🚨 ANNOUNCEMENT Introducing drawtactics.com A lot of people have asked me how I make my tactical diagrams, so I've made a web app that gives you access to my tactics board For those who like to analyse using match footage screenshots, there also a screenshot annotation tool that makes that process 10x faster The web app is still in MVP stage - it's not perfect yet, and I'll be updating it monthly to improve it It works best on desktop browsers at the moment - I'm working on touchscreen functionality (although the tactics board is mostly functional on iPad) If you use it, don't hesitate to get in touch with any questions, suggestions, problems or feedback you have 📩

Nagelsmann continues with the 3-1-3-3 attacking idea Not an overly strict on positional structure though - freedom for players to roam Focus on verticality over width

🏆 Tactical Analysis: Netherlands 🇳🇱 - 🇯🇵 Japan 🔗 open.substack.com/pub/jmftbl…

Left halfspace focus a clear trend for the US against Paraguay McKennie, Tillman, and Pulisic combined well against a sub-standard Paraguay 4-4-2 low block Full analysis ⬇️

Mexico's nominal 4-3-3 transformed into a diamond high press vs South Africa, as we've also seen in the Premier League this season Full analysis ⬇️

🇺🇸 Tactical Analysis: Pochettino's Asymmetric 3-4-3 🔗 open.substack.com/pub/jmftbl…

The pass is great but I forgot just how perfect the preceding actions were too The instant first touch change of direction against De Jong’s momentum The body feint on the dribble to earn an extra split second of time vs Ake

Neat goal for Korea who showed some nice stuff in their 3-4-3 against Czech Republic Little rotation with Lee Kang-In dropping and Hwang In-Beom (CM) running beyond Coufal had gone to jump towards Korea's LWB, which widened the gap from him to Czech RCB, who is focused on Son

📰 Tactical Analysis: Mexico 🇲🇽 - 🇿🇦 South Africa 🔗 open.substack.com/pub/jmftbl…

Width & depth

Key themes, 2-3-5 vs low blocks: - wingers who can go 1v1 - CMs who can give box presence (Rice, Jude/Rogers) - FBs indent for 2nd balls on edge of box

World Cup 2010 - Maradona's Argentina beaten 4-0 vs Germany Throwing caution to the wind with a very attacking diamond formation Even this early in his career, Messi had quite a deep playmaking role, often the closest player to Mascherano in possession, attempting to drive the ball forward to start attacking moves Argentina were aggressive but their possession game was not particularly well coordinated or structurally sound Naturally, their setup left them defensively vulnerable too On the day they were maybe slightly unlucky, but nevertheless serves as a reminder that just having great individuals can only get you so far

England v Portgual, 2006 when the 'Golden Generation' were knocked out Obviously Rooney's red card changed the game But England's passivity without the ball and lack of imagination/bravery with the ball with such a talented squad was disappointing Without the ball, a 4-1-4-1, loosely man-oriented. Key duels were England FBs vs Figo and Ronaldo in the halfspaces - Portugal would feed the ball to their feet to try to start combinations, but England contained them well With the ball, England took few risks. Lack of cohesiveness in their movements aside from a few right side rotations between Neville-Lampard-Beckham to try and free Neville on the overlap - not the most inspiring when you have so many stars on the pitch

World Cup tactical match analyses will be available exclusively for Substack subscribers throughout the tournament 26% discount on monthly subscriptions right now Also includes free access to @drawtactics

Germany’s adaptation to England’s 4-1-3-2: indenting the left back Schnellinger to man mark in midfield, leaving three in the backline Full analysis in my newsletter ⬇️

🏆 Retro Tactical Analysis: England 4-2 West Germany (A.E.T) (1966 World Cup Final) 🔗 open.substack.com/pub/jmftbl…

📰 Tactical Analysis: PSG - Arsenal 🔗 open.substack.com/pub/jmftbl…

With eleven men, Arsenal were able to provoke gaps in the Barca defence on one or two occasions, leading to Henry's early chance Eto'o as the left winger stayed high without the ball, allowing Eboue to advance on the right for Arsenal & Hleb to indent, drawing in Puyol

20 years ago, Barcelona and Arsenal met in the Champions League final Analysis of the game and how Rijkaard's changes eventually broke down the ten men of Arsenal 🔗 open.substack.com/pub/jmftbl…

Something extra for @drawtactics members: we now provide a tool to create xG shot maps by manually clicking shot locations on the pitch Useful for circumstances where you have video footage of your team and want to get xG Can export CSV or PNG files

So important to find the balance between width, depth, and connection Rayo often had quite large distances between midfield and attack vs Palace Plenty of width and depth, but difficult to move the ball quickly, combine & be dynamic because players are far apart