A Game Plan v JDT: Simple Structures & Principles Against The Malaysian Champions
In Malaysia, Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) have gone on a spree of domination. Not only have they won the past seven Malaysian Super League league titles, they have only lost three games in the past four seasons and only recently have lost their unbeaten run at their new stadium.
The crown prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, has pledged sufficient funds to the club’s cause, not only improving the playing squad, but also into top of the line infrastructure. A new stadium has recently been completed, and a new state-of-the-art training facility for all of the clubs teams is about to begin construction
With JDT on such a dominant streak both on and off the field, how can teams still compete with the Johor side? This article will focus solely on the playing side, devising simple principles and rules that a team could use when playing against the current Malaysian Champions that could potentially (and hypothetically) exploit their deficiencies, whilst still managing to nullify their strengths. These principles are based on my own analysis of JDT this season and their playing style and preferences.
Before beginning, a note: While the article will focus on a game plan to play against JDT, this is just a hypothetical scenario. The game plan and ideas are designed without a specific team in mind. For all teams that face JDT this season, be it in the MSL or AFC Champions League, the head coach will need to take into consideration the players they have at their disposal and their subsequent strengths and weaknesses. They will need to account for the players that JDT may have available (or unavailable) on any given match week. I have not had to deal with these permutations, and thus have only devised a theoretical plan to deal with JDT.
JDT Overview
Head Coach, Benjamin Mora, usually deploys JDT in a 4–3–3 shape. In possession, with JDT often dominating games and in control, the shape often becomes a 2–1–2–5. The defensive midfielder, often Natxo Insa, will often position in the pocket of space between the opposition forward and midfield line. He also has the tendency to support the build up in the first line by dropping between both centre backs. The other two central midfielders have the option to move laterally into the half space or wing (between CB and FB) to receive if required.
During the attacking phase, JDT look to create a 5-man front line that covers the width of the pitch, meaning all 5 vertical channels are filled by a JDT player. The centre forward will remain in the central zone. The wingers have an inclination to move central to support the forward and penetrate the defensive line. To maintain the width, the full backs will advance to join the last attacking line. In build up, they typically remain deeper to support ball progression. If the wingers remain wide, the full backs also have the awareness to position more central (in the half space), though this position is usually slightly deeper.
Out of possession, JDT will likely continue to take up their 4–3–3 shape, though they have multiple variations deponent on how they want to press and defend within the game. The 4–3–3 is mostly used when the team look to press intensely in higher areas of the pitch and attempt to win the ball quickly.
When looking to take up a mid block and allow the opposition defensive line more time on the ball, they will usually position in a 4–1–4–1 with the wingers dropping deeper to the same line as the midfielders. This can be flexible dependent on how the opposition look to build up. The CDM (typically Natxo Insa) has the ability to advance into the midfield line if required to track an opposition midfield (to become a 4–5–1). This can also become a 4–4–2 or 4–4–1–1 if one of the centre midfielders moves higher to support Bergson in pressuring the opposition’s first line.
The Game Plan
Team Set-Up and Shape
To provide Clarity and understanding about how these principles would work, firstly I will lay out how I would envisage the team lining up during the game:
A situational 4–4–2 diamond would be used. In possession this would look close to a normal 4–4–2 diamond, however, the forwards would be encouraged to position wider (either in the half space or the spaces between CB-FB), as will be discussed why later. Out of possession, this would switch to 5–3–2. The CDM in the diamond would drop between the 2 CB’s in order to create the 5-player defensive line. The AM at the top of the diamond would also drop between the sides of the diamond to create a flat 3 in midfield.
Flexible 5-Player Defensive Line
The first concept to introduce to the team would be the use of 5-player defensive line when out of possession. The rationale for this is to help deal with the positioning of JDT’s forwards in attack and the option to be able to defend these attacking threats without creating gaps that can be exploited.
