This is the first in a six-part series looking at some of the most innovative new managers in European football.
Thiago Motta knows a thing or two about success.
When your resume includes two La Liga titles, one Serie A title, five Ligue 1 titles and two Champions League winners’ medals, you tend to gain instant respect in the dressing room.
That said, few need to be reminded that a successful playing career does not directly translate into a successful coaching career – so what about head coach Thiago Motta?
The 41-year-old transformed Bologna from Serie A strugglers into one of Italy’s best-looking teams. With just nine games left in the season, the Blaugrana are fourth and within striking distance of a Champions League spot for the first time in 60 years.
Motta’s stock has never been higher, but persistence and hard work through difficult times have shaped his early coaching career.
Motta’s life as a top-flight coach got off to a bad start in December 2019 when he was sacked after just nine games at Genoa. He won’t have a full season until the summer of 2021 to fully demonstrate his coaching credentials. Against all odds, keep relegation favorite Spezia in Serie A.
A subsequent move to Bologna in September 2022, where he replaced the much-loved Sinisa Mihajlovic in controversial circumstances, things did not start according to script. Motta is winless in his first four games and must gradually earn the trust of Bologna fans and repay their faith by leading the club to a ninth-place finish in 2022-23, the club’s best finish in more than a decade. results.
With the support of Giovanni Sartori (technical director) and Joey Saputo (Bologna owner), Motta was entrusted with putting his tactical ideals into practice – but what exactly were those tactical ideals?
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Motta was not shy about sharing his philosophy during his first spell in charge of PSG’s under-19 side in 2018. It was here that he was needlessly ridiculed for discussing a 2-7-2 formation – which was incorrectly interpreted as a structure starting from the back and going left to right, rather than from the left as he intended to the right instead of left to right as he wanted.
“I see the goalkeeper as one of the seven players in the center of the pitch,” Motta said. “For me, the striker is the first defender and the goalkeeper is the first attacker. The goalkeeper starts the game with his feet and the offensive player is the first to apply pressure to win the ball back.”
It can be said that Motta has successfully molded Bologna into his image.
This can be seen in the data below, looking at the evolution of Rossoblu’s playing style, which compares the team’s metrics to Europe’s top seven leagues.
Referring specifically to Motta’s philosophy, you can see that Bologna’s defensive efficiency up front has increased significantly since the 2022-23 season, rarely allowing opponents to set up a series of passes before a tackle is made (Strength, 80 out of 99).
As a result, Bologna’s defensive base is one of the strongest in Europe this season (chances prevented, 92 out of 99), with only 0.8 non-penalty expected goals conceded – a ratio second only to Tottenham in Serie A. Ling, Juventus and Inter Milan. .
The way Bologna likes to build up from the back (deep play) is particularly interesting.
Most commonly seen in a fluid 4-2-3-1 formation, Motta encourages his centre-backs to push forward and act as a pivot player in possession – much like you might see Manchester City’s John S. Thongs rolled into midfield.
Goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski is considered the “first attacker” in the build-up, with the core philosophy being that there should always be a free man available when passing the ball through the third. Pass the ball.
This was evident from the first minute of Bologna’s match against Inter Milan earlier this month. When Jhon Lucumi has the ball, centre-back Sam Beukema ventures into the central area in front of the ball to provide a passing option for the other attacking line. Beukma’s positioning helped Lukumi collect the pass in the air before releasing right-back Stefan Bosh to the right wing.
Late in the first half, Lukumi burst into midfield to receive the ball and Bologna formed a back three – this time with midfielder Michel Abisher (20) joining in. This time, Lukumi did not receive the ball, but his positioning dragged an Inter player along with him to make space elsewhere, while Bologna continued to have a free agent in their build-up.
The difference between Bologna and Guardiola’s Manchester City is Motta’s encouragement Both The centre-backs move into midfield and the full-backs drop inside… full force on the counterattack.
