How Poch Could Learn a Lot from Ancelotti & Postecoglou
People often forget that football is entertainment. And in a cornier fashion, it’s an art. Tactics, systems, & positions have always been integral to the sport, but the players that transcended those, are slowly fading out.
In the middle of all of that, are managers that are tactically proficient, but above all, they put their players in positions best suited to their skillset, rather than wedging them into a certain role or formation.
Carlo Ancelotti embodies this and now Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham Hotspur. Don’t get me wrong, both Carlo and Ange are brilliant tacticians but it’s a breath of fresh air when managers simply put their best players in their best roles. That alone, can elevate a side and in the case of Spurs, seemingly change the trajectory of a club overnight despite the club recently losing their best player.
As a Chelsea fan, It would be nice to see manager, Mauricio Pochettino, practice more of this. While it’s only two matches into the season, it seems like there have been some opportunities missed.
Don Carlo - The Perfect Man for Madrid
Carlo Ancelotti celebrates Champions League success with Real Madrid
Ancelotti at Real Madrid has adapted well to the club losing star forward, Karim Benzema and winger Marcos Asensio. The club didn’t move to adequately replace either player but over the past year or so, the club has rebuilt its midfield adding young, promising talent in Aurélien Tchouaméni, Eduardo Camavinga, and Jude Bellingham while incorporating Federico Valverde from the academy. With players like Toni Kroos & Luka Modric at the tail ends of their career and Casemiro now at Manchester United, Madrid have responded beautifully in regards to building the next generation of their midfield.
To cope with the loss of Benzema and Asensio, Ancelotti has leaned on the strength of his midfield deploying a diamond with Tchouaméni at the base, and using Kroos, Modric, Valverde, and Camavinga on either side of the diamond and Bellingham in the #10 role with Vini and Rodrygo as join strikers up top.
Madrid has been delt some massive blows just two matches into the season as the club:
Lost Asensio
Lost Benzema
Lost Thibaut Courtois for the year to an ACL injury
Lost Éder Militão for the year to an ACL injury
But with Ancelotti, all is not lost as he once again leans on his ability to get the best of his players. Utilizing, Tchouaméni’s ability to seemingly slot into the #6 role, pushing Bellingham up the pitch to take advantage of his goal-scoring prowess while simultaneously turning Vini & Rodrygo into a striker partnership.
Despite the setbacks, I have no doubt that Madrid will see success this season whether that’s domestically or in the Champions League (or both). With the Brazilian contingent running riot up top and world-class ballers in every position of the diamond midfield, the sky is the limit for Madrid. Thanks to Ancelotti.
Ange is Moving Me, and the Football World
Ange Postecoglou celebrating the win against Manchester United
Spurs seem to be free of expired football ideology. Goodbye to wing-backs and hello to inverted fullbacks. But above all, hello to some forgotten-about ballers. As managers like Jose Mourinho & Antonio Conte attempted to leave their mark on Spurs by rolling out their own unique systems, Ange has come in and transformed Spurs overnight.
While over the course of the clubs’ first two matches, Ange has changed the approach at Spurs with it being abundantly clear that one of his priorities is putting his players in their best positions.
Despite losing Harry Kane, Ange has hit the ground running after drawing a tough Brentford side then beating the breaks off Manchester United for Spurs’ home opener.
Credit where credit is due as well as Dan Levy and Spurs have made excellent signings all over the pitch and above all, the club got €100 million for Kane with one year left on his deal and he didn’t join a league rival.
Adding an excellent ball-playing center-back in Micky van de Ven, a solid keeper in Guglielmo Vicario, a creator in James Maddison, and depth at winger in Manor Solomon.
Practically all of these signings have hit the ground running, especially Maddison who already has notched two assists and was excellent across both fixtures.
When analyzing how Ange has helped improve Spurs, like Ancelotti, it’s down to him putting players in positions where they can succeed.
Embracing young talent, and putting them in their best positions, rolling out a back-four, applying defensive cover in front of that, deploying creativity behind the striker in James Maddison, and above all handing the keys to players previously shunned by previous managers for whatever reason.
Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma ran the show against United as they played in a double pivot in the midfield. Sarr scored the match winner and he was equally as impressive defensively. Sarr, like Bissouma, was on the fringes last season, but now, he has announced himself at just 20 years old. On the other hand, Bissouma ran the show, evading the press, thwarting United when they surged forward, and progressing the ball. He looked like a completely different player than the one I saw under Conte. Rejuvenated and lively, he was most definitely enjoying his football. A solid defensive pairing in the midfield pivot, allowed Maddison to occupy the space behind the center-forward, Richarlison, and create chances while also dropping into the midfield to aid in build-up. By deploying Sarr & Bissouma in their natural positions, by default it allowed for Maddison to be deployed in his, AND, it allowed Heung-min Son & Dejan Kulusevski to stay higher up the pitch and placed less defensive responsibility on their shoulders.
One of my two favorite things to see is when managers trust in young players, and when managers seemingly resurrect players that have struggled under previous managers. Systems aren’t what make football fun to watch, it’s the players on the pitch and when that comes first, there is bound to be some entertaining football that follows.
Poch, Take Notes (Please)
First thing first, Mauricio Pochettino is no stranger to uplifting young talent and getting the best out of his players. That being said, there have been a handful of decisions from Poch that have left me a little confused.
Why has Mykhaylo Mudryk not gotten more minutes? Why have Andrey Santos and Lesley Ugochukwu, two defensive midfielders, barely featured given the club has nobody to fill that role in the first two matches?
Teenage phenom Lesley Ugochukwu in action for Rennes before joining Chelsea
After watching Spurs on Saturday, it left me wondering what could have been. Throughout pre-season and in the two first Premier League fixtures, Conor Gallagher featured in a defensive midfield role which is not his ideal position as he’s primarily a second striker/attacking midfielder. Gallagher excels in and around the box as he’s great at getting into good scoring positions and is an excellent finisher.
In buildup, especially in a deep midfield role, he struggles to move the ball quickly, often holding onto it for too long allowing the opposition to rush back and settle into their defensive shape. When Caicedo came on, he immediately was moving the ball faster as the position was more native to him.
It would’ve been interesting to see either Santos or Ugochukwu feature at defensive midfield in both the Liverpool or West Ham fixtures given they’re natural DMs. I know that they’re both only 19 but Sarr had his best performance in a Spurs shirt on Saturday despite being just 20. Plus, this would’ve let Gallagher play higher up the pitch in his natural position as a #10.
Poch vying for a more experienced player who was out of position also extended to Chelsea’s left flank as Ben Chilwell, primarily a left-back, was playing on the wing.
As Raheem Sterling dropped his two best performances in a Chelsea shirt on the right flank to start the season, Chelsea’s left flank was quiet. The ball would often find its way to Chilwell from beautiful switches of play from Enzo only for possession to be recycled. I couldn’t help but think what could have been if the ball found its way to Mudryk in all that space. The Ukranian speedster could then surge forward, taking on the opposition as he vied to get into good scoring positions and/or cross the ball.
Will Mudryk find his form this season?
I feel like there’s a LOT of critiquing of managers and players on Twitter these days after a poor result and the loudest accounts will claim to know better than world-class managers and I want it to be known that is not the way I intend to come across. All I intend to do is raise questions such as “Would Chelsea have been more threatening down their left flank?” “Would Santos or Ugochukwu announce themselves to the Premier League similar to Sarr for Spurs?” “Would Poch build his formation and set-up around the players at his disposal similar to Ancelotti?”
All of these hypotheticals have been nagging me given the end result of Chelsea’s first two fixtures. Also, as I previously mentioned, Chelsea has been held hostage in the past by managers who refused to tweak their systems to accommodate their personnel which resulted in a large number of players playing out of position and their inevitable demise at Chelsea.
Now, the club will have both Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia at defensive midfield, so the question as to whether Santos or Ugochukwu would feature at DM will most likely remain unanswered but perhaps Poch will give Mudryk a start at left-wing against Luton and that could help spark his confidence.
In a day and age where managers like Pep Guardiola, Robert De Zerbi, & Mikel Arteta steal headlines with their constant tactical innovations, managers who adapt to their personnel while simultaneously bringing the best out of them, even if they’re a teenager, remain inspiring.
Carlo Ancelotti continues to impress me and Ange Postecoglou has moved me and I’m grateful to have both managers at the highest level of football. Now, it’s time to see if Poch can make his mark on the footballing world once again and I don’t think it would hurt to look for inspiration from both Carlo & Ange. Until Friday. Onto Luton.
