A photograph has emerged of the Southampton analyst allegedly observing Middlesbrough’s training session last Thursday, just 48 hours before the two clubs met in the Championship play-off semi-final first leg. The photograph, originally published in the Daily Mail but which The Athletic has also obtained, shows a young man standing, half-covered by a tree at Middlesbrough’s Rockliffe Park training ground holding up his mobile phone. He has been named as William Salt, a member of Tonda Eckert’s backroom analysis team. Full story from @mwalker2771 ⬇️ 🔗 nyti.ms/48ZudJ3

Scotland: Provoke Pressure & Play If Scotland are to play a Back-5 at the World Cup, last night we seen the importance of driving home distances for CB's receiving the ball e.g. Too Safe = No Pressure. It is vital that the Back-3: > Find High Positioning to Provoke Pressure (Little Adjustments Make a Huge Difference) > Play on 2-Touch & Break Lines > Finding Overloads in CM or Wingback Option The passing quality Souttar & Tierney possess as the outside centre-backs should not be underestimated and could be huge if these distances are perfect: > Finding the Spare CM (If Box 4 in 541) > Tierney & Robertson Combinations of Old If you do not get those distances right, you get a situation where passes just go CB to CB to WB and back across...

Thread 🧵- Why the people in charge of Spurs, so obsessed with De Zerbi At this point it seems like a when, when it comes to De Zerbi and Tottenham, a choice I’m sure the fans aren’t delighted with. But why are the people in charge so keen on him? Let’s take a look #THFC 👇

Nagelsmann’s Germany — Double Diamond Spoke about this in regard to Manchester City this season, but this system in order to platform key principles is becoming more and more common ▫️Diamond at the base ~ can shift between 3-1/2-2 base shapes in the build up to manipulate the opposition front press ~ then acts as the rest defence further forwards, key reference for this unit ▫️Diamond/front four ~ mobility to unmark and combine with eachother in close prox, cross over runs, counter movements to stretch the block and create space ~ consistently looking to receive entry passes in order to “activate” the block’s defensive behaviours and collapse it ▫️Width holders ~ can be both full-backs, can be one full-back one winger ~ stretch the opposition last line, create tensions for the opposition full-backs, drop to provide wide depth passing options and make runs beyond