Jon Mackenzie
@jonmackenzie.bsky.social
Writer and presenter at The Athletic. Noticer. Not the CEO of AS Monaco. The Ryan Christie of punditry.
Tchaikovsky knows ball
November 16, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Tchaikovsky knows ball
Today's video is all about how Man United destabilise teams by playing direct. Enjoy!
October 20, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Today's video is all about how Man United destabilise teams by playing direct. Enjoy!
Today on @theathleticfc.bsky.social's The Week in Football show we once and for all put to bed the notion that system = formation by exploring the differences between Glasner's Palace and Amorim's Man United.
@aakinwo.bsky.social, JJ Bull and I are joined by Carl Anka.
Link below
@aakinwo.bsky.social, JJ Bull and I are joined by Carl Anka.
Link below
October 11, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Today on @theathleticfc.bsky.social's The Week in Football show we once and for all put to bed the notion that system = formation by exploring the differences between Glasner's Palace and Amorim's Man United.
@aakinwo.bsky.social, JJ Bull and I are joined by Carl Anka.
Link below
@aakinwo.bsky.social, JJ Bull and I are joined by Carl Anka.
Link below
If you like Arsenal, you might like this?
September 29, 2025 at 7:35 PM
If you like Arsenal, you might like this?
Yesterday's Did You Notice was all about how Arne Slot made a half time tweak to bring Liverpool back into the game in the second half
September 2, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Yesterday's Did You Notice was all about how Arne Slot made a half time tweak to bring Liverpool back into the game in the second half
Lots of topics covered so here are the time stamps for you:
August 23, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Lots of topics covered so here are the time stamps for you:
Here's my piece on why Arsenal struggled against Man United this weekend.
August 19, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Here's my piece on why Arsenal struggled against Man United this weekend.
Arsenal fans are excited about the changes they're making on the ball this season... but I think they should be excited about the changes they're making off it too. I think they could ramp up their press again which will only benefit their new signings.
August 14, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Arsenal fans are excited about the changes they're making on the ball this season... but I think they should be excited about the changes they're making off it too. I think they could ramp up their press again which will only benefit their new signings.
Back on my noticing bullshit. Here's a defensive weakness that Arne Slot has had since his time at Feyenoord but which PL coaches are starting to find ways to exploit. And Palace were able to exploit it in the run up to both of their goals.
August 12, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Back on my noticing bullshit. Here's a defensive weakness that Arne Slot has had since his time at Feyenoord but which PL coaches are starting to find ways to exploit. And Palace were able to exploit it in the run up to both of their goals.
At this point, Napoli are functionally playing a direct man-to-man system and Inter couldn’t deal with it. In the second half, Napoli dominated possession and chance creation.
March 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM
At this point, Napoli are functionally playing a direct man-to-man system and Inter couldn’t deal with it. In the second half, Napoli dominated possession and chance creation.
In the second half, Napoli actually tweaked their press slightly, so that the little hybridity that they had was even more reduced.
March 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM
In the second half, Napoli actually tweaked their press slightly, so that the little hybridity that they had was even more reduced.
In the first half, they used a fairly basic hybrid press which saw Billy Gilmour jump up onto Alessandro Bastoni with Giovanni Di Lorenzo making a parallel jump from right back to cover the free player in midfield:
March 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM
In the first half, they used a fairly basic hybrid press which saw Billy Gilmour jump up onto Alessandro Bastoni with Giovanni Di Lorenzo making a parallel jump from right back to cover the free player in midfield:
This shows up quite well on a pass map from the game, with Napoli achieving good connections on the right hand side but not on the left.
March 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM
This shows up quite well on a pass map from the game, with Napoli achieving good connections on the right hand side but not on the left.
Napoli were able to generate a few of these nice moments. The problem was that McTominay tended to drift centrally and the lack of any presence on the left meant that Napoli were forced to focus their build up on the right, which made them quite predictable to defend.
