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Resolving Bradley's ambiguous role key for Vanney success
Toronto FC has fired manager Ryan Nelsen and his coaching staff after he made public his rancor against general manager Tim Bezbatchenko following the team’s 3-0 loss to New England. The recent news that CEO Tim Leiweke, who strongly supported Nelsen, was leaving MLSE has left a difficult environment in Toronto and the New Zealander in a hot seat due to the team’s record of 9-9-6 that was engineered despite the arrival of DP as Michael Bradley and Jermain Defoe during the last offseason.
Nelsen has now been replaced by former MLS player and assistant GM Greg Vanney. What should we expect from Vanney? He clearly told reporters the team is suited to play a 4-4-2 and that he will stick with this formation.
This is a good starting point, as every team needs time to adjust to a new system and there isn’t any time available for TFC with just 10 games remaining until the end of the regular season. However, Toronto's record is 3-5-5 over the last 13 games, with no wins at home since July 12. Also, many goals have been conceded, so although the system will remain the same, some tactical changes have to be made.
During his introductory press conference, the 40-year-old Vanney told reporters that his goal is to have his team playing more aggressively, with no fear.
"The priority here is to sort of unleash the players a little bit and take the burden and allow them to express themselves and just change the energy,” he said. “I think over the last several games, we've looked energy-less, really… the passes backwards, where we start the game in our own half of the field, that’s not an energy-positive way to start the game, especially when you come off a long game prep getting ready for that first whistle. The starts have been passive and negative and we need to be more aggressive right at the start.”
The first question for Vanney at the start of his tenure will be how to field a competitive starting eleven without captain Steven Caldwell and forward Jermain Defoe, as both are dealing with injuries. The second issue is how to deploy his new 4-4-2. The standout analyst for mlssoccer.com, Matthew Doyle, made a good point on his Armchair Analyst column writing about Ryan Nelsen’s decision to line up a double pivot formation in the 3-0 loss to the New England Revolution.
Whenever it is a classic 4-4-2 or a more offensive oriented 4-2-3-1, the shape in which Nelsen started the game against the Revs, the remaining question to be solved is who to pair alongside Michael Bradley in the No. 2 central midfield’s spot. During this season, Nelsen alternated different footballers to fill the void at this position. We have previously seen Collen Warner, Jonathan Osorio and Kyle Bekker. But, with Matias Laba traded to make room for Bradley, Nelsen looked unable to find the right solution in the middle of the park.
The problem is that Warner, Osorio and Bekker are -- or almost they were fielded as -- box- to – box midfielders. Playing a double pivot in a classic 4- 4-2 means that one player pushes forward while the other covers. This approach make sense, but once again the problem here is that none of Osorio, Bekker or Warner seemed comfortable protecting the back four. This is a big issue, as it risks leaving TFC’s back line essentially unprotected since Bradley was no longer
employed as a pure holding midfielder.
In fact, with the USMNT international playing as a ‘false ten’ or, in a 4-4-2 as an advancing forward midfielder, one that has the option to push up front looking for spaces between the lines, the second central midfielder has to be more defensive-oriented, in the way to cover the flat four back line.
This comes down to the manager’s instructions to his players. However, it should be noted that if properly utilized, playing two deep box-to-box midfielders is not out of the question. Some years ago, Italian head coach Luigi Del Neri made a huge statement asserting his team had to be good enough to play a 4-4-2 shape without true holding midfielders. Asking to explain his statement, he replied that his back line must to be able to play ‘alone’, i.e. without midfield protection.
Whatever your preference is -- either one holding midfielder, two holding midfielders, or none - the key is that the squad has to be compact and play short, both with or without the ball.
The goal allowed to Kelyn Rowe on Saturday isn’t proof against the double pivot system, as TFC lost the ball in the build-up. When footballers are usually spread out to gain width, it becomes hard to be strict and compact if the ball is lost at that point.
Although it is true that Bradley could have been more cautious rather than challenging Rowe when he regained the ball, the goal essentially came about from the Toronto’s midfielder missed tackle that he should have avoided.
So the real concern here is the way in which Vanney will use the 4-4-2. If the new manager takes away some defensive tasks from Bradley, he needs to pair a more defensive-oriented central midfielder alongside him.
Should this be his approach, Kyle Bekker appears to be the most ready to take the challenge of the holding midfielder job. Otherwise, Vanney has to ask his DP to play a less ambiguous central midfielder/attacking midfielder role than we’ve seen for most of the season.
The decision is up to the manager.
Michele Tossani is a football tactician with a Ph.D. in History. Michele resides in Florence, Italy and is a tactical analyst for Futbol-Tactico.com
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