The Tactical Learning From Josep Guardiola:
Introduction
The Josep Guardiola’s Bayern are one of the epitome of modern football. In Bayern under Guardiola, you see the need of player versatility. Josep Guardiola needs and requires his players to be versatile enough to take part in his tactical idea.
Let’s see it one by one.
Pep will always play out of back and prioritizes his short-pass football. In such pass, the build-up is established gradually and more carefully that a direct one. In such play, there will be the time the opponents find a good timing in pressuring Bayern’s build-up. Which sometimes happens deep in Bayern’s area and Xabi Alonso is the one who constantly getting pressurised throughout the match. In some specific situation, when Xabi is heavily marked and pressed, either Mehdi Benatia or Jerome Boateng would have to come out to get closer to help Xabi loose the pressing intensity. Benatia or Boateng also have to have the right tactical understanding, of where they need to position themselves, receive the ball, so they are able direct the ball properly (as it’s needed to help the team to escape from the opponent pressure). They have to decide the right way of passing. Here we see the need of ball playing defender ability.
In another situation, when the Bayern front line is being pressed and seems to get no enough space to play, for example, Bayern players often pass the ball back to the back line and allow the defenders re-build the play. It could be a switching-play as they play the ball to another flank or driving the ball to the central midfield, where Xabi or Lahm are getting ready. Again, the need of good positioning, off the ball movement, anticipation, and quick decision are crucial.
You could also see the fluidity (a term used by Sport Interactive to interpret the flexibility and creative freedom), as the prime requirement of modern football. Bayern players have very good off and on possession ability, framed with good technical attributes. With such strength, they easily interchange and move “freely”, to create spaces and chances.
In this Bayern team, you also see that pressing is another crucial part of Guardiola tactical preferences which is well-presented by his players. A concept of how to control the space and reduces the opponent opportunity for passing, shooting, dribbling, and, of course, thinking.
By watching Guardiola’s Bayern play, you’ll find out that labeling to a role or formation is getting nowhere, as Guardiola’s Bayern are ultra-hybrid one and hard to be categorized.
The developer of Football Manager, Sport interactive, introduce us the Match Engine (ME) that is functioned to accommodate our idea of play, so everyone in the Football Manager community can apply their own idea of how football shall be played – bring their own football philosophy in either it’s re-creating a real life tactic or creating their own unique Football Manager 2015 tactic.
As what Guardiola has been teaching us so far about possession, about high defensive line, about space control, and about his idea of hybrid play, it would be amazing to successfully emulate all of it into our tactical stock. The question is, is it possible to fully emulate it into Football Manager 2015? Let’s see some of them.
The Pressing System
FC Bayern space control in the match against AS Roma. You can see the basic shape, one forward and four men behind him to form the high d-line pressing formation
Another FC Bayern 4-2-3-1 high-d line pressing formation
From the two images, we could see the two different pressing shapes. The two different shapes which is depending on how the opponent formation of play.
The Attacking Phase
Take notice on David Alaba, Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller. They are interchanging. As David Alaba roams further forward from the back line, Arjen Robben occupies the central position, and Thomas Muller sits wide. The formation has changed to a 2-4-4 shape.
The above image is taken from the match where Guardiola played with three men behind. But, the weirdness was, that was not entirely true. That was not entirely 3 men behind shape. How could it be? Not entirely?
From the past matches they had played before, Guardiola had shown his idea of three men behind. That was what we could figure out when watching Bayern play. In this match, if you analyze the heat map, especially the Alaba personal map, you would assume David Alaba played as one of the three center backs. In fact, Alaba had been on the more advanced midfielder position for about 25 minutes of play (early of the match). Alaba just started playing as one of the center back (left center side) in the last 65 minutes. Yes, Bayern played with 3 men behind, but for the first 25 minutes Bayern played with 2 (ball playing) central defenders.
The Guardiola’s Bayern has been playing with several different basic shapes. 3-4-3 and 3-3-3-1 hybrid system are the basic shapes which oftenly used.
In attacking phase, Bayern play with couple different shapes. In the match against AS Roma, Bayern attacked with several different shapes. One of them was with 3 men in the central area, mainly occupied by Gotze, Muller, and Lewy. They attacedk right to AS Roma central defense. Two players getting ready on the wide area, which were Robben and Bernat. With Robben oftenly attacked the half space to find the comfortable space for his left footed shot, Bernat played with different style, as he attacked through the AS Roma right wide.
