SLPSlavia PrahaClub page
RCLRC LensClub page
Squad value€113.35m
Squad value€203.2m
Key playerStepan Chaloupek
Key playerRobin Risser
Head coachJindrich Trpisovsky
Head coachDino Toppmöller
Slavia Praha press high and RC Lens insist on playing out through it. Expect the ball lost in dangerous places.
Slavia Praha and RC Lens both come after the ball high up the pitch, so it keeps changing hands in dangerous areas.
They defend man-to-man all over the pitch. Whoever you are, someone is going with you.
“Neviděl jsem žádný jiný tým hrát takovým způsobem v defenzivě. Ať už je to pod vysokým tlakem, nebo v bloku. Prostě brání jeden na jednoho.”I haven't seen any other team defend like that. Whether it's pressing high or sitting in a block. They simply defend one-on-one. our translation
In the derby they picked four centre-backs and simply man-marked the dangerous players out of the game.
“Prostě se rozhodli hrát se čtyřmi stopery a pokrýt naše ofenzivní hráče”They simply decided to play with four centre-backs and cover our attacking players our translation
When Lens press, one wing-back shoots out of the back line to close down the full-back in front of him, and on the other side that job goes to the number 10. Teams that push both their full-backs high can pull them out of shape.
“Au début, c’était prévu qu’il n’y ait qu’un piston qui saute (dans le pressing). Et sur l’autre côté, c’est le numéro 10. Mais quand ils ont mis les deux latéraux quelques fois aussi un peu plus haut, on s’est dit qu’on allait s’occuper des pistons.”At the start, the plan was that only one wing-back would jump out (in the press). And on the other side, it's the number 10. But when they sometimes pushed both their full-backs a bit higher, we decided we'd deal with them using the wing-backs. our translation
They keep last season's high energy and pressing, but now try to pass their way out from the back in short combinations and swing the ball quickly from one side to the other.
“Il détaille une philosophie tournée vers la construction et la percussion : beaucoup de jeu combiné et de passes courtes, la volonté de déséquilibrer l’adversaire, un travail approfondi sur la sortie de balle et les changements rapides de côté, sans oublier l’exploitation de la profondeur pour le numéro dix.”He describes a philosophy geared towards building play and cutting through: plenty of combination play and short passes, the intent to pull the opponent out of shape, in-depth work on playing out from the back and quick switches of play, not forgetting running in behind for the number 10. our translation
The wide men no longer just hug the touchline and cross. They will often tuck inside into the middle instead, and the midfield numbers change from game to game.
“il y a aussi des pistons qui ont peut-être moins un rôle de centreur, comme j’ai pu le faire l’année dernière. Ils seront parfois plus présents à l’intérieur du jeu.”there are also wing-backs who maybe have less of a crossing role than the one I had last year. They will sometimes be more involved inside the pitch. our translation