- 8 hours ago
Inverted full-backs? Set-piece coaches? Every season the Premier League sees one new innovation designed to give one team an advantage over another. This year felt like the return of the long-throw, but Adam Clery explains why it's actually the way a lot of teams are using their defensive midfielder are a surprise goal-threat.
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00:00Right, hello everybody, welcome to the Adam Cleary Football Channel, guess who that makes me, and we're going to try
00:05something a little different today.
00:10Now, you know me, I normally like to focus on either one club, or one player, or one match, so
00:16that the audience, and yes, also the algorithm, can easily tell who might like to watch it.
00:22But not today, because you see, every single season in the Premier League, there is a new, never seen before,
00:28tactical innovation.
00:30One team quite cleverly comes up with it, pretty much everybody has a go at copying it, but that's hard,
00:36because you've either got the players who can do it, or you haven't, and there's no point shopping for them,
00:40because by the time you get to a transfer window, everyone sort of moved on.
00:44Two seasons ago, it was inverted fullbacks and box midfields. Arsenal, and Manchester City in particular, started moving defenders into
00:52the centre of midfield at the base here, shuffling everyone across, and giving themselves four players in the middle, so
00:58they finally outnumbered.
00:59Outnumbered everybody else's 4-3-3. More or less every other team in the league had a go at pushing
01:04a defender into the middle, most were not very good at it, and it's only really Chelsea who still do
01:10it now regularly.
01:11Although, obviously, Arsenal still will stick Timber or Lewis Skelly in there if the situation requires it.
01:16And last season, it was super athlete wingbacks, wasn't it? Basically, one player who would play the entire length of
01:22the pitch on their own and allow you to effectively have a fifth man in attack when you were attacking,
01:27but also run so fast and so relentlessly, that when you did have to defend, he didn't leave you short
01:33in the back four either.
01:34Kirk Hez at Bournemouth, Robinson at Fulham, Munoz at Palace, Connor Bradley was so good at it for Liverpool, he
01:41convinced them to spend the money on Jeremy Frimpong, and even Guardiola liked it enough that he gave Mateus Nunes
01:48a way back into the City team.
01:49And this season, I would forgive you for thinking that the big tactical innovation was long throws. Four seasons ago,
01:56there were 1.27 long throws per game, and now there are 3.44, which is insane, isn't it?
02:03Like, it's nearly trebled in four years, and more than doubled since last season.
02:09So clearly, undeniably, this is something that Premier League teams are suddenly deciding to do en masse, because they feel
02:15like it will yield results.
02:16And the fact we've had four goals from them already this season says, yeah, that is definitely working.
02:23We're getting a goal from a long throw every 12.5 games right now.
02:27And that's compared to one every 27 games last season, and one every 76 games the season before that.
02:35And just to do some incredibly basic maths, that means they are now five times more effective than they ever
02:40used to be.
02:41Yeah, but the thing is, my friends, I don't think that long throws really are the big tactical innovation of
02:48the season.
02:48Just done one there for some reason, right?
02:50I don't think they are, because I don't think they're actually that innovative.
02:54Like, I play Sunday League, citation, and let me tell you, every single team will just hoi it into the
03:01box if they have a player who's got the arm for it.
03:04Nobody's asking their shit-kicking central defender to push alongside the pivot to give them a numerical advantage.
03:10And nobody is asking Gary here, who's got three kids and one knee, to do that up and down for
03:1790 minutes.
03:18But long throws, they have never really gone away, right?
03:22And trust me, as a goalkeeper that no one will ever describe as tall, I see plenty of them.
03:30However, however, however, however, there is something new happening this season across multiple different sides that we've never really seen
03:38before
03:39and that is making a tangible impact on the Premier League.
03:43And I would like to both show and explain it to you right now.
