Latest news with #counterattack
New York Times
28-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Quick build-ups are different to counter-attacks – and are on the rise in the Premier League
When a built-up offensive move slices through an opponent in seconds, there is a tendency to label it a 'counter-attack'. The space the attacking team has once they reach the final third makes it look like a counter, but in reality, it's just a sequence that moves quickly up the pitch. On other occasions, it's labelled as a 'transition', but this occurs when a team wins the ball and attacks an unstructured defence or vice versa — a change from the defensive phase to the attacking one or the other way round. Advertisement These moves start and finish in the attacking phase, which is why putting them under the umbrella of transitions is peculiar. Another term that is used to define them is 'artificial transitions', which is more logical because it gives the feeling of a transition despite not being one. However, when an attack is played out against a structured defence, it is simply known as a 'quick build-up'. In the Premier League era, three Italian managers had teams that were distinctive by their quickly built-up attacks that cut through the opponent's press: Maurizio Sarri with Chelsea, Antonio Conte with Tottenham Hotspur and Roberto De Zerbi with Brighton & Hove Albion. Sarri, Conte and De Zerbi brought the idea to the league as The Athletic'sMichael Cox explains in his book, The Mixer: The Story of Premier League Tactics. Since then, other coaches and teams have been taking note of quick build-ups and have been trying to use them as an attacking tool against the press. In the seven seasons since Sarri's only Premier League campaign, there has been a consistent rise in quick build-ups. These are defined as short goal-kick sequences that reach the height of the opponent's penalty area or end in a shot within 30 seconds. Looking at the rate of quick build-ups per 100 goal kicks in the Premier League, there has been a year-on-year increase, reaching 5.6 this season — double the rate in 2018-19. Interestingly, the passing combinations that are used to cut through the opposition press have varied from one Premier League team to another. Under Unai Emery, Aston Villa's quick build-ups have revolved around finding their attacking midfielders between the lines and allowing them to combine in those spaces. In Villa's 2-1 victory against Manchester City in December, Morgan Rogers' goal started from a goal kick. Here, Rogers drops behind City's midfield to offer a passing option as Emiliano Martinez plays the ball to Pau Torres. When Torres finds Rogers, Youri Tielemans is unmarked on the other side, with Rico Lewis in no man's land. Rogers' position forces Kyle Walker to move up… … and the Villa forward receives the ball with his left foot and dribbles with his right to roll City's right-back. Jhon Duran's movement creates a bigger space for Rogers to dribble into as the centre-forward moves Manuel Akanji away. Meanwhile, Lewis can't mark Tielemans because he has to drop and defend that space. Rogers then plays the ball wide to John McGinn… … and the unmarked Tielemans makes an overlapping run, which attracts Josko Gvardiol and forces Lewis to defend McGinn. With Duran occupying Akanji and Walker, McGinn finds Rogers near the edge of the penalty area… … and the latter strikes the ball into the far bottom corner to double Villa's lead. Bournemouth have played in a more direct approach under Andoni Iraola, and the long balls down the left side have been a feature of their attacking play. However, these long passes from their centre-backs aren't a reaction to the opponent's press, rather a solution to break it, with left-back, Milos Kerkez, and the left-winger synchronising their movements to combine and attack the space. In this example, from Bournemouth's 2-1 victory against City in November, Mark Travers plays the short goal kick to Marcos Senesi and, as the left centre-back plays the ball to Antoine Semenyo, Kerkez dashes forward… … and the left-back's run occupies Walker. This allows Semenyo to freely dribble forward after controlling the ball… … which forces Akanji to step out of the defensive line. Meanwhile, Kerkez is continuing his run, and Semenyo finds him behind City's back four. The speed of the attack and the movement of Kerkez create a four-versus-three situation for Bournemouth, and their left-back finds Evanilson's run into the penalty area… … before the Brazilian slots the ball into the bottom corner. Meanwhile, Liverpool have been using Mohamed Salah as an outlet against the press this season, with different build-up patterns to complement the Egyptian forward. One solution has been to drop the centre-forward towards the touchline when Liverpool are building up down their right side. In this example, Darwin Nunez's off-ball run to the right drags Bournemouth's right centre-back, Illia Zabarnyi, out of position while the other centre-back, Dean Huijsen, marks Salah. Advertisement From the short goal kick, Ibrahima Konate plays a long ball down the right wing towards Nunez. The peculiar positioning of Zabarnyi and Nunez, coupled with the trajectory of Konate's pass, puts Kerkez in a dilemma. If Bournemouth's left-back goes into the aerial duel and Nunez wins the header, Salah is in a one-versus-one situation; if he doesn't, Zabarnyi will be dragged out of position to defend Kerkez's zone. Kerkez has less than two seconds to consider this and his hesitation allows Nunez to flick