HOW BIELSA CAN EXPLOIT PEP’S FLYING FULL BACKS
MARCELO Bielsa versus Pep Guardiola is the Grandmaster versus the Professor. These are two of the game’s top tacticians and today will be a fascinating battle.
When trying to figure out their game plans, you have to look beyond the book’s front cover. They have pages of tactical nuances, such as Guardiola’s use of Fernandinho against Leicester, which was missed by most people last weekend.
When Manchester City were in possession, Fernandinho would drop to form a back three with Eric Garcia and Nathan Ake. It left Rodri as the sole shield in front of the defence, while full backs Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy were flying down the flanks.
When City were out of possession, Fernandinho was expected to return alongside Rodri to form a midfield two. Guardiola’s former assistant Mikel Arteta has tried this, too, with Granit Xhaka dropping into defence as cover for Arsenal’s attacking full backs. I rarely criticise Guardiola but this idea, while great in theory, didn’t work in practice against Leicester. In the time it took Fernandinho to switch from one formation to the other, he was too far away to press the ball. Leicester took advantage of that. The visitors’ first goal, for example, involved Fernandinho attempting to press from deep. He was easily beaten by Nampalys Mendy and it left City’s back line exposed. Leicester also knew to aim for the wings, with Guardiola allowing his full backs to abandon defensive duties in favour of all-out attack. Leicester were launching early balls into the channels for Jamie Vardy and Harvey Barnes to chase, resulting in 21 per cent of the visitors’ passes being long. There was even one moment when a long kick by Kasper Schmeichel almost got Vardy through. Olympic sprinters would have struggled to make the recovery runs needed of Walker and Mendy, while there was too much area for Fernandinho to cover. It was a high-risk philosophy which cost City the game and one which Leeds could exploit if they play the same way today.
When watching this game back, as I did this week, Bielsa (below) will have noticed these weaknesses.
Guardiola has to get the balance back. When one of his full backs flies forward, the other should be sitting to avoid them being so vulnerable to that long ball. In attack, they have to get players in the pockets and create triangles because that wasn’t happening against Leicester.
In the absence of Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling was central and Kevin De Bruyne was positioning himself too high up the pitch. De Bruyne is at his best when on the right of a midfield three and City missed his creativity last weekend.
Maybe Guardiola feels he has to use Sterling up top — and he did score twice in the Carabao Cup against Burnley on Wednesday. But City’s boss may want to revert to their familiar winning blueprint against Leeds today.
Start Sterling on the left, Riyad Mahrez on the right, young Liam Delap central and let De Bruyne go back to being the artist in midfield.
I WAS privy to a Guardiola training session prior to Barcelona facing Manchester United in the 2011 Champions League final at Wembley Stadium. Barca were training at Arsenal’s London Colney base and Guardiola had his pick of the pitches. He chose the smallest one, which was overlooked by the training ground’s building. He wanted to create a feeling of being in an enclosed space so that Wembley would seem enormous to his players by comparison. Days later, they were crowned champions of Europe. Guardiola’s trophy haul is superior to Bielsa’s, but the Leeds boss is a masterful trainer, too. He has a drill called ‘Murderball’ — an 11 v 11 game without any stops. If the ball goes out of play, another is immediately thrown on to the pitch. It’s demanding — hence the name — but it is important. Bielsa wants his players’ movements to become second nature to them and you can see every Leeds man knows what is expected of him. There is real quality in this group, from 20-year-old goalkeeper Illan Meslier to striker Patrick Bamford. Mateusz Klich is an incredibly important team player in midfield. He divides his time between both flanks, creating overloads and panicking the opposition. Leeds started the season using 4-1-4-1 but picked up their first clean sheet using a back three at Sheffield United last weekend. It involved right-sided centre back Luke Ayling getting down the wing and Kalvin Phillips building attacks from deep by always making himself available. Bielsa might stand by that system today and Phillips’ long balls into the channels for Leeds’ lively wingers could pose City problems. At the start of the season, Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson started pressing Phillips to stop that. But opponents cannot obsess over him because Stuart Dallas will play just in front and offer himself as another out-ball. Then there’s Bamford, who is proving his Premier League doubters wrong. He told Jack Harrison — the onloan winger who cannot face his parent club today — whenever he got the ball at Bramall Lane, he would peel behind the middle centre back. That ended up being how Leeds won. Bielsa and Guardiola are experts at educating their players tactically but they also create a winning atmosphere in their camps. They crave success. May the better man and his team win.