By patterns, I mean either link-up play (Messi-Alba) or a player trademarks (Robben cutting inside and shooting).

It can be past or present. Add videos/gifs if you can.

I'll start.

De Bruyne's underlapping low-driven crosses. If you have a right-wing hugging the touchline, he ends up making those runs in the channel between the opposition LB and LCB and they are almost impossible to defend using a back 4. It's because the LB is undecided about whether to press the winger or track his run.  

Kroos' trademark finish from outside the box.

Watching that De Bruyne gif...can you imagine if De Bruyne played alongside Robben? I feel bad for any LB if that was the case. If you cover for De Bruyne, Robben will just cut inside and shoot. If you cover Robben, De Bruyne will underlap with those crosses. No wonder Guardiola wanted him at Bayern!

Here's another pattern. Messi and Alba:



Alba makes a run from deep with his LW playing narrow which sees the opposition RB tuck in as well. Messi finds Alba with the lobbed through ball and usually expected a return pass when he arrived at the edge of the box. This pattern was the reason for a lot of goals for Barca since Alba's arrival.

farfan wrote:Kroos' trademark finish from outside the box.

Good shout.

Diagonal passes from Liverpool fullbacks. Their ability to switch the point of attack from flank to flank is very lethal.

Pires and Henry one-two's to get in behind defenses back in the day

I'm a sucker for Ibra's first time/one touch flicks that puts the ball usually for any runner playing off him. He does it so well.

i dont have any best pattern; anything fun to watch (not by a rival) is fine with me. if i were forced to choose it wont even be a pattern, it would be freekicks , any kind of free kick- shots, knuckleball, curve, under wall etc....

this one by Dybala was very good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er0l9YBCjzo

im not a big fan of headers at all, but rvp's header against spain is the best i ever saw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeKSmd-hjwo

Long ball into RVP resulting into a volley. No player in the world could do what he could with his left foot.

Nothing is better than long shots in football

Lucifer wrote:Diagonal passes from Liverpool fullbacks. Their ability to switch the point of attack from flank to flank is very lethal.

One of the reasons Liverpool is so dangerous in transition is because they have 3 elite long passers from deep in Van Dijk, Robertson, and Trent lol. They can pick out Salah and Mane and start counters. If they are playing possession switches between Trent and Robertson lead opposing defenses to shift making it effective. Usually you have one player doing it to the other side, but Liverpool has two who can do it.

Kaladin wrote:I'm a sucker for Ibra's first time/one touch flicks that puts the ball usually for any runner playing off him. He does it so well.

That's why I don't mind Giroud as Ibra's sub. He can at least link up unlike Mandzukic.

Warrior wrote:Nothing is better than long shots in football

Depends on who's taking them. If it's 2008 Ronaldo then sure. If it's 2013 Kevin Prince Boateng then hell no.

I meant long shots that result in a goal. It's a double-edged sword. A missed shot that goes far out of bonds makes the player look ridiculous. As for attacking strategies my answer is boring = i rate efficiency

Nobody uses long shots as main tactic but when there's an opening and the guy scores, wow


Those 2 come immediately to my mind

liverpool with gerrard riise and xabi was long shot galore, loved it.

One of my favs were Xavi Iniesta interplays and passes to each other, mesmerizing back in their prime, opponents just couldnt touch them. Add to that when Messi and Alves joins in sometimes also, pure joy to watch

Jerome Boateng's long balls to get the wingers in 1v1 situations was so effective.

That KDB City move is a cheat code vs a back 4 really. The fullback is forced to come so wide to defend the winger and no CB is willing (nor really should) to come that far out of position to support the fullback and centermids hate few things more than being forced to run without the ball into the channels to defend.

Only way to deal with it really is to play a back 5 so the side CB's can shift to close that gap between fullback and the rest of defence, or play with basically 3 holding mids who never leave the front of the defence and is so much easier to drop into the back and form basically a back 5 that way.

For me, my first thought immediately is the up-back and through combination every Sarri team uses.

The very best team who deciphered his ideas was obviously Napoli, who played the best football I have seen in a stadium.

I am at work so cannot provide links but I am sure they are easy to find. The Koulibaily line breaking pass into Hamsik's dropping movement with his back to goal, 1 touch layoff to Jorginho who 1 touch plays it behind to a running Callejon or Insigne who makes the diagonal movement from outside the fullback to inside. Impossible to defend when done right.


Others?

For some reason I cannot explain, every Brazil team, going back even to the 80's (and maybe earlier afaik) have this combination ability between their forwards. They just understand how to combine with some kind ground pass into one player, who lets it pass him and immediately runs into space as the ball reaches the second forward who then immediately plays it to the man who let the ball run to begin with. The magic I cant understand is, no matter how average the players could be, they still have this connection.

In the best times, I recall Rivaldo and Ronaldo making this combination. Think Ronaldo's goal in 2002 vs Germany. But I have this this time and time again. back during lockdown, I went and watched the 1986 WC and I see Careca and Muller doing the same kind of combination and I see the occasional random Brazil highlight in recent times and see the same thing with Richarlison and Jesus for example.

I also love a Hummels or Bonnuci long ball over the top with back spin so it slows perfectly for the forward to run on to.

I will come back to this thread with links and more of my favorites at some point.

RealGunner wrote:Long ball into RVP resulting into a volley. No player in the world could do what he could with his left foot.

