Basque approved: How Marcelino’s 4-4-2 has transformed Athletic Club – tactical analysis

Managerial changes are often followed up by a boost in the performance of the teams, but it is rarely followed by consistency and attractive football. One of the teams that make an exception to the rule are Athletic Club, not because they haven’t improved their performance, but because they did show consistency in it, losing only a couple of their last 13 games under the new manager in charge, Marcelino.

An impressive run followed by exciting displays put them in the La Liga top 10 with a small but real chance of reaching a UEFA Europa Conference League qualification spot.

Marcelino who previously managed Valencia revitalised his favoured 4-4-2 and it turned out to be perfectly suited for the Basque side who won seven of their last 13 meetings.

The 55-year-old brought Athletic Club on the table and made them a serious opponent with an interesting and rather intense pressing strategy.

This tactical analysis examines the team’s current tactics under their new manager and how his distinguished approach led them to the boost in performance that they saw from the beginning of 2021.

Formations and main traits

The first noticeable change that Marcelino made was changing the system. While the 4-2-3-1 was previously the team’s most-used formation, with his arrival, he decided to implement his favoured 4-4-2 (that he used with his previous teams). By doing this, he tried bringing more balance providing defensive stability but also turning Athletic into a team with smooth and dangerous transitions.

He would rarely switch to a different set-up and when he does it is usually a variation of the 4-4-2 (4-4-1-1 or 4-2-2-2). The players adjusted very well to that scheme and his playing style, being able to have better coverage on both flanks and position better during the build-up offering more options in midfield.

The team try to keep quite a compact shape with limited space between the lines and play out wide whenever they enter the more advanced areas. They would most frequently build-up from the back and try to advance the ball through the central players and then use the width provided by the wingers.

They rely on a lot of movement and keeping their structure so they can control the game in the opposition half. In attack, Los Leones rely on their crossing efforts where they often cross from deep in efforts to bypass the opposition press and deliver the ball to goalscoring positions.