Sais and Aguerd the best two CBs in the moroccan defence were injured and they couldn't play in the last two games that's why their defence looked so shaky against France and Croatia
Only thing morocco needed was a GOOD striker that can turn the chances into goals and maybe work on the bench team cause an injured player was very critical and decisive
Our main striker Tissoudali got injured few months before the World Cup. En-nesyri is more of a finisher and cannot dribble past the defenders. Our hopes were high for the other striker Hamdallah, but turned out to be a big upset, since the Saudi league where he plays lacks pace and competitiveness.
You could see that in the semi-finals, tactically Morocco was leaps and bounds ahead of France, but the individual players were too tired or injured to make use of that advantage.
@@erolish En-Nesyri is better for this system than Tissoudali, because of his speed and the pressure he can give. The opponent couldn’t build up because of him. Tissoudali was deffinatly missed for coming of the bench. Cheddira and Hamdallah made me miss Rayan Mmae (and I hate him)
Watching them against France and Portugal, the way they moved the ball through the midfield and to the box was magical, if it weren’t for the lucky deflections they got, they could be the ones playing Argentina in the finals
After the Spain game, I thought nobody could beat that Morocco team with that kind of formation and discipline, little did I realize that injuries play a huge part of the game.
Remember Euro 2012 Italy-Spain matches. Healthy Italy hold Spain in an entertaining draw, in group stage. Unfortunately we cannot see the same in the final because of two reasons: 1. Italy change in formation 2. Injuries to Italian squad
Dicipline and fighting spirit is why they got far. Not tactics nor formation. It's a sad day for football if this type of play picks up. But other teams do need to improve their fighting spirit. Let's just hope it won't ruin the style of the game too much.
I was saying 1) the noneexisting manager's experience in compact tournaments, 2) lack of efficiency and 3) bad luck affected Morocco in the first place. Injuries and fatigue are just results. But this tournament will teach him a lot as it is his first in its type. 1) I understand he wanted to learn from 98 WC and 2018 WC experiences (not losing the first match), but if you want to win the WC, you should start by winning the two first matches in order to get a rest in the third. France did that so technically they played 90 min less than Morocco. 2) To win the world Cup you should finish the matches as early as possible. Canada's first half should be more than 2-1 to be mentally good to play with a back 4 instead of suffering with a back 5. The spain's match should end in 90 mins by being efficient in front of the goals. So France played another 30 min less than Morocco (120 min in total) 3) Bad luck presents itself mainly in Tissoudali's injury which led to a huge decrease in Morocco's efficiency. Moreover, anyone who get in the path of Spain's tiki taka is gonna lose something (either the game or the freshness in the next games), Morocco and Japan were the victimes of bad luck in this case.
As a goalkeeper who played in the 70t in France and Sweden, I see Morocco’s tactics quite innovative. Their success lied in turning the four midfielders and the striker, Nseyri, to defenders and attackers. The opposing teams were frustrated and opened themselves to the lethal attacks of the Moroccans. A good credit to their coach Walid Regragui.
Morocco’s problem is they don’t have a good finishing striker and their substitutes are not good to replace the injured ones, they need to work on the substitutes coz their last match against Croatia you can feel the vacant places of the injured players ( Saiss, Aguerd and mazraoui) and the continuous mistakes of the substitutes and the non harmony on the new team !!! Besides that they did great, they played with their heart like beasts, they had the spirit, the best defense, a good coach, but the injuries were an obstacle. I just wonder what would’ve happened if there was no injuries in the team also Amrabat was so tired and you can feel it in the last match . For Their match against france that was a scandal refereeing… After all Qatar just hosted the best World Cup and vamos Argentina 🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷 wishing Morocco the best luck in 2026, I hope I can see the Same faces and why not the first African country to win a World Cup !!!!! Do not stop dreaming and work harder.
Morocco was the most entertaining team this WC. I'll never understand how they withstood Portugal's intensive assault for the last 30m of the second half. They had two penalties not called in the France match too., their captain was limping after literally 10 minutes. Their biggest mistake was changing from 414`1 to a joke 541 formation, putting sais on the field.