03:48Defensive midfielders, CDMs, number sixes, pivots, whatever term you like to use to describe them,
03:54being given the very specific job of making late runs beyond their midfield colleagues, beyond a number of the forwards,
04:01to arrive late in the box, untracked, to offer a goal threat.
04:05Ryan Gravenberch, Moises Caicedo, João Paulinha, Martin Zubamendi, Casemiro, Idrissa Gueye, Ladislav Krejci,
04:13and presumably a few others that I just simply haven't had the energy to go through and pick out,
04:18have all scored open play goals already this season.
04:23And while there is certainly a variety to them, they do tend to fall into two categories.
04:29First, the sort of obvious one of all the players to worry about when you're defending deep,
04:33the number six seems to be the very bottom of the list of priorities.
04:36Moises Caicedo here against Brentford is given all the time in the world on the edge of the box to
04:41take a touch,
04:42line it up and get his shot away.
04:44You wind it back a bit, Kevin Sharder is, like, sort of with him during the move,
04:48but when it breaks, he just does not react to that at all, because, well, why would he?
04:54The guy's an attacker, his defensive responsibilities are usually the last thing on his mind.
04:59Sitting on another player is something he's very rarely tasked with,
05:02so Caicedo, out of all the Chelsea players here, will naturally be the free one.
05:08Next up, we've got João Paulinha against Wolves, and they're defending deep.
05:12They've got plenty of men behind the ball, and yet Paulinha is able to just drift off the back of
05:17Andre here,
05:18and as the cross comes in, look how much room he's got on the edge of the box.
05:24Nobody is alive to the idea that he might be dangerous there, and when it drops,
05:29given every single Wolves player on the whole pitch, in the world, right,
05:33is contained within this box here, look at somehow the space he still finds himself with.
05:40They are, to use some young person's vernacular, sleeping on him there,
05:44because why wouldn't you be?
05:46There's forwards, there's attackers, there's other midfielders, there's wingers.
05:50If the centre-backs got involved, then you know he'd be worried about the aerial threat.
05:54He's so far down the list of priorities.
05:56And yes, right, I hear you, right, defensive midfielders get a bit of space on the edge of the box,
06:01and they'll have a shot when they do.
06:03I understand, that's not exactly groundbreaking stuff.
06:06You know, if you can put the knife down, okay, it's the other kind of goal they seem to be
06:11getting,
06:12which is really interesting.
06:14This is Ryan Gravenberch in the Merseyside derby.
06:16He has the ball way back in the build-up, that's where he lives.
06:19He knocks it forward, which is his job, and he gets moving.
06:22He goes past Garner, he goes past Gaye,
06:25but obviously picking Gravenberch up isn't either of their jobs,
06:29so they just let him go.
06:31And he gets into an area where the centre-back should be alive to him,
06:34but if you stop it just before the cross,
06:37Keane has tracked Bradley, smart,
06:39and Tarkowski is marking Ekotike, which is also smart.
06:43But now, because he's doing that,
06:45and these two have their own players to worry about,
06:48there is nobody to mark this man.
06:51There is nobody to track this run.
06:53So he just keeps going, the cross is really good,
06:55the finish is even better, and that's a goal.
06:58Now that's fun, that goal, right?
07:00But you remember, this guy, Adrissa Garner-Gay,
07:02guess what he did in the same match?
07:04He's Everton's deepest midfielder, he sprays the pass out wide,
07:07he keeps his run going, and Liverpool,
07:10they've got loads of players who can pick him up,
07:12including Ryan Gravenberch,
07:13but none of those bodies would view him as their man.
07:18So he goes centre of the box, entirely unmarked,
07:20and again, when it breaks,
07:22look at the space he's got to get his shot away.
07:25Even Craigie, for Wolves,
07:27which I have absolutely no idea if I'm pronouncing correctly,
07:29I've literally only ever seen it written down,
07:31that's about right, isn't it, him?
