How Thiago Motta is redefining possession football

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Could Thiago Motta be successful at a top club? - / collections...
Thiago Motta has quickly become one of the most interesting coaches in Europe. And with Bologna massively over-performing in Serie A, it's a perfect time to explore their unique brand of football.
Motta has described Bologna's style as a 'mix of positional and relational' football. But is it really? And could Motta be a candidate to take over at one of the elite teams? Let's find out!
Sections:
0:00 The future of possession?
0:35 A different kind of movement
3:25 Squarespace
4:18 Structure without position
6:44 The limitations of freedom?
7:35 Street football
8:55 Defensive balance
10:37 The next great coach?

[@thepurist_]

Analysis of Bologna out of possession :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2rce3uNrsmoaLs

[@manny6669]

Excellent work

[@streamingdolphin978]

what software do you use for the graphics?

[@conorcorboy9244]

I'd like to see the video of Bologna out of possession!

[@arsenalogist4285]

I think it's just normal movement, nothing new or complex

[@HowardKarpfendale]

Yesssss

[@iseekq]

They do it in the same way as in possession: free movement of pressing with replacement of each player. Give a match of theirs a watch because it's genius really and adds a whole new value of pressure, with it being so unpredictable for the opponents in possession.

[@peterhulse7239]

@@arsenalogist4285right but they better not lose the ball when doing this so what do they do immediately after losing the ball after the CB drives all the way down the field etc

[@angsukma5486]

​​​@@peterhulse7239fullbacks and DMF move on CB. They're stay on the back

[@C_98.]

Peoples talk much about the Premier League, La Liga and even Bundesliga and me like a fan of football obviously love all of them, but I really believe that Serie A deserves more attention in the last years, we always have some interesting teams to watch. A few years ago we had Napoli of Sarri, then Atalanta of Gasperini in his prime, Sassuolo of De Zerbi, Lazio of Inzaghi with a nice team, Inter with Conte, Milan with a great season with Pioli winning a tittle after many years, and recently Roma's Mourinho that was not exactly beautiful but with the "passional football" only just Special One can give us, amazing Napoli of Spaletti, Bologna of Thiago Motta and of course Inter of Inzaghi. Watch Serie A guys, is very fun 🇮🇹

[@obinnaifem8181]

Serie A is very boring to watch. Too many draws and 0-1 score lines. You can't just waste 1.5 hours of your precious time that way. I'd rather watch Bundesliga matches.

[@thelastjerkbender2505]

Don't forget Vincenzo Italiano's Fiorentina. They play some incredible football.

[@kevtrot6731]

@@obinnaifem8181bundesliga is the boring league. All the teams play a ridiculous my high line and whoever gets in behind the most win the matches. Feels like a FIFA match really. But each to their own I guess..

[@wearekraaft2978]

I see your point but lemme ask you a question: if you love chess and you are intrigued by its tactic, do you prefer to see a well played chess match, with mind battles and strategies, or just two people that move their pawns on the chessboard? The dumbest league is Premier League where players move with no cognition, running back and forward continuously causing stupid counterattacks. It's like see kids playing football. @@obinnaifem8181

[@young_speculator9144]

@@kevtrot6731how is that boring? Goals galore, transition football, high turnovers, wingbacks, number 10s (remember those??). A great showcase of sport

[@davicosta3915]

Purist, I've been loving this deep look at coaches that you're doing If I could suggest another name to put on your list, it would be Sebastian Hoeneß and his Stuttgart side, looks like a very interesting team from a tactical point of view and I'm excited to see them at Champions League next year and to see the development of Hoeneß as a coach

[@thepurist_]

I’ll check them out 🫡

[@lexgeorge2400]

yeah, you should. watched them last weekend... I was so impressed.@@thepurist_

[@desv9vfs47]

can do you prime Filippo Inzaghi player analysis@@thepurist_

[@Lotschi]

oh yes!

