Love this and that you're writing again (though I've enjoyed the twitter threads too!).
False 9 is something I've just not been able to get working, especially in high tempo, high pressing "compress the pitch" setups. The game just seems to fly past him. Is there any particular approach you took with Nwaneri to get those kind of numbers out of him? How does he score most of his goals?
The most common pattern is that we are quite slow and controlled during the early build-up, gradually reaching a point where our entire team is in the opposition half. Wingbacks gradually overlap, and the attackers all have a lot of freedom; Saka and Martinelli/Mora will attack the half-space and Nwaneri is completely free to drop deeper and roam. It results in a lot of quick, short inter-changes and overloads most opposition defences.
Love this and that you're writing again (though I've enjoyed the twitter threads too!).
False 9 is something I've just not been able to get working, especially in high tempo, high pressing "compress the pitch" setups. The game just seems to fly past him. Is there any particular approach you took with Nwaneri to get those kind of numbers out of him? How does he score most of his goals?
Thank you, John. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
The most common pattern is that we are quite slow and controlled during the early build-up, gradually reaching a point where our entire team is in the opposition half. Wingbacks gradually overlap, and the attackers all have a lot of freedom; Saka and Martinelli/Mora will attack the half-space and Nwaneri is completely free to drop deeper and roam. It results in a lot of quick, short inter-changes and overloads most opposition defences.