ANDl Athletic added another draw, this time at home. Marcelino He threw some changes, but the team did not finish convincing the fans. Two specific situations penalized them, although they were not excessively successful when creating quality chances. His interventions during the match helped to improve his team’s game, especially with the entry of Zarraga. These are some of the tactical highlights of the clash:
Raúl García and Sancet as a pair of forwards
The great novelty in the starting eleven was the presence of Raúl García and Sancet as an attacking duo. With this arrangement, Marcelino opted for two profiles with good capacity to go to support, being Nico Williams (on the right wing) and the sides who are in charge of providing depth. At the time of getting the ball out, Athletic deployed in a 1-4-2-4, with the top four opening up the rival defense.
Thus, 2vs2 situations were generated on the wings, which allowed the team to advance through receptions of Muniain or hairstyles of Raúl García.
The supports of the couple Raul-Sancet they were a constant, being almost all in the right sector. They appeared as the third man to receive in the square between extreme-lateral-central-pivot. With Dani García and Vencedor always overlapped by rival midfielders, they were Iñigo Martínez and Yeray those who started the attacks when it was their turn to attack in positional position.
Nico Williams and Lekue they were placed in band, while one of the forwards occupied an intermediate space. A movement that made the defenders doubt and that allowed them to accumulate passes until they found a teammate with an advantage: Nico Williams with room to face or Dani-Victor Free to launch a change of orientation.
However, these attack actions did not end up generating good scoring situations. The grenade he retracted well and always had four well-positioned defenders in the area to defend against the numerous centers (up to 30) that the rojiblancos threw. Only the high pressure eased the path to goal.
Granada’s settings
As the minutes passed, Athletic was sinking Granada. A situation that the visitors accepted without much opposition. Balenziaga and Lekue began to participate more in attack and changes in Marcelino (Petxarroman, Zarraga and Williams) sought to increase offensive production. Faced with these modifications, Robert Moreno he also made various adjustments.
His first touch-up was to move from 1-4-4-2 to 1-5-4-1, with Gonalons acting as third central. A provision that helped defend wider widths and, consequently, prevent the locals from attacking on the wings as they intended. Luis Suarez he got down a bit more to start the counterattack, although he hardly had any options in that regard.
Seeing that his team was sinking excessively, Moreno went to a 1-4-1-4-1. This is a common arrangement in the rivals of the Athletic, since it was also used by Rayo Vallecano, Cádiz and Levante. With Gonalons always close to Muniain or the striker who went to support, the grenade he focused on maintaining order so that his rival did not find spaces to sneak into to attack.
Zarraga and Vencedor together in the double pivot
In response to those variants of the Nasrid, Marcelino gave entrance to Zarraga on the double pivot. The getxotarra formed a couple with Victor, something that the fans have been demanding for a long time. His entry brought more fluidity to the circulation of the ball, confirming that the good performance he had been offering is no coincidence.
Aware that Gonalons I was aware of him Muniain he started down to join the two cubs. These movements formed a highly productive partnership, causing rival midfielders to arrive a second late to each jump due to the speed and precision of the deliveries.
Zarraga found a context that favored him. A lot of possession, without the obligation to get into a lot of duels and with the need to always go forward. The pressure did not weigh on him and he wanted to be the protagonist. In the 31 minutes he was on the green he participated almost the same number of times as Dani garcia (43 touches against 34), finding partners both inside and out.
His performance was remarkable, hitting the 87% of their passes (26/30), precise close to the area (9/9 in the last third) and always playing forward (11/12 progressive passes). Although the context was inviting, the level shown by this young couple was quite positive.
Another two goals conceded in San Mamés with very little
Beyond the blackboard, the Athletic again conceded two goals in San Mamés. What is worrisome is not the way in which these arrived, but that this is becoming a trend. Of the 10 goals received so far, seven have been in their stadium. In addition, the rivals have needed very little to score each of them. Depay (Barça), Alvaro Garcia (Lightning), Falcao (Lightning), Coquelin (Villarreal) and Salvi (Cádiz) took advantage of individual errors or lack of forcefulness to score.
In front of grenade the errors were combined with the bad luck and the success of the opponent. Machís brilliantly solved an action generated after a bad positioning of Raul Garcia that caused a loss and a second play that Dani garcia I do not win. The bloc retracted well, but the Venezuelan pulled off a great individual action. Something similar happened in 1-2. waste of Muniain after a corner, good retreat and a series of rebounds that finish at the feet of Molina. Those of Marcelino they need to correct this to get once and for all that San Mamés be a fort.