[@desv9vfs47]

can do you prime Filippo Inzaghi player analysis plz@@thepurist_

[@DidYaServe]

Positional football killed my confidence as a young player. I was shunted to right-back and in games where I felt we were totally dominant, I would attack like a striker and score bags of goals only to be yelled at by the coach. I like Motta's philosophy. Trust that all your players are fine footballers and let them express themselves within a tactical structure.

[@MichaelChandra00]

Nagelsman, Xabi, Arteta, and Motta. Hopefully they continue to grow and make football interesting again. Sometimes i wish all of them could face off again Klopp and Pep. Older generation coach vs new one. Especially Xabi and Nagelsmann.

[@zorashki]

Nagelsmann is overrated.. as much as Tuchel and Pochtinho.. just hype media managers.. To be fair Nagelsmann could prove me wrong but he needs a real challenge.

[@klebersonnn]

@@zorashkiclueless, go read about what he did with hoffenheim at 30/31 since you clearly think he ‘hasn’t had a challenge’

[@andrerodrigues2790]

Ruben Amorim

[@q.veyane5388]

Would've loved him to stay at Barça a bit longer than he did. Funny how all these former Barça players have interesting interpretations of football. Pep, Arterta, Xavi, Motta, Rafa Marquez... can't wait till Busquests is a coach you definitely see something.

[@vanshchhikara9737]

please do make a vid on them out of possession, and I love your vids, keep em coming!

[@urielcastro3222]

Scaloni does something similar in Argentina. He said in some interviews that the main thing about his team are the player roles and not the positions.

[@dr_ubo]

Scaloni puso a 10 número 10 a jugar + el dibu. Ojala se vuelva tendencia, que aburrido se ha vuelto el fútbol ultra medido sin el 10.

[@GregorySpikeMD]

It feels a lot like Total Football of the 70s and 80s by Rinus Michels and Cruyff

[@jirapat992]

It’s call functional play

[@lyonkennedy4892]

I can’t express enough how excited I get every time you upload; this is definitely my absolute favorite channel on YT at the moment. Would’ve loved more frequent uploads but if it affects the quality of your videos, I’d prefer to stick to this current model.

[@thepurist_]

Love to hear it :) I upload as frequently as possible given the time to research, write and edit. But I hear you. Long-term my goal is to release more content.

[@desv9vfs47]

can do you prime Filippo Inzaghi player analysis@@thepurist_

[@desv9vfs47]

can do you prime Filippo Inzaghi player analysis plz @@thepurist_

[@lyonkennedy4892]

Late comment that’s probably never going to see the light of day, but I would very much like to see your take on Xabi Alonso as well? This has little to do with Barca’s managerial candidates and more to do with curiosity.

[@dtonpbac]

wow even Thiago Motta is a coach now? Feels so old

[@geordiedog1749]

lol. That’s what I first thought too

[@MK12275]

He's a coach for a long time now he even managed Genoa

[@zorashki]

Well thiago isn't old.. he is a coach but young coach so... he turned 41 so take 2 years from him he is 39 so.. he is young.

[@ArcAudios77]

Great watch & listen, thanks. 👍

[@pboyiyinbor6957]

I have been watching Barcelona for more then 20 yr now, this is how they use to play with passing and movement. Denial alves and messi was so good doing this on the right wing. His such a Barcelona coach but laporta would not go for him now.

[@saikhzikrullah2628]

He's too young. He needs to get more experience

[@NostalgiNorden]

He is 4 years older and has way more experience than Guardiola had when he took over Barca.@@saikhzikrullah2628

[@jogobonito1234]

Best video on Bologna so far. Excellent work mate.