As mentioned in the overview of JDT, often the one of the full backs or wingers will remain high and wide, whilst the other will move more centrally into the half spaces to penetrate but also combine with Bergson. With a 4-player defensive line, there is the potential situation of JDT overloading the defensive line in attack (creating a 5v4). Therefore, using a ‘back 5’ would help the defensive line to cover these attacking threats without becoming overrun.
The second benefit of this is that the spaces that each defender would have to cover become reduced, meaning the defensive line is able to maintain its shape a lot more and is less susceptible to individual defenders being pulled out of position.
Why switch between a 5- and 4- player defensive line though? Mainly this is to do with dealing with JDT’s striker and main goal-scoring threat, Bergson. As mentioned by Marco Negri in his profile of the Brazilian striker for Babagoal, JDT require their centre forward to not just score goals and be the focal point of the attack, but to drop deeper and involve themselves in build up and combinations. This is clear from Bergson’s style of play. With the wingers moving more central, he is able to receive the ball in front of the defensive line and penetrate through combinations with the wingers.
But also, with opposition defences seeking to maintain their shape, when Bergson drops he is often afforded a substantial amount of space. With his quality, he will often look to shoot from distance or begin to dribble to break the defensive line:
Having the CDM with the ability to drop between the centre back would be our way of dealing with the threat of Bergson and his dropping movements. The midfielder could then position situationally, depending on how best to deal with the forwards movements. If the team’s shape is organized, The CDM can position between the centre backs (creating the back 5), and from that position track Bergson whilst allowing the defensive line to cover the full width of the pitch. If Bergson does drop deeper to receive, the CDM can then man-orientate, following him into midfield and a more familiar position for them to defend in.
There is also the scenario where in moments of negative transition, or where the CDM is in their default position, that they won’t need to drop into the defensive line in order to defend Bergson. If positioned correctly, the CDM can use their cover shadow to block passes to the forward, allowing time for teammates to take up correct defensive positions. The rationale behind this situational back 5 is that the CDM can make the decision on how best to defend Bergson, whilst still allowing the team not to be overloaded on their defensive line, or between the lines. This though, will require a large amount of spatial awareness and communication from the CDM and defenders.
With the CDM having the option to drop into the defensive line, I didn’t want to then create an underloaded situation for our team. Using a diamond would then allow us to play 3v3 in midfield if the CDM did drop into the defensive line, and have the potential of an overload (4v3) if the CDM retained their position. If the CDM did drop, the 3 would alter their shape in order to better cover the space in midfield and between the lines. While a diamond would offer less presence in the wide areas, this would be less of a need as with JDT’s attacking shape, our full backs could occupy their advancing full backs, while the wingers would be occupied by our centre backs:
There is the potential risk involved that the whole defensive line Is matched up player-for-player. Any qualitative superiority that JDT could have over us could be exploited very easily. To negate against this factor, there are some potential contingencies. The full backs would be tasked with remaining on the defensive line and not engaging the opposition full backs in deeper areas (waiting until they are on the attacking line). This would give us the opportunity to have numerical superiority on our defensive line (5v3).
If a player did need to engage the opposition full back in a deeper position, this could be done by the ball-near centre midfielder. This would allow for the full back to maintain their position and the team’s defensive shape. If the full back was required to pressure, then the defensive line could shift across to cover the space. This would be dependent on the positioning of JDT’s other full back, and if another player was required to maintain the defensive shape, then the nearest centre midfielder could drop to cover.
Positioning of the Front 2
From an attacking point of view, one thing we wanted to include in our team was 2 forwards. While there are multiple reasons for this (increase players in higher positions etc), the main aspect we wanted to achieve was to create 1v1 situations, or potentially 2v1 situations against JDT’s centre backs. With JDT often having a lot of the ball and playing a possession-focused game, they often commit large numbers forward, and leave few players behind the ball.
There are 2 key ways in positive transition and when in possession that we would look to benefit from in having 2 forwards. The first being to compete in duels with the centre backs and winning 2nd balls or flick ons. The second being to exploit the spaces outside the centre backs during transitions if JDT’s full backs have advanced.
