The Art of Possession : Various Movements to progress the ball under Pep Guardiola.
There is no doubt that Pep Guardiola is one of the best coaches in possession, if not the best, The process of possession, advancing the ball and penetrating the opponent’s defence is not as easy as some people think, but it’s demanding a lot of coaching, getting the best approach which providing free players in the right space at the suitable time.
In this article, I will discuss Manchester City variations in possession in this season against the different defensive schemes and the changes made by Pep Guardiola according to the opponent’s system.
So let’s dive deeper in Pep ideas.
Vs 4–4–2 Mid-Block.
-Deeper FB & Dropping Winger.
Leicester’s players defensive roles :
-2 STs — one striker pressing and the other covering the defensive midfielder (Rodri).
-The wingers block the passing option on the midfielder to prevent the passing in depth, and when the full-back receives the ball, he is ready to press him.
- Pep reacts to this by moving the FB more deeply, to move the Leicester’s winger (#11) from his position & Grealish drops to receive the ball to get some time on the ball and force the full-back to leave a large space behind him & When (#27) decided to step out from his position Bernardo will run behind him.
- Here Leicester’s FB(#27) decided to step out and run all this distance and leave Bernardo to the CB (#4) & the RCM (#8) to cover Bernardo’s run and the space.
- Cancelo will pass the ball to Grealish who will back it to Cancelo to switch the play to the other side to Jesus, at the moment Cancelo decided to switch the play, Gundogan moves diagonally to take the Leicester FB#5, giving Jesus some time and space to receive the ball.
- Another Variation is if Leicester’s FB (#27) step out of his position to cut the passing option to Grealish, Cancelo can play long ball behind him to Bernardo who already made a run behind #27.
- And if Leicester’s FB delays himself until CB take Bernardo, Grealish will receive the ball easily, and He has two options, playing the ball behind #27 to Bernardo or to dribble and switch the play to Jesus.
Central Midfielder drifts wide & FB deeper.
Interesting variation : Gundogan drifts wide to receive the ball, Leicester’s Winger (#7) is responsible to jump on Walker & Ndidi can’t move out of his position before receiving the ball to not leave the depth.
And Gundogan here has enough time and space to play direct pass behind Leicester’s defensive line to exploit Torres’ pacey runs behind Vestergaard & Söyüncü.
And Vs Leipzig, Bernardo drifts wide and at the same time Zinchenko moves deeper, So Leipzig (#18) is in dilemma, Should he follow Zinchencko or to cut passing lane to Bernardo.
Zinchenko received the ball easily, passing it to Rodri who switched the play to Mahrez, putting him in [1v1] situation, De Bruyne made a run in half-space when Mahrez received the ball to confuse Leipzig FB (#3).
Central Midfield dropping deeper & FB wider.
Another Variation is to make the FB wider, giving him more time on the ball due to more distance for the winger to run.
- Against Leipzig, Zinchenko wider here, Leipzig’s Winger (#18) jump to press him, Bernardo drops to make himself available to be passing option,
-Leipzig’s Midfielder (#14) tracked Bernardo’s run to mark him, and he left his space.
-Grealish at this moment dropped to receive the ball from Zinchenko and can easily to play a direct pass to Torres behind Leipzig’s defensive line.
Vs 4–3–3 Mid-Block.
Initially, Liverpool setup is more compact to close down any passing option behind their midfield line.
Players’ defensive responsabilities:
-Jota is putting Rodri in his shadowing.
-Salah & Mane are responsible for FBs
-Henderson & Jones — -> Bernardo & De Bruyne.
-Fabinho covers the depth and tracks Grealish when he drops to receive the ball.
Wider LB & Dropping CM & Dropping ST behind opponent’s midfield line.
In this situation.
-Bernardo dropped as the 3rd CB ,allowing Cancelo to position himself atthe sideline.
-Due to Bernardo’s movement, Henderson has taken some steps as a possible action if the ball is passed to Bernardo.
- Here, Dias decided to pass the ball to Walker, who passed it from a touch to Rodri.