07:33He scores a near identical goal to Ryan Gravenberch,
07:36he makes his run from really deep,
07:38he isn't tracked by anyone,
07:39Longstaff at least realises the danger,
07:42but the lead centre-backs are busy with their proper jobs,
07:45he can't recover, it's clipped into him,
07:47and he scores.
07:48Do you see what is going on here?
07:50Nobody bothers to track a number six,
07:52nobody bothers to mark a number six,
07:55and teams are starting to use this to their advantage.
07:59Tenardi for Newcastle against Forest,
08:00he doesn't score here,
08:01but this is the second phase after a corner,
08:04he finds himself out wide,
08:06and not one player in red is so much as even looking at him,
08:11they could not care what he is doing.
08:13Morgan Gibbs-White,
08:14who was trying to press him in open play,
08:16is here,
08:17and from this ball,
08:18he runs untracked all the way into the box,
08:21and if you just keep your eyes on Sivana here,
08:25he actually turns his back to him in flight,
08:28because he thinks,
08:29oh, this must be for Sven Botman.
08:31He does not realise Tenardi is even there,
08:34right up until he gets the ball,
08:36because again,
08:38why would he?
08:39In open plays,
08:40looking out for Valtimada,
08:41at set pieces,
08:41he's probably looking after one of the centre-backs,
08:44the man who was supposed to be sitting on Newcastle's deepest midfielder,
08:48is also Forest's most attacking midfielder,
08:52the least likely one to take responsibility.
08:55And it's only an unreal save from Matt Sells
08:57that stops this being the very best example in the entire video.
09:01And I mean,
09:02even Caicedo against Liverpool the other week,
09:04he slips behind Sabah's light,
09:05and not one Liverpool player seems to know whose job it is to jump onto him.
09:10We obviously covered this extensively in the video we did on this game,
09:13but Graven Birch has got his hands down the back of Enzo Short,
09:16so he's out of the picture.
09:18Malé Gusto attracts McAllister to him,
09:20so he's out of the picture as well.
09:22And neither of the centre-backs want to jump out to him,
09:25because again,
09:26how can it possibly be the responsibility of a centre-back
09:29to aggressively push on to a number six when they have the ball?
09:34It does not compute,
09:35the pieces don't fit.
09:37The man whose job it is,
09:38is here.
09:38He's absolutely miles away,
09:41so he's got all the time in the world he wants to shoot.
09:44And again,
09:45okay,
09:45this might not seem that groundbreaking to you.
09:48Runs from deep are hard to track.
09:50Midfielders shoot from the edge of the box.
09:52The question is,
09:54is this actually making a tangible difference
09:57to the make-up and the results in the Premier League?
10:00Well,
10:00I have brought with me as a gift to you
10:04some numbers.
10:04And they are,
10:05although we're just going to pop
10:07tiny little asterisks up here for the next minute or so,
10:10right?
10:11But they are very interesting.
10:13So last season,
10:14goal scorers in the Premier League,
10:15there were 271 of them.
10:18And you would have to go all the way down the goal scorer rankings
10:21to 57th
10:22before you found someone who isn't a forward.
10:25And even then,
10:26it's Enzo Fernandes' Chelsea,
10:28who very often played as a 10.
10:30To find a defensive midfielder,
10:32you've got Tonali in 78th,
10:34who played like half the season as a number eight.
10:36Declan Rice right behind him,
10:38who did exactly the same.
10:40So I'd honestly say,
10:41you've got to go down to Carlos Belieber
10:43in 119th place
10:46with three goals
10:48before you find any defensive midfielders.
10:51Pivots,
10:51number sixes,
10:52again,
10:52whatever you want to call them,
10:54they are not making any impact
10:56in the goal scoring charts.
10:58Because obviously,
10:59why would they?
11:00But should we have a little look
11:02at what's going on
11:03this season?
11:06Yes,
11:06obviously,
11:07we should.
