By the time a match reaches 15 minutes, you can begin to form some useful questions about how a team is trying to play.

That’s why I believe that it is always key when analysing a game, to just watch it.

Don’t form any biases or assumptions, just simply observe what is happening.

Who is available when they build? What happens when the opposition plays around the first press? Who is in a position to defend if an attack breaks down?

Just little things that will form the basis of patterns (repeatable behaviours) later on.

So I’ve picked out six short sequences from Newcastle against Aston Villa, covering possession, defending and defensive transition.

The aim is to show how you can identify a coaching problem from the footage, while keeping a distinction between what the team appears to be trying and what the players actually manage to do.

It also highlights that even in the first 10-15 mins, you can get a good idea of which team will come out on top (if things stay as they are)

At around seven minutes, Newcastle’s build-up gives us a useful starting picture of their tactical intentions (what are they trying to do). The deeper players have space to circulate possession, with teammates positioned further forward and across the width of the pitch.

We can recognise the structure quite quickly, but the more useful work begins when we follow the next few actions. Which player can receive beyond Villa’s first pressure? Can they turn or will they need support? If a teammate comes towards the ball, what does that movement change for the defender following them?

Below we can see the double width held out wide with the winger and full back. We can also begin to understand their intentions in this phase. Having a deep No.6 building with 2 CB’s, with everyone else positioned much higher, gives us the impression that they want to try and look long out wide.

However, this possible solution for Newcastle can change based on the opponents response.

We can see that Villa’s RM drops across to mark, meaning he has processed the information and has self-regulated in response (adjusted based on the situation). Now the long option is becoming more unlikely and so Newcastle must adapt to the circumstances and find a different solution.

With the RM now moving wide and away from the centre, we have to now, what solutions can we find to progress the ball centrally to use that space left by the opponent. However Newcastle’s central players do not process this and provide the required movement to allow the CB to progress.

Compare that moment with the passage around eleven minutes. Newcastle again have possession in their own half, but this time Villa have applied more pressure and left more space up front. Still with the first intention of going long, however the attacking players do not help the ball carrier and recognise this. Therefore Newcastle again must find a different solution to this problem.

Overall, both moments from Newcastle represent clear miscommunication and poor decision-making.

When Villa build, Newcastle’s positioning behind the pressure becomes part of the explanation for what happens further forward. The highlighted defensive relationships show the protection they are trying to retain while other players engage Villa’s build-up.

Keeping a spare defender can help Newcastle deal with a longer pass or cover a teammate who steps towards an opponent. It also affects the numbers available elsewhere and gives Newcastle’s forward players a different job. This isn’t to say that their shape is immediately ‘wrong’, what matters is how the players execute it.

That is why watching the nearest player run towards the ball only gives you part of the picture. Watch which pass their approach discourages, which option remains available and how teammates respond when Villa move possession.

Here we can see that the pressing structure breaks down due to a lack of communication from the units and poor decision-making again. Joelinton here has be tasked to mark two players with the rest matched up. But when Joelinton steps higher, he actually moves that role onto a different player who is now stretched and indecisive around who he should cover now.

Another passage moments later really compounds the fact that Newcastle are struggling individually. Newcastle apply pressure and Villa play longer towards an area where Newcastle have a numerical advantage. This is probably a favourable outcome for Newcastle and is something they wanted to try and force upon Villa.

But Newcastle still need to make the advantage count. Someone must judge the flight of the ball, deal with the opponent and connect with the teammate providing cover. The next contact can undo the benefit created by the players who pressed.

When reviewing your team, follow the action through to that next contest. If the opposition play where you wanted them to play, the pressing idea may be working even if you fail to regain possession. You then need to establish whether the problem was the covering distance, the decision to engage or the execution of the duel.

That distinction matters in training. Changing the entire press would address a different problem from helping a defender recognise when to step forward and how the player behind them should support.

The sequence around eight minutes starts with Newcastle attacking Villa’s penalty area. Your eye naturally follows the delivery and the players trying to make contact, but the players outside the box are already part of what happens next.

This is Newcastle’s rest defence: the players positioned to manage a clearance or a possible counterattack while teammates attack. Their positions need to account for where the ball could emerge and which opponents could break forward.

As the ball moves towards the near touchline, possession is still being contested, which means the outcome is ‘uncertain’. Newcastle’s rest defence have to cover that duel while also recognising the Villa runner threatening the space inside.

The covering movement towards the ball makes sense, but it creates a responsibility for somebody else. If the next defender only reacts once Villa have secured possession, the runner can already be accelerating into a space Newcastle need to protect.

That does not mean everyone should immediately retreat whenever a teammate contests the ball. It means the players behind the action need to assess both possible outcomes and position themselves to respond. How much pressure is on the ball? Can the opponent play forward and which runner would become dangerous if they did?

The passage around thirteen minutes adds another detail. The annotations highlight Newcastle’s body orientation and the coordination between the defenders as Villa emerge with the ball.

We cannot hear the players’ communication from these pictures, so we should be careful about claiming exactly what was said or understood. What we can examine is their orientation to the ball and the timing of their response as the attack develops.

A defender may be in roughly the right area but still need an extra turn or adjustment before they can respond. That delay matters when an opponent is already moving forward.

The outcome of the opening fifteen minutes is a small number of questions to test as the game develops and can form the basis of helping to spot patterns or recurring problems. You have seen particular situations/moments, rather than established everything about the team’s game model.

If a forward option keeps disappearing, follow the movement around the receiver. If the press repeatedly produces the longer pass you wanted, examine how the players behind it handle the next action. If an attack leaves you exposed, rewind to the positions and decisions before possession was lost.

Then choose one recurring problem to take into training and make sure the practice gives players a chance to recognise it. For example, if the issue is covering an uncertain turnover, the practice needs moments where either team could emerge with the ball. Players then have to judge whether to engage, cover or recover as the situation changes.

You can review whether their decisions helped the team, rather than only checking whether they stood in a position you told them to.

What is one situation your team repeats where the player on the ball gets the attention, but the players around them might explain the problem?

Hit reply and let me know.

If you would like my FREE Match Analysis template so you can start analysing like this on your own team: Click here

Talk soon,

Lucas

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