“Spartacus” is the first location of Paolo Vanoli’s independent works. And soon, if he manages to beat Dynamo in the final of the BETCITY Russian Cup, he may win his first trophy.

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Vanoli is primarily associated with Antonio Conte, where he worked at headquarters for several years and helped build projects in Turin, London and Milan. We decided to compare whether Paolo was working according to the molds of a great coach or if he was developing a unique project at Spartak.

There are several signs that characterize Conte’s domineering style at both Chelsea and Inter (with reservations at Juventus and Tottenham). For objectivity, we will focus on the last part of the collaboration between Antonio and his assistant Vanoli.

Inter played according to the 3-5-2 scheme. Three central defenders, two of which are on the flanks, form the basis of this model, allowing you to maintain balance on defense and gain a quantitative advantage at the start of the attack. At least one of the three CBs must excel in medium and long passes (Bastoni was responsible for this at Inter).

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The most important role is played by the quarterback. Croatia’s Marcelo Brozovic set the vector of the development of the attacks, scattering the balls on the flanks, regulating the pace and insuring the support zone (Jorginho shone in the same role in Conte at Chelsea). A pressure-tolerant defensive midfielder, Conte is an essential part of his team. The two midfielders and three insiders (mostly Eriksen and Barella) were responsible for pressing, center volume and second speed inclusion into the penalty area.

Both laterals have a large role to play. Moreover, there was a clear bias in one of the wings under Antonio, both at Inter and at Chelsea. For example, in London, the Italians placed super attacker Marcos Alonso on the left and balanced the build on the right with the more pragmatic Azpilicueta or Zappacosta. At Inter, Hakimi had an offensive lead on the right flank, where he rocketed, while on the left, the less skilled but calmer Darmian played.

Two forward on the edge – large and small. Lukaku clung to the cannonballs at Inter and pulled them deep into the field, opening up the flanks and spaces for Lautaro Martinez to rush. The combination of speed and power made the attack varied and unpredictable. True, this is not a panacea for Conte – he puts 3-4-3 in Chelsea and Tottenham, where the general striker (Morata / Kane) is surrounded by technically sharp players.

Playing off the ball, Inter focused on high pressure and pressure traps. Forward with the help of insiders, the opponent’s defender forced to pass to the side, which included the side and extreme central defender. If the push failed, Inter would quickly settle into the low 5-4-1 block. This is the style that characterizes most of Conte’s suits. Inter put high pressure, but did not try to go head to head with the opponent (confirmation – screen below), preferring to block the transition lines due to competent positional defense.

Inter’s dominant style was also difficult to say. Finishing the 2020/21 season in the 5th place with the ball, the team enters the penalty area and the number of shots increases. The bet is on quick transitions or quick transitions from defense to offense with jerks continuous play into the free zones.

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In his debut in the RPL, Vanoli attempted to break the classic 3-5-2 at Conte. It turned out badly – Spartak lost to CSKA 0:2 and failed in printing. From then on Paolo drives 3-4-3. This formation is on Conte’s favorites list, but Spartak’s Vanoli adapts the offensive trio more flexibly. If according to Conte 3-4-3 should have a center and two wingers by his side, Vanoli increasingly uses the 3-4-1-2 formation with two forwards (Nicholson – Sobolev) and ten (Promes). or Ignatov) under them. And in the final rounds, Spartak even tries out a plan with four defenders – it’s definitely something new.

Vanoli is unlikely to be happy with the three defenders. And not so much in his defensive skills, in the absence of a tough setter. From the current set of CB, Zhigo is the owner of the first pass and will leave the team at the end of the season. Jikia, Kofrie, Chernov went much worse. It is not in vain that Vanoli tried Litvinov as an extreme midfielder.

There are also challenges with the quarterback – rookie Martins Pereira and team veteran Roman Zobnin provide good volume, but have issues with the speed and quality of decisions made when the ball is under their feet. More or less, the presence of Umyarov saves the situation, but Nail is not so stable under pressure and is not yet able to fully assume the functions of Brozovich or Jorginho. This is probably why Vanoli used 3-4-3 to distribute the load between the two deep midfielders.

All this leaves an imprint on Spartak’s quality of possession – in the spring segment the team ranks 10th according to OPDDA (the average number of passes made by players before losing the ball).

Ayrton, Mozes and Khlusevich are well suited to Vanoli’s style, so the scheme with three central locking automatons brings to mind the active role of the laterals. Spartak made the most frequent attacks from the flanks (38% on the left and 36% on the right). Unfortunately, the quality of support from the left wing dropped after Ayrton’s departure.

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In the attack, Vanoli continues to shuffle the squad. At first, he followed Comte’s model – a great forward (Sobolev or Nicholson), combined with a mobile and technical model (Bakaev or Promes). But by March, the number of experiments began to increase – the coach tried the options with a pair of Nicholson – Sobolev (and very productively), played Sobolev with Ignatov, Zenit, and even 4 with the support of Bakaev. Under 4-1-1 we have Sobolev and Promesom. Frankly, Vanoli has not yet decided on the best option.

Despite tactical turmoil and squad misunderstandings, Vanoli’s playing principles are similar to those he and Conte have used at Chelsea and Inter. First of all, these are three CBs (except the last two games), at least one forward punch on offense, active play on the flanks. Even these teams have similar statistics: Champions Inter and Spartak are ranked 5th in terms of possession and the number of passes into the penalty area, according to the results of the spring segment.

But there are also fundamental differences. At Spartak, Vanoli has yet to find the most suitable candidate for the only center position that has forced him to play with a double CPU in the centre. The pressure structure is also different – unlike Inter, Spartak is much more likely to engage in martial arts in the second and third quarters of the field. Well, it’s silly to compare the print quality of these kits so far – it takes time to build such elements.

Vanoli certainly draws on Conte’s work, but expands the existing player pool and adapts his ideas to fit the current roster. Paolo experiments a lot and still seems to be looking for the optimal plan. The bow portion was spent grinding the team and trying the pen. We will know only next fall whether Vanoli will come to a certain structure or continue to adapt to the opponent.

The article uses InStat data.

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