Ever since I started watching the games of the Asian Champions League last season, one team caught my eye and one player in particular, was so captivating. The team is Daegu FC and the player is Daegu’s talisman, the mercurial Cesinha. Since then, I have started to keep track of Daegu’s scores since it is very difficult for me to watch any K-League games in Singapore or at least, I do not know how to.
However, with the Covid-19 situation and the K-League being one of the first few leagues to restart their season, the K-League has gained lots of attention around the world and Copa90 worked out an agreement to screen selected K-League games of the 2020 season. Luckily, Daegu’s matches were selected various times and the replays of the games are uploaded on their channel. So, I have watched the replay of Daegu vs Suwon Bluewings a few times and have decided to give my thoughts on the game. (It’s kind of like a tactical analysis but I don’t think I’m at that level yet so I won’t be calling it an analysis)
Daegu 3 – Suwon 1
Lineups:
Both teams lined up in a 3 back formation with Daegu lining up in a fluid 343 with the front 3 always rotating whereas the Blue Wings lined up in a rigid 3142 formation.
Difference in build-up phase
Daegu used a diamond at the back to build up with the no.8, Kim, dropping to form the tip of the diamond. The LCB, Kim and RCB, Jo, positioned themselves further wider to allow the wingbacks to push higher whereas No.4, Jeong, is the deepest player in defence, acting as the base of the diamond. This allowed for many passing angles and passing lanes to open up. The ball-near wingback (most of the time, No.20 Hwang) will come deeper to offer himself as a passing option to bypass Suwon’s forward line press while the ball-far wingback will look to position himself higher and wider in order to stretch Daegu’s play.
Suwon mainly pressed in a medium block, with the front 2 mainly covering Kim and the ball-near CB, depending on their proximity. This gave Daegu numerical superiority in the build-up phase and allowed Daegu to bypass Suwon’s press as Suwon’s midfield line was pushed back by the positioning of Daegu’s front 3.
However, this is in stark contrast to Suwon’s buildup as Daegu (Midfield 4 + 3 FW) outnumber Suwon (Midfield 4 + DM + Wide CB) in Suwon’s buildup phase. When Suwon wants to progress the ball, the wider CBs have to dribble forward to break the first line of pressure or the wingbacks/midfield have to drop deeper to receive and all of which are easily covered by Daegu’s press. Daegu’s front 3 looked to cut out the passing lanes towards the central area while the double pivot held their line with their wingbacks tracking Suwon’s wingbacks. Daegu’s CMs only pressed when the Suwon midfielders receive the ball with their back forcing towards the goal.
Most of the time, Daegu had all of the nearby passing options covered and Suwon ended up having to backpass most of the time. In the end, Suwon resorted to diagonal long balls into 1 of the front 2 strikers with the other striker looking to get to the flick on. However, this was not an effective strategy as Daegu’s centre backs were more physical and taller than Suwon’s forwards and this results in Daegu winning possession back almost immediately.
Defensive Organisation
Daegu’s backline communicated well and this allowed them to cover for each other and space out properly. A compact back 5 is formed whenever Suwon attacked due to Daegu’s hardworking wingbacks and this nullified most of Suwon’s attack.
This cannot be said of Suwon’s backline as there seems to be poor communication through the backline. The remaining 2 centre backs do not cover the space left by the centre back on the ball that tries to break the first line of pressure or when 1 of the centre backs steps up to press the ball carrier. Whenever Daegu presses and recovers the ball, this results in a dangerous turnover. However, Daegu was not prolific in front of the goal in this game.
2 seconds later, as Daegu’s forward is about to reach the ball, both of the CBs turn their back towards the goal and this allowed him to pass to the supporting player.. Had they communicated properly, one of them could have stepped up and tried to prevent him from getting to the ball while the other CB covers for him.
Attacking Organisation
I mentioned Suwon’s attacking play above so let me go into details of Daegu’s attacking play. Daegu sort to use the quick passing combination between the triangle of CM, wingback and the wide-forward. However, as the number 8 midfielder drops deeper to form the defensive diamond, this means that the triangle combination mostly happens on Daegu’s right hand side. It is no wonder that the tip of the triangle involves Daegu’s most creative spark, Cesinha. Daegu looked to progress the ball from the back to their left wingback, which shifts most of Suwon’s players towards Daegu’s left side, before switching play to the underloaded right side.
When the right wingback, Jung, receives the ball, he would either dribble in field before playing a through ball to one of the forwards or he would pass it to the winger, who drags Suwon’s LCB out wide, which gives him space to make an underlapping run.
There were times where Cesinha came in-field or dropped deep to receive the ball and the space vacated on the right would be filled by No.44, Nishi. Nishi used to be a winger and can play anywhere across the midfield including DM. He knew when to make a run or to drop deep to cover the gaps in the midfield. Nishi is one of the reasons why Daegu’s attacking play is so fluid.
Since most of Daegu’s plays are out wide, many of Daegu’s chances were from crosses or cutbacks. However, the crosses were not accurate which was a pity as Edgar Silva is a target man with superb hold-up play. The cutbacks also had no one attacking it as most of the Daegu attackers were marked by Suwon players.
The introduction of K League legend, No. 27 Dejan Damjanovic (for Nishi) and No. 77 Lee Jin Hyun (for No. 66 Jo) meant a change to a back 4 with a wide diamond and this tilted the game in Daegu’s favour.
Dejan’s a very seasoned pro in the K-League and his impact was immediately felt with the runs that he makes to drag players wide to create space for Daegu attackers. The wide Diamond allowed Daegu to have numerical superiority in the final third as Suwon’s wingbacks do not track back often and this meant that during attacking transition, the recovery speed of Suwon’s wingback is insufficient to close down the additional option on the wings which leads to spaces.
With the newfound space in the center for Cesinha, Cesinha was able to work his magic and score 2 absolute screamers from outside the box. The first was due to his quick feet that took him past the Suwon player looking to tackle him and allowing him to fire past 3 Suwon players into the net.
The second was due to Dejan’s intelligent run that caused the Suwon’s defender to hesitate and this gave him space to fire past the keeper once again.
Suwon struggled to create any sort of dangerous opportunities and they only scored due to a free kick which could have been prevented.
Conclusion
Daegu have combined well during their build-up phase but they have to do better against stronger opponents. The likes of Jeonbuk and Ulsan won’t afford them the same amount of space that Suwon did.
Suwon tried to defend their lead instead of trying to score another to finish the game and this backfired badly. A switch of formation from 3142 to 3412 would have been better as there were gaps between Daegu midfield and defence that could be taken advantage of. Also, Suwon’s defensive midfielder was marked out of the game and a switch would have been way more beneficial. There are many things that Suwon have to work on to improve their play if not they would not be able to repeat the heights of their previous seasons.
All of the images are taken from Copa90’s youtube channel and you can watch the full game here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-6krxEJeGg&t=6382s
Footy Ramblings 