Igor Tudor Tactics At Hellas Verona 2021/2022 – Tactical Analysis

The 2021/22 Serie A season has been full of surprises.

Napoli and Milan sit at the top of the table, still unbeaten after 12 games, seven points clear of the champions Inter, and Juventus struggling in eighth place.

The managerial changes didn’t only affect those teams’ performances, though.

Despite not being title contenders, the under-the-radar Hellas Verona have impressed under their new coach, Igor Tudor.

He was appointed in September and started his spell with an impressive win over José Mourinho’s Roma.

Arriving from the assistant job at Juventus, Tudor has started to transform Verona and has surprised many of his opponents with his team’s high-pressing intensity and attacking flair.

While they still have many defensive flaws, their solid attacking performances troubled the leaders Napoli and Milan.

They also defeated Juventus, Lazio, and Roma in Tudor’s first few games in charge, earning them well-deserved respect in the league.

Inter was the only top team to win convincingly over Verona.

Unfortunately, the team’s defensive vulnerability often leads to disappointing results, which is why they currently sit 10th despite being the third most prolific team in terms of goals scored (25).

The new manager, however, shows a glimpse of his potential and is expected to offer the team a lot more and further enhance their performance in the next few months.

Before joining Juventus, Tudor managed Croatian club Hajduk Split and failed to bring them back into the top three, but was described as one of the most innovative young coaches who deserves attention and could succeed in the future.

This tactical analysis, presented in the form of a scout report, explains Verona’s tactics and assesses their performance under the new coach so far.

Igor Tudor Formation and Starting XI

Verona were previously most frequently set up in a 3-4-2-1 formation, and Tudor didn’t change much about that.

He usually favours the back three, too, and in some games, he kept the scheme with slight changes to a 3-4-3 formation.

The team tries to expose the opposition with measured attacking actions and a distinguished pressing strategy, which helps them avoid even more defensive errors.

Their press intensity is the key to their successful attacking actions. Although they don’t usually have more of the ball, they do recover it frequently and take advantage of these situations in attack.

While pressing high and constantly trying to win the ball back brings them many benefits, it also has flaws.

Often, their over-commitment to it makes it difficult for them to regroup and defend as a unit should their opponents bypass the pressing structures.

Another weakness of Tudor’s team is their aggressiveness.

Their inability to defend in their own half often results in individual errors and fouls that give their opponents an advantage.

Although the starting XI is somewhat flexible and the manager rotates certain players, a core team is relied on most frequently.

Lorenzo Montipò covers the goal, while the centre-backs with the most playing minutes are Nicolò Casale, Koray Günter and Paweł Dawidowicz, who all have a contribution to the build-up play and to retaining possession.

Günter’s positioning and anticipation skills are crucial for the team both in and out of possession.

Centrally, Tudor relies on very active wing-backs in the face of Darko Lazović and the experienced Davide Faraoni.

They are highly involved in the team’s attacking actions, as Verona usually builds up through the flanks and tends to use the wing-backs to drag defenders out. They also cut inside and provide an additional threat.

The situation in central midfield is more uncertain.

The players with the most starts under Tudor are Miguel Veloso and Ivan Ilić, as one of them is often replaced by Adrien Tameze.

Ilić is the most reliable in terms of pass completion and distributing the ball further, although Veloso’s long balls are often very beneficial for the team.

The most frequent starters in attack are Gianluca Caprari, Antonín Barák and Giovanni Simeone as striker, and this has proven to be the most successful partnership in the frontline so far.

Simeone is currently the top goalscorer of the team with nine goals, but his fellow attackers split their responsibilities well and provide both direct and indirect threats.

Actions in possession and ball progression

The team sit considerably high in possession, with the three defenders moving closer to the central line.

The left and right centre-backs would move even further in efforts to overload the opposition half and control the game there, while Günter would orchestrate the play from the back with his accurate passing and positional sense.

Verona tries to stay rather compact, with the forward line dropping deeper and also moving out wide to combine with the advanced defenders and wing-backs.

That’s why they prefer to attack through the flanks, where they commit more players and often have a numerical advantage.

With their link-up play in wide areas, they try to engage defenders and open spaces for each other, which helps them progress the ball and break through defences.

The central midfielders are key for bypassing the press and offering passing options as their positioning and passes allow the team to advance the ball to the final third.

They are the connection between the lines.

