Big improvement for Toffees’ away form 愛華頓作客大躍進

If someone were to tell Roberto Martinez that Everton can take away 4 points in consecutive away matches against Arsenal and Man Utd, he probably wouldn’t take it too seriously. In reality, during these 2 harsh fixtures, not only did Everton get the 4 points, but also did so with style.

Everton stayed 5^th in the league table after these 2 matches, which somewhat resembles their position last season. If, however, we take a deeper look, it’s fair to say Martinez has in fact brought tremendous improvement to the team, especially for away games. Last season, Everton averaged 51% possession in all away games, whereas the percentage has risen to 58% after 8 away games this season, including games at Etihad, Emirates and Old Trafford. Their pass success rate has also improved from 78% to 85%. Most importantly, is that they manage to convert these improvements into league points: their average points gained from away games were 1.1. This season, it’s 1.6.

Just take the game against Arsenal as an example. Comparing the same fixture from last season (in April) which ended a goalless draw, Everton’s possession and pass success rate has risen from 43% and 78% respectively to 56% and 84%. If we take a look at the average player position map, we can see Moyes used Anechibe as a lone striker and he was very much isolated from the rest of the team, resulting in his poor 56% pass success rate. In contrast, Martinez’s team was far more aggressive. With Mirallas providing close support to Lukaku, the entire right flank was left for Coleman to exploit. His stats improved dramatically from last season’s fixture: number of passes increased from 35 to 46; pass success rate increased from 80% to 83%; and crosses increased from 2 to 4.

After the game, Arteta said Everton was the toughest opponent the Gunners have met so far this season and he was right. Throughout the match, Everton demonstrated their ability to play exciting and effective football. Martinez has already proven himself at Wigan and we shall see if he can take himself and Everton beyond their previous limits.

如果季前有人跟馬天尼斯說，愛華頓連續作客曼聯和阿仙奴可以拿走4分，相信他也不會相信。事實上，在這‘地獄賽程’中，他們不只拿走4分，而且踢出水平甚高的足球。

愛華頓賽後排在第五位，排名上看似跟上季表現差不多，但其實馬天尼斯在不少方面的表現都帶來改進，特別是在作客的賽事。上季愛華頓作客場均控球率為51%，而今年進行了8場作客比賽（包括了作客曼城、曼聯和剛剛對阿仙奴）卻錄得場均59%的控球率。作客的傳球成功率也從上季的78%上升到今年的85%。更重要的是，愛華頓能夠把這些進步轉化為聯賽榜的分數：上季愛華頓作客場均得分為1.1分；今季則上升到1.6分，是很大的進步。

就以星期天的比賽為例。對比上季（4月份）愛華頓作客阿仙奴打成0:0的比賽，愛華頓上次只有43%控球率和78%傳球成功率，而今次則有56%控球權和84%傳球成功率。如果看看這兩場賽事的球員平均位置圖，就可以發現莫耶斯當時以安尼捷比打單箭頭，但其他的中場球員支援的位置卻離他很遠，令他當場的傳球成功率只有可憐的56%。相反，馬天尼斯今場讓米拿拉斯推前支援盧卡古，也間接讓右閘高文更活躍：他的傳球次數（35次->46次）、成功率（80%->83%）還有傳中次數（2次->4次）都比4月份那場賽事有所提升。

賽後，踢過愛華頓的阿迪達表示愛華頓是他們今季聯賽暫時碰過最難應付的對手，而觀乎全場比賽，愛華頓的表現也真的是讓人拍案叫絕。馬天尼斯在韋根的時候早證明了自己的能力，現在帶領球員質素更高的愛華頓，看看他的成就能不能更上一層樓。

A new-found love with Swansea City

I’m sure I will be one of the many who will blog about Swansea following their victory over Arsenal tonight; but I couldn’t help. I have to. As my friend Phume said, they remind me of the very reason why we love this game.

I have never watched any of their games so far this season (or ever) and, frankly and shamefully, I only turn on the TV because I was bored and  it was already second half when I started watching. I have no idea who their players are, bar Scott Sinclair whom I know was a former Chelsea trainee; but I did see a TEAM BELIEVING in great football. I say they believe in beautiful football because from what they did on the pitch, the players are not instructed by the coach to do certain things, they firmly believe that’s the way of playing football.

Passing in own half

Quoting from The Guardian:

…There was also evidence of the sudden shift of tempo that marks Swansea’s attacking play: patient spells of deep possession spiced with precise thrusts often down the flanks. They are currently No1 by an absolute street when it comes to Premier League teams making passes in their own half. Swansea have made 2,474, practically lapping the team currently in second (yes, Arsenal) and making more than three times as many defensive passes as their tactical opposite, the get-it-forwards merchants of Stoke City.

And quoting Brendan Rodgers himself from another interview with Telegraph:

“People will jump on us whenever we make a mistake. We had it against Manchester United. Angel Rangel had the ball at his feet and the commentary after the game is that he’s got to kick it into row Z.

