Renato Paiva: The Portuguese’s positional play tactics at City Group’s new Bahia – tactical analysis

In 2013, shortly after the rapid rise of Man City under their new ownership, City Football Group was founded with the aim of building a global network of football clubs. The interests behind this global network ranged anywhere from commercial purposes to sporting development. Commercially, the City Group brand has drastically grown globally over the last decade, with clubs being acquired in Spain’s La Liga, France’s Ligue 1, the USA, Australia, Brazil, Uruguay, and more. Additionally, there were various sporting interests behind the construction of this global network.

Success (and its financial consequences) is perhaps the most obvious one, with Man City dominating the Premier League in its golden era. The development and exchange of talent is another clear interest, with numerous promising stars from South America being signed and loaned across the network over the last few years. However, there is another sporting dimension which may not be as recognised as the others.

The globalisation of a football ideology has been a clear motive behind City Group’s global network. Similar to its business strategy, City Group’s football clubs play with a scientific, rational, and analytical approach. On the pitch, with Pep Guardiola leading the line, Positional Play has been the vehicle through which this strategy is carried out. In addition to Man City, this was clearly adopted at New York City FC, and now at Bahia in Brazil.

Once the acquisition of Bahia became official in late 2022, City Group immediately hired Portuguese manager Renato Paiva. Additionally, through meticulous recruitment in the transfer window, the squad went through a complete revolution. With the state championships well underway, Renato Paiva’s newly formed Bahia have already had some time to develop.

After 11 games, Paiva’s tactical approach is clear, and there is no surprise in this area. In this tactical analysis, we will take an in-depth look at Bahia’s tactics under Renato Paiva in 2023. In and out of possession, this analysis will break down the key principles and ideas behind Renato Paivas tactics.

Formations and squad

Before diving into the tactics, it is important to provide context by understanding their formations and squad development. In his 11 games in charge so far, Renato Paiva has kept it fairly simple. The Portuguese manager has mostly played with a 4-2-3-1, and at times, slightly modified it into a 4-4-2. However, the initial formation tends to become quite irrelevant in and out of possession.

While goalkeeper Marcos Felipe signed from Fluminense, there were some key signings in the defence. Kanu and Raul Gustavo arrived from Botafogo and Corinthians, respectively, and both will provide immediate quality at the centre-back position. Additionally, left-back Jhoanner Chávez is an extremely promising 20-year-old who arrived from Ecuador’s Independiente Del Valle.

Nicolás Acevedo arrived from New York City FC to significantly upgrade the midfield, and young stars Diego Rosa and Kayky came on loan from Man City. Finally, Biel is another promising talent who arrived from Fluminense.

On top of these key signings, City Group have brought in a few more precise additions. Heavily considering their tactical style, Bahia’s squad has been completely upgraded.

Spatial guidelines

Renato Paiva has adopted a textbook Positional Play model at Bahia, and so far, it has proven successful. They have been able to control matches with 62.93% possession and 36 positional attacks per 90, at the time of writing. This control is very resembling of City in the Premier League, albeit against much weaker opposition. Nonetheless, the initial possession-based style is already implemented at Arena Fonte Nova.

In this approach, the high volume of possession is merely a tool through which Paiva’s men carry out their principles. With only 8.95% of their 472.55 passes per 90 being long, this progression is clearly done in a very controlled manner. This control is both in their passing style, which is very certain and programmed, and in their movement, adhering to zonal guidelines to maximise the pitch and manipulate both space and their opponents.

Let’s take it one step at a time, and first look at their initial setup. At a first glance, they often set up with a first line of three spread across the three central channels, a single deep-lying midfielder in the central channel, and two advanced midfielders in each half-space. In the ball-side wide area, there is the fullback and the winger. Depending on where the ball is, either one of them could move into the half-space, but if so, the other must stay wide.

In this first instance, the line of three is formed by one of the defensive midfielders dropping in between the centre-backs while the other becomes a single pivot. The attacking midfielder shifts into the left half-space while the opposite winger moves into the right half-space.

However, in this second example, we can see a completely different variation. The right-back remains deeper to form this line of three, and one of the defensive midfielders pushes up into one of the half-spaces with the attacking midfielder in the other. A similar setup is achieved, but it is formed in a completely different manner.

This illustrates Positional Play at its best. There are spatial or zonal guidelines to which the players must adhere, however, it is not rigid as to who goes where. Obviously, some consistent patterns will emerge, but they can change from possession to possession, as long as the balance is maintained, and the spaces are respected.