@@dorkasaurus_rex I think it was more so due to a lack of time for the plans and counters to be integrated in the team than the inexperience of the coaches. Don't forget, Walid was only with the team for around 2 to 3 months, only a few months ago the team was downright dysfunctional and many key players were refusing to come back. Honestly, this is probably just the start, and I believe with Walid becoming a regular, more prep time and better substitute players the Moroccan national team could even reach the quarter-finals/semi-finals again in the next WC, if not do even better.
@@cscs6587 amrabat was taking pain injections throughout the knockout stages. Ziyech and Hakimi were injured too but played. En Nesyri was injured and couldn’t play for more than 65 minutes. It was a disaster lol
its more like the match was sold, the next day france admitted that the dessert is a moroccan land and they solved the visa problem we have with them, it's just really weird
Morocco was an absolute shocker... No doubt!!! What a game they had played... I really am impressed by their tactics... Wishing them the best of luck in all their upcoming matches..
Can you imagine that the offensive way of playing in Spain was created because of a Moroccan player called Ben Mbark, around the 40s Spain football had no idea about short passes, they were playing more physically and with long balls like Italian football, but when Ben Mbark came to Atletico Madrid, cuz he was already a talented player who likes short passes and dribbling then scoring, he was like an inspiration of Spain football around the 40's to become more offensive.
That´s ridiculous, crediting some random guy that only played two years in Spain (1950-51) with Atletico de Madrid for Spain´s style of play. I personally had never heard about the guy, the most influential player of that era was DiStefano by far. Also Atletico de Madrid has always been a rocky, defensive minded team, unlike Barca or Sevilla.
@@dangonzalezb not hearing about him doesn't make him not exist brother. He was a legend at his time. And Pele s words are more than enough for his credit.
@@dangonzalezb 40s not "50's" Ben Mbark was in Atletico before Distefano came to Real, he came after the domination of Atletico's Ben Mbrak in la liga, you may don't know him cuz he African, Spain don't wanna look like they were influenced by an African, so they won't talk about it. Destifano came to make Real great again just like Ben Mbark did with Atletico. proof that this is wrong to be logical, and I will accept it, don't just talk.
Their run was amazing , watching them perform was like a chess match , they were very well organized and a lot of discipline by the players respecting the coach tactic , unfortunately they lost 2 key central defenders in the last two games that’s why their defense didn’t look the same since Aguerd and Saiss are world class quality defenders , people who said they parked 2 buses and got lucky just go watch old tapes of Barcelona and shut up
It was a lucky stretch at best. They essentially played for the coin toss of a shootout at the end. When your keeper is your best player, you know you're surviving on sheer luck. But the thing is that playing 120 minutes with a squad with sub-optimal fitness, the team is destined for an implosion sooner or later. The sad thing is that they played their best football when they went behind, showing that they had the quality but they'd rather park a double decker and pry for Bono to save them on pens.
@@kvineet631 how can you say that it’s a lucky stretch , and how can you say that the same teams who won champions leagues world cups or reached big tournaments in semis or finals with the same tactic and you can take Italy as an example , how can you say that is luck when you don’t the have the same quality players like other countries and when the manager took charge of the team just 3 months before the World Cup do you think that he would’ve done something if he followed this mindset of you should play open football with better teams on paper and in the end you just go home loosing that was the best strategy for just a 3 months preparations you do with the weapons that you got and you make them work to win and nothing more in the end it doesn’t matter how you play it only matters if you win or not , and their GK won only 2 times motm , it’s just impossible to call this luck that’s modern football and genius tactic setting and also you can say that Portugal and Spain or Belgium or Canada lost by luck but the reality is that there is no luck , you can just see how many times Messi won the champions league while having the best team of the world for more than a decade
@@AM-yt3yj Having a team built around defensive mindset and a team parking the bus for survival are two different things. The Italians are called a defensive team but in 2006 the only match they won on pens was the final. There is a difference. Morocco were not capable of playing even what they wanted to play. Parking the bus drains your players much more than passing around and they ran out of gas by the semis. This style of play which took them to the semis, also doomed them for implosion. Yes they survived against Portugal but the cost was too much. One has to wonder how it would've been had they played like they played against France? But they'd rather put players like Hakimi in a back five and hope that Bono keeps coming through.🤷🏻♀️ Anyways, I guess their biggest win is that we are actually talking about them. They won the eyeballs that's for sure. Rest are all opinions.
