Óliver Torres Could be the Key for Sevilla Against Espanyol
Torres should be deployed in a Modrić inspired role against the Barcelona side
Sevilla has not had a great start to the La Liga season. In their first four games, they have lost three and drawn once.
Their matchup against Espanyol on Saturday will be crucial in attempting to turn around their early season woes.
Espanyol play in a 4-1-4-1 formation out of possession. When Real Madrid played Espanyol on match day 3, Luka Modrić put on a clinic of how to break down Espanyol’s formation with his movement and the space he created for teammates.
This post will look at what made Modrić’s performance against Espanyol successful and discuss why Óliver Torres of Sevilla would be the best fit for this type of role.
Movements in the Blindside
Against Madrid, Vinícius Souza played in the 6 role in front of the back line for Espanyol. Modrić was intelligent with his positioning whenever he showed as an option in the midfield.
He would either begin a sequence out of position so that Souza wouldn’t register his location, or he would make movements in the Brazilian’s blindside.
Teammates Exploiting the Space
Modrić’s Madrid teammates were also good at exploiting the space he had created against Souza.
Torres’ Movement Against Almería
Torres was given a free role against Almería, and the sequence below demonstrates this.
He regained possession on left side and recycled it back to his center back.
As Sevilla were probing and keeping possession, Torres drifts and is located on the right sideline 30 seconds after he won possession on the opposite side of the field.
Like Modrić, he will start in wide positions before drifting or making runs into central areas. He did this during the buildup to his goal.
He also has the awareness to show as an option in the blindside of opposition players like Modrić.
What the Stats Say
The La Liga event location data is not freely available to the public. The stats available on FBref are mainly focused on possession-based measures; they don’t capture positioning or runs made.
Nevertheless, it would still be good to get a comparison of the two players.
Modrić drops deeper to assist with the buildup and that is reflected in his touches in the defensive and middle third.
While Torres does have a free role, he’s not as involved in deeper areas.
Because he is positioned in higher areas, Torres’ Progress Receptions are higher than Modrić’s (FBref defines progress receptions as received passes that moved the ball towards the opponent's goal at least 10 yds from its furthest point in the last six passes into the penalty area. Excludes passes from the defending 40% of the pitch).
Conclusion
Modrić’s performance against Espanyol gives Sevilla a blueprint of how to break down their shape with a player in a free role.
Torres is the best player to fill that role if it is something Sevilla look to use.
Photo: Óliver Torres Twitter