Blac and Nents silly match reports

[Nentsia]

SSC Napoli - Valencia CF



So for the first time since a while, me and the silly Blac faced each other on the pitch again. Silly Blac picked the even more silly Valencia, and I went with Napoli. This time I did something different than I normally do, I deployed my 2nd favorite formation (4-3-1-2) against Blac. So far I never dared to use it against Blac due to its vulnerability on the flanks, and Blac always kills me from the flanks. But I spent the past few days perfecting this typically Italian formation, and I just had to see how it works out against the most Silly Antiguan.

Show ContentThe Italian Idea:

The idea behind the 4-3-1-2 is to deploy a so-called ''tridente'' up front, an attacking trio, supplemented by a defensive block of 7 hard-working players. Except for 2 players, all players are packed in the centre of the pitch. This makes it difficult to play against for any team. The roles may vary a bit per team, but this is the most generic layout. In many ways, the 4-3-1-2 employs almost every player role that the Italians pretty much invented. The key element is the composition of the attacking trio, which is very hard to defend against if the right players are selected that complement each other. In my case, Hamsik featured as my ''trequartista'', the specialist in what Italians call ''fantasia'', the man who spots even the briefest windows of opportunities to create a goal-scoring situation. Higuain featured as my poacher, the designated goal-scorer. He had no other tasks but to wait in the penalty area for the right moment to move into position to score. Gabbiadini played as a second striker, or a ''velocista'', with his primary role to drift to the flanks, make dribbles and runs, and create scoring chances for Higuain.

Behind these three, I fielded three hard-working midfielders. Ghoulam, my left full back, was given the liberty to rush forward and provide crosses from the flank. In the Serie A I would've also given Maggio that liberty, but because of Blac's dangerously fast wingers, I told him to stay closer to his own goal.

The silly Blac came with his expected and dreaded 4-2-3-1. After 5 minutes, there was nothing happening. After 45 minutes, still nothing had happened. Blac's team barely got any shots on goal, both teams barely achieved a 70% pass rate, and it was the slowest, most boring game we've ever had. I'll admit guilt here that this was in no small amount due to my tactics. Having a 4-man defense, shielded by 3 central midfielders, I did everything in my power to disrupt Blac's play and to stifle his offense. I let my own team play cautiously, organized, mechanistic even. I was deliberately playing a waiting game, waiting for that brief moment of concentration loss to strike. It happened suddenly in the 53rd minute when a cross was chipped in by one of my strikers (forgot who it was). My frustrating of the game was rewarded with a nice goal. The game then resumed its pace (or lack of it).

My Napoli withdrew itself deeper and deeper into its own half, delaying time and frustrating Valencia. Suddenly, out of nothing, Negredo fired a miraculous distance shot in my goal. Smelling a victory, I switched to a very opportunistic playing style - sending long balls forward to my two strikers. Higuain had left with an injury and was replaced with Insigne. Insigne was the new ''Velocista'', Gabbiadini was the new designated goal-scorer. And he scored in the 92nd minute, with 10 seconds left. Immediately after his goal (which was a bit lucky), Valencia equalized again after an own goal. 2-2.

In our second game something strange happened. Blac's Valencia got no more than 1 shot attempt in the entire first half. He's never had that before, usually his teams just keep firing one cannonball after another. Even more surprising was that he did dominate ball posession, with about 65%. For me, having 35% ball posession wasn't a particular concern. I don't know how or why Blac suddenly dominated the ball posession in our 2nd match, but it was one of my Napoli players that scored around the 20th minute anyway. Sweet, sweet revenge, for many lost games, to steal the lead like that in such a poor game. Having the 1-0 lead, my Napoli was of course happy to continue focussing entirely on frustrating Blac's players. Finally, an organization that can withstand Blac's crazy offensive plays. In the 77th minute, again a late equalizer from Valencia. So the second game ended in 1-1.

In the 3rd game, something went wrong. Within 30 minutes, Valencia was ahead 3-0. I didn't change my tactics. Blac didn't change much. How could this happen? When reviewing my own team I noticed I had actually forgotten to implement a tactical adjustment I did make in the previous two games, but forgot to implement in this one. It was quite a crucial adjustment that concerned my central defenders and, looking at who scored the goals (Cheryshev), these might not have occurred if my central defenders had positioned themselves in the way they had done in previous matches. Then Blac lost his connection, and we restarted our game for one final match.

This time I made sure to set things right, and it was another typically slow, and dull match. Occasionally there were some counter attacks on both sides. Blac's Valencia has the rapid wingers, my Napoli is always waiting for an opportunity to attack into space. Then Blac brought Andre Gomes on the pitch, and I knew this meant trouble, for the guy is a tremendously gifted playmaker and sharpshooter. Out of nothing, late in the match, Cheryshev shot from distance on goal, and my goalie touched it but the ball went in through the post anyway. Being forced into attack, Blac quickly sealed my fate with a splendid low cross from Feghouli, scored by Gomes.

Despite that 2-0 loss, we had an entertaining (and at the same time boring) run.