It is becoming increasing likely that David Moyes is being lined up as a replacement for Sam Allardyce at the end of the season. Yes, the board will still need to have their fabled end of season meeting but I can only see one outcome from that meeting. Carrying out some internet research on the Scot’s tactical strengths and weaknesses I came across this 2013 analysis.
A solid shape
David Moyes is a particular fan of “segmenting” his training pitch to encourage players to cover space efficiently. One format involves the playing area divided into 24 equal squares, so the defence play high up the pitch, the wide players stretch the play, and the attackers rotate position. Another setting has the pitch divided lengthways into six narrow bands of 12 yards each – the back four must occupy the nearest four “bands” when the ball is on one flank, then the middle four when the ball is in central positions. There’s also a strong importance placed upon positional responsibilities at transitions from attack to defence, with players ordered to organise themselves immediately, usually into two banks of four.
Reactive tactics
Moyes often travels to games to watch his next opponents strategy ahead of a trip there. It’s hard to think of another Premier League manager so frequently found by television cameras in the stands, scouting upcoming opponents. It sums up Moyes’s approach – whereas other managers believe paying too much attention to the opposition affects self-belief, the Scot is a naturally reactive manager who varies his side’s approach to nullify the strengths, and expose the weaknesses, of a particular opponent. Sometimes this reactivity can become negativity, and while Moyes has often frustrated big sides in the Premier League he has rarely beaten them.
The value of width
One of the key parts of Moyes’s strategy is creating overloads – two-versus-one and three-versus-two situations – in wide areas. The movement of a player from a central position towards the channel often confuses opposition defences, who are reluctant to be dragged out of shape, and end up defending a stream of crosses. “We like our attackers to retain width whilst ensuring team-mates still occupy space in the middle of the field,” he once told the Elite Soccer magazine.
Ball retention in advanced positions
Compared to many other managers Moyes is not overwhelmingly focused upon ball retention. Moyes’s sides may not focus upon possession play, but nor are his sides ever guilty of sterile domination – he encourages positive outcomes, ie crosses and shots, at the end of attacking moves.
Switches of play
Moyes has always appreciated calm, patient midfielders who are happy knocking the ball calmly from flank to flank. One of Moyes’s favourite training sessions involves two small-sided teams attacking into three mini-goals, which are spread across the width of the playing area. The idea is to encourage players to attack down one side, realise the opposition are blocking the path to goal, and then play a quick lateral pass to attack from the opposite wing.
Based on a 2013 article by Michael Cox on the Guardian Football Blog