Arsène Wenger elected to play a 4-3-3 but Antonio Conte’s side essentially attack with five players and this was underlined by the Premier League leaders’ first goalArsenal’s 3-1 defeat by Chelsea felt somewhat familiar; it was their seventh loss from their past eight visits to Stamford Bridge. However, whereas Arsène Wenger has frequently been accused of tactical naivety after these defeats and ridiculed for failing to adapt his tactics, on this occasion Arsenal’s manager had attempted to surprise Chelsea with his lineup. Related: Arsenal’s Arsène Wenger fumes at first goal after defeat by Chelsea Related: Eden Hazard mesmerises Arsenal to tighten Chelsea’s Premier League grip Continue reading...
Liverpool played with renewed intensity at Anfield but their visitors unveiled a more vigilant blueprint that could prove crucial in holding off their title rivalsLiverpool and Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at Anfield on Tuesday promised to be a fascinating tactical battle between two well organised sides, but ultimately was largely about energy and intensity rather than master strategy. Chelsea’s manager, Antonio Conte, will be delighted with the result, as it harms Liverpool’s chances of overhauling his side – and we may see this cagier, more defensive approach again against Arsenal on Saturday.Liverpool, after three extremely sluggish performances and three damaging defeats, delivered the type of energetic display we became accustomed to in the first half of the campaign. With Daniel Sturridge...
In a game between two sides using high defensive lines, runs in behind the opposition were always likely to be crucial … and controversialThere are many similarities between the footballing philosophies of Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino, and for the second time this season, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur contested a fast-paced, exciting game based around pressing and high defensive lines. Whereas Tottenham ran out 2-0 winners in October, however, City failed to translate their superiority here into three points.Guardiola has often played a 4-2-3-1 in recent weeks but on Saturday used a 4-3-3 – and an extremely attack-minded 4-3-3 at that. Leroy Sané, Sergio Agüero and Raheem Sterling played high up the pitch, pressing Tottenham’s centre-backs, while David Silva...
José Mourinho probably cannot repeat the Manchester United tactics from October’s 0-0 draw at Liverpool, in the latest clash with a manager who bested him in a pivotal 2013 gameFootball changed in April 2013. Jürgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund beat José Mourinho’s Real Madrid and Jupp Heynckes’s Bayern Munich beat Tito Vilanova’s Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League and the hegemony of a Spanish model of football, based on possession or its opposite, was shattered by a series of rampaging German counterattacks.The lessons of that fortnight remain highly relevant to Sunday’s meeting at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Liverpool, Mourinho and Klopp. Or at least that is the convenient theory. Nothing is ever as neat and simple as...
Tottenham’s coach has made his reputation as a master tactician and he showed why when his side stalled the Chelsea juggernaut with a 2-0 home winMauricio Pochettino has earned a reputation as a fine tactician, and this was a very impressive strategic performance by the Tottenham Hotspur coach against Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3 system – the first time anyone has truly outwitted Chelsea in that shape.Since Conte switched to 3-4-3 after a 3-0 defeat against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in September, Chelsea had won all 13 league matches, and had been so utterly dominant that opposition managers have found themselves terrified of playing their regular system for fear of being torn apart. The problem, though, is that no one had actually...