L * W * H — A look at Marcelo Bielsa’s Attacking Blueprint.
Depending on when this is read, and of course by whom, it feels necessary to include a disclaimer:
Without wanting to take the great maestro Jorge Luis Borges’ allegorical tale completely in vein. The fact that the discipline of cartography doesn’t represent an exact science is not for me a strong enough reason to dismiss its merits in their entirety.
To paraphrase Alfred Korzybski: the map does not necessarily equate exactly to terrain. So, given that I’ve intensely studied Marcelo Bielsa’s tactics for several years now. I thought I’d try and advance some morsels of wisdom around “El Loco’s” Attacking philosophy through the lens of Macro->Meso->Micro Concepts.
You have to deeply understand the essence of something in order to be able to get rid of the parts that are not essential — Steve Jobs
It bears repeating that while for some the meticulous detail in Bielsa’s methodology may be considered excessive, or even restrictive. In the main I feel it can still almost always be of use to any coach.
Why? Because the fable around Picasso’s Bull for me highlights the benefits to having the bulk information, in order to then be able to decide what is in fact superfluous.
To that end, the starting (Macro) concept behind Marcelo Bielsa’s Attacking ideology is an eminently simple one: Movement!
Move to make yourself an option, not because you are one:
Throughout the post-lockdown resumption of football one of the most notable constants of watching, and perhaps more fittingly listening to football without fans, was you could regularly here Marcelo Bielsa repeatedly shouting from the dugout for his players to “Move!” throughout the 90+ minutes.
Naturally this is because for Bielsa there is “no reason to be immobile”. Moreover this notion is related to an ideal of not waiting for the ball. But instead seeking to generate duels and proactively attack at pace to breakdown the opponent’s Defensive structure.
Bielsa’s mantra in this respect is to create separation in order to make yourself an option, and not just because you are one. So much so that even his pupils put forward he is willing to accept an apparent “offensive disorder” to do so.
Before expanding on this theory, it’s necessary at this juncture to include an addendum of sorts: while the below body of work largely focuses on player movement(s). It is equally crucial to factor in that this should always be accompanied by rapid ball circulation as well.
Jaime Monroy’s description of the coaching staffs work at Leeds United touches on the fact that the movement was designed to: “be able to get in behind, to penetrate, to be able to get to their goal/finish”. A direct consequence of this is that Attacking Depth can effectively be considered a cornerstone within Marcelo Bielsa’s Attacking doctrine.
However, if you scratch beneath the surface there is in fact a deeper framework within the desire for depth. A categorisation first christened by Jed Davies (@TPiMBW) in his excellent book: The Philosophy of Football; In Shadows of Marcelo Bielsa - as the “6 Key Spaces (of BielsaBall)”.
This interpretation, excellently highlighted in Tyler Smaha’s video below, focuses around accessing different areas of the pitch dictated by a loose subset of preference/priority.
Working from the awareness of these key spaces it is in turn easier to move onto the Meso-concepts of the Attacking philosophy.
However, before doing so there is also a cluster of Bielsa Build-Up commandments that are worth acknowledging. In particular that relating to “6 Forward players” provides a pertinent segue into the next segment.
Two is company… but three doesn’t have to be a crowd:
Two heads are better than one, and so are three when analysing Marcelo Bielsa’s Attacking Blueprint!
From a tactical viewpoint Bielsa has previously touched upon how Attacking Pairs (which make up the already mentioned 6 Forwards) are one of his 4 Central Pillars.
Claudio Vivas, Bielsa’s long-time assistant and righthand man, handily set forth an even more detailed visual representation of the possible relations of said pairings. Delineating a framing whereby the different roles within the team can combine to create Duo’s, or even Trios if/when the opportunity is created.
Sectorization Concepts & Categorization:
Vivas also pinpoints in his discussion a further two illustrations: Collective Sectorization tips based on different areas of the pitch, and Individual Movement(s) ones. These have the aim of providing a common practical language for players to base their interactions from.