I think one thing people need to reconsider when talking about Morocco's team in the WC is that Walid (including many of the amazing staff he brought in) was only with the team for around 2 to 3 months, and don't forget that only a few months ago the team was downright dysfunctional and many key players were refusing to come back, whilst others were called on a short notice. It becomes clear that there wasn't much time for the plans and counters to be integrated deeply in the team. Even then, I think most of their problems stemmed from a lack of good substitutes and the injuries of important CB players (as well as fatigue). I honestly feel that this is probably just the start, and I believe with Walid becoming a regular, more prep time and better substitute players, the Moroccan national team could even reach the quarter-finals/semi-finals again in the next WC, if not do even better.
This could seriously be the return of Route One football. Super teams are now looking for strikers in the mold of Haaland and are also bringing back 4-4-2 in a big way.
You’d be more likely to see 4-1-4-1 (You need a CDM) in that case. Teams almost always have inverted winger from now on so, route one wouldn’t work in the same set up either
4-4-2 is absolute in towards football...too much pressure on the midfield to hold onto the game unless you have a crazy killer uplink like Cavani and Suarez in their prime but it won't put you far in a tournament.
Well said. However, the drawback of this playstyle is the sheer amount of physical burden the players receive with each game. Which leads to high risk of players getting injured. This is the reason that caused Morocco to loose to France and Croatia. By the time they played France, almost all of the key players were either unable to play or are playing through injury. That being said, we must not forget that Morocco only had 2 months to prepare all of this. Which is astonishing if you think about it.
Yeah this World Cup became right after the clubs so most of the players were already injured prior. If it were a traditional World Cup the Moroccans would have been ready.
The players came actually not 100% in shape from the clubs they are playing in.. And the substitutes weren't that highly expérienced.. Can you modify ur comment Accordingly plz to give the right image
Great video and explanation. That 4-1-4-1 working from essentially a mid block defensively setting traps, with well executed and sometimes beautiful, technical and lethal counters was engaging to watch. I am going to have to watch more Fiorentina because Amrabat was exceptional in the defensive midfield, making me a fan no doubt! A key component to the formula… I’d like to add the one additional component that makes this all work is the ability to track and defend the most dangerous opposing runners which requires great team communication, discipline, and focus over 90 min (exhausting!) So many teams lack some component within this area of the game that generally leads to the dagger(s) and their ultimate downfall. Morocco were tireless and committed 💯… Key injuries (Saiss in particular) and I think ultimate quality of opponent in France lead to their ultimate downfall but Morocco should be so proud and have a great foundation to build from if they continue down their current path. It’s going to be tough to hold onto that coach though, who I think had this team fully buying into a system and mindset.
Regragui aint going anywhere. He is now working on having a bench with the same quality as the starting 11. He is aiming for WC 2026. Pure genius of the moroccan coaching and management style.
2 important défendeurs were injured: The captain Romain Saiss (ex défender of Wolverhampton and today Besiktas with a long expérience) Nayef Aguerd the défender of west Ham. Also Hakimi was injured since the game against belgium, Amrabat also played injured against portugal. The team was also tired after that 120min against spain. Anyway, today's football oblige you to have worldclass players on the bench too.
@@AdamAzzr Im pretty sure Amrabat played every minute of every game, he was gassed by the time they played France, Morocco literally doesn't have a backup CDM in the squas
@@dejomrsic6093 Amrabat stayed in the hospital till 3 at night before the game against portugal. Apparently The moroccan players will go back exhausted to their teams
Low possession is indeed a new successful trend. When teams possess a lot but have to take a lot of potshots, they lose a grip on the game and present an easy opening for the counter.
In cup competitions where you can be “knocked out”; counter attacking was never out of style-I don’t get this point. Real Madrid play counter attacking football. The last winner of the UCL who lead the competition in possession was Barcelona 2010-11.
@@yurhomi4478 Yes RM in UCL 22 underscored the same trend of low possession success. Few shots on goal, but high conversion. The reason it is a point of discussion is that I think it reverses the trend started by TikaTaka's success in the last decade.
