Two tactical wrinkles from the World Cup so far

We’re only a few days into the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but there’s already been plenty of surprises, a few shocks to the tournament’s big guns and an impressive performance from Australia.

Brazil’s marked men
In their 1-1 draw, Brazil relied heavily on the receive-and-turn ability of Neymar and Phillipe Coutinho to progress through the middle against Switzerland.

Full back Marcelo was far more active going forward on the left than Danilo was on the right, which helped balance the fact that Neymar and Gabriel Jesus appeared to be exchanging positions on the left flank too, somewhat diluting the wide threat on that wing.

Willian, however, had to be much more firmly attached to the right flank, because of Danilo’s reluctance to contribute in attack. Basically, situation on the wings meant it was almost always necessary for the middle players to catalyse a pass out of defence with some deft turn or flick around their markers and into space. When they did, the forward momentum would suddenly tilt downhill, as the wingers surged forward either side of Brazil’s two best play-makers.

Philippe Coutinho on the attack for Brazil. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

Paulinho and Casemiro, far less able to take defenders out on the turn or off the dribble, were correctly deemed less worthy of attention by the Swiss midfielders. In Granit Xhaka and Valon Behrami – the latter appearing in his fourth World Cup – Switzerland have two tigerish tacklers, both of whom were eager to skirt the line separating the routinely illegal from the clearly bookable.

Referees across the tournament so far have been visibly willing to allow physical play to go unpunished – rewarded, you might say – and it meant the Swiss were able to clamp down on their two most creative midfield opponents.

Neymar was fouled ten times during the match, as many fouls as the Swiss team suffered as a group. Brazil weren’t really attempting to play through others, to exploit the close attention the Swiss were paying to Neymar and Coutinho; Casemiro and Paulinho had fewer touches combined than Coutinho did on his own.

So, when a level of borderline-illegal physicality is allowed, and when they’re facing a team as compact and determined at the Swiss were, a worrying lack of engine is exposed in this Brazil team. There were stretches of the match where Brazil eased back into a fairly pliable state, showing little appetite to exert themselves, to grab the game by the throat.

Certainly, that slackness was present in the limp marking that allowed Switzerland to power in a routine header from a corner. Miranda was eased under ball by Steven Zuber, but even if he hadn’t been, Haris Seferovic was as free and clear behind them, with the lilliputian Willian his only touch-tight marker when Xherdan Shaqiri’s perfect corner arrived in the box.

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Switzerland – as was assuredly their plan – made sure Brazil weren’t just allowed to stage waves of attack again and again; the pure inventive talent in the Brazil forward line cannot be allowed to roll through their flicks and triangles unmolested, because the samba rhythm that will eventually begin to sound will allow them to dance through any defence, no matter how resolute. Disruptive, aggressive play will keep that rhythm ticking out of time.

Brazil need to right their own imbalance; Willian didn’t manage to make a single pass to striker Gabriel Jesus over the course of the match, passing most frequently to Danilo, his right-sided colleague.

Similarly, Danilo passed 16 times to Willian, per FIFA tracking stats, more than double the amount he passed to anyone else. These two were playing between themselves, by and large, and it made it easier for the Swiss team to clamp down on Marcelo and Neymar on the other flank.

Willian is a superb attacker, and was able to create crossing opportunities for himself a few times in the first half; Brazil must find a way to involve him more in the team play because not only will he be more productive, his threat will draw attention away from Neymar, Coutinho and others.

A slow start – yet another for a tournament contender – that will likely be overcome, but it’s clear that Brazil’s system can be successfully hampered with the right application of pressure.

Van Marwijk failed to think on his feet
Bert van Marwijk was guilty of an inability to adjust to France’s startling reluctance to dominate the game against Australia.

The Socceroos must have been expecting less than the 45 per cent of possession they enjoyed; Aaron Mooy, for instance, had more touches than Paul Pogba, and completed only marginally fewer passes at a comparable rate of accuracy.

France were oddly content to allow Australia free and easy possession in their own half, which played very much to the strengths – and, crucially, away from the weaknesses – of Mark Milligan, who had a fine game in the centre of defence.

Australia (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Milligan can be prone to disastrous errors when put under pressure, and the France forward line had more than enough pace and agility to harass and harry, but simply weren’t bothered to, meaning the full range and quality of Milligan’s passing could be unveiled.

So, as the match settled in, it was clear that Andrew Nabbout – a non-traditional striker, whose stamina and hustle is valued by van Marwijk over his ability to hold up the play, or win balls in the air – was going to be fairly redundant.

Because France were allowing Milligan and Sainsbury to pass freely into the final third, Nabbout’s lack of target-man skills meant Australia were constantly playing out to the flanks, something the heat map clearly shows. There’s a huge void of activity in the middle of the attacking third – a void exacerbated by the already-noted systemic alienation of Tom Rogic – that might have been helped had Tomi Juric come on sooner.

Juric is a capable target man, who has the strength and stature to hold off centre backs as imposing as Samuel Umtiti and Raphael Varane, and at least try and bring others into play.

Australia wouldn’t have the off-the-ball industry of Nabbout, nor his speed on the break, but France’s casualness meant these were less important virtues than had been anticipated.

Considering the way Australia’s wingers tuck in beside the striker when the team has the ball, the situation is primed for a striker to cushion down headers to them from passes clipped into him by the centre backs.

Without Juric, the centre backs, led by Milligan, looked to pass almost exclusively out to the wings, usually to the advanced full backs; Milligan-to-Behich was Australia’s most completed passing combination, by a large margin.

Nabbout was brought off for Juric with 25 minutes remaining, having touched the ball nine times, taken zero shots, and completed two passes. FIFA tracking stats show Juric made as many passes in his half an hour as Nabbout had managed in his hour of play.

With the way the match turned out, a priceless point cruelly snatched away by a questionable penalty call and a fluke deflected goal, that first hour of play lingers as a period of missed opportunity for Australia. Perhaps, with Juric on earlier, things may have gone differently.