[@nk26_04]

What happened to the regular barca tactical analysis?? I used to eagerly wait for the video after big matches😢

[@maxlar0ur]

Would be super interested in seeing another video on Bologna's off the ball tactics please do make that video 🙏

[@aurianzarrineh2633]

This guy could take Barcelona to another level if they can get him the proper pivot, pedri can be an upgrade from zirkzee as a deep lying playmaker who is the central node of possession, barcas center backs are also very good on the ball and can make runs forward

[@arkdhpl9465]

Love these longer-form videos on the less discussed coaches- so much of the tactical knowledge out there revolves around the Prem so always good to hear about the under appreciated geniuses. P.S. I think that guy wants you to break down prime Inzaghi

[@ameen2664]

This is similar to my type of philosophy that i had been thinking in my mind when i start coaching

[@KarlSkorger]

This man is seriously underrated 🐐🔥

[@arkaroy9827]

Sounds like pure Cruyff philosophy to me . The positions should not be locked, they should be fluid and interchangeable keeping the passing angles constant.

[@triniking41]

Rinus Michels philosophy

[@jordan_0914]

Great analysis as always.

[@MegaUMU]

I had seen some glimpses of Bologna this and last season but this video does make me excited for this style of play. Combining the ridgid philosopy of pep but allowing players to interpretate space and keeping it together with some roles like Zirkzee and Ferguson

[@marvinschneider9309]

A video about Leverkusen would be interesting

[@HIM-lk6of]

Good stuff mate!

[@jamesfitzgerald2731]

Love the content. Off this I'd love to see Motta at Barcelona as I feel the way players are brought through La Masia would benefit from the freedom Motta's style provides.

[@radar9678]

One of my favorite players of his to watch is Jhon Lucumí. Left footed CB who plays on the right side and constantly moves into the midfield. Seems to grow each game with Motta

[@radar9678]

And I’m now seeing that he has been highlighted in the video:)

[@radar9678]

Also Calafiori is top top top🔝

[@hanseravila]

Love the video! I would suggest a video on Ruben Amorim Sporting CP

[@ezekieljohn3678]

Smart work plus the zeal to help others, nothing heats that🎉🎉🎉

[@jaycfc3909]

Interesting style of play Motta has. Also love Zirkzee’s ability to play in such tight spaces, controls the ball amazingly

[@zoommonkey]

excellent break down. got my sub

[@musa.ceesay201]

I said it this on lots of facebook pages I mentioned Motta, Valverde, De Zerbi, Alonso, Michel they are class ❤

[@gupmuk]

You produce the best footbal content on whole youtube

[@tanyodachi170]

Another very exciting upcoming Coach is Farioli, worth a look into as well.

[@rachitarora7649]

Great video. Try Arne Slot next time. He's been fabulous across teams now for consistently since 2019

[@WeezyKDS128]

Enjoyed this video on a very good side

[@marcovinaccia8496]

Yes please cover his defensive tactics! 🙏

[@brianflores5453]

Of course, he was in Barcelona. Més que un Club ❤️💙

[@jimshelley8831]

He's done a great job.

[@situn4377]

An Italian club having a Scottish captain is special

[@SKa-tt9nm]

Graeme Souness captained Sampdoria back in the 80s as well. Great leader.

[@medelalmi]

you never did real madrid tactics ? i saw carvajal as pivot against atleti in one scenario and i don't understand why

[@geordiedog1749]

Great video. A question though. This development in football is maybe in danger of being ‘unplayable’? By that I mean you still have to communicate, educate and implement the tactic. Having a great idea but if your players can’t understand it or it’s too much to actually carry out? Footies players not always known for their brains!

[@jonatanolsen37]

To beat the press, your players need to run with the ball, and create numerical overloads where the ball is. When more and more teams adopt this philosophy, pressing will become less effective, and teams will start defend with more low block zonal marking again. And the circle will be complete 😂

[@vegito2000]

we need the video on the out of ball phase of bologna

[@siyabongamthokozisi5377]

Please do a video about Liverpool 2.0. Its really interesting how Jurgen Klopp changed his midfield and it turned out to be great. Please give us more insight.

[@jamesbaurus5928]

So it's like a motion offense in basketball? That was where my mind went to for a comparison. In the middle and final thirds it has a lot of similarities to cycling in hockey (especially the half-board to behind net cycle).

