4-2-4 Goal kick Permutations
4-2-4 coming 2, the 4ore?
The theory underlying 4-2-4 goal kick sequences is largely analogous to 4-2-4 shapes in other areas of play. The stretched first line decreases opposition horizontal compactness, serving to widen spaces in between the lines thus creating better progressive access. In 4-2-4 goal kicks the positional composition typically has the centre backs lateral to the goalkeeper while the double pivot is vertical to their respective centre backs on the 18-yard-line. The full backs are typically slightly deeper than double pivot and wide to add an extra degree of staggering to the possession structure, which is more conducive to quick, tight possession sequences where using the wide, deep passing triangle is key to bypassing pressure. The deep positioning creates a detachment from the attacking line, where the static positioning is typically on or near the halfway line to maximise the vertical extents of the pitch. If pressing high, the opposition will most frequently do so man-oriented manner because the static environment of goal kicks allows markers to stay by their respective player as the dynamic element of the ball has yet to be added into the equation, allowing for easier direct limiting of passing options.
Using the opposition as the primary positional reference point thus allows the team in possession to manipulate spatial conditions as mentioned which explains the detachment. The opposition will stick to their respective 6 deep and 4 in more advanced regions which creates a large space in oppositions 2nd and 3rd lines. This is where goal kicks become particularly interesting as they allow for maximum possible vertical stretching as possession starts uncontested at the deepest point of the pitch (which means direct access is available as giving a player time + space will allow them to execute more technically difficult passes), while the opponent cannot use offside as a tool to limit effective vertical space meaning the whole half is available playing space which the opponent has committed to defending. The targeted space to expose therefore is that in between the 2nd and 3rd lines, where using dynamic and qualitative superiorities is key.
Because of the opposition’s commitment to high pressure, the conditions around the goal kick sequences are very transitional, with quick circulation of possession and constant movement into space required to prevent a turnover, which is the opponents ambition compared to a more consolidated space-blocking approach.
It is common therefore to attempt to generate a degree of control of the situation through using the extra man of the goalkeeper to undermine the pressing structure, meaning the goal kick starts with a centre back to goalkeeper pass. Against man-oriented schemes this prevents instant ball pressure as the forward player will either allow possession to be situated with the goalkeeper or otherwise curve his run to cover the direct CB passing lane generating time and space.
Passing goalkeeper to centre back is therefore more directly transitional as it serves to limit time and space in possession as the direct vertical is cut to the pivot contrasted to the keeper who has two options while pressure is faced more immediately. Additionally, this reduced time, space, and options leads to greater opposition constrainment opportunities because commitment in option from the centre back must happen more quickly whilst available space is diminishing. They must either commit to seeking to pass to the full back where more automatised sequences are common because of the limited time and space which seeks to exploit rather than succumb to the pressure or if facing inwards go to the far-side pivot player, who will face greater difficulty going backwards because the initial pressing players proximity to the goalkeeper and the man oriented near-side forward being placed on the supporting centre back. Whilst, because of the direction of the pass coming diagonally, he is oriented towards the centre (as this hypothetical is dealing with this scenario) and therefore cannot access the near-side CB while the tight marking of the opposition limits progressive and lateral potential, particularly considering his lateral teammate in the other DM is also tightly marked and receiving into the centre, meaning should a pass be feasible, it will only serve to reduce the player area further, meaning a turnover is delayed rather than avoided. This is what the man-oriented pressure seeks to achieve: limit available passing options through preventing their initial progression which serves to reduce the size of the accessible playing area where ball-oriented convergence to force a turnover becomes possible. Therefore, goalkeeper to centre back routines, because they commit more to an option, allow the opponent to better constrain, limiting time and space, which can be particularly costly if progression via full backs does not occur quickly.
Another interesting variation from the centre-back to goalkeeper idea is direct exploitation of the horizontal space generated by the man-oriented tracking of the double pivot, who from a central chasm for the dropping forward to receive directly. The ambition of finding the forward with the dynamic superiority in the huge space between the 2nd and 3rd lines remains the same; however, its achievement is far quicker. Accordingly, compacting to support the keeper with short passing interchanges to further increase the space IBTL vertically is not necessary. The simplicity of this may make it seem implausible, but Shakhtar Donetsk successfully practiced it against Real Madrid.