-Henderson slightly far (because of his steps towards Bernardo) from Rodri to try to make a tackle.
Salah jumped on Rodri trying to fit the situation ,which made Cancelo on the side totally free.
- So, Rodri decided to play ball for Cancelo.
Cancelo had enough time and space to play a direct pass to Foden who ran behind Milner.
Again, Here De Bruyne dropped as a 3rd CB.
- Henderson & Salah moved to press De Bruyne if Laporte pass the ball to him.
- Again, Cancelo is totally free.
- Milner ran aggressively towards Cancelo trying to fix the situation but Grealish dropped to make [2v1] situation.
- Matip with Foden here, so he can’t leave him to press Grealish.
and Again, City could easily bypass Liverpool’s mid-block.
Wider LB & CM and ST are behind opponent’s midfield line (Moving from covershadowing).
Another Variation.
- Salah is disguised by Laporte’s body shape, Cancelo at the sideline.
- Salah moved wider to be able to track Cancelo if Laporte pass the ball to him.
- Bernardo moved from Henderson shadowing.
- Grealish dropped in Half-space, he can easily receive the ball.
- Milner can’t track Grealish because of Foden positioning.
- Again, Due to Cancelo positioning, Salah is disguised by Laporte’s body shape.
-Henderson moved to be able to put Bernardo in his shadowing.
- Bernardo anticipated the situation and moved from Henderson’s shadowing.
- Bernardo pass the ball back to Rodri who switched the play to Jesus.
Vs Back 5 systems.
- Vs 5–4–1 Mid-Block
against Arsenal
Player’s defensive responsabilities
- Auba (#14) positioned at the other side of the ball between CB & FB to prevent switching the play, also to make it easier for the players to press in one side.
-(#10 & #7) are responsible for FBs.
-(#34 & #8) one is responsible for Rodri when he is in his space and the another is covering the depth.
CM drifts wide & 2 deeper FBs.
Here Rodri receives the ball easily without any pressure.
- #8 is stepping out from his position to press him and #34 puts Gundogan in his shadowing.
- Gundogan moves slightly from Xhaka’s shadowing.
- #31 can’t mark him because of Bernardo positioning, so he took few steps to jump on him if the ball went to him.
FB as 3rd CB & 2 CMs drift wide.
In this case
-Cancelo positioned himself as a 3rd CB, Gundogan & Bernardo drift wide to provide themselves as passing options.
-Cancelo passes the ball to Laporte and then moved deeper
-Xhaka pressed Laporte and cutting off the passing lane on Rodri.
-But Laporte passes the ball to Walker, who played it with one touch to Rodri
-Odegaard did not cover the depth, which allowed Rodri to run with the ball and pass the ball to Bernardo, who drifts wide initially.
Wider FB & CM moving from Covershadowing.
Here Cancelo is positioned wider.
- Winger(#7) jumped on Laporte and cutting passing lane on Cancelo.
-Laporte passes the ball to Rodri who easily with one touch pass the ball to Cancelo.
- #34 who is shadowing Gundogan, run towards Cancelo.
- But Gundogan understands the situation and moved behind Xhaka’s shadowing and could easily receive the ball.
Vs 5–3–2 Mid-Block.
The difference is having an extra player in the midfield.
CM & ST drift wide & FB as 3rd CB & Dropping CM
#9 is cutting passing lane on Laporte, Forcing Dias to pass the ball to the right side.
-Gundogan drops providing himself as a passing option.
- #14 with Rodri and #13 with Gundogan and #15 who is responsible for Bernardo.
-Bernardo drifts wide, and also Foden.
- #15 tracked Foden.
- Now Bernardo is totally free to receive the ball.
Brighton’s Wingback can’t step out from his position because of Jesus’ positioning.
And As usual, Man city could bypass his opponent’s defensive structure.
In every match you see Manchester City match, you admire this team and learn more from The master of possession Pep Guardiola, Also Now , you know why is Guardiola said that “He is the best” and his astonishing value in the pitch.
“The objective is to move the opponent, not the ball.”
— PEP GUARDIOLA