In the first instance, it is noted that starting centre back, Mauricio, is aggressive in his pressing of the ball against his direct opposition. Often he will look to be proactive to attempt to win the ball and put his side back on the front foot. It should be noted here that in his desire to try and win the ball back, either on the ground or aerially, he often leaves plenty of space behind him. This is can be even more advantageous when their is a lack of cover from the second centre back. The plan here then would be to have a player try and duel with Mauricio, while the other would seek to make movements into the created space in order to win the second ball and put themselves into a position where a goal scoring opportunity would be achievable.
In the second instance, we already know that when in possession, JDT will have both of their full backs advance to pin the defensive line as well as providing width in the attacking phase. The use of the situational 5-man defensive line can also facilitate this. To quote current Rangers Assistant Coach, Michael Beale, when discussing the development of a footballing philosophy at the club:
‘You should defend how you want to attack’
By playing slightly deeper defensively, we hope to create scenarios that invite JDT players forward and create the spaces further upfield. The intention would then be to position our 2 forwards in these wide spaces as an outlet when we are able to regain possession of the ball. The position of the forwards, and the scenario of receiving in these areas should create a level of decisional crisis for JDT’s centre backs.
This is something that Terengganu utilised effectively in their 1–0 win before the International/Champions League break:
And more recently, both Selangor and Melaka were able to create this scenario in transition in their losses to JDT. Both were however, not able to capitalise from this and didn’t really create a scenario like this again:
Overloading the 1st Phase in Build Up
Against the majority of teams in the Malaysian Super League, JDT will look to pressure the ball ball high up the pitch and in an intensive manner. This often leads to two outcomes from the opposition where 1) they will try and play through this pressure (and often lose the ball near their own goal, JDT’s 2nd goal v Melaka as an example) or 2) will look to play longer initially to avoid turnovers near their own goal and in their own half (and often losing possession due to the lack of control from a longer pass).
For our (fictitious) game versus JDT, we therefore need to make the decision on whether we want to try and play through this pressure, or avoid it completely and play over the pressure? The initial plan would be to play through, although alterations would be made to our shape in order to create scenarios where we could maintain possession of the ball through numerical overloads.
The alterations required would be to have more players, particularly the midfield diamond, move closer to the ball in build up. This could even be a change of shape in midfield, where the diamond flattens out in order to increase the passing options available to the goalkeeper and defenders when trying to play out.
This is an idea similar to that trialled by Roberto De Zerbi this pre-season for his new side, Shahktar Donetsk. In their friendly versus Schalke 04, his side set up from goal kicks with a box shape deployed in the area and the full backs deeper. While it could be deemed somewhat as lucky, playing in this way forced Schalke to commit more players forward to press and thus, created more space for which Shakhtar could attack in to.
With our principle of having more players drop towards the ball in build up, the intention would be that we hope to see one of two different reactions from JDT’s pressure. Either they would be outnumbered in the initial phase, meaning our ability to maintain possession and secure safe progression of the ball up the pitch would be easier, or JDT would be required to commit more players higher up the pitch in order to deal with our numerical superiority.
If JDT were to commit more players forward to pressure the ball, this would also lead back to our aim of creating scenarios where the forwards have additional space to attack the centre backs. If JDT were to commit more players forward to press, particularly the full backs, those space in the wide areas would then become larger and could force JDT’s centre backs wider (further away from goal) and further apart (reducing their compactness). This would become easier for us to create the scenarios we are looking for where the forwards are isolated v the centre back in wide areas. If the full backs did however, maintain their positions, we could try to use our forwards to overload wide areas to create those ideal scenarios we are looking for:
Again, this is similar to an idea suggested via Jamie Scott on twitter. The use of deep overloads in build up could create, as he coined, ‘artificial counter attacks’. By baiting the opposition to press higher up the pitch, the space is then created higher up the pitch for our team to attack into:
With the increased amount of players drawn towards the ball in order to create overloaded situations and the ability to counter press, one thing we will need to consider and be mindful is how isolated the forwards do become. With multiple players moving towards the ball in order to support ball progression (and possession), the distances between the midfield and forward lines will increase. This could create increased space for the forwards to operate in, especially in the wide areas if JDT’s full backs are advanced. With this extra space, there is the benefit that upon receiving, the forwards are able to attack the space and draw the centre backs out of position. However, this could create the negative scenario where if the forwards are unable to receive the ball, or maintain possession of the ball, then the team goes into a perpetual state of defending as they turnover the ball too many times.
