At a high level, Ange, Arteta, Pep are just some of the managers in the Prem who incorporate a positional play philosophy. But if you look at the details, what are the differences? Do they add their own style to it? And how does it link to Cruyff? Is he the guy who discovered this philosophy or did he steal it from someone else (something I’ve realised is that tactics tend to just be repeated over time).
“I’m just copying Pep, mate”
This was Ange’s answer when questioned about similarities between his tactics and Guardiola’s. Obviously he was bantering.
Ange’s style of play is a very high backline, which means the center backs just have to be fast enough to switch from offense to defense when needed. Romero’s speed is decent, but it’s van De Ven who really does the job in such scenarios. He’s very very quick.
There’s also the constant high press when not in possession and tiki taka. But I think what makes Ange’s possession-based football different from everyone else is how he uses the fullbacks. When in offense, they become inverted, essentially midfielders to create an overload in the middle where most of the play is done and supplemented by a pivot (like Bissouma) who’s pressure-resistant and a very good ball carrier. Sarr is there to help with possession and transitional play, while Maddison is allowed to be at his best by being a free roaming creative attacking midfielder.
While all three managers you’ve mentioned play positionally, they execute it differently. Between Pep and Ange, I think the biggest difference are the inverted midfielders and number 10 style.
Here’s a video on Ange https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDerIDL6ENA
This is what I was looking for, cheers mate. the other guys who replied to be on this are absolute clowns