Left Back Football

Gabriel Heinze has devoted himself to be a manager by studying Marcelo Bielsa religiously, frequently contacting Mikel Arteta to gain insight on Pep Guardiola’s coaching methods and even living at Velez Sarsfield’s Olympic Village training ground. He has worked his way up through the Argentinean leagues as he most recently took Velez Sarsfield from relegation candidates to third place in the Superliga. He also resigned from his post at the end of the season as he should be an option for a lot of European clubs once football is up and running again next season.

Build-up

Heinze’s Velez Sarsfield are highly varied in build-up using routines from Tim Walter and Marcelo Bielsa as well as more conventional build-up routines. Velez could utilise a 2+3/2+1 as they normally evacuate the six space, preferring to have a centre-back push into the midfield line to progress play. Velez look to create triangles to progress play while looking for depth and playing balls in between the lines. Having a centre-back pushing up, allows deep-lying midfielders like Fernando Gago, Gaston Gimenez and Pablo Galdames to push into the opposition half, participating in wide triangles as central options to receive passes and switch play or play progressive passes into the centre.

One of Heinze’s favourite automatisms is switching to a 3-4-3 with a midfielder dropping in between the centre-backs while Braian Cufre the left back will move into the six space with the left winger dropping into the left-back or left-wing back zone. In the midfield four, there will be a winger, Cufre as a central midfielder with Galdames while right-back, Hernan De La Fuente moves into a right wing-back role with Ricardo Centurion pushing up into the attacking three. This allows the wide centre-backs to push forward and create three- and four-man triangles as the wide centre-backs will drive the ball forward to create passing triangles with Almada, Cufre and the wide attacker to progress play as they work triangular rotations before switching play to De La Fuente on the opposite flank.

In build-up situations, the centre-back will push forward in a Walter-like fashion to receive passes while situationally Cufre can also work passes to the left centre-back before moving into the six space to act as the deep-lying midfielder. This can create issues as this makes Heinze’s side vulnerable to losing possession as the opposition can spread the ball into Cufre’s left zone and break on Velez but Heinze tries to remedy this by having Almada drop in as a left back. In the situation above, Velez has switched to a 3-1-6 formation with Gimenez dropping in between the centre-backs and Cufre moving into the six space as the wide centre-backs position themselves in between the fullback and midfielder. The centre-backs are encouraged to dribble and drive into space to push forward and create better passing angles into midfield.

On the right flank, Velez have created a triangle with the fullback, midfielder and wide attacker having spacial superiority in the 3v3 as the wide centre-back can work a ball to the right-back who can play a pass to the midfielder in the centre who can layoff to De La Fuente making a run into the half space as the winger draws the fullback in the lateral zone to create space in the half-space for the fullback. Heinze normally creates numerical superiority in the first line of pressure but sometimes faces issues in establishing connections to the midfield line if the centre-backs are unable to push up as the midfield four can be flat allowing the opposition to easily man mark. Velez will circulate the ball amongst the back three and look for early switching opportunities.

Against certain defensive blocks, Heinze utilises Bielsa’s use of Kalvin Phillips at Leeds United in having a defensive midfielder positioned in the higher areas who will drop in between the first line of the opposition press to receive possession and evade the first wave of opposition pressure. Heinze has also used a Bielsa-like 3-3-3-1 as the centre-back will push into the midfield line to create a 2+3 as when Heinze switches to this shape, the goalkeeper will move in between the centre-backs to establish a three-chain. Velez used their goalkeeper, Lucas Hoyos as an outfielder with the centre-backs dropping alongside him during goal kicks while he will frequently move in between the centre-backs to act as a passing option.

When Heinze’s side switch to a 3-3-3-1, they are able to establish better connections with the midfield line as they also have a midfielder dropping into the six space, creating triangles in midfield to progress play as they can also work situations where they have numerical superiorities in different areas of the pitch. When the ball moves into the wide areas, the central centre-back will push into the midfield line and act as a passing option for the wide centre-backs as they can work connections into the opposition half in the lateral zones.

Wide build-up

Wide build-up is essential to Heinze’s style as movement and rotations are fluid with his side utilising three-man rotations and constantly moving looking to work passes to the free man. In their 3-4-3 build-up shape, one of the main focuses is working the ball into the wide areas, where players can move the ball into space to eventually work the ball back to a central player or work a switching opportunity. In the situation above, Velez may seem to have weak player spacing to work a proper triangular situation, but this is all about manipulating the opposition defensive system to evade lateral pressure by having players drop into space to work moves. In the situation above, the attacker in the half-space can hold his run and drop into space to receive a pass in wide areas before the defender can push further into space in the centre to receive a pass to chip for a third man run for the player closest to the touchline.

Heinze’ Velez also looked to work through ball opportunities for the central strikers from wide build-up combinations. The ball can be worked back for the defender as the centre-back closest to him will push into the six space to receive a pass and work a pass in between the lines to the ten space for the attacking midfielder to flick a through ball for the central strikers. Or the left sided defender can push up into the half-space to receive the ball and work a direct through ball for the attacker from that area. Velez also looked to create low crossing opportunities and cut in opportunities from wide combinations by playing their attackers in behind in wide combinations to square low crosses for teammates.

The movements with the left-back positioned in the half-space, the six dropping in between the centre-back to create a left sided centre-back, the winger positioned next to the touchline in a deeper position to give the wide centre-back a passing option and the attacker in the half-space made Velez difficult to mark in these situations. The players would constantly interchange without stringent positional roles as they looked to create passing options for the man in possession by moving into the nearest available space establishing connections to progress play. The ball-far midfielder could also move across to interact as in a wide build-up situation, the defender could play a pass to the winger in the wide areas, the ball far midfielder could move across to push into the higher zones as Cufre could move into space in the central pockets to receive the ball as his midfield partner would have dragged a marker with him to open a passing lane to the striker in the centre.

Dummy run routines are consistently used from the most traditional three-man wide rotations which would include a player receiving the ball in the wide area with a teammate making an underlapping run in the half-space to clear a path into the centre for the player in the wide area to cut inside or have direct access to the centre. Heinze will always shift players across to create numerical superiorities as they look to work the ball into the centre to create switching opportunities or attempt to work the ball into high quality shooting positions in the half-space. Velez would also utilise deep runs from centre-backs and deep-lying midfielder as a wide player would pass to a player in the centre who would chip for a third man runner in the half-space to have a clear opportunity on goal.

Positional Play

Heinze’s Velez could utilise a 2-3-5/3-2-5 shape for approach play in the opposition half with heavy rotation and movement to manipulate space and create passing angles for sequences. Velez can be very patient in the opposition half, working the ball back to the centre-backs to circulate possession by attracting pressure to switch the point of attack. The six in either the deepest-lying defensive midfielder or Cufre will drop deep to act as a direct passing option for the centre-backs to receive possession, draw markers and expedite build-up play. Velez also utilised players dropping into space to draw markers, creating space in the opposition defensive chain for deep runners to drive into as well as constantly working short switching opportunities and longer switch ball opportunities.

In the situation above, Velez are in a 2-3-5 situation as it may seem that the opposition are in a rigid defensive shape with little space in between the lines but Heinze rehearses destructing such defensive shapes with his side. Velez could work a ball to the wide areas for Cufre which would trigger a midfielder in that zone pushing up to mark him creating space for the attacker in the left half space to move into dragging a marker with him as Cufre can work a pass for him to lay off to the central midfielder who would push up from deep to play a through ball for the striker who is on his defender’s blind side. The defender and midfielder with vision of that area would be occupied by Velez’ attacker in the left half-space.

Velez could work a similar situation with Cufre playing the ball into the left half-space for the attacker to work an arrowed pass for the winger to run onto to play a low cross or cut back. The player in the half-space can drag his centre-back out of position with a delayed run giving the winger access for a cross to the six-yard area as if the defender moves to cover the cross, a cut back option would be unavailable. Heinze’s Velez also preferred to utilise switch balls when they progressed possession in between the opposition defensive and midfield lines as defenders are out of position tracking markers, leaving the players on the far side in space for good shooting opportunities. All the attackers in middle zones are positioned on the ball-side of their markers which would mean if a defender was drawn out of space, the attacker would have more space on their marker’s blind-side for through balls. This also allows Velez to occupy the opposition defence in a narrow shape to create more space for the player establishing width on the far side for switching opportunities.

Velez utilise a 3-2-5 offensive shape, so they can create numerical superiorities with their defensive three-chain when they move the ball back to their defence, so they can easily circulate the ball to beat the first wave of pressure and switch the wave of attack. Velez will use a three-chain when the opposition are using a narrow defensive shape as switching the point of attack will force the opposition to shift their defensive line which will create direct passing options for Velez in between the central lines. If Velez can work a pass in to one of their players in the central zones, they can drag their marker out of position and lay off the ball to a runner from deep who can then work a pass to their attacker in space who can have a direct goalscoring opportunity.

In the situation above, Velez are in a 3-2-5 offensive situation as their opposition is in a 5-3-1-1/5-3-2 as they look to work switching opportunities. Velez have numerical superiority in the first phase as they look to circulate the ball in 3v1 situation as once they move to the weak side they have direct access to players in between the central lines. Velez also utilise a 3+2 build-up shape, so they can have players to push up to create numerical superiorities and receive layoffs to drive the ball into space to draw markers out of the defensive chain then shift the ball to players attacking these spaces. Heinze’s Velez will also circulate the ball into the deep central areas to work switching opportunities to the weak side or work through or lobbed balls into the central lines to have shooting opportunities.

Velez work balls into the six space from the three-chain as they prefer to work moves through the centre as they will have defensive midfielder drop into space to receive the ball to attract pressure before working the ball to the wide centre-backs or utilising a wall-passing situation before playing the ball through the lines. If the ball is worked to the wide areas, then the attacker in the half-space will push higher for a through ball or move closer to the wide zone to draw his marker out of position. Velez would draw the opposition to the ball-near side with movement in the final third to create space on the opposite flank and half-space to coordinate effective switches that could lead to low crosses and high-quality shooting opportunities.

Counter-pressing

Velez counter-pressing is tailored to environmental conditions as with South American heat and height altitude, employing a consistent and effective counter-press can be difficult. Defensively, Velez will constantly be ball-orientated and focus on chasing the man in possession as in some situations, they will man-mark the opposition in 1v1 situations to force a loose ball forward as the centre-backs will push forward to regain possession. When Velez are utilising a three-chain formation, or their deep-lying midfielders are in between their centre-backs, they will remain in the higher areas as the centrally placed centre-back will push up to regain possession and instigate attacks. Velez will also counter-press in the deeper areas as they can be more courageous with their build-up play and passing which could lead to turnovers in early phases of build-up play so they will always counter-press to regain possession as soon as possible.

Heinze’ Velez could defend with reckless abandon as they were willing to have defenders move out of position to push up and press the man in possession. They can concede opportunities and goals if the opposition move the ball into areas which have been evacuated by defenders. In the opposition half, Velez will counter-press and seek to regain possession to sustain attacks and prevent counter-attacks. Their centre-backs will push up to regain possession if the opposition manage to beat the first wave of pressure while the wide players will drop to cover the centre-backs in case the opposition manage to beat the high block. With their ball-orientated defensive strategy, Velez will rely on tackles, blocks and deflections from defenders in 1v1 situations to regain possession.

If Velez are man-orientated in a counter-pressing situation and the opposition move the ball into space past a player then the Velez player closest to the man in possession will shift from their man-marking responsibility to harrying the player in possession. This will happen mostly when Velez are in a counter-pressing situation in the wide areas and have managed to mark all of the opposition players in the wide positions as they can shift players to cover small spaces to regain possession. In the centre, if Velez have a man orientated marking situation without a player directly marking the man in possession then they will focus on their man-marking responsibilities and remain in a medium block.

Pressing

Heinze’s Velez pressed in many different shapes as they used as a 4-2-3-1. 4-3-3 and a 4-4-2 diamond because they looked to press high and narrow in the centre to force the opposition to play the long ball so Velez’ centre-backs could regain possession in the higher areas. If the opposition move the ball back to the keeper, Velez’ striker will push up to press the keeper with the wingers moving inside to mark the centre-backs while their attacking midfielder will continue to mark the deep-lying midfielder. Velez press the opposition’s first line with intensity, looking to force the ball long as they can at times concede press security in their midfield as Velez can also create goalscoring opportunities if they win the ball in the higher areas and break on the opposition.

Velez’ striker will press the centre-backs, shifting to close down whichever centre-back is in possession denying them passing access to the other centre-back. The wingers will mark the fullbacks but will normally be positioned in between the centre-back and the fullback as Velez will try to press in a man-orientated fashion. In the situation above, Velez have forced the long ball as their ball-near fullback has shifted from marking the winger to support the central midfielder who is in an aerial duel with an opposition attacker.

The attacking three are dropping back and facing the ball in case of a turnover to regain possession and transition into the attacking phase. Velez have also worked themselves into a man-marking situation to force the long ball as they have marked the two attacking midfielders and have their two centre-backs marking the opposition striker with the fullbacks marking the wingers. Velez’ fullbacks are actively involved in the pressing phase as the ball-near fullback will push up to apply pressure when the opposition move the ball into the wide areas to support the striker, attacking midfielder, wide midfielder and winger.

Defensive Shape

Velez’ defensive shape under Heinze was situational and man orientated, looking to close down the opposition in 1v1 situations as they utilised a back five as well as a back four. In the situation above, Velez are defending in a 5-3-2 formation as they have kept the spaces in between the lines small, marking players in the centre and on the ball-near flank. With the winger on the on the near side being marked by the wing-back who has pushed up to close him down. Usually, in such a defensive block, the winger would be the wide midfielder’s responsibility as the defensive block shifts to the near side allowing the wing-back to hold his position.

Velez have conceded space behind their wing-back and central midfielder in that area as they focus on their man-marking responsibilities rather than defending spaces. Velez’ aggressive shape which looks to regain the ball and break as quickly as possible can cause them issues if the opposition manage to move the ball quickly and utilise the open spaces well as this can even lead to Velez conceding goals. The attacker marking the player in possession is supposed to prevent his opponent from turning and switching the ball to the far side as Heinze places defensive responsibilities on the attackers. Their role is to win possession and instigate breaks to create goalscoring opportunities. On the far side, Velez have allowed the ball far wide player to be free, focusing on marking the central players and players in the half-space as the opposition have a 4v3 numerical superiority in that area. Velez hope to prevent access to the ball-far wide player with their defenders winning their 1v1s with blocking and interception opportunities or by forcing the player in possession into playing a long diagonal where they can shift and close down the space.

In the situation above, Heinze’s Velez have transitioned into a 4-4-2 diamond defensive shape to effectively man-mark opponents and give themselves coverage across the pitch. They have their two attackers marking the space in between the opposition three-chain, denying the wide centre-backs access to the central centre-backs while they have pushed a midfielder forward to mark the opposition defensive midfielder. On the nearer side, they have pushed their wide midfielder high against the deeper lying wing back while on the far side, they have marked the opposition’s central attacking midfielder and the other attacking midfielder in the half-space. They have left the ball-far wing-back free as if the opposition look to switch the ball then Velez will respond by shifting their defensive focus to the far side with similar man-marking responsibilities.

Their defence have also pushed higher against the midfield, closing the space in between the lines and giving the centre-backs the opportunity to push forward and win balls in the higher areas. Velez are forcing the opposition to concede possession by playing the long ball as they have set a pressing trap, allowing the opposition wide centre-back direct access to his fullback. Velez will then close the passing lanes and hem the wing-back into the wide areas the ball-near striker will prevent access to the wide centre-back, his strike partner will close access to the central centre-back and the attacking midfielder will deny the wing-back access to the six space. The wide midfielder will then actively close down the wing-back as if he manages to move into the centre, Velez’ attacking midfielder will engage him or if he tries to drive back into the deeper zones, the striker and ball-near midfielder will close him down. Velez have adjusted to the opposition’s attacking shape to create man-marking coverage in the essential areas of the pitch to regain possession.

Conclusion

Heinze abruptly resigned from Velez Sarsfield after securing third in the Argentine Superliga for his side continuing a managerial career that is on the upward trajectory. His style is eerily similar to Marcelo Bielsa’s as he maintains the same maniacal approach to preparation, even though he winces and protests when a reporter compares him to the Leeds United manager. In his eyes, Bielsa is the holy grail as Heinze continues to build on his style, quench his thirst for information while always seeking to develop his playing staff and find new ways to break down defensive shapes. He should be a prospect for some European clubs in the summer as an intelligent, forward-thinking and highly devoted young manager could set a few clubs on a new path.