Post-UCL Win: 6 October 2022

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What a game from Rodrygo!

Rodrygo in a different position?

The Immediate Reaction article described Rodrygo’s position very well:

Rodrygo, who on paper was playing as a right-winger, was far from that. He played as a 10, and played his role perfectly. He drifted to both flanks and roamed all over the field, connecting freely with everyone. He provided vertical outlets for both Toni Kroos and Aurelien Tchouameni, and played tight-knit football with the rest of the attack. With Rodrygo playing a fluid role, Fede Valverde and Dani Carvajal took the right wing.

See below the heat maps based on touch location:

The above thread by Om Arvind is pretty good. Some of his comments, highlighting the dynamic between Fede and Rodrygo:

Generally felt like Carlo was too static last ssn in terms of how he viewed his players, which was a surprise, since sussing out profiles has been his strength. Looks like after a yr of info & expanding on ZZ’s Fede-RW experiment, he’s much more confident manipulating his tools.

What we’re seeing now is definitely one of the best things Carlo has tried in a long time. Fede pseudo RCM-RW with Rodrygo being an inside forward/2nd striker is pretty much the same thing as Di María pseudo LCM-LW with Ronaldo being an inside forward/2nd striker except on the other flank, so it all makes sense really

As good it was, Carlo explained the reasoning behind the change. His answer, however, suggested that it was something for this game, rather than something new that we might often in upcoming games:

His position changed a little, but only to pressure in their two CBs, who usually manage the ball well. Because of this, today we defended differently from previous games. Rodrygo played more inside with Karim; you can think as it’s 4-4-2. I think it can be done in some games. With the ball, Rodrygo has extraordinary quality, and he can play everywhere. His position wasn’t an offensive change; it was a change to try to defend with more pressure.

A good game from Militão

The funny moments

This game (and afterwards) had two interesting moments, not usually seen: