Season 2: Tactics Page;  Episode 4: Patterns of play brought to life (Mixed and Mixed)

Soccerblog, Soccermanager, Soccertactics 2 Minutes

“Tactics are so important because everyone has to know what they have to do on the pitch…”– Pep Guardiola

Today brings so much joy as we will be looking into different patterns of play for every passing style and attacking area when you’ve put them together (surprise!!!). At the end of the day this is the meat and bones of what makes your team play the best football that they possibly can. By having an idea on how these patterns will look in the middle of a match will make it easier for you to set up the right team for the right occasion.

In this episode we’ll look into the patterns of play that are associated with a MIXED and MIXED set up. If this is your first blog post I suggest that you read episode 2 of this season (titled ‘Team Instructions’) to get a better understanding of what these two types of styles are. To illustrate how your team will look while playing a MIXED and MIXED (in possession), we will use photos from a Real Madrid team playing against Barcelona from an El Clasico during the 2015-16 season.
Are you ready? Okay. Let’s get to the fun stuff:

The photo above shows Real Madrid who has set up in a 4-3-3 A formation.
A key element to consider is that a MIXED and MIXED style is primarily focused on positional versatility with players given the freedom to rotate in different positions based on where the ball is when in possession.
In this image, we can see Madrid’s midfield 3 operating in a traditional manner with Modrić (red circle) flanked by Isco (purple circle) and Kovačić (yellow circle)
A few seconds later, you can see their Mixed and MIxed style in action as Modrić has now formed a back 3 with Ramos and Varane, while Isco has now moved out to the right flank
In a different sequence of play, Kovačić (yellow cirlce) has moved into a DM(L) position to receive the ball from Ronaldo (black cirlce), while Marcelo (green circle) has moved into a LCM looking to make a run to draw Barca defenders and give Kovačić more time on the ball
In this sequence of play, Marcelo is now back at Left Back, Ronaldo has gotten himself into an AM(C)  Midfield position, while Benzema (orange circle) is now operating on the left flank, making a run in behind of the Barca DM(R)
Ronaldo has the ball and is driving towards goal from an AM(C) position, he has Benzema and Lucas Vasquez (grey circle) as passing options. Vasquez is extremley narrow in a F(C) position which further illustrates Madrid’s Mixed and Mixed style as well as indicating that they are playing a 4-3-3A formation rather than a 4-3-3B.

And there you have it, Soccermanagerites! This was a quick episode to showcase some of the principles to look out for when playing a Mixed and Mixed style of play. The keys to take home are that your players (especially your Midfielders and Attackers) should be tactically versatile enough to play in many different positions when in possession as well as being mobile enough to perform these rotations for 90 minutes. If your intention is to play with a Mixed and Mixed style then you should consider building an XI with personnel similar to this:

Rather than an XI with this personnel:

In our next episode, we’ll be diving into the patterns of play associated with a Mixed and Short style. Hope you’ll join us for that one also!

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