The other forward player dropping to support in this instance could potentially undermine efforts because it limits the space available for the player in possession to turn into to attempt a direct ball, generally to the near-side winger moving outside-to-in. Because this happens instantly after goal kicks, it is unlikely the midfielder will be positioned in front of their respective markers, who will be able to react and compact relatively quickly which negates the potential for up-back through sequences. Therefore, if support is needed it is the better option, and I can imagine good rotational circumstances occurring if the forwards are synchronised such as receive, drop dribble, pass into forward, man-orientation continues so the forwards rotate with the player in possession now having much more space to exploit either passing out wide in the full back compacts or perhaps less realistically through the centre. Similar could occur with the ball carrier being the initial dropper if a lay-off type pass is played while the rotation is occurring and the player maintains the dynamic superiority, being offered analogous circumstances to the aforementioned.
Because double dropping entails tight link-up, it is perhaps better to commit to a side and develop asymmetry while maintaining the now compacted structure. This could allow for less direct transitions where central infiltration to multiple options of the creation of wide 1v1’s is more possible compared to the drop, receive, turn, direct pass which is most common of the structure. The far-side player will compact to become a more effective actor in possession and provide a link, potentially to an overlapping full back if the sequence develops, as his holding of maximum width is rendered largely ineffective once the side is chosen because the lack of link, while a player dribbling to establish the connection is possible, it is likely too time consuming to fully exploit the transition.
Lofted passes are to be avoided and generally to be used when alternatives are too dangerous, which typically occurs when the opponent’s 2nd line pressing two compact. Under these circumstances, it generally more difficult for the attackers to get control of possession, even when dropping. The provocation of this type of pass generally implies lack of control, hence accuracy and weighting of the passes is less controlled, amplifying the difficulties further. Imperative in these sequences is the attacker showing guile when receiving to turn his marker or move into space behind to craft alternatives, which is negated by the loft. Drop and look to pass it out wide is probably the best course of action from this, although the opposition midfield positioning could lead to the possession teams midfielders having the dynamic edge, allowing them to receive a pass and charge into space/play a through ball. This would however require risky commitment, particularly as winning of possession is less likely in this circumstance comparatively.
The conclusion which can be drawn from this is that when the opponent compacts the centre, rather than put loft on the ball to reach one of the forwards initially, it is preferable to build shorter under pressure, presumably through first passing to the wide centre backs. To explore this topic, I will call in an old friend, Antionio Conte, and investigate Inter’s second goal against Milan, in one of my favourite games ever, Destroying Man-orientation: Antonio Conte Style in addition to two famous clips of Inter Milan vs Barcelona.
In the Milan example, Inter adopt an asymmetric set-up, as Nicolò Barella overloads the right flank alongside Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi. The ball moves GK – RCB to right back as Milan Škriniar who deepens his positioning, which vertically stretches Milan while using the horizontal gap between Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Ante Rebić to access dropping Nicolò Barella. It is important to note that the dropping is an imperative aspect in attaining the dynamic superiority required for these sequences contrasted to static positioning. It is what provides him with the edge.
He passes the ball up to Romelu Lukaku, who engages with a physical duel with Alessio Romagnoli, holding up the ball while waiting on the supporting run from Hakimi who can burst past Sandro Tonali. Because of the ball side compensations used Inter have a free man as they switch through central conduits against a retreating Milan defence in Ivan Perišić, who cuts it back to Lautaro
Martínez. Goal kick to goal in 21 seconds.
This example serves primarily to demonstrate the qualitative element behind these sequences, in that maximising around the strengths of players is a still an important aspect despite some common themes which can be used regardless such as up-back and throughs, overloading to isolate etc., in that Lukaku is probably the best player at holding off an opposing defender in the world, whilst Hakimi makes an extremely capable runner. These discrepancies are potentially more obvious so consider others like Pedrinho’s ability to evade tight marking via dribbling, or potentially the passing range of the dropping player.
