Dr James Malone’s Post

MD-2 in football can be a crucial day within the microcycle. Regardless of whether its a normal week, 2 or 3 game week, MD-2 is the bridge between load and recovery. It allows some opportunity to provide a stimulus to players for certain facets of phyiscal preparation. But if overdone, the players will become 'cooked' and carry fatigue into the game. Want advice on MD-2 planning? Check out the guide here: https://lnkd.in/eRjwZZ2A

Again looking back and analysing match related incidents, how do we put these into practice? Small sided games are good but are you ever really 1v4 ? No We are always doing sessions that are level or in favour of the attacking players. Is this because we want to see success from our session ? Or do we want to make the player feel better that he can score by throwing another ball in so he can get a shot ? There is plenty of things to consider, is there a right or a wrong ? So in this clip they are far better players than myself so how can I beat them ? The split second decision is to keep the ball step back and recalculate in an instant. As I do so I have the vision to see players around me who I need to protect the ball from but also see my team mate making a run. Seeing him make his run I know I cannot play a simple straight forward pass because again the players are top premier league players and will read it, so the disguise pass is the best decision I have in my head at that time. It’s amazing all the things you have to think about and the decisions you have to make within a second.

Game Model Example #2 Moment: Build (in order to create space) Concept: Between, Behind, & Escape* - Occupy space BETWEEN opposition defenders. - Occupy space BEHIND opposition lines of pressure. - Rotations & Interchanges to ESCAPE man marking. *Escape was added in the last year as our team comes across more man focused opposition strategies. This has proven to be a common response to our team's approach to the game. This has also returned more and more at the highest levels of the game (i.e. Atalanta v Bayer Leverkusen) The clip below demonstrates many of our team concepts but the focus is on the positional interchange and movements of the two central midfield players in our 3-2 build of structure. Additionally - this will be shared with the team on the decision to play the diagonal ball to the back post. The prior play had drug the opposition's back line over and gave us a potential 1v1 to attack the service.

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MD-2 is arguably the most common training day in elite football. Whether in a normal one-game week, or two-game week, MD-2 plays a crucial role when preparing players for games. According to many periodisation models, MD-2 is the start of the taper process, when load is reduced to account for the higher loading days earlier in the weekly microcycle. However, some like to still provide some element of conditioning on MD-2 rather than take things too easy. It's a fine balance between pushing and pulling the player, with the view of readiness on game day being paramount. What are the key factors to consider for MD-2 planning? Check them out here: https://lnkd.in/eRjwZZ2A

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Fredrik Bjørkan and Adrian Pereira are two lateral defenders I've been looking at in great detail this season. The short video below (dribbles on left; progressive runs on right) shows how their running style and approach to breaking through the defence differs. Despite running with the ball at a similar rate, the way they do it is very different. They both play in a back 4, predominantly on the left, and according to my model are similarly ranked across multiple metrics and overall performance. As stated in my previous post, methodology has not been picked up due to classification of stats. Dribbles, progressive runs, forward passes - even passes into the final third and passes to area - all these KPIs will appear as numbers with no further context. Video analysis helps to bridge that gap and better understand how these players function. But utilising data in such a way to show 'similarly performing' players is a fantastic starting point and highlights the complexities of play style, performance and player suitability for a team.

For my eighth opposition analysis game, I traveled to Shildon to watch top-of-the-league Redcar, who were in formidable form with 6 wins from 6. Knowing how strong they were, I invested a lot time on the pre-match analysis to prepare. Redcar were highly active on social media, sharing highlights, manager interviews, and match reports. This wealth of information allowed me to gather key insights before even watching them live. For example, I was able to identify their formation ahead of time, thanks to a manager interview where it was mentioned that Redcar usually start in a 3-5-2 formation but can switch to a 4-3-3 if the wingbacks are struggling to get involved in the game. Armed with this knowledge, I saved valuable time during the match by anticipating this change. As expected, they began the game in a 3-5-2 shape, and I was able to spot the switch to a 4-3-3 quickly when it came during the first half, having already prepared for it. Given Redcar’s high-quality players, I also focused on adding more detail to my report by identifying which foot their key players favored. This insight allowed me to provide my manager with additional tactical advice, such as which foot to force Redcar’s players onto, giving Guisborough a slight edge in preparing to face them. Guisborough managed to hold them to a 1-1 draw.