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Manchester City have hypothetically shattered their transfer record to acquire Elliot Anderson. In this tactical analysis, we break down why the versatile midfielder is worth every penny and a perfect fit for the Premier League champions.
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00:00Man City have shattered their transfer record to buy Elliot Anderson and he's worth every single
00:05penny. From shutting down countless attacks, playing through the lines and connecting the
00:10team entirely, I'm Jacob Horsfall, 442's resident tactician and this is why Elliot Anderson may
00:15well be perfect for Manchester City. It's Elliot Anderson! Elliot Anderson is a unique type of
00:26player. His stature and his mobility remind you of a well-rounded number eight. Now he can do that
00:32and if you took up that role under Enzo Maresca then I have no doubt that he would be brilliant,
00:36being able to connect players across big distances and getting the final third and hurt teams.
00:41But he's more than just a final third player. Thomas Tuchel labelled him a mobile number six.
00:48The word mobile is particularly important because it's half the reason that Thomas Tuchel has him as
00:52nailed on starter for England and it's a huge reason as to why Manchester City have paid the
00:57big bucks for the jury midfielder. One of Anderson's biggest strengths is his spatial awareness. He
01:03regularly sits as the anger as his team goes forward which means that he is the safety option,
01:08tasked with maintaining pressure on the opposition's box. To do that he has to read the attacking
01:12situation and shift the ball into dangerous space regularly, which for Manchester City is key. They
01:17will regularly come up against those low block sides so having a player who can pick up the ball
01:21and find players in space on a consistent basis, well that is huge. Which may suggest that when
01:28Maresca looks to use a 3-1-6 in position that Elliot Anderson could be the holding midfield player who
01:33acts as that sort of anchor. Now Rodri obviously will have a say on that and he affects how Elliot
01:39Anderson could be used but he missed out on 27 games through injury last season. So having another
01:45player who's effective as that deep sort of playmaker, well that's only a positive.
01:50But with this City team there's one thing that connects every single player on this pitch,
01:56positional fluidity. Even if he was to be sort of a mobile number six as Thomas Tuchel would say,
02:01he still wouldn't just be a number six, he'd be playing in multiple different positions over the
02:05course of 90 minutes which is something he proved he can do during his time at Nottingham Forest.
02:10Anderson has dropped into the back three here, he does this to allow Forest right back to push on when
02:14they have the ball. But when Villa counter-attack, he's in an uncomfortable position. His instinct here is to
02:19step out to the man with the ball to stop the central carry. But his man really in this case
02:24is this runner. So he maintains a slightly central position to protect that centre space before jumping
02:29to the runner as soon as the ball is played and then smashing straight through him. Which takes me
02:34back to the point of spatial awareness. Elliot Anderson is so aware of his surroundings and has such an
02:39appreciation for timing that he can play in pretty much any position. If we look at the 23 year old
02:45World Cup heat map which is probably the most accurate comparison to Manchester City, you see
02:49him cover the entirety of the mid third whilst also popping up in the defensive and the attacking third.
02:55That's because he has the intelligence and the technical ability to contribute for his side in
03:00all three thirds of the pitch. Which means if Rodri stays and we see a pivot of Rodri and Anderson,
03:05Anderson could very easily be the number eight who pops up in the half space and makes things happen.
03:10Here we see Forest push players onto the last line to pin Newcastle's defenders inside the box.
03:15Anderson has the ball set for him and instead of keeping the slow tempo of the move he finds an
03:20incisive pass beyond Newcastle's midfield block. He then darts into the box exploiting the space left
03:25by Newcastle defenders being pinned inside their box. He receives the ball and keeps the ball away
03:30from the oncoming challenge before then finding a way to get a shot off. Anderson has that creative
03:35gift that allows him to be the perfect deep playmaker but also it allows him to be a serious
03:40threat in advanced positions. Only 10 Premier League players creating more chances
03:45in the Premier League last season. Bearing in mind he was in a team who had the 8th lowest possession
03:49and the 5th lowest XG. Now that's not bad going from the Geordie Maradona.
03:57Elliot Anderson is a player who has grown into press evasiveness and because of him playing for a
04:02lower league team he's been forced into that and being able to adapt to teams who press his side very
04:07very high. At Nottingham Forest, Anderson would often find himself in a 3-1 build up, meaning he'd have his
04:12back to
04:13goal in 1v1s, with most of his passing options being higher up the pitch. Gibbs-Wye, Hubsan-Odoi,
04:19Dannon-Odoi, all those types of players, they want to receive the ball in the opposition's half in
04:24between the lines, which meant Elliot Anderson, well he had to do a lot of breaking of the lines.
04:29For England, we've seen him constantly break the lines this summer. He scans early here and
04:33identifies Madueke and Jude Bellingham making sharp direction changes to go in beyond. He then doesn't
04:38scan again and comes towards the ball to create separation and disguise his pass over the Croatia
04:43press and through to his England teammates, which is the foundation of Elliot Anderson's line breaking.
04:49Yes, his pass map against Panama shows him playing a ridiculous volume of forward passes,
04:54but he also held an 85.52% pass completion rate whilst attempting the fourth most passes
04:59in the Premier League last season. So there's a little bit more to it than just constantly playing forwards.
