Dropping the first three points in PL title race.
Pep lost the first three points in PL title race, so what are the tactics that Nuno Santo applied in defending phase ?
He didn’t press on CB, but Spurs always defending as a mid-block with 4–3–3, with very compact first line. ( PPDA = 17.29 )
Players roles in defending phase are:
- Son covershadow Fernandinho.
-Bergiwjin & Moura are very close to Son to block any central passing lane.
- 2 CM ( Alli & Hojberg) press on FB when the ball went to them and covershadow ( Gundogan & Grealish ).
- Oliver Skipp is a free man to pick any dropping movement from Torres, pick any movement from Grealish & Gundogan while Spurs’ CM press on FB and dropping between CBs to cover the space when one of them is out of position.
So they always force City’s CBs to pass the ball to wide areas, and this is what the Portuguese coach needs.
But this is not the problem for Man City to create more chances relative to their Ball possession, and with the following examples, City players could progress the ball easily, but they could not create chances.
The ball with Cancelo, Gundogan dropped and Dele Alli stepped to press him
Cancelo played a long diagonal ball to Sterling, putting him in [1v1] situation.
But Tanganga played a very good match regarding duels.
Tanganga made a tackle and City lost the ball.
The ball with Dias, Spurs defending roles as I mentioned above.
-Passing the ball to Mendy who passed the ball to Torres behind Spurs midfield line.
But Torres could not to retain the ball under pressure, and Again City lost the ball.
Grealish dropped as a FB to be free to receive the ball,while Mendy moved to a higher position.
After passes, Mendy received the ball, Sterling run in Half-space and they could progress the ball.
But Sterling cannot dribble and Sanchez made a tackle and Again City lost the ball.
In another example, Cancelo received the ball.
Dele Alli didn’t press aggerssively as he covershadow Gundogan at the same time.
- Gundogan dropped and Dier tracked him.
-Torres run behind Dier.
But Sanchez forced him to go wider and Now Spurs has an overload on the flanks which forced Mahrez to make a back pass.
And From the passmap, There is a lack of central passes and penetration from City, as Torres rarely received the ball.
Sterling who received the most progressive passes is not his day as he succeeded only to dribble twice from 6 dribbles attempted.
And the crosses not an effective way to create a big chance for City as from 30 crosses City attempted, only 4 are accurate crosses.
And when we see the timing chart, we can notice that the three big chances that City created are not from breaking Spurs defence. ( Mahrez from transition, Fernandinho & Torres from Set-pieces).
The match is very close to be a draw or a win for City, But City wasted their chances and Spurs has a very clinical finisher who scored a goal from 0.03 Xg.