Regardless of how it ended for the team representing the Kingdom of Morocco, everyone who knows Walid Regragui and the talents Morocco has across the globe are very positive about the future of Football in the kingdom of Morocco, beside being a quick learner ( Walid Regragui started his coaching career back in 2014 ), a good technician, Walid is a Master when it comes to gaining the trust of the changing room, he only spent a couple months with the players to prepare them for the big avenue and still they're already ready to die for him, he even had big old conflicts with Badr banoune when he was a coach of a moroccan club but after the end of game vs croatia Badr showed up in tears thanking Walid not just for calling him for the world up but for saving his career as he was planning to retire 4 months before the world up because of heart issues similar to Erikssen, not forgeting bringing back Ziyech and Mezraoui to the team after they both decared their International retarement because of the way the Ex coach treated them, with all this I can't describe how he can Pyschologicaly gain the trust of anyone, he's the most positive person you can ever meet, you don't just change 80% of a team just two months before the world and they end up showing this kind of discipline for five games unil the referee's wisthle. The bigest reason for going down against France and Croatia was the losse of the key players in the defensive line, the subs weren't able to the respect the amount of discipline required to satisfy regragui's needs, but he said that himself in the middle of the competition " to wind the world cup you need a good bunch ". Portugal came with two teams they didn't make it. Spain came with two teams, they didn't make it. Germany came with two teams, they didn't even make it to the second round!. Brasil came with THREE teams, they didn't make it. As a Moroccan, I believe if Walid Regragui will be left alone to deal with team, and fully protected for the so called Football agents which are the biggest poision in Moroccan football and also protected from french political pressure which has some weight in Moroccan Politics while Walid Regragui was born in France and there are million ways for them to blackmail him, if the Moroccan authorities Protected Walid from all of that then in GOD'S WILLING the world football will hear about us in the african cup of nation next year and will see us in the Continents cup in 2025 before they show respect in 2026 World cup 🤲
Morocco played more defensively in the France and Croatia match because a lot of the main defense players were injured , other key players have been substituted too . Morocco didn't play against France and Croatia with the same team that won the previous matches . Plus , in the France match , the ref did them dirty by denying a penalty . And we have seen in the final match Argentina vs France how much penalities change everything .
People need to accept that small teams are never gonna win WC. FIFA just wont allow it. It happens time and time again, FIFA gifting penalties to big teams. This is also last time Argentina won. FIFA wont carry them next WC when Messi is no longer among their ranks. Only hope for small teams to win this tournament is to develop superstar players on the level of Messi and Ronaldo but that is highly unlikely.
@@saellenx3528 wrong, the gap between small teams and big teams are getting closer, and this world cup is proof of that. Tactically, all the teams in RO16 and onwards played brilliantly, the ultimate decider was the experience and quality of the players on field. I can guarantee you that the next two WCs are gonna be revolutionary for smaller teams.
@@spinyslasher6586 Then you should have seen that i wrote that FIFA wont allow small teams to win. This has happened time and time again. Them giving penalty to big team as a slight push ahead or not giving penalties to small teams. In 2018 Final they gave non existent penalty to France and a free kick that caused goal after Griezman dived.(something VAR should have cleared) You cant beat corrupted FIFA no matter how good you play. Remember 2002 and South Korea?
Agree with most comments, Morrocco was the most entertaining team in the last world cup, such a pleasure watching them control the play on their half and their entertaining counter attacks. Big fan of their offensive winger runs and partner teamwork passes.
The Moroccan national coach came only three months before the start of the World Cup, he didn't have time to rebuild the national team and find replacement players at the required level , I wish them success ,as a Moroccan I'm proud of them 🇲🇦💗
@@mrboss9105 whatever you think of the man himself he had the results everywhere. Gave a hell of a time to Germany as the head coach of Algeria in 2014. Now made this team and was sacked because he had a fight with Ziyech I think.