Another Bayern attcking phase system. The front line trio was supported by two wide men. Xabi and Lahm patrolled and supervised from the deeper area
The Defensive-Pressing and Attacking Transition
Bayern build up play: Mario Gotze dropped deep to help building up play. Xabi Alonso held the ball. As Alaba positioned himself on the advance area, Juan Bernat and Philip Lahm occupied the two wide defensive areas and established a 4-3-3 basic shape.
The above image once again shows us how Guardiola instructs his advanced midfielder (Gotze or Muller) to drop deep, especially, when Bayern need a compact defensive-pressing shape. In one occasion, Gotze dropped deep to form the pressing shape along with either Lahm, Xabi, or David Alaba. By asking the advance player to form a defensive-pressing shape along with the midfielders (instead of the defenders), Bayern can avoid their back line from direct clash with the opponent. This would be assuring the safety comes first for the back line and the goaile.
That’s the very basic read of how Bayern implement their ultra-hybrid idea of shape. They play it very very well with amazing flexibility, tactical understanding, and teamwork. But if you think that’s all what Bayern got, I suggest you to see this – the 6th goal of Bayern in the match against AS Roma. A very fast attacking transition lead to the fast counter attack and earned Bayern their 6th goal.
Gotze the false nine, dropped deep and swapped with Ribery the left attacking midfielder. Arjen Robben, the right side midfielder occupied the central midfielder. His respective position, on the right side, was occupied by Philip Lahm. And you see the more advanced player on the upper right side? That’s David Alaba, dear!! The Guardiola’s left central defender.
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. A flexible shape and positioning. A very good understanding and teamwork. Simply world class. That’s why I said, FC Bayern have been one of the epitome of modern football. They show us everything of what modern football is all about. Pep Guardiola shows the world of how he adjusts the old idea with modern tweak to get the right set-up which enables him to accommodate the idea of play he wants.
The Big Picture
How Guardiola instructs his boys to take part in his tactical idea.
The hybrid concept of role and formation, the fluidity, and the asymmetric shape, between the right and left side of the formation, are just too attracting to be emulated into Football Manager. I won’t tell you how to set the Team Instruction or how to adjust the Player Instruction. That’s not what I’m telling you, guys. I’m pretty sure that all of you have what it needs to emulate the real life thing into FM.
This is a simple article of Bayern under Guardiola interpretation. You might set the appropriate roles, you might set your own instructions, and you might set your own opposition instruction. That’s solely up to you. But with our article about Pep Guardiola’s tactical preferences we hope you will get one step closer.
The Conclusion
With the current ME, i don’t think any FM users could fully emulate the Bayern play into FM. It’s just too difficult. No, it’s just impossible! Unfortunately!
We could never fully control the space and say that’s how “I successfully emulate the right pressing scheme into Football Manager”. We could just instruct our players to charge at the ball and force the opponent to make mistakes. Ironically, as what Jurgen Klopp (one of the father of modern pressing play) said, pressing is not just about run and after the ball, but it is more about the space control so we reduce the space for the opponent and force them making mistake, at once.
We could never fully implement the ultra-hybrid system of Guardiola’s Bayern into FM. The current ME could only accommodate the basic shape you choose from the drop down menu. It’s impossible to play, in one match, with so much shapes as what Bayern do, without you switch the formation manually 😦
Some of the roles are also reducing our chance of emulating. As you all know, raumdeuter is a role which does not track back. It seems to be more interested to stay up and wait for the attack comes up. The lazy cunt (as what Guido Merry told us). An unrealistic fact which we oftenly see how good and highly workrate is Thomas Muller (the raumdeuter who is believed to be the one that influences Sport Interactive to create raumdeuter into Football Manager 2015) when he takes part in Bayern’s Pep pressing system. On the other side, the current ME doesn’t recognize the new hybrid role of central defender and box to box role, which breeds the box to box central defender. The role that played by David Alaba. A role of which we see a modern central defender, a roaming central defender that acts like a box to box midfielder, as he gets further forward and being one of the front line player. We need a role with special individual Mentality and Run From Deep, I’m sure.
Ok. Enough with the moaning. Sorry if it ruins this essence of the article, but hopefully there will be some overhaul ME which help you, me, and us to come close to replicate the idea of Pep Guardiola into FM.
That’s all I can share with you. If you find it useful, then it’s good. If you guys find much more/different/polar side things then what I have shared, feel free to share it to me, feel free to share it to the community. Cheers.
My gratitude for liking, sharing, and retweeting this article
ryantang_ 