When we talk about the characteristics to counteract the opponent, we should take into account 4 key points in order to prepare the match plan.
The aim of these ideas is to enhance the team’s performance in the next match. To do this, it is very important to know the main characteristics of the opposing team, as this will allow us to take advantage of certain situations or patterns of play that they may use.
1. Analyse the state of your own team
We have to analyse the current situation of the team and draw conclusions from the last match with the post-match debriefing. We need to be aware of what behaviours we did well and what aspects we need to improve from the last game, as well as the individual performance of our players. This will serve as a roadmap for the microcycle we are going to prepare.
Image 1. Example of the team’s own analysis of the previous match. Source: MBP
2. Determine the Structure of the Team
It consists of establishing an organisation of the team’s lines during a specific phase and moment of the game. For example, the moment of progression in the attacking phase. To do this, it is essential to have previously analysed the opponent in order to know how they organise themselves and what patterns of play they follow and, with this, to be able to counteract some of their behaviours or take advantage of any weaknesses they may have.
Image 2. Example of adjustment in the team structure at the moment of progression during the attacking phase against a GK-4-4-2 structure of the opponent. We went from a GK-4-2-3-1 to a GK-3-4-2-1. Source: MBP
3. Determine the Game Situations
What we will do at this point is to determine the game situations that are going to appear from the adjustment in the team structure at that moment of the play. Following the previous example, we move from a line with two centre backs to a line of three at the back with the intention of overcoming their two forwards. To do this, we will look to free one of the outside centre backs so that he can progress with a pass to the first or second line (see image 3).
Image 3. Example of game situations that we will encourage the change of structure in order to have numerical superiority that will allow us to overcome the opponent’s press and progress. Source: MBP
Once we have achieved the objective at this point in the play (overcoming the opponent’s first block of pressure and getting the ball into the final third of the pitch), we may encounter other situations. These are shown in image 4.
4. Confrontation of Profiles
This consists of choosing the players in the team who can help us get closer to achieving the objectives of the match plan proposed above. For example, if we are looking to play with outside centre backs, they should be players with the ability to link up or drive with the ball to break lines. Or if we want to position wingers inside to receive balls between the lines, we should choose players who have a greater ability to link up rather than a winger with a more classic profile (close to the wing and with strong 1v1 ability).
Therefore, when preparing for a match, these 4 aspects will be important: the state of the team itself, determining what structure we are going to use to face the opponent at a specific moment of the play, specifying what game situations we will try to reproduce to achieve the objectives in the match and selecting the profiles that can help us to achieve them. The next step will be to put it into practice in the training sessions.
Would you like to become a professional analyst?
This online course will allow you to get to know the MBP analysis model in depth and delve into the operation and use of professional analysis. You will get to know the most advanced technological tools and learn how to use one of them to collect information, order it and interpret it according to methodological patterns. This is all done to face the competition with a professional analysis of your own team and your opponent.
In summary, in this course you will learn the basics of match analysis and the collection of information from the competition that will allow you to make coherent and effective decisions.