They are responsible for releasing the pressure, orchestrating the play forward, and supplying the frontline with passes.

They rely on a rather high pass frequency and aim to retain possession with lateral passing and switches of play, although their success rate in terms of offensive duels is unsatisfactory.

They often fail to hold onto the ball and give away the possession in midfield, which prevents them from creating more chances.

Despite their tendency to play with width, they often adjust to the opposition’s strategy in-game and try to take advantage of their mistakes.

Whenever they are unable to open the passing lanes, they opt for a switch of play in an effort to expose the underloaded areas.

The team also go for long balls and more direct play whenever the opposition’s lines are well structured and they are unable to break through.

Final third ventures

The team’s attacking movement is balanced.

They don’t overcommit to certain movements and don’t rely only on one method to expose the opposition in the final third.

They combine crossing and through balls while also relying on the wingers’ smart passing and movement.

They certainly rely mostly on individual skills.

Verona tries to break through defences with a lot of movement and overloading the final third.

They tend to attack through the wings and then move the ball centrally, relying on short pass combinations.

On the flanks, they rely on overlapping and underlapping runs, with all lines involved.

Apart from the wide players, the centre midfielders’ support is crucial as they act as passing outlets and support the link-up-play so the team can advance and disposition defenders.

The Mastiffs also often rely on creating chances from outside the box.

They take advantage even of moments when the opposition defends deep and has limited the spaces between the lines.

Whenever they are unable to open the channels and deliver the ball to the box, they shoot from distance.

They turn being forced to shoot from outside the box into their advantage and another way to catch the opposition off-guard.

The wingers successfully support both a direct threat and also their teammates’ movement and create chances for them.

They split their responsibilities well and contribute to increasing the efficiency in front of the goal.

The wing-backs, though, have similar responsibilities.

Their contribution to the attacking actions is key as they cut inside to create overloads in the box and are often in good positions to score.

Verona’s performance upfront is well measured.

They don’t overproduce shots and don’t like to throw all of their efforts to waste.

Instead, they rely on high shot accuracy (second-best in the league).

That’s how they have exceeded their xG of 16.18 and have scored 25 goals so far.

The team’s movement in and around the box allows them to shoot from quality positions.

Defensive performance

Verona struggles in many aspects, defensively.

One of their most significant flaws is their inability to keep possession of the ball.

They are among the top three teams in the league that lose the ball most frequently on average per 90.

Their 96.41 losses per game are often in dangerous areas and result in the opposition creating goalscoring chances.

Many individual errors in the box have resulted in them conceding shots and, respectively, goals.

As mentioned, they have difficulties regrouping and adjusting their marking strategy in-game, which gives their opponents more space to exploit.

Their aggressiveness and unmeasured actions also cause a lot of trouble at the back, as they often commit fouls and give away free kicks around the box.

This makes it even more difficult to defend as they struggle to defend set-pieces.

Only Torino’s players commit more fouls per 90 (17.74) than Verona (14.6).

The team have so far conceded five goals from set-plays, along with two penalties.

They are often victims of individual errors and failing to mark the opposing players properly.

They easily get distracted by their movement and dragged out of position.

Their lack of anticipation skills makes it very difficult to defend against long shots and through-ball attacks. They fail to cover depth, which leaves gaps for the opposition.

They are also prone to making individual mistakes under pressure, which can result in scoring their own goals.

Their biggest strength, defensively, is their pressing strategy.

The team usually opt for intense pressing and like to trouble their opponents’ build-up from the back.

That is when Tudor’s side are most successful.

Their PPDA rate of 9.62 places them fourth in the league regarding high press intensity.

While they often lose the ball, they are also proficient in stealing it from the opposition and creating chances afterward.

They do opt for high press, but they are most successful in recovering the ball in midfield and then spreading it out in attack.

They are most efficient in winning the ball through ground duels, although they also often use their positioning and are successful in the air.

Conclusion

Igor Tudor hasn’t had much time to transform Hellas Verona fully but he’s had an immediate impact on their style of play and performance.

As our tactical analysis showed, they managed to outplay big opponents and show character despite their defensive fragilities by taking measured attacking actions and smart pressing.

The Croatian coach has to bring balance in their performance and improve their defensive reactions in order for the team to get better results and move up the table.

With their consistency in attack, they only need an improved defensive strategy to play on their potential.