@@andreledoux7143 He was sacked because his coaching was poor in general and he refused to bring the full team. If Vahid was with Morocco in this World Cup. They woulda lost all three games in the group stage and went home bottom 😂
@@andreledoux7143 and that resulted in the Afcon humiliation and big losses afterwards in friendly matches preparing for World Cup. And his team had losing mentality. He had to go. Walid took this Morocco team from dust and mud Vahid left it in . Got the right team together and went Qatar and made history. That’s the real man.
Astonishing displays of defensive and fast precise counter attacking football. Where would you find such players to play like this every week? They be exhausted and wasted and prone to injury due to the high intensity. Perfect tournament strategy especially if the squad has depth.
The writing was on the wall for possession football when Mourinho parked the Inter bus in front of the goal against Barcelona. Morocco is an evolution of such tactic, a somewhat more mobile bus that sometimes attacks.
That inter team together with other Mou teams were unwatchable. Ugly stuff too. Moroccos defensive approach was ver enjoyable because of the transitions.
For a coach who has only played 3 warm-up matches since his appointment as head of the Lions team, in addition to the injuries, I believe he has had a good run.
Great video but this only explains how difficult they are to breakdown. It is what Morocco does when they win back the ball which makes it exciting. The players were extremely confident in their own technique to pass the ball out of trouble or dribble their way out. They constantly found a way to beat the press whenever they won the ball back. It is not a typical quick counter attack that defensive teams that park the bus adopt.
They only lacked 2 quality center backs to replace the ones that were injured if they did they would seriously had a chance to win it all the two games they lost they did not have their primary CBs.
They also needed a striker who could finish the ball on his own when he's alone with a keeper infront. They lost so many counter attacks because of that.
that tactic made our team get exhausted , if we had qualities in the bench like the 11 starting , will be playing the final , but unfortunately . we had so much injuries and everyone give 100 % in every game . it was hard for us against France to keep up with qualities like Mbappe , we learned and the coach learned , now time for hard work hoping our players will change clubs and get more quality games in their legs , and coach need to improve transition from defense to attack so quickly with more efficiency .
You say the tactic made the team exhausted. Do you have stats on Km ran compared to other teams to confirm this theory? I simply think it was a bench problem as you mentioned.
Thanks for explaining this. I really hope a new generation of youngsters emerge that will play this formation naturally and neutralize the fame of possession football and over glorified tiki taka.
one thing to also note is that beautiful both entertaining and effective attacking style from the wings. For me, it was the first time that I see 2-3 players attacking from one side in a compact form like that (Boufal Mazraoui Ounahi) from one side and (Hakimi Ziyach Ounahi) from the other - they were all highly skilled technically very smooth and just beautiful to watch. As a North African Im delighted to see Moroccans' also focusing on individual skills just like football in the good old 90s days and how we grow up playing as well. Happy that this style of football is coming back to relieve us from this current European strictly tactical robot like style - I cant event watch the UCL anymore
Watching this team counter attack from 18 to 18, especially playing through tight spaces was impressive. In my opinion, the reason for such success is the level of quality players with an. advanced understanding of discipline. In comparison to the lack of discipline displayed by the. US team, just goes to show you how coaching at the highest level is critical. As the US continues to grow in the sport, the US federation needs use this Moroccan success as a blue print for future competition.
Morocco coach got inspired by Anciloti tactic with Madrid. He let u get the ball but u will NOT pass the middle of their half, when u lose the ball u get count attack with Venisius speed and Karim effective scoring. He said it in an interview. Very solid defense and counter attack will win u titles. However, not every team can be very organised defensvely when u play against high caliber attackers like Portugal, if u don't execute it well u end up losing 5:0
Thanks Very much For taking the time to make This Video Happen. Well, you may notice that The Moroccan Team in Qatar WC 2022 was Just warming up For the African CAF! They were Building a team that can win the next World Cup 2030 in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Best of luck 👍 ✨️ To the Moroccan Team.
Many argentinians dreamed of a final with Morocco. Not because we were scared of France but because it would have been so interesting to watch Morocco's style against argentinian agresive yet tactical playing. Maybe next WC we'll get to see that match.
