Coach Reese and Gaz Lee on Match Analysis

[@chippy977]

Brilliant video was waiting for this !

[@CoachReese]

Hi Chippy! I’m glad you found it useful! Be sure to check Gaz out on Twitter. He shares some really insightful content!

[@emilbergvall6163]

I have a question regarding Graham Potter's flexibility with formations. During his time at Brighton he used several formations, such as the 4231, 442, 352 and the 3421 and we can kinda see the same patterns at Chelsea. What does he look for when deciding which formations is the most suitable for each opponent? Does it have anything to do with what players he has available for each game or is it mostly tactical? Is he more inclined to play a certain formation to counter the opponents formation etc? May be a hard question to answer but it would be interesting to understand why he changes his formation so often.

[@CoachReese]

Hi Emil, it's a great question. I seem to recall an interview with Potter and he said it is generally a combination of the opposition and the profile of his players. Generally, the formation provides the base point, but most teams will move into different shapes when in or out of possession. Most managers are now more principle focused rather than formation focused. So, this provides much more fluidity regarding the actual formation. As long as the team maintain and play within their principles they can use a wide variety of formations. So what we see with Potter is although his teams use a variety of formations, how they play doesn't change drastically.

[@emilbergvall6163]

@@CoachReese Thanks for the answer. I remember when he faced Man U this season with Chelsea. He started the game in a 3-back but switched to a 4-back after United dominated the first 35 mins. Dont now if you watched it, but if you did, what caused the tactical change?

[@CoachReese]

@@emilbergvall6163 I didn't see it, but it could've been to match Man Utd up to avoid a potential overload in midfield that can occur when using the 3-4-3 against a 4-3-3. Also, when using wing-backs the space for the opposition to exploit during transition is generally behind the wing-back. So it could've been Man Utd were targeting this area