Whether it is Lukumi, Beukma, or the 21-year-old star Ricardo Calafioli, this method is the basis for Bologna’s smooth game and relies on the strong technical ability of Motta’s central defender.
In his UEFA Professional Licensing paper titled “The Value of the Ball”, Motta discussed collective “technical trust” as a key part of his philosophy, whereby each player is free to do what they think is best for the team. Favorable decision in a given situation.
Unsurprisingly, ball control is at the heart of decisions.
In Serie A this season, only Napoli has a higher ball possession rate than Bologna, with Bologna’s 58%. Motta hopes his team can patiently create gaps through dynamic rotations.
As shown in this season’s Playing Style Wheel, Bologna’s high ‘circulation’ ranking suggests that Motta’s side will not move the ball forward quickly, but will instead move with short, sharp passes before creating space. Opponents structure and induce pressure – not unlike Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton.
Motta is also a passionate admirer of Marcelo Bielsa’s extensive work and often focuses on third man combinations and off-the-ball movement as a key part of Bologna’s attacking play.
An example is Bologna’s match against Roma this season, where Beukma gathered closely with his teammates on the right touchline, attracting pressure. A sideways run from midfielder Remo Florer saw Beukma take the ball into the box and race forward, winger Dan Ndoye then cutting the ball home for Nicolas Moreau to finish Bologna Plan a fast break for yourself.
This penetrating movement from the Bologna striker is a key theme in Motta’s style. As you can see from their Central Progress rating (98 out of 99), Bologna are not frequent crossers – only Frosinone averages fewer than 13.4 crosses per 90 times – but they would use the pace and skill of Ndoye’s dangerous wingers, Alexis Salemekkes and Riccardo Orsolini to get forward and shoot or create chances from the front.
Ultimately, Bologna’s main attacking threat came from the center of the pitch, with the versatile Scot Lewis Ferguson able to line up in the No. 10 position behind the technical genius Joshua Zirkzee.
The pair have formed a strong partnership, accounting for more than a third of Bologna’s Serie A goals this season.
“I was very close to Joshua. Technically, he was really, really good,” Ferguson said. Competitor last year. “He’s strong, fast, and powerful. He’s everything you want in an attacker. He’s a joy to play with. We bounce off each other. If he runs one base, I’ll run the other.”
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While Zirkzee’s 10 Serie A goals (eight non-penalty kicks) lead Bologna by a wide margin, the 22-year-old Dutchman is not your typical No.9. As well as his technical ability, Zirkzee is admired by his teammates for his ability to get others involved – often dropping into a false 9 position, or suppressing centre-backs to free up runners in front of him.
To judge him solely on the basis of his goals – he has yet to score from inside the six-yard box this season – would be to misunderstand his role in Motta’s system.
Bologna’s recent goal against Empoli brought together many topics of discussion around how Motta wants his team to play in the opposition half. When Empoli’s centre-back passed the ball into the middle, Moreau pounced to block it. When the ball fell to Zirkzee, he pinned the defender with his back to goal before passing the ball to Orsolini for an overlapping run. The Italian burst into the penalty area and converted vigorously.
It took less than seven seconds to regain possession high up the pitch and break the deadlock.
If Motta can lead Bologna into the top four this season (fifth place may also be enough), the prospect of leading the Blaugrana to the European Cup for the first time since 1964-65 will surely be the highlight of Motta’s early coaching career.
The reality is that Motta’s contract expires this summer and there are already a number of Europe’s top clubs in the market for an exciting young coach ahead of the 2024-25 season. Bologna chief executive Claudio Fenucci is understandably hesitant about the possibility of losing his coach in the coming months.
“Thiago is very happy in Bologna,” Fenucci said in a recent radio interview. “It’s like his contract is longer than it actually is.”
Whatever the outcome of the summer, Motta has proven himself to be one of the most attractive coaching prospects in European football.
Wherever he went, success usually followed.
(Top photo: Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)