I think moreover notable however is the use of vertical stretching to maximise time in possession and increase the spaces in between the lines, allowing for the dynamic superiority to be realised. Škriniar and Brozović drop almost lateral to the 6-yard line, enticing Milan’s first pressing line forward, furthering the area they are covering. This grants Barella and Hakimi additional space to drop into which continues the ripple effect as now Lukaku has more space to receive in. Using his qualitative edge, he can hold the ball for a sustained period to allow Hakimi to make up the ground whilst carrying momentum to burst past the compacting Milan defence.
Barcelona’s initial shape seeks to entice the direct full back pass initially but creating the illusion of space which is exposed by the inertia period of possession travel. Moreover, it allows for greater adaptability, as although centrally the full back remains the reference point for both wide players, upon committal to a side, the wide midfielder can more easily shift across.
Inter go, RCB, RDM, GK. Barca’s press is passing lane focused so lacks the intensity of direct ball orientation. While the near-side winger pushes up to the full back, the near-side forward angles his run to cut the passing lane, thus leaving the midfielder open for back to goal reception which has a compacting effecting on the teams play by allowing the opponent to encroach through the backwards pass. By the time Samir Handanović has possession again the shape approximates this.
However, the passing lane focus of Barca’s pressing allows him time and space in possession where he successfully lofts the ball over the press, where space can be found vacated as the near-side Barca attackers sought to compact upon Handanović.
This is where Antonio Conte works his magic. I will profess to not being well enough versed in 2019/20 Barcelona’s goal kick pressing to says this absolutely, and regardless, should this have been anomalous for them, it makes Inter’s adaptation all the more impressive; however, the composure with which the passage was played with and the subsequent rotations, implies automatism, which implies knowledge.
The right full back rotates centrally, whilst the centre back moves into the vacated zone to find the dropping winger, responding to the vacated space. The man marking the full back now reverts to zonal reference points, targeting the centre back. He plays it to the dropping winger, under pressure from both flanks due to the overload in the zone combined with the tracking of the full back. Interestingly the far-side midfielder mentioned earlier moves fully over the pitch, covering the full backs inwards, then outwards movement. This creates a void of central space to be infiltrated for the dropping forward. Who plays it further into space, into the near-side midfielder, now centralising, who can find the free far-side player because of Barca’s ball sided commitment. Temporary 2v1 overload while Barca recover thanks to the overlapping full back. Defensive retreat allows a 1-2 to craft a good shooting opportunity.
I find this example interesting because it is using the wing space to go around the compactness which demonstrates the symbiotic relationship between horizontal and vertical stretching, as the vertical stretching increases the space with which infiltratory passes can be played diagonally to the forwards. Furthermore, it shows the dynamic superiority which can be achieved against the reactivity of a predominately man-oriented set-up and mechanism used quite frequently in these sequences by Antionio Conte in these sequences which is the seemingly constrained dropping wide player using his backwards body orientation to swing a diagonal ball centrally.
These sequences exemplify the value of going wide when the opponent prioritises compacting the centre from these circumstances, as they are frequently unable to effectively block the passing access to the huge gap which is unavoidable in between the 2nd and 3rd lines when pressing this high. When they have committed to the ball side in an attempt to generate a turnover and prevent this access, they exacerbate the potential downsides through leaving the underloaded flank more vacant, with the aim of these sequences typically being overloading to isolate, although that functions as a result of common defensive responses (if you’re pressing this high, it is turnover-oriented, hence ball-side commitment). The approach of using the deep-full back as the access point can be considered to maximally stretch the opponent vertically and horizontally, because of the potential to make the far-side accessible. As the example in Conte eulogy, demonstrated, because the possession team are acting with superior knowledge when anticipating spatial dynamics and player positioning, this can be done under even greater pressure and potentially deeper as the accessible space is predictable, reducing calculation time between thought and action. When the ball is played central this dynamic remains, as the tight pressure put on the forward does not alter his thought processes (much) as he knows where the supporting run will be and plays it there. Paramount then is synchronicity.
