Manager Candidates: An in-depth look at SOME of the potential candidates to replace Poch if/when he departs

I still don't believe the Manager is the biggest issue, outgoing or incoming......

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gents,

Today I am taking a deep dive into SOME of the managers we have been linked with and/or people have suggested. I will be looking at everything from records to style of play.

I just want to put it out there that I am not necessarily advocating we sack Poch and/or hire any of the names mentioned below. Although I believe Poch has/is burning his bridges there are A LOT of other things that need to change before we can hire a methodical coach/manager to push us forward.

Disclaimer: I have not looked at the likes of Xabi Alonso, Simeone etc as I don’t see them being attainable, realistically.

Lets get into it!!

Ruben Amorim - 39 years old - Sporting Lisbon - Tenure: 2020-Present Day

Ruben Amorim uses a 3-4-3 formation predominantly, but like with all modern methodical coaches that formation changes multiple times during a game in and out of possession.

His team build up from the back, using their 3 centre backs to do so, the deeper of the two centre midfielders will drop in as a bounce pass option and therefore drags in an opposition midfielder, his partner will be 10-20 yards further forward and available to receive the ball once the press is beaten. Due to the deeper midfielder dropping in teams can be reluctant to press the centre defenders in case the press is beaten leaving huge gap in centre midfield, it also allows one of the centre halves to bring the ball out from the back whilst maintaining shape.

The wing backs push high and the wingers invert in to half spaces, once the press is beaten they have the option of passing in to pockets to the wingers or advanced centre midfielder or through the liens and into the channels.

In the defensive phase Sporting press with their front 3 very narrow in order to avoid the ball played into central areas. The two centre midfielders also press, leaving the wing backs and the centre backs to defend deeper. They press with curved runs to force the opposition to play the pass to a certain area of the pitch, the wing back will then close down the free player that has received the ball.

The wingbacks use the touchline as an ‘additional defender’ when pressing which means they try and push the player to take or pass the ball down the line rather than inside.

In possession in the oppositions half they build up in a 3-2-5 formation with the 2 centre midfielders being central short pass options and the wing backs being high and wide, this allows the wide attackers/wingers to invert into half spaces to receive the ball. Although this is a great shape to build up in, it has its downfalls, it leaves them open to the counter attack and against teams with pace they can be vulnerable due to their high line.

That is a brief overview on Sporting Lisbon’s shape under Ruben Amorim.

His record at Sporting is 190 Matches, 133 Wins, 27 Draws & 30 Losses. His team have scored 402 goals and conceded 169, with a goal difference of +233.

Arne Slot - 45 years old - Feyenoord - Tenure: 2021-Present Day

Slot’s preferred formation is a 4-2-3-1 building up using his GK as an extra man and his CB’s starting the build up play. He prefers to use younger hungry players in his team, predominantly because he knows if they are having an off day or their plans are not working that his side will be coached to beat the opposition on hunger and determination.

In build up the full back pushes on with the pivot player on his side dropping on to the end of a back 3 for a numerical advantage, the other full back will invert to take up the pivot players space, this allows the pivot player to drop in to a half back space and dictate play.

The midfield 2 push high during attacks and try to get involved, link play, press and create, the full backs then invert and in the attacking phase can be seen in a 2-2-2-4 formation at times.

As the ball is moving up the field the wingers start wide, stretching the opposition and invert during combination/link up play, this can leave gaps and holes for them to exploit. They play centrally, it is very rare for them to go wide and cross the ball in, it is predominantly central and is built up via combination plays and intricate passes.

That is a brief overview on Arne Slot’s tactics and style of play.

His record at Feyenoord is 130 games, 83 wins, 24 draws and 23 losses. His team have scored 300 goals and conceded 140, with a goal difference of +160.

Michel Sanchez - 48 years old - Girona - Tenure: 2021-Present Day

Sanchez uses a 4-1-4-1 formation predominantly, but again that changes consistently through a match, with build ups looking like a 3-2-5 or even a 3-1-6 at times. He has his team build up in a back 3 with a full back inverting into midfield and the 3 remaining defenders sliding across.

