Fernando Torres Tactics & Formations At Atlético Madrid U19 2022/2023 – Tactical Analysis

Who Is Fernando Torres?

Fernando Torres, in his career as a player, was managed by several coaches with a fairly similar and straightforward idea, always wanting to play with a lot of verticality and with a preference for defending lower rather than high, where he triumphed greatly since he was always an excellent striker to look for support with little touches and then create diagonal runs into space so that they could throw through passes to those areas.

At 38 years old, the legendary striker for Liverpool, Spain and Atlético Madrid embarked on a career as a coach back in 2021, with Atlético de Madrid U19, which has found many similarities to Diego Simeones team, in addition to what we saw in the teams that Fernando Torres played in during his playing career.

The ex-Chelsea man won his group in the youth category in his first campaign and is now off to an excellent start in the Youth League, with five victories and one defeat in the group stage.

With quite clear, vertical, and interesting ideas, El Niño, as he is commonly known, has begun to set out on a path as a head coach that will surely lead him to first-division football.

That is why we will carry out a tactical analysis of his tactics at Atlético de Madrid U19 and an analysis of the team in both phases of the game.

Fernando Torres Tactics  Low Block

Fernando Torres has adopted, in his defensive search for a shape, almost always a 5-3-2 that covers many central and outer spaces with his back five, in addition to an incredibly hard-working midfield three that covers spaces well and moves the block side-to-side smartly.

The defensive lines positioning is not high, even though on certain occasions, they can put pressure on the rival third.

However, it is very short, and they always prefer a more zonal, compact 5-3-2, which can sometimes become a 5-2-3.

The idea is to give the ball back to the rival and push them to the limit so they cannot progress through any channel on the pitch.

Normally we see the team standing a few meters from their box. However, sometimes they can also give the entire field to the first rival passers, leaving them in a high block with no space to act. Many players on the Spanish side are forewarned to win the ball back and play balls into space, which they do well, generating a lot of damage for opponents through that attacking pattern.

It is an approach quite similar to what Simeone does and has sought in Atlético de Madrid in recent years.

Not only in the shape that has been changing throughout his seasons at the club, but also in what we can see as the positioning, the hard work of the midfield and the smart movements to block different channels where opponents can receive between the lines.

Even though these types of defensive ideas are zonal and have little to tell apart from closing the spaces on the field with their further back positioning, there are still certain micro-details to see that make this system work.

For example, the midfielders are vital when the opposition wants to play the ball to the outside.

Every time teams face Torr