The other example from this game is a good demonstration of how to use wall passes from wide players to execute up-back through manoeuvres. In this example, Marcelo Brozović receives facing wide after receiving a vertical pass from LCB. Barca continue in attempting their pressing trap through leaving the deep full back vacant.
Man-orientated tracking of Brozović prevents direct access to the centre by cutting of the angles, while the wide most player midfield player begins preparation around pressing the deep full back whose freedom makes him the most viable player to receive the ball. Brozović continued wide movement seems to indicate this further. However crucially, in furthering the wide commitment, he is able to extend the horizontal gap between Barca’s pressing players which generates access to the dropping winger in addition to creating the time necessary to turn forward. Brozović instantly continues his run, using the dynamic superiority conferred by superior knowledge and his body orientation compared to Barca’s players to receive the 1-2. Tight marking efficacy is negated as the purpose is to play backwards in an up-back motion. Subsequently Brozović can spread the play to the underloaded flank, where a 2v1 ensues.
Attempting to abstract a principle, I would say use up-back and throughs when they present themselves, using the wall pass permitted by tight marking to access the space left vacated by the opponent as they seek to compact upon you. The closer they get, the more space they are leaving exposed if the action attempted is successful.
This sequence for me demonstrates the ambiguity in automatisms, and generates curiosity around potentially unanswerable questions. How was this sequence dictated exactly? Brozović was undoubtedly acting with superior knowledge when passing it for the up-back, but was making that initial decision principled rather than automatised, with the automatism occurring after a set of circumstances opened? My conceptualisation of automatisms attempts to reconcile this ambiguity through proposing an if-then scenario which makes them more principle based. Potentially the identified press breaking pass was set as the dropping left winger where access could be generated either by Brozović or the full back if the opponent attempted to compact on Brozović to a greater extent. How was the dropping winger instructed – I assume it is, if Brozović is available, pass to him, if not circumstances may dictate a further drop to access the other pivot player. This depends on the degree of faith placed in the predictability of the game. I have posited earlier that I think Inter’s opposition analysis here was successful in deciphering how Barca press, and thus simplicity could be pursed, and generally the simpler the decision making can be made for the player, the more benefit is derived from the automatism because calculation time is reduced, and thus action time is increased, meaning opposition compaction attempts can be better exploited. Ultimately, I don’t know.
The common argument made against automatisms is that the game is unpredictable and hence generating a set of prescriptions is not flexible enough to potential in-game adaption from opponents. What if Barca changed to a more intense ball-orientation around Brozović – would he have continued as planned, or would he use the deep full back to access the dropping winger. It is a complex question which cannot be accurately ascertained; however, the response I’d give is that the team practicing the automatism, does so every single week and will becoming increasing proficient and well-versed in the permutations while the opponent plays the automatised team, twice a season and thus has less time to capably enact counters. The advantage lies in the proactive strategic advantage conferred onto the automatised team rather than the reactive tactics of the opponent. The opponent is probably better holistically working on their own effective high pressing strategy and making minor alternations to the specifics when facing the opponent as persistent opposition orientation tactically will likely lead to more discoordination or inefficacy in other facets of their game, meaning the (overtly direct) solution is probably worse than the cure. To an extent, synchronicity and coordination are so important that it makes make things like predictable space or manoeuvres easier to ascertain; how effectively practiced these are varies from game to game as with pressing intensity, efficacy in duels etc.,. However, commonalities can be derived effectively enough to create predictable enough game-states when possession is deep and coming from a consolidated starting point. This has its base theory in the 4-2-4 which if pressed high will result in space for forwards to drop into in between the 2nd and 3rd lines for example, while a centrally compact opponent who is vertically stretched, will likely have exploitable gaps for central access for example. This remains irrespective of whether a pass is under hit or a touch is bad in an individual instance, because increased proficiency with the process will repay its trust. The important aspect is planning around potential permutations, theorising optimal circumstances, generating if-then, and attempting to simplify that to minimise in game calculation time to increase speed of action, because the dynamic superiority is imperative when transitioning.