Milan 2019/20: Tactical flexibility

Women’s football in Italy has progressed massively these past few years, with clubs such as Juventus, Fiorentina, Roma, Inter and Milan developing their own competitive teams in order to join the fight for the Serie A Womens title. Maurizio Ganz, Milan’s manager, has built a strong and determined team which currently occupies the second place in the table, level on points with Fiorentina and behind leaders Juventus. Second place would secure qualification to the Womens UEFA Champions League.

This tactical analysis in the form of a scout report will analyse the impact of Ganz’s tactics in shaping Milan’s recent success before the interruption of football due to Covid-19.

Ganz has utilised a plethora of formations and tactical systems and a consequence of this is that his side are incredibly flexible. Therefore, his players have gained experience, tactical versatility and most importantly, the ability to play in different positions and various formations. When analysing formations, it is clear that Ganz has alternated between four formations in the 13 matches played this season, which shows us a brief glimpse of Ganz’s tactical fluidity. His tendency to alter his teams tactics in order to combat an opponents strengths is quite apparent when we take into consideration that Ganz has never deployed the same formation in consecutive matches more than three times.

However, not only do his pre-match tactics change, Ganz often changes his tactical system during matches, most commonly to aid his team’s attacking play. As well as tactical changes and tactical flexibility, Ganz is a firm believer in total football and uses several tactical systems as tools to accomplish his long-term aims with the club. These tactical choices and their effects on the team’s performance will be addressed thoroughly in this analysis while using various examples to support these ideas.

Midfield tactics

Milan’s 4-3-3 formation is composed of a defensive line consisting of two centre-backs flanked by attacking full-backs who are always looking to get forward and support the wingers, but are also able to get back quickly and fulfil their defensive roles when possession is lost. In midfield, Refiloe Jane occupies the role of defensive midfielder; she forms the head of a triangle that includes herself and two other central midfielders. These three players are the basis of Milan’s tactical system. With defensive interceptions or key passes, they constitute the most fundamental part in Ganz’s defensive and attacking system.

The result of Milan’s full-backs getting forward is that it alters Ganz’s system to resemble a 2-5-3, leaving only the two centre-backs who adopt a high defensive line. The image below displays this system. By overloading the midfield, it forces the opposition to press high to mark the midfielders and leaves space in between the lines. This is of great benefit to Ganz’s team as it is easier for players to find space to receive the ball with time to turn and drive at the opposition defence.

This tactical tweak enables Milan to get the ball to one of their forwards in dangerous positions. The forwards are rapidly supported by two central midfielders, and in some cases by three. One of the central midfielders will often move into a number 10 role and will operate in between the midfield and attacking lines.

We can see an example of this below, Nora Heroum has moved in a position typically associated with a number 10. We are also able to see right-back Francesca Vitale having an influence in the final third as we discussed earlier.