The Benefits of Sweden's Narrow Shape
Close connections and triangles were the stars of the show
There has been a little bit of criticism of how Sweden played against the Netherlands in their opening game. They played quite narrow which was different to what they had been doing.
I think that Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson had the right idea in approaching the game with a narrow shape.
The Dutch have arguably the best number 9 in the world in Vivianne Miedema as well as a handful of elite attacking talent in the midfield in Danielle Van de Donk, Jill Roord, and Lieke Martens.
I’m not going to discuss Sweden’s defensive set up in this post (they are a machine), rather the benefits they had in possession and in transitional moments due to their narrow shape.
Triangles in Possession
Sweden formed a lot of connections in the form of triangles due to their shape. They used these connections to help them advance the ball in the buildup phase.
The next 2 frames are from the same sequence.
Sweden also used vertical triangles to exploit wide areas.
The next 2 frames are from the same sequence.
Triangles in Transition
The triangles that Sweden formed also helped them keep possession and progress in transitional moments after they regained possession.
The next 2 frames are from the same sequence.
There were a couple of times when Sweden started these transition moments after an aerial ball had been miscontrolled by a Dutch player.
The next 2 frames are from the same sequence.
Conclusion
Probably the biggest downside to Sweden is summed up as follows:
Sweden doesn’t necessarily have the profiles to control a game. I think that’s where they should lean in on their shape and their defensive mastery in order to try and control games. They can use the connections and triangles seen in this game as something to keep in their pocket.
Side Note:
In the broadcast I watched this game on it seemed like they showed a closeup of Netherlands coach Mark Parsons every chance they got. It was like the man had a fan cam. Better camera angles and less close ups @ all broadcasters ever.