Thanks for sharing the links, I have read them, but the thing is, I see this pattern from a lot of teams. I watch around 9-11 games (mostly the big teams) a week and I don't particular see anything unique , I just assumed it's normal?
I think a lot of managers are allowing their players more flexibility (some more so than others) since Pep arrived and took Barca to different level.
But isn't that pretty much the same for all managers at top clubs? Fortunately for us, we have the money and pulling power to recruit the very best.
I think what you are seeing is variations of zonal systems, like the one BR used to play, and in Italian football a combination of fairly rigid zonal systems.
Some of the big teams play various variations on the basic system, but as pointed out in the articles, unless it is combined with other systems, it's actually quite rigid, as can be seen when man u play.
In fact I'd argue that maureen has been trying to get this system right for years, but always ends up going back to a rigid 4231.
It's the variations that are the important part, and this is where a certain type of player is important; they need to be good enough, tactically astute enough to recognise danger/opportunity and aware enough to take advantage of opportunity, and on top of that, highly adaptable to changes in the flow of the game meaning they have to take up a different role.
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