News
FRI 09.09.2016
Football is a game which can be played according to a whole variety of very different blueprints, and over the years, each and every one of these has proved an equally valid route to achieving success. On the one hand, there have been those coaches who have elected to pack their teams full of technically gifted players in an effort to dominate possession, whilst on the other, there are those managers who have adopted a contrasting approach involving athletes with strong physical capabilities in an effort to overpower the opposition. Then of course there's an endless list of footballing philosophies, which, just like every system, have their advantages and shortfalls.
Jorge Sampaoli and Quique Setien are two coaches who are in absolutely no doubt as to their favoured approach and after even the briefest of glimpses of their sides in action, it certainly doesn't take a genius to work out what it might be. We're talking about two men whose chosen systems revolve unmistakeably around possession.
This weekend sees Jorge Sampaoli take charge of just his third LaLiga game, but even at this early stage, there can be no question as to how he's looking for his Sevilla team to play. Under Unai Emery, the Andalusians typically lined up with at least two holding midfielders, but the Argentine has scrapped that and is attempting to introduce a system in which the side enjoy more sustained periods of possession, as they seek to play their way into the opposition's box and whereby all players are tasked with applying pressure if they are dispossessed. This is the starting XI that Sampaoli seems set to go with on Saturday:
The link-up play between Steven N'Zonzi (the player who has racked up the most passes in LaLiga Santander so far), Hiroshi Kiyotake, Pablo Sarabia, Vitolo and Franco Vazquez could be the key to success for Sevilla, with the marauding Mariano regularly providing width down the right wing. Intricate combination play in midfield and decoy runs down the left often open up space for the full-back to get in behind opposition defences and cause havoc.
These patterns of play have been familiar to UD Las Palmas for some months now. In more concrete terms, since 20 October, when Quique Setien oversaw his first training session at the club.
The team's strongest traits have completely changed since the Spaniard took over: he ditched the five-man defence that Paco Herrera had been employing in the opening few games of the 2015/16 LaLiga Santander season in favour of a more daring lineup, with Roque Mesa going from a box-to-box midfielder to a more stabilising figure in front of the defence. The 27-year-old's distribution and judgement generate confidence in his teammates, while his ability to get the play going is shown by a 95% pass completion ratio in the opening period of the campaign.
This is how Las Palmas could line up in Seville:
With such a strong spine as a club that managed to hold on to its standout players from last season – Jonathan Viera, Mauricio Lemos, Mesa, Javi Varas - the new signings have boosted the side's quality further. Kevin-Prince Boateng, Marko Livaja and Michel Macedo have slotted straight into the starting lineup and have been providing impressive performances since touching down on the Canary Islands.
The telepathic connection between the duo of Macedo and Nabil El Zhar has been particularly eye-catching, with the pair making a sizeable impact down the right in the first couple of fixtures. El Zhar is actually the player who has been directly involved in the most goals in this LaLiga Santander season to date with two goals and two assists.
© LALIGA - 2016