Croatia vs Denmark
Croatia were far more fluid in their use of the 352 system, using more ball possession to breakdown the spaces within Denmark’s structure. The first structural difference saw Stimac start lots of attacks by carrying the ball into midfield and then starting attacks from a far more advanced position. This was met with a positional […]
Russia vs Germany
Germany’s attacking set up mirrored lots of the same facets of the opening game, however the change in the strike partnership saw them alter the ball movements ever so slightly. Talisman and captain Jurgen Klinsmann came into the line up to replace Kuntz, as did Oliver Bierhoff make the line up to replace Bobic. Hassler […]
Scotland vs England
England’s system of play would alter during the match, however the basic premise was a 3-5-2 system as illustrated below. The pivot point in the midfield was taken up by Southgate, how would press forward with the midfielders, but could also drop back into defense when required. Neville and Pearce were given license to attack […]
France vs Spain
France’s overall attack play was predicated upon a cohesive defensive shape that then gave them opportunities to attack centrally, should the opponent leave gaps, or to attack the flanks on the weak side should they pin an opponent to one side. When starting play France were quite direct, often using a long chipped ball from […]
Czech Republic vs Italy
Italy maintained their Arigo Sacchi trademark system and style, working within an aggressive 4-4-2 system that covers every blade of the Anfield grass. Sacchi has changed out the wingers and strike partnership in this match, which slightly alters how Italy attack during build up and in transition. No longer do Italy have the creative skill […]
Portugal vs Turkey
Coach Antonio Oliveira would again set up Portugal in a very fluid system, which in this particular match took more of a 4-1-4-1 shape. With Oceano dropping out of the team it caused a slight re-shuffle, led primarily by Folha coming into the left side and taking up the role of a more traditional wide […]
Switzerland vs Holland
Holland’s system of play was a 343 diamond system, which utilized short build up play to move the ball into the inside channels of the midfield, and then penetrative passes were played into the striker or wingers depending on where the opposition back line moved to. Bogarde & Reiziger were positioned higher up the field […]
Bulgaria vs Romania
Bulgaria’s attacking formation was predicated on the narrow front three’s positioning, with the intent of pinning Romania’s full backs and forcing them to defend 4v3. Both Stoichkov & Kostadinov remained in advanced positions during transition, each within the width of the 18 yard box. Penev served as a traditional target man, linking the play where […]
Euro 96 Round 1 Attack Analysis
The opening round of matches have taken place at Euro 96, and now that we have compiled our data set we can take a closer look at how each team performed statistically. Attack Value Within this graph we have compiled each teams total number of attacks on goal and placed them alongside their expected goals […]
Turkey vs Croatia
Turkey were extremely comfortable on the ball at the back, which gave them the ability to build possession but also play direct accurate passes into the forwards. Sukur was the lone striker with Sergen playing underneath & between the lines, but could run in behind should a ball be flicked on by Sukur. Ogun & […]