Both images provide a wealth of explicit material. However, Claudio Vivas’ explanation of them in the translated two and a half minute clip affords an even greater amount of invaluable insights such as understanding when/where to Dribble, the importance of Deep Diagonal runs, moving in relation to your teammate and much more.
With the aforementioned in mind, the best synopsis when proceeding to then view these ideas through the prism of an individual player would be testimony from one of Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United stalwarts; winger Jack Harrison.
Not only does Harrison (below) describe the value Bielsa places around creating separation + detail he goes into on a Micro-level. He also highlights the experiential benefits that such specificity has had on his own development.
Knowing is not enough — we must apply. Being willing is not enough — we must do:
Circling back to the first video, Monroy rather aptly conveys that at its core Marcelo Bielsa’s methodology is inexorably linked to an unrelenting desire to continuously improve the individual.
Back in the 2021-2022 season Bielsa himself gave yet another precise description of what he maintains are the decisive attributes he looks to cultivate and deems necessary for a player to be to individually unbalance.
This in some circles was even seen as a skillset composed of the Micro-concepts that make up a prototype Marcelo Bielsa Attacking player.
In order to overlay applicable coaching elements onto this information we can rewind through history to some of the now famous Bielsa-Argentina recorded coaching sessions from circa 1999.
When analysing the (Build-Up Principles) ball circulation drill, it’s evident here that there is a concerted focus on continuously getting yourself into position to show for the ball. Hard, instep passing with the correct tension (+ ball rotations), as well as creating longer passing options to always give the player in possession a depth choice.
What can at times get lost within this is the technical (as opposed to tactical) Micro-level detail behind wanting harder, generally instep passes into depth, is in large part down to Bielsa’s belief that for a players dribbling to be it’s most effective the ball should (preferably) be received when they are still moving (rather than from a stationary position/stopping it with the ball landing directly underneath their body).
A similar noteworthy minutiae somewhere between both the Meso and Micro levels, is that Marcelo Bielsa himself having presented several tactical symposiums has outlined functional patterns from which two or even three players can associate from. (Without ignoring the now well established 5 Individual Ways to Create Separation too.)
Of course this is not to conclude these are the only ways to do so. Bielsa himself has alluded to the fact that they are only a portion of the total he has documented and regularly revises to see if the game provides any new solutions.
Equally, when referencing another of his Argentina coaching tapes, this time for Attacking in Trios. He makes it clear to Martin Palermo that it is “key” to be able to turn with the ball & think”. Somewhat dispelling the robotic myth that surrounds Marcelo Bielsa’s methodology.
Notwithstanding that whenever anyone confuses said mechanic nature of the stated training aspects purporting to a lack of freedom in the game. I would refer them to Bielsa’s own opinion around this as the ultimate authority on the matter.
Epilogue:
Creativity doesn’t start with a blank page — Isabelle Faber.
When recalling my previous feature on Marcelo Bielsa’s Defenders/Defensive Ideology. Comparing and contrasting points out that in this piece there is a greater volume of precise information, that for some may border on instruction.
The danger readers could face when potentially trying to progress and expand on this content is that it can easily be confused as being prescriptive. With people simply adding its contents to their footballing glossary.
However, leaning on Steve Jobs’ words again: creativity is about connecting things, not simply collecting them. And most importantly NOT memorizing them.
This is perhaps why the categorization of football concepts often tends to be misunderstood at a superficial level, and for my money we’d do well to observe a basic yet significant caveat:
“One of the main things categories can do is give is names and form for ideas that are difficult to find language for. Categories can be a way for creating language around something. The problem is when we forget that we are creating that language. There are no categories because everything sooner or later is part of everything else.” — David Garcia (@IJaSport)
Bielsa’s, or any football tactics are esoteric in their nature, so they are better/far more effective experienced than described.
To that end in essence what we choose to give hierarchy to should always come from something we authentically believe. Rather than ideas merely consumed and then regurgitated on command.
A parting piece of personal advice would be that when all is said and done: all models are wrong — but some are useful.