March 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Napoli were able to generate a few of these nice moments. The problem was that McTominay tended to drift centrally and the lack of any presence on the left meant that Napoli were forced to focus their build up on the right, which made them quite predictable to defend.
Premier League watchers will remember Roberto De Zerbi using these sorts of automated build up scenarios out of a 4-2 build up shape to generate “artificial” transition moments, and we saw a few of those from Napoli during this game. Here’s an example:
March 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Premier League watchers will remember Roberto De Zerbi using these sorts of automated build up scenarios out of a 4-2 build up shape to generate “artificial” transition moments, and we saw a few of those from Napoli during this game. Here’s an example:
During deep build-up phases, Conte used a flat four with Billy Gilmour and Stan Lobotka in a double pivot, and in these moments, it was clear that Scott McTominay was supposed to offer the width on the left side of the pitch.
March 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM
During deep build-up phases, Conte used a flat four with Billy Gilmour and Stan Lobotka in a double pivot, and in these moments, it was clear that Scott McTominay was supposed to offer the width on the left side of the pitch.
Here’s the shape from kick off which looks like a weirdly asymmetric 433 with Matteo Politano offering width on the right of the front three and Giacomo Raspadori playing much more narrowly, with good access to Romelu Lukaku.
March 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Here’s the shape from kick off which looks like a weirdly asymmetric 433 with Matteo Politano offering width on the right of the front three and Giacomo Raspadori playing much more narrowly, with good access to Romelu Lukaku.
Just as inevitably as Monday follows Sunday, so must that Monday involve some noticing and so here we are.
And this week, I used the FA Cup weekend as an excuse to travel to the continent… or more like… the Conte-nent amirite?! [thread]
And this week, I used the FA Cup weekend as an excuse to travel to the continent… or more like… the Conte-nent amirite?! [thread]
March 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Just as inevitably as Monday follows Sunday, so must that Monday involve some noticing and so here we are.
And this week, I used the FA Cup weekend as an excuse to travel to the continent… or more like… the Conte-nent amirite?! [thread]
And this week, I used the FA Cup weekend as an excuse to travel to the continent… or more like… the Conte-nent amirite?! [thread]
To illustrate how this became a problem in the game, let's take a look at the second Liverpool goal in more detail:
February 24, 2025 at 3:53 PM
To illustrate how this became a problem in the game, let's take a look at the second Liverpool goal in more detail:
In principle, this was okay because, as in the case with Liverpool's defending, because of the two centre backs, there is always going to be a spare player at the back here.
February 24, 2025 at 3:53 PM
In principle, this was okay because, as in the case with Liverpool's defending, because of the two centre backs, there is always going to be a spare player at the back here.
Out of possession, though, Lewis would revert back to his initial position and this would mean that Nico Gonzalez was left covering the two Liverpool false 9s with KDB still staying higher up the field.
February 24, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Out of possession, though, Lewis would revert back to his initial position and this would mean that Nico Gonzalez was left covering the two Liverpool false 9s with KDB still staying higher up the field.
Which meant that in their possession phase, they only left Nico Gonzalez covering the central spaces. To offset this, they inverted Rico Lewis from full back just to give a bit more protection against counter-attacks should they lose the ball.
February 24, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Which meant that in their possession phase, they only left Nico Gonzalez covering the central spaces. To offset this, they inverted Rico Lewis from full back just to give a bit more protection against counter-attacks should they lose the ball.
Let's give you an example of this in real time to help clarify:
February 24, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Let's give you an example of this in real time to help clarify:
Arne Slot decided to keep Alexis Mac Allister deeper in defensive phases so that both he and Ryan Gravenberch could cover Phil Foden and Omar Marmoush, the City false 9s.
February 24, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Arne Slot decided to keep Alexis Mac Allister deeper in defensive phases so that both he and Ryan Gravenberch could cover Phil Foden and Omar Marmoush, the City false 9s.
Or do they let them drop off and risk being overloaded in midfield?
February 24, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Or do they let them drop off and risk being overloaded in midfield?