Brazil vs Argentina - Analysed!

Copa America 2019 semi-final, Brazil vs Argentina, might be the biggest game in men's football this summer and my idea for analysing this game would be to see how Brazil's moments of being 'out of possession' in the competition would come up against Argentina's offensive threat when they have possession.

Although Brazil have dominated possession by having an average of 68.8% of the ball and are yet to concede a goal, I've focused on the moment of them losing possession as they haven't faced that situation much during the competition. It would be interesting to see them deal with such circumstances and the way they react to conceding a goal in that manner.

Here we can clearly see how difficult it is for Brazil to be composed in the period of 'transition to winning possession'. A reckless mistake in the middle-third of the pitch could result in an overload from the opposition and Brazil might have to face an 'out of possession' situation in spatial and numerical inferiority.

Brazil also has a tendency of gaining numerical superiority in their offensive approach which makes the opposition sit back and try to contain constant waves of attackers. On the other hand, offensive unity and providing stability for the game-center is something that they lack and can be exploited.

Argentina hasn't been performing upto their reputation, which says a lot about them still reaching the semi-finals without full use of their potential. I've analysed their capability of being a threat during moments of being 'in possession' and not making optimum use of their caliber. They've had only 51.8% possession and still translated that to having 13 shots/game with 43% being on target! Here onwards, the possibilities are endless for them.

Argentina has been using the width and depth of their team to make supportive runs by players off the ball constantly. That gives them more leverage against opponents who have difficulty tracking players off the ball when they go out of their peripheral vision and gain commanding positions inbetween lines.

Argentina's 'transition to win possession' is direct towards goal and requires hardly any passes/dribbles going away from goal. They tend to attract as many opponents in the game-center to open up spaces closer to goal for a situation of numerical and spatial parity.

I hope you enjoyed my analysis on one of the biggest games of this summer and I'm eagerly looking forward to your invaluable feedback, suggestions and ideas. Do like, share and follow the page to show your love!

Football - Analysed!

(Video and Statistics Credits - WyScout.com)