Close but not similar because Morocco don't actually mark the player itself but the way where the ball can reach him and there for force them to play the wing's game where the 4 top defender's literally awaiting for anyone that unfortunate enough to have the ball And Greece in other hand give much space to the attackers in mid feald and relay only on there defence player's to do there job Basically what I said is Morocco work a selective defense
Like you said, Morocco's defensive system works from the front and forces opponents to bypass the midfield instead of parking the bus and waiting for them to get into the attacking third. This kind of defensive setup was much more entertaining to watch.
i liked the way Argentina played in the 1st 63 minutes of the final.keeping possession while attacking more than most "pointless possession " teams do.
The problem is that they got tired and became prone to dumb comebacks, happened both against Netherlands and Fr*nce The bullshit penalties didn't help either
This is basically how Uruguay played back in 2010. Disciplined defence with fast counter-attack, playing with a compact line of four DF, and two aggressive DM (Arévalo Ríos and Pérez). The style of play is very hard to master, and Morocco did an excellent job. Being patient, hard work in defence with all 10 men and have the courage to counter-attack when opportunity is given.
@@abdinoor4470 Yes, Amrabat was a key player in MF, was basically shielding the opponent's passes from MF to FW, almost like he had eyes on his neck and cutting the passing line.
I think this run by Walid Regragui's Morocco squad could spark a change in the dominance of the 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 teams. Regragui's brilliance was the key to Morocco making the semifinals. Morocco talent wise is not a top 4 team, but in a 7 match tournament sometimes it can come down to just having an innovative manager doing something different. No doubt he frustrated teams like Spain, Portugal, Croatia who were all 4-3-3 teams while Belgium were a 4-2-3-1 team. I believe we are heading towards an era where managers need to be tactically flexible to be successful. Managers can no longer be married to a system or style of play.
Possession football: your opponent can't win if they don't have the ball Morocco defensive football: your opponent can't win if they can't get past the midfield I would love to see if this tactics can be used in league settings, not just long tournament.
Ecuador also used this tactic and played incredibly well against qatar and the netherlands. The moment they didn't they lost against senegal, albeit at half time they returned to their old style and played significantly better than in the first half. Mendez was in the Amrabat role and caicedo in the Ounahi role.
I saw this during the Games and I was so impressed by there 4-1-4-1 Formation that they where doing. I do not think at it is an easy formation to play Specially against Teams like Spain and Portugal.
The problem we had are the injuries. Normally this should not be an excuse, as all teams have some level of injuries. The issue for us is that our coach Regragui was just instated on 31 August 2022, less than 3 moths before the start of the world cup. That short period of time he did a tremendous job getting the right team together. He did all he could to let them play friendly matches against other countries as much as he could and we all saw that he would constantly change players during games to test their abilities. So yes, in our case the injuries did have a huge impact. Had Regragui have more time he would be able to assemble a team with enough quality so that injuries would not have the same impact it had today. See you all at the next world cup.
It takes some extraordinary to beat this type of defense. Build up to Hernandez's goal in the semis came from a perfect through pass, then magic from Mbappe, Gvardiol and Orsic.
Sais and Aguerd the best two CBs in the moroccan defence were injured and they couldn't play in the last two games that's why their defence looked so shaky against France and Croatia
I thought that tactically Morocco was complete. The defense is an art as you mentioned . Even the fast build-ups and the way they trick the opposition to press them on one side in order to switch to the other side and open spaces for dribbling. The other important thing IMO is the study of Moroccan football culture that Regragui conducted. In fact, moroccans (or generally Maghrebins in Europe or Maghreb) generally learned football in the streets and tight spaces (before 12 yo) . They like to have freedom and enjoy dribbling and combinations when they attack thus their impredictability and confidence when Regragui gave it to them. I think the return of Tissoudali and Harit will add to their creative powers. Finally, while the whole world was surprised by Ounahi, Me as a moroccan I wasn't and I won't be with Tissoudali in the African cup. BUT MADRE MIA where did that 18 years old EL KHANNOUSS came from !!!! 😍😍 Multiple key passes that successfully have opened many times the midfield of Modric and kovacic. Did we won the next De Bruyne?!!
Let's not forget that opponents had a lot of opportunities, Lady Luck also played a role here. Don’t think for a minute that possession is dead, especially at levels below WC (country or top leagues) play.
