Economics and Data Analytics at Dartmouth College 🌲 | Film Analysis and Scouting | UCL Fantasy #562🌎 8th 🇪🇸
Joined July 2024
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Every time I watch Chema Andres I can't help but think how a player like him would solve MOST of Real Madrid's problems.
He dictates the game, moves between CBs on deep and midfield buildup. Finds pockets of space deeper down the pitch and can accompany the press forward.
He is THE player.
I do think the profiles being USED to execute this high press can hurt Madrid later in the season.
Guler and Bernardo are not physically or defensively dominant enough to accompany M2M press (especially in midfield) against ELITE players.
Teams like PSG, Bayern etc... will find ways to rip it apart. It will be interesting to see how Mourinho adjusts for this.
Real Madrid’s HIGH PRESS vs Racing Santander was something new.
2-5-3 pressing shape vs Racing who looked to drop all three midfielders in buildup.
Mbappe led the press making a curved run to take out a CB, while Diomande started narrow on the 6.
Most impressively was Huijsen run to cover the RB which definitely hints at Mourinho asking players to stick to the M2M system.
Real Madrid’s HIGH PRESS vs Racing Santander was something new.
2-5-3 pressing shape vs Racing who looked to drop all three midfielders in buildup.
Mbappe led the press making a curved run to take out a CB, while Diomande started narrow on the 6.
Most impressively was Huijsen run to cover the RB which definitely hints at Mourinho asking players to stick to the M2M system.
This is brilliant.
As someone who is trying to explore options in Data Analytics in football I love commentaries like these which bridge Tactics and the beauty of the game.
These are the things that help younger students of the game like me learn.
👏👏👏
And by the way, they did it a month ago with Kane, a couple weeks ago with Yamal and went big on Mbappe.
They must have made millions running it.
The “leaks” almost tripled Mbappe’s % chance of winning the Balon D’or across Kalshi and Polymarket.
Those pushing this narrative just made a quite 3/4x and sold before final decision.
Was never close.
Btw, all those fake Balon D’or “leaks” on X were just using people as liquidity on trading markets to get better positions on Kane.
Couldn’t agree more. UCL Fantasy is incredibly exciting to play.
It’s also much more volatile across the shorter season and ESPECIALLY in the league phase.
It also rewards understanding how teams will set up in certain games and keeping track of rotations.
I genuinely believe UCL Fantasy has enormous potential to grow, and I'd love to see its community become as active and engaged as FPL's one day.
But I don't think this is the way to get there.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with questioning someone's picks, disagreeing with their analysis or pointing out decisions that didn't work out. That's part of what makes Fantasy so interesting.
But there's a difference between constructive criticism and mocking someone for putting time and effort into creating content for others.
We're all playing the same game, making decisions with the information we can gather and dealing with outcomes we can't fully control.
And if we want more people sharing their thoughts, research and experiences, surely we should be encouraging that, even when their own teams don't perform particularly well.
Disagree with the decisions. Challenge the reasoning. That's how we all learn. Just don't confuse a disappointing result with a lack of knowledge.
A little more respect would go a long way towards building the community we'd all like to see.
I think the word “relationships” perfectly sums up the direction of modern football.
Relationships between players have multiple dimensions. It can be through their strengths and weaknesses, styles of play etc…
It can also refer to distances as Fabregas mentions. The passing combinations available change when distances are shrunk or extended.
It’s a careful balance but when found… magic happens. It can take a team with less individual talent to new heights.
Manchester United are so anxious to get forward.
Seriously little thought behind the balls being played in behind at the moment.
Honestly, if this were a PSG buildup, they are finding a midfield running in behind immediatly.
Just see Doue's goal last week against City. Fabian Ruiz gets played into an open midfield. Both Bernal and Pedri lack reading to find space in behind in this clip.
I think this is a misunderstanding of the ways in which the Limitless chip can be played.
On one hand, it is useful for later gameweeks eg. MD7/8 when BIG teams play WEAK opponents and often rotate.
However this is schedule dependent. This season these matchups did not occur which led to the second use: targeting smaller teams when bigger teams play each other.
Most people hold the big teams players missing out on the small hauls. Today it worked.
PSG used Barcelona's weaker side as a press trigger.
Ferran uses a curved run to orient the goalkeeper's pass to the right side of the field, avoiding Cubarsi and Cancelo (two players who have the technical ability to bypass a press).
In doing so they are forcing Gerard Martin and Espart to find solutions (or of course a ball long). It's completely man to man oriented. Especially when it comes to Barcelona's double pivot. The setup is essentially a 2-4-1 press (as seen below).
Barcelona, in response, empty the midfield giving Joan Garcia a third option: playing a dropping striker / winger.
