Published: January 15, 2025
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06:44 PM

I really like the dynamics of Bournemouth's CB partnership โ€“ Huijsen x Zabarnyi Against Chelsea, it stood out how two-footed the pair are - so much so that they swapped sides at halftime. Short Thread ๐Ÿงต #CHEBOU

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06:44 PM

In the first half, Bournemouth focused on keeping the CBs on the ball high, while overloading the half-spaces before progressing into these areas. Having a naturally right-footed CB on the right and an extremely good left foot on the left means that the angle of the pass is superior. Chelsea picked up on this and started to counter Bournemouth's strategies by overloading these areas themself, and by the end of the half, they were constantly denying progression.

Image in tweet by O.
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06:44 PM

In the second half, Huijsen moved to RCB and Zabarnyi to LCB. This meant a right-footer on the left and an extremely two-footed player on the right. Bournemouth dropped the CBs deeper when on the ball and used the goalkeeper more often. They left their forwards high to stretch the play creating openings to exploit. The CBs looked to play lofted switches of play to a wide man or in the opposite half-space. This dynamic (of wrong-footedness) gave a better passing angle. When passing to a wide man, the inswinging curvature of the ball allows them to take their first touch inwards into space. When switching into the half-space, the movement of the ball facilitates a flick-on in behind for the striker to run onto.

Image in tweet by O.

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