When Pep Guardiola was appointed Manchester City manager back in 2016, he changed the roles of David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne. Previously accustomed to playing in the attacking line of three in a 4-2-3-1, he brought them back into a 4-3-3, playing Silva to the left, and De Bruyne to the right. After some struggles to find the right balance in the first season, it eventually propelled City to back-to-back titles.
Seeing players like that in those roles was highly unusual at the time, to the extent that De Bruyne felt the need to give his new role a new name. “It’s a little change but it’s alright,” he said shortly after Guardiola took charge. “The coach has his own tactics. I play not as a No 10 but as a ‘free eight’ with a lot of movement everywhere.” It was seemingly the first time the phrase ‘free eight’ had been used.
It made some sense, but the irony was that Guardiola doesn’t give any of his attacking players a ‘free’ role. In fact, while traditionally committed to attacking football, and possession football, Guardiola is one of the coaches in the modern game who works most structurally. He generally asks his players to stick to strict positional instructions, and while those free eights had licence to move forward into the channels, they didn’t have freedom to move laterally. They were, if we’re being pedantic, advanced eights rather than free eights.
Scott McTominay had a ‘free’ role for Napoli against Atalanta (Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Antonio Conte has generally based his coaching philosophy around a similar concept to Guardiola — different systems, but the same approach in terms of positional play in the final third, usually with five players filling five different channels, his 3-4-3 turning into a 3-2-5.
But this season at Napoli, who are top of Serie A, Conte is doing something very different. Not only has he moved away from a three-man defence for the first time since his early days at Chelsea — at the same point Guardiola took over City — he’s also using something that might be termed, well, ‘freer eights’. That was obvious in Napoli’s crucial 3-2 victory at third-placed Atalanta on Saturday night.
Take the first goal, for example. In basic terms, this was interesting positionally because Matteo Politano, the right winger, found himself towards the left side, to crash home the ball after it deflected into his path from a David Neres left-wing cross. But look across to the far post and you’ll see Scott McTominay, who signed from Manchester United last summer, and Frank Anguissa both hoping to score a tap-in.
That is a major part of Conte’s system. Having started the campaign with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as a No 10 in a 4-2-3-1, he moved away from that approach and now uses McTominay and Anguissa breaking forward ahead of holding midfielder Stanislav Lobotka. You expect Conte’s midfielders to be positionally cautious, but instead they play almost absurdly attacking roles.
This next situation was telling. When Politano pulled back a cross from the right, you’d expect either of the No 8s to be breaking onto this ball as it reaches the D. Instead, both were breaking into the six-yard box, varying their runs like a strike duo.
What is also interesting — and the thing that separates them from Guardiola’s interpretation of free eights — is how much freedom they have to roam laterally, often finding themselves together on the same side of the pitch.
This move is typical Napoli, with a ball up to Romelu Lukaku, who is always coming towards the ball rather than running into the channels this season, and usually doing so towards the right. McTominay makes runs from the left central-midfield role in behind Lukaku, which means he and Anguissa end up in roughly the same zone.
Indeed, the two are almost marking one another as this move develops down the left.
It ends with Anguissa nodding a far-post cross into the six-yard box towards McTominay.
Here’s that same routine in the second half — a ball up to Lukaku, with McTominay running diagonally in behind, leaving the inside-left channel completely bare.
And this tendency was relevant to Napoli’s next two goals. The second came after Anguissa, theoretically playing to the right of midfield, pressured on the left touchline and won the ball.
Anguissa then broke into the channel, and cut the ball back for McTominay.
McTominay finished excellently.
Incidentally, this goal was reminiscent of Napoli’s third in the thumping win at Fiorentina. This one came via a poor clearance, but again it was Anguissa breaking down the left…
… and McTominay on hand to finish.
Some of the situations might seem relatively minor. This move, for example, led to little. But again, certainly some coaches — and even the Conte of previous seasons — would not want Anguissa and McTominay on the same vertical line like this.
But it paid off. For the crucial winner, Napoli’s midfield trio were occupying no more than five yards of lateral width — Lobotka holding, Anguissa on the ball, and McTominay pushing forward into attack.
Anguissa has come from the near side, but ends up making a run in behind down the far side, almost overlapping McTominay to run into the channel.
And Anguissa’s cross found Lukaku at the near post to head home the winner.
The victory may prove crucial. It puts Napoli seven points clear of Atalanta, perhaps turning the title battle into a two-horse race between Napoli and second-placed Inter.
In terms of personnel and style, it’s a very different Napoli side from the one which memorably triumphed two years ago. “Compared to last season, (Victor) Osimhen, (Piotr) Zielinski and (Khvicha) Kvaratskhelia have left,” said Conte afterwards, when asked about the transfer window.
“We need to keep our heads down, keep working, not complain about anything. If the club wants to do something (in the market), then they will, otherwise I go into battle with these lads and know they will never let me down.”
Battle is very much the word. McTominay and Anguissa will never be the most stylish of footballers. But with their newfound freedom, Napoli have won six in a row — and without any European commitments, have an excellent chance of winning the Scudetto.
GO DEEPER
Anguissa interview: ‘Kvaratskhelia said his season changed thanks to that day’
