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Huge fan of how Wirtz links play for Leverkusen. His far foot receptions on vertical line breaking passes and receiving high-velocity passes even in tight spaces is really wonderful. We can see his affinity to target the box when receiving such passes.

Florian Wirtz receiving line breaking passes space-map and where he passes after receiving such passes

Reposted by Tayyab Khan

Here's something similar for Xhaka. Even though, he primarily picks the ball from the CBs and advances play, a lot of times he is also useful in circulating the ball. The viz on the left really just demonstrates that role and how he sets up attacks targeting half space channels.

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the idea of both Wirtz & Xhaka's viz was inspired from @johnspacemuller.com article on importance of far foot receptions from here: www.nytimes.com/athletic/521...

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and far foot receptions are often vital. Obviously, someone like Xhaka whose capable of such pinpoint line breaking passes really helps.

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Like I mentioned above, he often receives line breaking passes which are often launched with high-velocity and hence require great technique to control (and often utilise) the momentum in progressing and accelerating attacks. Utilisations of half-turn body orientation...

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excellent ball reception technique (half-turns and far foot receptions) fits this idea perfectly.

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bsky.app/profile/tayy... I did touched upon the importance of interiors in Alonso’s system where supporting the ball carrier and having substructures is of great importance. So, someone like Wirtz who is capable operating in the tightest of spaces thanks to his... 2/n

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excellent ball reception technique (half-turns and far foot receptions) fits this idea perfectly.

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Reposted by Tayyab Khan

📊 Heres Xhaka’s progressive carries. Notice the large spaces (right graph) which show these movements where he’s responsible in carrying the ball in the final third to create the substructures which Leverkusen utilise for progression. (data via @statsbomb.com )

granit Xhaka, progressive carries map in bundesliga 2023-24

Reposted by Tayyab Khan

How I see it is that Alonso’s system heavily depends on the interiors on how Leverkusen construct their attacks. The system is reliant on having different substructures/connections to progress play in which the interior occupying the half space channel almost always... 1/n

Curious to see where’s Wirtz here?

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During a more ‘transitional phase’ or when the state of game is more in ‘motion’, its more common the the # 6 being responsible to advance the ball higher up (in to out carries), which mostly creates a diamond/triangles in the wider lanes like in the below examples 4/n

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These connections/substructures also, help in creating space for third man runs: the close connections allow quick exchange of passes which along with simultaneous movements from the neighbouring players serve as decoy movements opening up critical space for the third man run 3/n

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For example, vs a more settled block: Here, Hofmann placed in the half space channel experiences tight pressure. Still, by utilising wall passes, body orientations and supporting movements from the ‘substructure’ Leverkusen are able to set up their attack. 2/n

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i remember having VSDC video editor back in the day, would be worth a shot checking out. even if its not available, almost any video editor which allows to take snapshots from footage would work. let me know if you need any further help in the future!

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also, if you've got a Mac/iPad, id recommend checking out linearity curve. the interface is much more friendly and easy to use compared to Inkscape. though, they recently rolled out a new update, where exporting the images is now part of their paid version.

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Inkscape to edit the snapshots and iMovie to compile the snaps with the footage. would be a bit tedious initially, but once you get the hang of it, your workflow would be much smoother.

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Reposted by Tayyab Khan

playthr-vs-man-orientation

Video Analysis of Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen: Mastering "Playing Through the Press" and Adapting to Man-Oriented Pressing vimeo.com/1031470735?s...

vimeo.com

This is "playthr-vs-man-orientation" by Tayyab Khan on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

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playthr-vs-man-orientation

Video Analysis of Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen: Mastering "Playing Through the Press" and Adapting to Man-Oriented Pressing vimeo.com/1031470735?s...

vimeo.com

This is "playthr-vs-man-orientation" by Tayyab Khan on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

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Reposted by Tayyab Khan

Tayyab Khan @tayyabito.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Did something similar for Tapsoba and trying to visualise his unreal ball playing ability.

Tayyab Khan @tayyabito.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Did something similar for Tapsoba and trying to visualise his unreal ball playing ability.

Tayyab Khan @tayyabito.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

been recently playing around @statsbomb.bsky.social 360 open dataset on Bayer Leverkusen, I tried to create a metric which measures space for a pass upon reception. Feedbacks appreciated!

granit Xhaka to florian wirtz passmap using statsbomb 360 data to also highlight space facilitation.

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Tayyab Khan @tayyabito.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Introduce yourself with four footballers.

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Reposted by Tayyab Khan

Tayyab Khan @tayyabito.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Want to share some recent work: I wrote a scout report last season on Alejandro Baldé. Would appreciate any feedbacks! tayyab415.substack.com/p/alejandro-...

tayyab415.substack.com

Alejandro Baldé: Scout Report

Diving deep into FC Barcelona’s emerging sensation—Alejandro Baldé. The article comprises of his scouting from the last season followed by my opinions on the player.