11:07You've got Caicedo in joint fifth,
11:10Zubamendi in 19th,
11:12Paulinia in 27th,
11:13Gravenbirch in 29th,
11:15Casemiro 53rd,
11:17Kregi 58th,
11:18Gaye 70th.
11:20You've gone from not one single
11:22solitary defensive midfielder
11:24in the top 100 Premier League
11:26goal scorers last season
11:28to seven of them.
11:30And do you know how many centre-backs
11:31are in that top 100
11:33living as we are in this age
11:35of set pieces meaning
11:36absolutely everything
11:37and we've all got to go
11:38head the ball.
11:39That's how we score goals now.
11:41Six.
11:42Only six.
11:44Which means,
11:45right now,
11:46unmarked CDMs
11:48are a bigger goal threat
11:49in the Premier League
11:50than your two biggest lads
11:52going up for every single corner kick
11:54and long throw.
11:56And yes,
11:57of course,
11:58the asterisks,
11:59did I put it on that side?
12:00I can't remember what side I put it on.
12:01It's a very small sample size.
12:03We've played
12:04seven games of the season.
12:06That is not enough
12:06to scientifically say
12:07something major has changed
12:09but I think
12:10it's a big enough sample size
12:12we can say that
12:13something big
12:14is changing.
12:15And it is,
12:16yes,
12:16maybe a little bit tenuous
12:18but I do think it's interesting
12:19that the two most prominent
12:21number sixes
12:22in the Premier League,
12:24that is Caicedo and Gravenbirch,
12:25whatever you want to say
12:26about anybody else,
12:27the fact they've both
12:28already gone and broken
12:30all their own personal
12:31goal scoring records
12:32from the time at the club
12:33and last season
12:34and everything,
12:35I don't think
12:36that is a coincidence.
12:38So hopefully,
12:39you,
12:39my dear pal,
12:41you found that interesting.
12:42And hey,
12:43maybe the next time
12:44you're watching a game
12:44that includes a proper
12:45defensive number six,
12:46you'll see these
12:47untracked runs
12:48or these unmarked
12:49based on the edge of the box.
12:50You can point that out
12:51to whoever you're watching it with.
12:53You'll look really clever.
12:54They might kiss you on the mouth.
12:55Now kiss me!
12:57But yes,
12:58the big tactical innovation
13:00this season
13:01that nobody appears
13:01to be talking about
13:02is the number six
13:04and their goal scoring
13:06responsibilities
13:07because apparently
13:08just nobody
13:09ever wants to mark them.
13:10Let me know
13:11what you made
13:12of all this
13:13and I'm genuinely
13:13serious there
13:14because possibly
13:16I'm just going mad
13:16so it'd be nice to know
13:17if anybody else
13:18thinks they've spotted this
13:18in the comments down below
13:19and of course
13:20forget to like the video
13:22share the video
13:22subscribe to ACFC
13:24if you have not already
13:25and catch me across
13:26all the social medias
13:27at Adam Cleary
13:27C-L-E-R-Y
13:29if you thought
13:29this was a bad concept
13:31if you were like
13:31I can't believe
13:32I've just sat here
13:33for 15 minutes
13:34and watched them
13:34talk about this
13:35well then
13:36if you've got
13:37any better ideas
13:38members are allowed
13:39to suggest them
13:40and we take those ideas
13:41and we've done like
13:41three of them already
13:42and they've all been
13:43really good
13:43so if you'd like
13:44to join the channel
13:45and have a say
13:46creatively
13:47and directorially
13:48that's how you do it
13:49the link's down below
13:50it's loads of fun
13:51I love doing it
13:51until next time though
13:54that's it
13:54I've said everything
13:55that's
13:56that's
13:56that's
13:56that's what they're doing
13:57that's what that is
13:58that you may be seeing
13:59or not
14:00is the case
14:01maybe
14:01but it's been a long one
14:03for me this
14:04I'm
14:05going to go lie down
14:06yes that'll be nice
14:08goodbye
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