the ball towards Salah, with Zabarnyi being dragged out of position. Salah then returns the pass to Nunez, who is attacking the space behind Kerkez… … and the striker finishes the attack by curling the ball into the back of the net. One team that has evolved their possession game in 2024-25 is Brentford, and their passing combinations in the wide areas are another variation of the quick build-ups in the Premier League. Their first goal in the Premier League this season, against Crystal Palace in August, is an example of how their wide combinations cut through the opponents' press. Here, Thomas Frank's side are building up in a 4-2 shape, with Christian Norgaard and Vitaly Janelt in front of the defence… … and higher up the pitch, Yoane Wissa is dropping to act as the second attacking midfielder next to Mathias Jensen, while Bryan Mbeumo and Kevin Schade are stretching the defence. Wissa's movement drags Joachim Andersen out of position, and Brentford's right-back, Mads Roerslev, plays the ball into the dropping centre-forward to start the passing sequence. Trying to find the free man before Palace adjust their pressing, Wissa plays a one-touch pass to Norgaard, and the Denmark midfielder quickly finds Janelt in space. Having been dragged up to Brentford's half, Andersen tries to press Janelt but the German dribbles past him while Wissa and Norgaard attack the space the centre-back has vacated. As a result, Adam Wharton is forced to leave Jensen free and defend Wissa… … who receives the ball in space, with Marc Guehi (No 6 below) unable to commit to marking him because of the threat of Mbeumo out wide. Mbeumo starts his run before Wissa receives the ball, which puts him ahead of Guehi when Wissa plays it into his path. Meanwhile, Jensen and Schade are in a two-versus-one situation on the opposite side… … which adds to Mbeumo's options inside the penalty area. However, the Cameroon forward dribbles inside the pitch before curling the ball into the bottom corner. When Sarri, Conte and De Zerbi used vertical passing combinations to play through the opponents' press, it was a distinct feature of their sides. The effectiveness of the quick build-ups made it a lucrative attacking solution, and in 2024-25, it has become an important tool rather than a unique one. To quote Conte's Instagram post about Tottenham's quick build-up goals against Manchester City in 2021-22: 'Counterattacks?!? Maybe not…'
News.com.au
10-05-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Pakistan retaliates against India in spiralling conflict
Pakistan on Saturday launched counterattacks against India after three of its air bases were struck overnight, as the conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours spiralled toward full-blown war. The South Asian countries have exchanged fire since Wednesday, when India carried out air strikes on sites in Pakistani territory over a deadly attack on tourists on the Indian side of the divided Kashmir region. The clashes -- which have involved missiles, drones, and exchanges of fire along the de-facto border in disputed Kashmir -- are the worst in decades and have killed more than 50 civilians. World leaders including the G7 group of industrialised nations have called for restraint, and the United States on Saturday offered help to get both sides talking as the violence intensified. The Indian army on Saturday reported fresh Pakistani attacks along their shared border. "Pakistan's blatant escalation with drone strikes and other munitions continues along our western border," the army said on X. AFP journalists reported loud explosions in Srinagar, the capital of India-administered Kashmir. The army said "multiple enemy drones were spotted flying over" a military cantonment in Amritsar in Punjab, a state adjoining Kashmir, and were "instantly engaged and destroyed by our air defence units." Hours ahead of Pakistan's latest operation, the country's military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry had accused India of having "attacked with missiles" targeting three air bases. In the live broadcast aired by state television in the middle of the night, he said a "majority of the missiles" had been intercepted and "no flying assets" had been damaged. One of the bases targeted, Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi, the garrison city where the army is headquartered, is around 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the capital Islamabad. Several blasts were heard from the capital overnight. The air base is used to receive foreign dignitaries and Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs Adel Al-Jubeir had departed just hours earlier. "Now you just wait for our response," Chaudhry warned India. With the violence ratcheting up, Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered US help to deescalate. Speaking with Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir on Saturday, Rubio "continued to urge both parties to find ways to deescalate and offered US assistance in starting constructive talks in order to avoid future conflicts," said spokeswoman Tammy Bruce. - Disputed Kashmir - The fighting was touched off by an attack on the Indian-run side of disputed Kashmir that killed 26 tourists, mostly Hindu men, which Delhi blamed on Islamabad. India accused the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba -- a UN-designated terrorist organisation -- of carrying out the attack but Pakistan has denied any involvement and called for an independent probe. The countries have fought several wars over the Muslim-majority Kashmir, which both claim in full but administer separate portions of since gaining independence from British rule in 1947. Previous clashes have been mostly limited to the Kashmir region, separated by a heavily militarised border known as the Line of Control, but this time India has struck multiple cities deep in Pakistan. Pakistan's foreign ministry alleged New Delhi's "reckless conduct has brought the two nuclear-armed states closer to a major conflict". Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met top security officials on Friday, including his national security advisor, defence minister and the chiefs of the armed forces, his office said. Most of the fatalities, which included children, were in Pakistan during Wednesday's first air strikes by India. - Drone warfare - The last days have been framed by a series of ripostes following attacks from each side. On Friday, the Indian army said it had "repulsed" waves of Pakistani attacks using drones and other munitions overnight, and gave a "befitting reply". Pakistan's military spokesman denied that Islamabad was carrying out such attacks, and vowed revenge for the initial Indian strikes. Pakistani military sources said its forces had shot down 77 drones, with debris of many incursions seen by AFP in cities across the country. An Indian army spokeswoman on Friday spoke of "300 to 400" Pakistani drones, but it was impossible to verify that claim independently. Pakistan has accused India of fabricating the drone strikes, and early Saturday its military claimed Delhi's forces had bombed their own territory in Amritsar, without providing evidence. Civilians have come under fire on both sides, with Islamabad and New Delhi accusing each other of carrying out unprovoked artillery shelling, and missile and drone strikes. On Friday, shelling along the LoC killed five civilians including a two-year-old girl on the Pakistan said, officials said. Across the border, a police official said one woman was killed and two men wounded by heavy shelling. - Disruptions - Armed groups have stepped up operations in Kashmir since 2019, when Modi's Hindu nationalist government revoked its limited autonomy and took the state under direct rule by New Delhi. The conflict has caused major disruptions to international aviation, with airlines having to cancel flights or use longer routes that do not overfly the India-Pakistan frontier. India has closed 24 airports, while schools in areas close to the border on both sides were shuttered, affecting millions of children. The mega Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament was on Friday suspended for a week, while Pakistan suspended its own T20 franchise competition indefinitely.
BBC News
06-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Nottingham Forest news: Are Reds better without the ball?
For more than a decade, those watching from the stands and through screens have been led to believe that possession-based football is the holy grail when pursuing success. With Barcelona's tiki-taka and the tactics brought to the Premier League by Pep Guardiola, more and more teams have prioritised this 'easy on the eye' style of play. And while it is hard to argue with the success of the La Liga giants and Manchester City's recent trophy-laden years, it is not something that works for everyone. A number of teams have fallen foul of this obsession to build up play from the back and keep-ball over counter-attack. But, it is a mould Nottingham Forest have been trying to break this season. The Reds sit sixth in the table and just two points off a Champions League spot - this despite having the second-lowest average possession in the league so far this campaign (39.97%). From relegation candidates to European place contenders in less than 12 months, they have built this progress, not on possession, but on a solid defence and ability to be clinical on the counter-attack. The East Midlands side are joint-fourth for goals conceded (42) and sit only one place and one fewer than newly crowned Premier League champions Liverpool for clean sheets (13). There have been few occasions this term where Forest have been equal to or had more possession than their opponent. Their draw at Crystal Palace on Monday night was one such occasion. Despite having more of the ball, they struggled to really create quality chances and, had Eberechi Eze's late effort dipped a couple of inches lower, they may have come away empty handed. There have been 28 games in the league when Nuno Espirito Santo's side have had under 50% of the possession this season, of which they have gone on to win 15 - a win percentage of 54%. In a much smaller sample size, there have been just seven occasions in which they have had 50% or more possession and from those they have won three games, giving them a win percentage of 43%. While they understandably concede less per game when they have more of the ball (0.86 compared to 1.29), they do tend to score more when they have less possession (1.61 compared to 1.29 per game). In fact, when looking at how they fared in the match they had least possession in this campaign, they scored three times in a win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. In contrast, in the game where they had the ball the most - at home to Brentford - they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat. When everyone else is trying to move more towards the possession-based grain, going against it could be what secures Forest European football for the first time in more than 40 years.