From goal kicks they use on of the centre backs to take the kick and pass to the GK, this then creates 2 angles for him to pass to the centre backs which are easy for opposition to press BUT leave a gap in the midfield for the inverted full back and lone DM to pick up the ball. once the players pressing the centre backs realise they tend to drop one of the pressers into the centre to avoid the midfield overload, leaving one of the centre backs free to receive from the GK.

The centre back then has 2 passing options, either the full back or one of the two players who are now occupying the pivot, providing they are not being marked tightly. If the passing options are occupied the centre back will bring the ball out himself with one of the players occupying the pivot dropping into the centre backs position.

They will then look to get the ball wide either by creating a passing triangle to beat the opposition or a switch of play to their pacey wide players. the players wide will either be both wingers or one winger and one advanced full back, with the spare winger inverting into half spaces. Wide players are instructed to hug the touchlines in order to pin the opposition full backs back in their own half.

They build up in 4 lines rather than the usual 3, this creates more passing angles and makes them harder to press. In the opposition third they try to overload with a diamond created by a deeper midfielder at the base, the 2 8’s in between full back and centre back and the centre forward between the centre backs, this then creates an overload with the wingers being wide and having the ability to get in behind.

Occasionally they build up with a long goal kick to a target man and surround him with 2/3 players in order to retain possession from the knock down.

In the defensive phase, they press as a 4-3-3 and the front 6 press, leaving the back 4 to defend, this is slightly abnormal. When one player presses (LW for example), the direct player behind them (LCM for example) will then cover into their position.

Once the opposition get into Girona’s half they then defend in their usual 4-1-4-1 formation, this allows them to be more flexible with covering the pressing player and being fluid to shift over to avoid big gaps and spaces occurring.

That is a brief overview on Michel Sanchez’s tactics at Girona this season.

His record at Girona is 121 Matches, 60 wins, 27 draws & 34 losses. Scoring 197 goals & conceding 137 goals, with a goal difference of +60.

Vincent Kompany - 37 years old - Burnley FC - Tenure: 2022 - Present Day

Obviously Kompany’s Burnley have not pulled up too many trees in the PL this season, but it goes under the radar just how impressive his first 18 months or so have been at Burnley. He came into a club who were walking away from their manager of 9 years, a complete opposite in styles of play and also releasing/selling 23 players in his first 2 months at the helm, he then had to build a whole new squad whilst implementing his style of play to go onto create one of The BEST Championship teams of all time. Lets just remember this before we say “But, he manages Burnley” OR “He’s going to get relegated this year” and also he did a great job at Anderlecht before Burnley.

His favoured formation is a 4-2-3-1 but his sides generally always build up in a 3-2 or a 2-3 phase with the centre backs and central midfielders, this leave 5 attackers in build up. They build up at a slow-average pace until they reach the front 5/6 players depending on movements, they then leave the responsibility to trigger a fast transition to the attackers, they ignite the transition by a quick turn or quick piece of movement which then pushes the rest of the attackers into their first transition mode, this helps to stretch the opposition defence, create pockets of space and always leaves a man over at the back post.

They counter-press high and get numbers forward once the ball is turnt over, last season they were top of Championship ranking for high turnovers and PPDA (passes per defensive action) which basically shows how good a team are at pressing. They press in a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1.

In build up they use their striker as a false9 to drop in and link with the 10 and/or centre midfielders whilst the wingers invert and run in behind the defence, this will either create chance in behind or leave spaces for the full backs to take up during attacks.

That is a brief overview on Vincent Kompany’s tactics at Burnley.

His record at Burnley is 81 matches, 39 wins, 19 draws & 23 losses. His side have scored 127 goals and conceded 98, with a +29 goal difference.

After reading the above, who are you leaning more towards? It is all down to personal preference, but for me it is out of Amorim or Sanchez between these 4 candidates, I will potentially do another 4 candidates next week, depending on the situation at the club at the time.

Thank you all for reading!

Luke Rushbrook