Leicester 1-0 Man City: Tactical breakdown of Community Shield victory

This “in-to-out” passing sequence was utilised often, and definitely created the clear-cut opportunities on goal. It’s rather simplistic and relies on the wingers receiving possession frequently and in the half-spaces (or inverted), whilst also attracting the press of the attacking side winger to create additional freedom for the full-back to maraud into.

For example, Ricardo Pereira would initially receive possession from either the defence or Schmeichel, his quality on-the-ball attracts the Manchester City left-winger (on the day this was Samuel Edozie) to initiate a press. Pereira does one of two actions to create the “in-to-out” sequence, either he passes himself into the inverted Pérez, or he offloads possession to a member of the pivot — Ndidi/Tielemans — who can then progress the ball into Pérez centrally.

The key to success in this sequence is dragging the opposition full-back out of their natural defensive positioning, whilst also exploiting that space with an attacking run from depth — so Pereira (after offloading possession) makes an attacking run to receive the ball through the lines of the Citizen’s press. Creating a goal-scoring opportunity through a cutback, or interplay across the box.

The above example is representing this on the right-side, but the frequency of creation tended to favour the left-side — with Bertrand and Barnes showcasing a good understanding of position between the two players. The slight difference in the composition of attacks down the left, was that Barnes’ offloading pass would exclusively happen as he penetrated the box (during his inverted carrying) and would enable Bertrand to receive possession almost at the byline. Whereas Pereira would often receive just inside the attacking third.