[@lhenri3724]

Great to see Thiago and Xabi emerging as great coaches, having a style of play very different from the positional bullshit

[@haninnamir6116]

yes please to another video on the out of possession faze

[@duaneswaby622]

Would love to see that Bologna out of possession analysis! Great content! 🙏🏾

[@majukun]

so far their biggest weak point has been how slowly they are able to develop if an opponent parks the bus. since they are focused on try to create and exploit spaces, and they only really accelerate when those are there, if the passing lanes are clogged, they really have no other plan that switch it back and try again in another zone. this being said, that's hardly an issue only they have, and of course if this system was used on teams with an higher level of players (no offense for bologna, but this video shows well why they are depending on zirkzee), they would be more able to create chances on tight spaces as well.

[@mgskela]

he is on his wat to coaching stoke city next season and i can't wait to see him shiny shiny at santiago lumpur come on thiago neves 😍😍😍😍😍 deal almost done last night secretly with chelsea fc

[@user-ic8vs2si1n]

Sir I love your videos

[@martinzzincredible2836]

Would really like a deep dive on Ruben Amorim. Been hearing so much about him recently

[@chingwez]

Glad to see Bologna doing so well. This system works when you have the right players, Motta tried it at Genoa and it failed miserably

[@thaboseane502]

The only problem with this system is that it can only work in a slow league. In italy players have time to look up and see where to pass next, in the EPL players need to be in the right positions for team mates to make instictive passes. Hense why Peps system works soo well. I will say the first International team to use this Bologna system will supprise a lot of teams since Intrnatioanl is also slower paced.

[@galjiceremi8900]

Positional freedom I think may sometimes lead to turnovers under high pressing team. Thiago Motta is an excellent manager with his new approach to game is quite remarkable and easy to learn.

[@footballworld9477]

I would like to see the video on tactical analysis of Dorival Jr for game against Emgland

[@bboyneon92]

Yes, for the out of possession video. Also, in transition too please.

[@ilikeboringthings9]

The Mens England U21 Team play like this too

[@roolaing]

Lewis Ferguson top of their FotMob ratings, and can certainly play at a higher level. To be made captain, as a foreigner, a new player, and a young player, is testimony to how highly rated Motta rates him.

[@octaviodealmeida9706]

Mate, great content! You should consider making a video about CR7 and Bruno Fernandes' former club - SPROTING CP

[@gabrielalohan728]

I'm very interested in Bologna's out of possession tactics.

[@Giovanniditessitore]

Excellent

[@podilll]

next barcelona manager i hope 🙌🙌

[@saltmerchant749]

Motta is incredibly experimental, but I suspect his innovations will serve others who come after, who will evaluate and ultimately perfect the thesis, more than Motta himself.

[@openintrovert7067]

Actually what Motta is doing is to get his players to "find" a new formation depending on how the opponent plays. This concept is not new as the generic purpose of total football is to have a team that can easily adapt to different positions on the pitch. However, total football was more specific on how players control possession in spaces and without spaces which required very intelligent players. Motta's style touches on the idea of players playing in positions which brings the best out of their ability and also their team. Motta setups the team in a starting formation which allows the team to be compact in spaces. From there onwards, it is about how the players move based on their unique skillsets to counter the opponent. So in summary, Motta's team are trained to play different formations which they use depending on whether they are attacking or defending.

[@bestmoments1344]

Their match against inter last week really impressed me even though they lost.

[@eveshotometeobaitan9126]

I can't imagine the amount of training it would take to get players used to this

[@myabiaah]

I grew up in the late 90s and started watching football in the early 00’s and as fascinating as this is, this’s why we’ll never see A Gaucho, Zidane, Messi etc again, because managers want to be the stars now, and most players are being coached to fit a system rather than express their technical capabilities more often. Bar a few, most teams are known as just having a good style of play instead of the quality of their players. It’s the reason why bar, Vini, Rodrygo, Musiala, Foden and a few more, almost all the WC players today are WC just because they have great stats(G/A) ie Haaland, Mbappe, Mo Salah, De Bruyne…great output numbers but not particularly exceptional footballers.

[@paulclarke4776]

Interesting to see former top class midfield players now applying there vision of how to use space as managers?? Motta at Bologna, Alonso at Leverkusen, Guardiola at Man. City!!!

[@Krazy6ix]

I love the current serie a league, post juve domination has made the league so sk competitive. the quality of coaches is brilliant

[@winstong7438]

Not that I'm trying to knock this style of play but we haven't seen this at a high enough level with world class players for it to be considered a good tactic. Movement and overloads have existed for a long time but totally disregarding structure will prove to yeild inconsistent results. How do you drill patterns of play?

[@brianbenjamin1183]

Is it possible to see the trainning sessions for that kind of play?

[@sidhann.1011]

My coach 🤝🔥

[@panic_seller]

Onana ignoring his position to play as a striker in Motta's system would be fun to watch

[@desv9vfs47]

can you do Filippo Inzaghi player analysis

[@newbie4789]

This is partially how Leverkusen works this season. Just that they have really talented players who can play soo well through tight spaces so Leverkusen plays even more in the tight spaces... And Leverkusen's ability to do fast counters and

[@IIchBinKeinHaterr]

Does anyone have stats on how their style of play compares to positional approaches in stats like distance covered?

[@mathavila]

Famous 2-7-2! Kkkkk

[@06-shreetdave21]

that 2:18 Beukema movement😂

[@occulus8687]

Really good analysis. I do prefer more positional play. I think the level of creative freedom should only be given to highly creative players.

[@michaelbadejo966]

Video on Ruben Amorim would be TOP.

[@aizazg7785]

Do u think he is ready for a job like barca?

[@timianalytics7150]

Ten Hag used this against Liverpool last weekend with Fernandes and Anthony at the back

[@nicolagiunta8967]

analyse what thiago motta would bring to ac milan

[@jonaslienau9874]

Tim Walter played exacly the same system for years at Hamburger SV

[@HaiLeQuang]

I'd say such approach is extremely hard to coach. Even at highest professional level, not many players can follow a non-positional structure. Try this with reckless players like Bruno & Rashford. 😅😅😅

[@berglean]

i also thought lucumi was called lucimi

[@mellowfellow4956]

I've been quiet now for far too long and I must expose the conspiracy. This guy is 100% Seb Stafford-Bloor

[@maximiliansmith8260]

They are doing this with no big money. Incredible

[@azad1083]

Untouchable comme Verratti and Motta

[@dumimakubaza340]

Can you do Sebastian Hoeneb next

[@user-xx9gq6sn6h]

Please do a video on Thiago Motta’s Bologna out of possession

[@samueldje9760]

I thought you would cover Tuchel in your german coach period. I'd really love to learn more about his tactics

[@glacier8678]

Tuchel is 3-4-3 haram ball 1-0 win

[@Thechaaaaaaampions]

This style looks like holland by 1974! Players switching positions. Ajax 2019 was also the same.

[@diogosilvermagalhaes3574]

Despite his lack of experience, I would like to see him at Barcelona

[@madiakhategueye7250]

I would love to see him coach Marseille.

[@andrewe2643]

The heat map of Julian and Ferguson lol. 3-2-4-1 vs 4-3-3 means the lone 1 striker will drop a lot less. Also, Ferguson plays a #8 role in the midfield not as the #11 like Julian. And lastly, this is man city vs. bologna. Last year’s Treble winners and pl champs 5 of the last 6 years. All of Bologna’s players will drop a lot more because they aren’t as good and have 40% possession avg. vs. 67% for city. Basically, the comparison is flawed for several reasons and can’t safely be used to support the primary argument of the video (read: bologna have less structured positions).

[@simonmuckle3879]

Do you think this relationist way of playing only thrives vs. man to man press and would struggle vs. low pressure?

[@shivammittal9388]

Zonal defending done strictly would quite successfully checkmate this tactic.