#tactical-analysis

#tactical-analysis

Ever since the early part of preseason, it became apparently that Massimiliano Allegri not only wanted to use a 3-5-2 system, but that he saw Leao as the spearhead for it. He foresaw a deadly pairing in transition with Christian Pulisic, notwithstanding the arrival of a natural centre-forward.

Estupinan smashed the ball into the net leaving Yann Sommer surprised and frozen. Allegri's tactical tweaks taking advantage of the wide areas - occupied by Luis Henrique especially - paid off. The gap to first place and Inter was reduced to seven points.

We didn't see the Barça of 1,000 passes in Newcastle. Did you see the 1,000 passes Barcelona makes every week in Spain? No. Newcastle are exceptional in their intensity and high pressing, playing man-to-man and with a wide range of tools.

The rigid gameplan that was supposed to evolve to suit the players available has been increasingly rumbled and results have spiralled downwards. As their hosts France prepare to try to clinch back-to-back Six Nations titles for the first time since 2007, England will do well to avoid finishing in the bottom two.

Everyone knows how much talent the young German has, but patience can only last so long. It has been enough time that people will start becoming more critical of Musiala, and unfortunately, he did not take advantage of a major opportunity starting in this match.

Of course, we would like to, we all want revenge against Barça. They don't usually show any mercy to their opponents. If they beat you by a large margin, it's for a reason. They are the current champions, leaders and favourites to win the league again.

The heartbeat of Borussia Dortmund's creativity remains Julian Brandt. When Brandt finds space between the lines, Borussia Dortmund's attack comes alive. His ability to receive on the half-turn, combine quickly, and slip runners into dangerous channels makes him a constant problem. If Bayern Munich's midfield press lacks coordination for even a moment, Brandt has the vision to punish it instantly.

Timber is one of the best attacking right-backs in the Premier League, if not the world, and I have seen him cause many teams problems with the way he mixes his runs up - sometimes he supports, sometimes he overlaps and he can make runs inside too. He is an intelligent footballer. Saka has had a few people question him recently, but against Spurs he was back on it and back to his confident best.

"The head coach is always observing, not that emotionally involved on the sideline," Hurzeler said. "It's really more about overseeing things, like an analyst and making decisions from the stands. That's something that might be the future in football as well."

It is not easy to analyze a team that has just changed its coach. The system changes, but the players do not. We looked at the players and their individual performances in the last two days. Each player has a certain template, they can't change it. We focused on this kind of analysis.