05:05Video aside for a second, here's a hypothetical question for you. Imagine you're on your holidays
05:10for the World Cup or you're travelling for work and can't get your World Cup fix. You've got your TV
05:15licence sorted so that you can watch the BBC when you're at home in the UK, but not when you're
05:20abroad.
05:21So what do you do? Well, our office friends here at Tom's Guide have the answer because they've tried out
05:26a wide range of VPNs and Norton VPN stands out as a strong option. Fast, reliable, and it comes with
05:33a
05:3360 day money back guarantee, enough to cover the entirety of the World Cup tournament. So that
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05:44offer available. All you've got to do is head down to the description and click the link to find out
05:48more. But for now, let's get back to this video. Elliot Anderson is in an advanced position here and
05:53he looks towards the box, which suggests he's probably going to play a ball towards the back post.
05:57But you see a little glance towards Gibbs White here. This allows Anderson to recognise Gibbs
06:03White's darting movement across the edge of the 18-yard box. However, he keeps his hips forward
06:09and his head looking towards the ball as he steps up to hit it. This means that these two Manchester
06:14United players switch off as they assume the ball is going to be going into the box and they can
06:18then
06:18react to it once it's entered the box. But instead, Elliot Anderson fizzes the ball in to the edge of
06:23the
06:23box and Gibbs White has a beautiful finish toward goal. And that's why Elliot Anderson is able to
06:28break the line so regularly because he sees passes that not only do other people not see,
06:32but he's able to disguise them. So if they do clock on to what he's trying to do,
06:36well, they're probably clocked on to the wrong thing. At Man City, you expect he'll have 11 players
06:41in front of him trying to crowd out space. So if he can use that disguise to bait the opposition
06:46out
06:46before playing a different space, well, Man City may have another way to break through against those
06:51sides that can really, really frustrate you. Enzo, you're back at Manchester City for a third time.
06:57Now, Mariska has a bit of a task on his hands with this Man City side to get it into
07:00shape for the
07:01way he may want it to look. But Elliot Anderson, he can be Swiss army knife and he can play
07:06in a few
07:07different roles. The first would be next to Rodri as that all phase number eight. He can step forward to
07:13join the attacking line and rotate to drift out wide, which he actually did for Newcastle when he first
07:18came through. Believe it or not, he played a few games on the wing. But with this Man City team,
07:23he could also act as someone who facilitates Nick O'Reilly's presence in the box. One of Man City's
07:28biggest things last season was getting Nick O'Reilly into the final third to score headers.
07:32Elliot Anderson can be someone who can rotate out of that central space or out of that advanced area
07:37to allow Nick O'Reilly to do exactly that. The number eight role that a Man City team would ask
07:43of him,
07:43for me, is perfectly suited to Elliot Anderson, and the data backs that up. In the Premier League,
07:49no outfield player took more touches than Elliot Anderson. No player won the ball in the mid-third
07:53more than him, and he ranked 10th for successful take-ons. So have him in that role that requires
07:58him to tap into all three thirds of the pitch, and well, for me, you get the best out of
08:03Elliot Anderson.
08:04Erling Haaland, for example, would love to see Anderson in these advanced positions.
08:08Here we see he beats Diallo using a bit of disguise with the backwards touch, and then delivers from
08:13that right channel to the back post. A type of cross that Haaland has scored from on numerous occasions.
08:19The other role that best suits Elliot Anderson would be that number six position. If Man City
08:23slot him in as the sixth with Rodri potentially leaving, or just being, well, constantly injured,
08:29well, Elliot Anderson could be trusted to allow others to bump on whilst he covers the mass space.
08:34Last season we saw him in basically a two-man midfield with Gibbs White having more of that
08:38three role as the number 10, and that meant that Anderson had to cover so much distance
08:43to help Forrest defend. Here we see him protecting the central space in case this man decides to try
08:48play inside, but as soon as that player decides to play in beyond the Forrest defence, Anderson eats
08:54up ground to win the ball back. Because of his past with Nottingham Forest, he has this sort of
08:59timing and appreciation for when to make certain jumps to protect his defence, which for Manchester
09:06City could be really important for them, being able to maintain pressure at all times. Now,
09:11Anderson's technical qualities are something that is huge for Manchester City in possession,
09:15something Enzo Mareska will really, really love. But his athleticism and his physical traits, well,
09:21they're what really make Elliot Anderson special. Which means you get the best of both worlds. You get a
09:27player who in possession can be the difference maker and someone who allows you to constantly
09:31pressure the opposition, but also someone who out of possession constantly make sure that you're
09:36secure. Someone who hunts down balls, someone who chases down the opposition. And that is huge for a
09:42Man City midfield that maybe has grown a little bit tired, has grown a little bit old over time,
09:48because Elliot Anderson is going to be huge for them next season. I've been Jacob Horsford,
09:52this has been 442, $150 million. Elliot Anderson's worth every single penny. And I'll see you all later
09:59for some more Tip Top Analysis. Peace.
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