You left out what Regragui also added as remarks: beyond tactics, Morocco played also with a set of values that are quite particular, and with what he calls 'Nya', it is yet to be proved if another team can replicate this way of playing if it doesn't have the same Moroccan values.
I believe Morroco's tactics was rather conservative than it was aggressive. Although, they tend to frustrate their opponents by blocking out passing options and man-marking opposing playmakers, they often studied their movements and responded with breakneck speedy counter attacks. Quite similar to Lionel Scaloni's Argentina bar the quality of wingers on both teams. Lovely analysis... There's an obvious future in this system, one I'm earnestly looking forward to.
Morocco should be looking now for two solid defenders playing right behind Amrabat in case Saìss and Negured were injured cause 4 1 defence and Amrabat up front were amazing I think that it was the foundation of this new system or you can old one if you like.
My answer is no, mainly because 1) you need the ball to do something 2) possession works both ways offensively and defensively. This form of football will continue but probably only in knockout football not football in general.
@@facundotomasmezaalarcon3401 remember Mou was the main reason teams started using 433 and also this form of football works best when you have elite attackers
Unfortunately, Morocco's 4-1-4-1 was changed to a 5-2-3 against France for some mysterious reason. They conceided the first goal in 5' because the new tactic freed the midfield for France and Morocco was defending from the back. In min 20' when Saiss couldn't continue playing due to injury, the coach brought back the old tactic and that's when Morocco started dominating. But they were trying to score by that time so the tactic also changed to the offensive which wasn't enough because they don't have a strong striker who could put balls in the net despite reaching the penalty box 24 TIMES! It was a huge tactical mistake by coach Regragui to start the match against France with a 5-2-3.
The coach answered that. He said it's because Saiss was injured and he wanted to give him less space to cover and limit his workload. In short Morocco did not have substitute players as good as the first 11.
In 2018 WC morocco did an amazing matchs against the group of death with Spain and Portugal and we can easily see who the referee impacted the results but they played very good so 2022 WC results was not surprising You can watch the match they played before the WC they can be very offensive too....
While Morocco masterfully did the defense block the whole tournament, they fell short on the attacking and finishing. Now imagine a club employing this tactic while having a strong attack. It's gonna be a bloodbath.
For people that got baited by the thumbnail's "possession is dead", relax: - LaLiga winner: Barcelona - LaLiga 2: Las Palmas - Premier: Manchester City - Premier's 2nd: Arsenal - Seria A: Napoli - Championship: Burnley - Champions League: Manchester City - FA Cup: Manchester City They're all 1st in possession.
The logic is simple: a great defense will always make you win 1 point from a draw 0-0. If you add an efficient counter attack then you win 3 points. The drawback of a defensive team is that players will be very tired by the end of 90min, technical subsitutions toward the end is extremely mandatory, which also leads us to have a quality players in the bench to fill the subsituted positions.
Wasn’t atlético Madrid the team that made this tactic their signature under Simeone? As an atlético fan I must say that it leaves me amazed how are we not pulling this out; we have been playing like that for a decade now but we are nowhere as good as we used to be. If Simeone stays I hope that he can learn from Morocco’s system and go back to our prime.
The way Morocco played reminded me a lot of the way Costa Rica played in 2014, with similar results. Though there with some differences (primarily in that the Ticos played with wingbacks), they also clogged the middle, forcing the opposing midfielders to drop back too far from their forwards (Pirlo spent most of the game back among his central defenders when they beat Italy). And like with Morocco, the Ticos paid the price for the physical demands of this style of play and lack of depth by the time they got to the later rounds.
Morocco didn't only have a well organized team. They also have very skilled players at most positions. Possession isn't dead. It's just that we didn't have a team that can do well with possession. Spain's lack of quality forward is chronic. Morocco played their best game against Spain. The intensity was insane.
injuries and lack of competent subs killed the dream for this team .i think walid regragui has more time now to make a solid team .in order to win the word cup , you ll need two teams in order to rotate between players and stay fit ,smth morocco didnt have .
Morocco missed that real finisher who just finishes the last touch. However, the squad still very young and I think in 2026 WC, they will come more experienced.
