Looking for a screener? Here’s Edson Alvarez.
The pivot conundrum
One of football teams’ biggest problem when playing with two pivots is that one of them have to have good covering ability as well as having good distributions, because of the lack of forward players compared to the one of the single-pivot formation such as a 4–3–3 that could affect them, whether on attacking or defending aspects.
On the attacking side, to compensate the lack of players behind the frontline, a pivot tend to push higher than the other one. This created spaces in-behind the more-attacking pivot, that have to be covered by the defensive pivot.
In transitions, since a 4–4–2 or a 4–4–1–1 lack the forward players to press the opponents, the opponent finds it easier to progress to the central area. Alongside that, a 4–4–2 pressing shape tends to leave spaces in-between the lines, because of the numerical inferiority at the forward areas that could lead to the opponent directly facing the second defensive line, in which Adin Osmanbasic’s explained clearly on this video:
Therefore, the pivot who undertake a more defensive role usually have to screen the player who are lurking in-between the lines, while leaving the other pivot to press the player on-ball. This makes the more-defending pivot open to the possibility of underloads, as you can see on Xavi and Alexis creating an overload to the isolated Koke.
The contrary happened when a team plays in a one-pivot setup such as a 4–3–3. Since the team have equal number of players (5 upfront and 5 at back), the team have an advantage to congest the opponents’ space upfront when they press, while also having an advantage to attack, since the pivot have two options in front of him to continue attacking. This is also helped by the natural triangles provided by the tactical structure.
The challenges are that this scheme puts a lot of weight to the pivot, since he/she’s usually the first player that initiates the attack from the back (with one of the 8 usually acts as the connector to increase the tempo.) This is a big responsibility since the lone pivot have more space to cover, hence a big risk/reward.
Also, in defending, the pivot have to simultaneously act as the player who leads the press and also screening the spaces between both 8s and the 4-at the back. For example, since Chelsea doesn’t have a lone 10 (hence the tendency of the both 10 to drift wide,) Fabinho moves forward to congest the space for Kante (the opposing pivot.) This makes Chelsea failed to create an effective progression because the striker is isolated from both of the 10s, who drifted wide.
Edson Alvarez: The shape-shifting pivot
Ajax’s culture, style of play, and overall team discipline allows them to freely interchange in positions without sacrificing their structure. This also applies to Alvarez, in which he have the skill set to flourish in the game model provided by Ten Hag.
When building up, Ajax created a small “cage” that would act as their second ball structure when losing the ball. Oriented at the ball, the players behind the “cage” covers the area where the opponent could progress the ball.
On attacking, this “cage” serves as a way so that Ajax could attack in numbers. Specifically, Alvarez often plays the role of being the third man in the build-up. This also involves receiving and passing ability, in which had by Alvarez.
Ajax also implemented their positional interchanges on switching defensive duties. For instance, Alvarez, the lone pivot, acts as the left CB, since Mazraoui (the RB) follows Twente’s midfielder. Klaassen then acts as the temporary lone pivot.
Alvarez’s defensive awareness is integral on keeping Ajax’s defensive structure solid amongst the heavy cognitive and physical demands of the strategy. Here, Alvarez man marks the open Benfica player, denying Benfica’s access to the final third.
Alvarez also have an incredible anticipation, and this is complemented by his physical ability. By using his head scans, flexible hips, and fast footwork, he’s able to stop Waalwijk’s two possible progressions, one on the player in front of Alvarez who’s ready to receive a diagonal pass and the other, two players lurking in-behind him, trying to create a 2+1v3 overload out wide.
Alongside that, Alvarez’s height allows him to exert dominance aerially, while also have the ability to cushion the ball and orientate his body while turning with the ball. This also makes him a monster in rebounds and aerial duels.
He’s also an excellent protector of the ball, which give him a notch in ground duels, and with his responsibility as a pivot, this ensures Ajax from conceding transitions.
But what makes Alvarez really special on defending is his ability to follow the tempo of the game, while integrating his skillsets correctly. In this example, Alvarez created a 2v1 situation against the BVB midfielder, overwhelming him. Then, when Alvarez got bodied, he instantly closed the immediate passing option with his long strides and steady + flexible hips, while delaying the BVB player on-ball, ultimately dispossessing him.
Although Alvarez is really good on turning his hips, and consistent on doing defensive work, there are some moments on where he’s too eager to delay his matchup. In this example, it results as a potential cutback from Benfica.
Notwithstanding his decent ball control, good awareness, and tidy passes, he’s more to a safe passer, rarely seen doing “disguise” passes that we often see from elite midfielders. However, he makes sure that his passes allows Ajax to further progress the ball forward. For instance, he missed the possible pass to Haller but was able to pass to Mazraoui to further progress the ball.
Conclusion
As Alvarez is slowly, but surely making a mark of himself as an elite screener in a world-class system constrained by the league quality, a move to the upper Top 5 clubs is becoming even more visible for him, and although he have some weaknesses, these weaknesses are fixable, especially in the hands of elite coaching.
