18 Years old, Intern at Salford City in Tactical Analysis, Wycombe Wanderers analysis, @dzi_analysis, Writer for @TheQuartermen, Email: [email protected]
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That’s probably the playoffs gone but there have been many positives which we can take into next season. We’ve see numerous positive tactical displays from Duff, aggressive pressing, nice build up patters and significantly improved attacking dynamics compared to the start of the season.
There will be a lot of reactionary and emotional opinions from us fans now but it’s important to look at the wider picture. Duff’s taken us the relegation zone to being involved in the playoff chase.
The actual quality of our squad depth isn’t great and Duff tried to touch on that in January but that is a very difficult transfer window to navigate in comparison to the summer window and clubs are a lot harder to negotiate with in January than in the summer.
It’s important to recognise our current injury situation too. Without naming names as a lot of our players are on here but some of the players which have come in for the injured lot are not up to standard and it’s significantly affected our season.
- Junior 🏥
- Fred 🏥
- Casey 🏥
- Hagelskjær 🏥
- Huggins 🏥
- Boyd Munce 🏥
All of the above are injured and apart from Fred they’re all most likely to be out for the rest of the season, those aren’t reserve players or players who come on for the last 5 minutes. They’re all very important players and vital to Duff’s system.
Under Duff we’ve seen heavy improvements in and out of possession, for the former we’re more fluid, the rotations are better, the 4-3-3 is dynamic, the 8’s drop from high to low to either receive and bounce to the spare man or drop to drag their marker out leaving 1v1 situations on the opposition backline for us to play over too, triangles on both sides when attacking in wide areas (one deep, one inside and one wide), having the wingers be the widest man instead of the FB’s (better 1v1 threat)….
Out of possession we’re more aggressive off the ball, from opposition goal kicks pressing man to man from or pressing to give us a +1 on the defensive line, 4-4-2 mid block giving us good coverage of all areas of the pitch, the 4-4-2 can transition easily to a man to man press when the opposition play backwards in their own half. In our low block we drop a winger into the backline to stop the opposition overloading us. Our CB’s (Anders as Casey is the sweeper) has license to be aggressive with his positioning and follow players dropping between the lines.
Now yes there have been a lot of mental crumbles this season such as Bolton away, Plymouth away and Exeter away and I do agree that is on the culture and mentality which comes from the manager, but believe me there have been far more positives than negatives since Duff’s arrival, hopefully this summer Duff can make sure that mentality and culture is top heading into next season.
I’ll back him until/if he ever gives me reasons not too from both a tactical and a mentality point of view, and for me he hasn’t given me reasons to turn. He’s a top manager and if he can improve the quality of squad depth in the summer window, make sure the mentality is up to scratch and remain tactically great like what we’ve seen in numerous games this season…then we’re in for a very exciting 26/27 season.
I’m already looking forward to what next season has to bring 💙🦢
The Diamond Press:
PRO’S:
- +1 on defensive or midfield line whilst still maintaining pressure high on the ball
- The opposition’s spare man is often nearly inaccessible once the far side winger inverts onto the far side opposition DM
- Great against teams with a target man as you have that 2v1 advantage at the back to deal with the opposition going long
- Can easily transition into a man to man press if needed
CONS:
- Agility and pressing intelligence needed from the man split between the opposition 6’s
- If not eventually transitioned into a man to man press you can get pinned back and forced into a block (Slot at Liverpool)
- High levels of technicality and fluidity could find the spare man (rare occasion)
Overall we’re seeing more and more teams press like this, we saw Duff go for this for a few games with often Leahy split between the the two opposition 6’s/4’s. Luton away one game I remember but we didn’t have the pressing intelligence to do it effectively so we kept getting played through centrally far too easily, this is why I think the gaffer eventually went back to going man to man from restarts was a lot better in the short term and for me the correct decision again from the gaffer.
(2nd attached pic from APFA, an example of how Iraola wanted his team to press at Bournemouth)
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De Zerbi principles vs Chelsea:
- Pass and RUN
- Manipulation of Chelsea's press through Palhinha Gallagher and Bentancur taking turns to drop into the backline in build up
- Inverted FB's into the half spaces when in settled possession
- Out of possession structure could be exploited in future by teams with elite technicality in the first phase
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Bottom paragraph.
Game ended exactly how I predicted it would, Hackey on gave Boro energy leading to a few half chances being created (Still couldn’t efficiently break down Hull’s mid and low block), as the Hackney substitute effect wore off Hull created one chance getting Hirakawa 1v1, gets the cross in and Mcburnie finishes.
One chance One Goal.
Up The Tigers 🧡🐅
Belloumi’s ball carrying a major threat for Hull in transition, such a technical tidy player with a good level of physicality to ride tackles from opponents.
Middlesbrough broke the lines with a pass a few times but lacking the end product. Boro front men need to continue to pin the Hull backline with deeper players moving into space between the lines to receive on the half turn.
Middlesbrough’s left sided triangle was their main source of chance creation and attacking threat primarily in the first half.
Game state is leading more into Hull’s favour for me. Hackney on will revitalise the energy in the team but around 80 minutes if they still can’t break down this Hull block I see Hull winning the game.
Wolfsburg vs Paderborn half time analysis:
Really not much in this, both teams build in a 3-1-6/3-2-5 and both teams sit in a 5-2-3/5-3-2 mid block off the ball to match up with the oppositions build up shape. Lack of movement higher up the pitch for both sides in particular Paderborn.
Little rotations and all too static off the ball higher up (whilst in possession). Both sides making it too easy for the other to mark.
Poor quality game so far, screaming out for someone to receive and dribble to break the lines.
Eriksen needs to receive outside the block more often for me, receiving too much with his back to goal deep in the left half space where he’s already marked.
Give the opposition something to think about ffs!
Game theme = Both teams (OOP) matching up with each other’s in possession structure with the in-possession side doing little to counter it.
Pic below an example of what we’re frequently seeing,
With it being the off-season for Wycombe and the transfer window not yet being open, content on this page could look a bit dry. That’s why I highly recommend following my other page @dzi_analysis where I’m posting regular analysis on many different games. 👍
Top player, could improve on stretching the opposition backline more frequently but a top outlet and superb box threat. If he were to a make move to League One he’d be one of the best arial threats i’ve seen at League One level.
Looking back on this, that away one is mint 😂. Huge fan of that, if the badge was the usual circular instead of what AI has done to it i’d love to see that one season, big fan of the faded swan in the centre.
Extremely happy we’re pushing for Vidigal, let’s hope his attitude is right as it’s those things which effect the culture/environment etc.
Overall very pleased!