The real question is: How revolutionary is this, actually? Is Marocco doing anything, José Mourinho hasn't done 15 years ago? And yes, one would have to do an in depth analysis of Inters defense in 2010 and compare it to the way Marocco defends now. But in all honesty: This whole "Possession is dead" comes up every 4 to 5 years. France for instance won the last World Cup with 34% possession in the final, and scored 4 goals anyway. And it is not an outlier, they only had more possession than the opponent in one knock out game. The only real question is: Do you have the players with the necessary tactical discipline and focus? (Fun fact: 8 of Maroccos starting eleven were raised and conditioned in Europe.) And can you, as a Coach, convince your players to play ugly?
@@pmlbeirao Well, yes. Since that 2010 Inter squad actually was the best offense in the Serie A, scoring 75 goals. But let's be real: His default mode was a rock solid defense. Especially in international competition. Or at least against Messi and Barcelona. Just for context: There were some experts, that claimed we need to introduce a shot clock, because Barca was too damn good at the passing game racking up insane possession numbers. Spain in those years just drove you insane by passing the ball and then eventually scored the one goal, winning the World Cup with 8 goals total. They didn't even start with a striker, but subbed him in, when the opponent got tired. But Mourinho just said: I don't care, let them have the ball, we just won't give them any space. And they perfected that play style. Now Morocco basically did the same: Give them the ball, but no space to work with.
In Brazil we call this "retranca" and it is a very old tactic, generally used by weaker teams. It easier to destroy the game than to play it. So you "park the bus in from your own goal" and wait. The adversary advances, trying to overcome your numerical superiority, leaving gaps that you can explore in a counter offensive. With good passing and fast players you can beat much stronger teams, though playing a boring and ugly style.
Interesting analysis. I think this works for nations that aren’t heavily represented in the top 5 leagues. The 4-1-4-1 has the hallmarks of the Bielsa system at Leeds. It requires not only a lot discipline but serious fitness.
Reguragui did the same tactic with his ex team WYDAD CASABLANCA and win Africa Champions league and Moroccan pro league with no winter transfert market and he was going to win the Triple dream but he lost the Cup in the final by penalties. great coach, the big secret was creating a strong group and united family, every player can give more and more
Morocco was just lucky…Spain and Portugal kept missing opportunities…France caught those opportunities that’s it. Morocco was exposed. They were outplayed by Spain and Portugal if you watched the game you will realise.
Everyone is waxing lyrical about Morocco playing the way they did because they are Morocco! These is the tactics that a Mourinho would get criticized for. Would people be as thrilled if say England or Holland played the same way?
Because Morocco is not england of Holland when were talking about talents and players on professional levels People appreciating Morocco more than any team because their coach is a genius , because no one expects them to even go to the round of 16 , because of the inferiority complex the African players have always had in theit history
Martino's Paraguay was already using this system back in South Africa 2010. The only difference is that, by that time, they didn't have fast attackers like Morocco had today.
Playing better ball possession than weaker opponent due to being comfortable on the ball. Also, surrendering ball possession to stronger team, able to resist and beat the press of opposition, penetrating opposition defensive line with short vertical passes. In modern football, it is more about transitioning from defensive to offensive phase, rather than having a specific philosophy or playing style. Being tactically well drilled and entertaining at the same time is rare nowadays. Morocco has achieved that, well if only they can finish their chances more efficiently.
This is pretty much how Chelsea managed to win the CL against prime Barca and Bayern in 2012 but one big difference is they had a lethal big game striker (Drogba).
I live where it's called "soccer" and didn't grow up with the game. I've been working through Inverting The Pyramid and your understanding of the history of tactics corresponds closely with (or, is informed by?) the book. Found this channel during the World Cup, and subscribed because of the type of clear, concise analysis offered here about Morocco that doesn't head off into the weeds. Cheers. (I now call the game here "American football", leaving some nonplussed.)
Although I am impressed with Morocco 🇲🇦 and they have done a wonderful job. One thing I would like to say is the teams in club level football have better chemistry than most top level international teams and teams like city will breakdown these tactics especially in the league. It can be done but with city spending shotload of money on quality players it will be tough. One more thing if he is just talking about tactics in international football then he is correct but at club level it worked in the past with Mourinho now it’s very tricky especially against a pep guardiola side.