Have to agree here, RVP's volleys were something else. No one could catch one like he could, shot technique was unseen

The Franchise wrote:
For some reason I cannot explain, every Brazil team, going back even to the 80's (and maybe earlier afaik) have this combination ability between their forwards. They just understand how to combine with some kind ground pass into one player, who lets it pass him and immediately runs into space as the ball reaches the second forward who then immediately plays it to the man who let the ball run to begin with. The magic I cant understand is, no matter how average the players could be, they still have this connection.

In the best times, I recall Rivaldo and Ronaldo making this combination. Think Ronaldo's goal in 2002 vs Germany. But I have this this time and time again. back during lockdown, I went and watched the 1986 WC and I see Careca and Muller doing the same kind of combination and I see the occasional random Brazil highlight in recent times and see the same thing with Richarlison and Jesus for example.

Where does those central combinational plays rank for you as a barometer for technical excellence in 2021? Would you say it's for the highest level?

I think the biggest proponent of that style was Pep's Barca on a club level. Especially in 2011. Lots of goals came from those sequences. Messi, Pedro, and Alves always did a great job with it on the RW. However, when he left Barca he focused more on robotic wing play patterns instead. Wenger's Arsenal were also very good at that combinational style.

I don't see it often these days. Why do you think that is? I know that It's easier to attack through the wings, but attacking through the middle is the idealistic option because that's where the goalie is. Is it because teams defend better and more compact so the spaces needed to combine are smaller thus requiring an even higher level of technical quality in small spaces? Is it a counter risk because you would need around 3 players right next to each other to do so? Though wouldn't that go against the thinking that the closer the proximity between players the less the counter risk?

I think its a few things. I think more and more teams have better and better principles. The days of big Sam style, "go out and play" are on its death bed in the top leagues if they are not already dead.

Even the worst teams are so heavily coached and prepared. Both attack and defence.

In terms of defence, every team emphasizes so heavily on being compact. If you press high, sit in a mid block, passively sit deep or a combination 2/3 in different moments, throughout it all you remain compact. Only Leeds that I know, ignore this concept. The midfield (at least the center of it) is nearly always within 10m of the backline and when a team strays from this is becomes so clear and the game is seen as strangely open.

I also think offensively, freedom is being restricted in favor of specific, pre determined patterns. I understand it, the theory is that if we are preparing so specifically and to the smallest detail on what we want defensively, or our build up, why would we not do this for our offensive play even in the final 3rd? And it is of course is successful because you know what spaces you can use depending on the opponent.

You find an old video of Henry talking about his time under Pep as a player, he said Pep told them all exactly what to do and how to do it. Up until the final third in which they could do what they wanted.

I am sure this is not the case at all today. As such, these spontaneous moments are more rare. But I do think, its unusual that the Brazilians can still pull it off, even with lesser players and in today's game.

And no, I dont think it is because of the fear of transition. As you say, players in close spaces to each other means a better counter press.

The Franchise wrote:I think its a few things. I think more and more teams have better and better principles. The days of big Sam style, "go out and play" are on its death bed in the top leagues if they are not already dead.

Even the worst teams are so heavily coached and prepared. Both attack and defence.

In terms of defence, every team emphasizes so heavily on being compact. If you press high, sit in a mid block, passively sit deep or a combination 2/3 in different moments, throughout it all you remain compact. Only Leeds that I know, ignore this concept. The midfield (at least the center of it) is nearly always within 10m of the backline and when a team strays from this is becomes so clear and the game is seen as strangely open.

I also think offensively, freedom is being restricted in favor of specific, pre determined patterns. I understand it, the theory is that if we are preparing so specifically and to the smallest detail on what we want defensively, or our build up, why would we not do this for our offensive play even in the final 3rd? And it is of course is successful because you know what spaces you can use depending on the opponent.

You find an old video of Henry talking about his time under Pep as a player, he said Pep told them all exactly what to do and how to do it. Up until the final third in which they could do what they wanted.

I am sure this is not the case at all today. As such, these spontaneous moments are more rare. But I do think, its unusual that the Brazilians can still pull it off, even with lesser players and in today's game.

And no, I dont think it is because of the fear of transition. As you say, players in close spaces to each other means a better counter press.

My favourite attacking pattern is anything that looks like it was not coached in this manner.
(and every goal scored against Arsenal since AFTV became a thing)

Kaladin wrote:I'm a sucker for Ibra's first time/one touch flicks that puts the ball usually for any runner playing off him. He does it so well.

Shout-out Bruno Fernandes here too imo. His one touch flicks to get past a couple of defenders are great. He's really good at it. I think he's more creative in this sense than in the traditional sense.

As for others, Busquets passes between the lines are among my favorite of all time. Especially the way he finds Messi in pockets.

Adding Luuk De Jong's runs behind high lines to the list.

Sarri's Napoli:



A few examples in there of the pass into the forward who has dropped (usually Mertens) and lays it off to a mid or defender to play through to the inside forwards or a midfielder (Hamsik for example).

Then there's the less structured, less rehearsed Wengerball I'm obligated to mention:



The contrast in eras is what stands out to me. Wenger's football had no obvious point of reference or trigger for players to make runs or play a certain pass, but seemed built around the idea any midfielder or forward could start a 1-2. But I don't think this sort of football would work these days because teams are so compact and physically able to keep up. There're clips in there from the early 2000s where man marking was still the dominant defensive strategy in the PL and the space was enormous. Once defences improved Arsenal's lack of offensive structure became more a hindrance than helpful, but the football was still good when it popped off.

I like how a lot of teams play nowadays but I sometimes miss the spontaneity of old where even players like Diaby and Eboue could combine together to break a team down.