“He had time on the ball, why would he smash it up the pitch? He just made a mistake. We need to give our players confidence in their ability. To play this way you can have no fear. The players respect that if there are any goals conceded through playing football I take the blame.

“Here’s another example. We were 2-0 up away at Wolves with six minutes to go but we failed to manage the pressure. We stopped playing it out from the back. We kicked the ball long and they got it and just smashed straight back into our box. Eventually we drew 2-2 and the players were devastated.

“I told them we needed to learn the six-minute game.

“The following week we worked on managing the pressure. But with the ball. Low and behold the next game we are at Bolton. We are 2-0 up. With 17 minutes to go they go 2-1. You could sense the nerves in the crowd.

“How were we going to deal with it? For 10 minutes Bolton did not get a kick of the ball and, eventually, we got the goal to win 3-1.

“Afterwards in the dressing room it was fantastic — that was how to manage pressure. When they had the momentum we sucked the life out of them.

“Our idea is to pass teams to a standstill so they can no longer come after you. Eventually you wear them down. We did that against one of the greatest teams in Tottenham. We did it against Manchester United in the second half. In the first half we were playing the history.”

And that is exactly what I saw from the second half after leading 3-2 with 24 (included added-time) minutes to go. Their players are comfortable with the ball and, most importantly, fearless in passing the ball around even deep in their own half. That doesn’t mean they’ll be pressed back towards the keeper all the time: the players, at the same time, are fearless in breaking away even when they are facing numerical inferiority. I have seen more than 5 times they can break away facing a 2 v 4 or so. Their immediate reaction is also very quick: they understand the pressure the player with the ball is facing and offer  appropriate support right away, giving the man-with-ball options: the 3R’s (Retain, Release and Run) and yes, they can also make decent decisions in using the support as decoy and dribble their way out of trouble.

Of course this requires a lot of guts and a religious-like belief. As Rodgers said, they take the blame when they lose the ball deep in their own half and frankly, it looks stupid when you do lose the ball when you could have put it to row Z. But after tonight, I think Rodgers have another story to tell when it comes to managing pressure and keep recycling the ball in its own half.

High Pressure

Another quote from The Guardian:

The essence of Rodgers’s tactical approach is illustrated by Swansea’s most recent Premier League matches. Against Tottenham Hotspur on New Year’s Eve a first point against a top-five team was earned largely on the back of the suffocating high energy midfield play that has served Swansea so well, the dual defensive midfielders Mark Gower and Joe Allen relentlessly pressing high up the field and forcing Luka Modric to manipulate the ball rather desperately at times in his own half. 

Yet another quote from Telegraph’s interview with Rodgers:

“People don’t notice it (pressing) with us because they always talk about our possession but the intensity of our pressure off the ball is great. If we have one moment of not pressing in the right way at the right time we are dead because we don’t have the best players. What we have is one of the best teams.

“The strength of us is the team. Leo Messi has made it very difficult for players who think they are good players. He’s a real team player. He is ultimately the best player in the world and may go on to become the best ever. But he’s also a team player.

“If you have someone like Messi doing it then I’m sure my friend Nathan Dyer can do it. It is an easy sell.”

The pressing was also first class from them. It could be hard to imagine Arsenal players almost got caught in possession (and actually quite a few times they did and lost the ball) and was forced to clear to ball towards the sidelines. The ‘switching-on’ is almost immediate from Swansea’s players: once the ball is lost, they are on a mission to squeeze the immediate space and time around the ball. What make me even more impressed is that their individual ability to gain back possession is also good. They press as units and are also good individual ball-winners; and obviously they are no strangers to some fierce dog-fight when necessary. Arsenal actually struggled to advance the ball on a few occasions .

Comparing with Rodgers’ ambition: FC Barcelona

Also, Swansea’s fast break attack is also of high quality and generally their players are relentless in creating space for the team and the man-with-ball: the overlaps, the diagonal runs and clearing space were present whenever they have the ball in the attacking third. Actually I am quite interested in Swansea’s style because to me, it’s like a counter-attacking team with dominating possession. Their number of passing in the attacking third was only 78 comparing to Arsenal’s 116 but yet they made almost 100 more passes than Arsenal.

So comparing with the mighty Barcelona, who prefers to tiki-taka in the attacking third and leaving half a pitch empty behind them to defend, Swansea opts to keep possession in their own half and wait for the time to fast-break. Both can be dangerous: Barcelona is vulnerable to swift counter-attacks due to the amount of space levying behind them and Swansea is susceptible to losing the ball deep in their own half. It would be interesting to see the 2 teams playing against each other because both teams will be passing in the very same half of the pitch: when Barça has the ball, they play around Swansea’s box; when Swansea has the ball, they still play around in their own half.

On a personal level, I am really thankful towards Swansea City and Brendan Rodgers. It comes at the right time that I first see a Swansea game during a downfall in my career as a coach. Thank you for showing me that beliefs can be turn into some tangible, beautiful things.