A solution here could be a hybrid where in some phases of the game the team look to build up with overloads in deep areas, and in others look to position players higher up and look to play longer passes. This is something discussed in the below video by Jamie Carragher on Tottenham’s performance in the recent Carabao Cup Final. While not wholly applicable, there are moments in the analysis where he discusses how Spurs varied their build up, and also moving players into deeper positions in build up can also be seen:
Use of Set-Pieces
A final thing to note would be how set pieces could be utilised to create goal scoring opportunities. While time in this article can not be devoted to planning and explaining intricate set play routines from corners and free kicks, one thing that can be done to gain some advantage would be to play quickly from free kicks. When watching JDT’s performances so far this season, one of two things were noticed: 1) JDT players are active in contesting decisions with the referee and 2) there is a tendency to be slow to return to position.
In the first instance, an example from the Champions League against Pohang Steelers, when a saved penalty by Farizal Marlias was required to be retaken after the referee had deemed the goalkeeper had left his line before the shot was taken:
Even losing matches seems to irk the team, although this could be attributed to what makes them so good and a winning side:
In the second instance, this is something that Perak took advantage of in their 2–2 draw with JDT. Perak sought to take free kicks quickly before JDT players had a chance to regain positions. By getting the ball forward quickly into striker, Gullierme De Paula, he was afforded additional time and space to convert. The only problem here is that De Paula has now joined JDT, meaning an additional forward option JDT have and another option we may need to consider when defending:
We could look to take advantage in these situations where players are either distracted or out of position. By attempting to take set-pieces (particularly free kicks) quickly, we can seek to create attacking situations and again, try to exploit the space outside of either JDT centre back.
Conclusion
While this isn’t an extensive analysis of JDT’s game plan and how to win against the current 7-time Malaysian champions, what the article does offer is some simple structures and principles that can be used to attempt and take advantage of JDT’s style of play. Maybe in future there is the potential to delve into a more detailed analysis.
As this is a fictitious scenario, it will be difficult to see whether these concepts could be successful. However, other teams have shown aspects that are similar and have been successful, such as Terengganu utilising the wide spaces outside of the centre backs in their 1–0 win v JDT back in April.
Other teams have tried multiple ways to nullify and exploit the side from Johor Bahru. While writing this article, they have provided thoughts for different ways to play against JDT. Selangor’s use of width when attacking in their recent 3–1 loss invited new ideas about the potential of using a 4–3–3 that would provide width in attack, and help create overloads tp exploit the full back spaces through advancing full backs.
Even reflecting back on what structures I had planned for this article, I went back to a quote from Jed Davies in his book on Marcelo Bielsa:
‘When you design in a complicated way (rather than in a complex way) you design for a very specific set of circumstances, you design with a narrow lens that is sensitive to any change in circumstances, increasing the likelihood of failure if something unexpected occurs.’
If I was to plan this again, could I plan with more complexity and variety? Would this be beneficial to the players and ultimately, the result?
Ultimately, there are numerous different ways to get to the same outcome. The qualities of the available players, and contextual factors (some out of our control) will inevitably decide what is best.
- All Malaysian Super League games can be viewed on Unifi’s YouTube channel
- All visuals for the article were created using Julián Genoud’s Football UI kit