back moved inside to build the play for his team. Lewis has been dubbed 'the Lancashire Lahm' because it was the Bayern captain Philipp Lahm who was asked to play this way by Guardiola almost a decade ago now. But do not expect the coach to stop believing that this is a young player with all the traits - mental, physical, tactical and technical - to perform the role. On that occasion, in a vitally important game in the Premier League title race, events did not play out that way. Guardiola's assessment was that his simple passing would bring control with the ball and his recovery pace would maintain that control without it. At Spurs, it was Lewis who moved inside, that so-called inverted full-back in their 3-2-5 formation when in possession.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |