Rayo Vallecano Scouting Report by Christian Bauer

Philosophy of the Game They like to have much possession (average 59% per game).In their build up phase their 2 CMs (mainly Trashorras) are dropping deeper to recycle possession in their own half and to create three at the back to have an numeral advantage. Their FBs then push higher up the pitch. The players who stretch the opponent horizontal are changing from time to time because they also act with overlapping runs from their FBs (especially on the right flank with Arbilla or Tito) or constantly presence from them in the defensive halfspaces to open direct passing options to their wide players (taking nearly every time the man-marking opposition wingers with them).

Image 1

Characteristics of their Game(individual instructions)

-Falque is acting as highest players(with Larrivey) often searched by long balls from the opposite flank (left footed) often with linear runs to the ground line or diagonal runs to shot direct. -Larrivey acts often with the back to the goal(wall player). -Rochina is often cutting into the centre to open room who Arbilla could exploit with his vertical runs. He is left footed and he cant deal very well when it comes to finish with his right foot or when he is forced to move to

the ground line. Strong formation of pairs on the right wing(variable players who stretch the opponent horizontal and sometimes vertical). -Trashorras also helps out in the right halfspace with dynamic passes and good supporting movements for balancing the attacking direction with fast, flat and accurate passes to the opposite flank. -Bueno mainly roams to the left wing to stimulate the triangle combinations in the left sided areas.

Opponents chances
-Vulnerable when the opposition attacks through the wings with quick overloads. Full Backs are very proactive when they close down their direct opponent(mainly the opposition winger).General they stay often higher up the pitch because of the opened defensive halfspaces (when Rayo act out of their basic 4-2-3-1 defensive shape (Image 2)/ with the wide midfielders pressing backwards in later stages of the game to create dynamic pressing triangles to close down the formative spaces/not always good defensive transitions when the opponents attacks are fast) so theres a gap behind them which the CBs try to fill out with their movements into the lateral spaces. So they open the centre or far post which the inside dropping FBs cant always close down. Intuitive deeper positioning from Saul guez isnt always very consequent. -It is too easy to open the strategically most important room(the centre) with short combinations in wide areas. The gap between the two CMs is often too big because guez is easy to elicit from his basic defensive position as deepest midfielder. -Also vulnerable when it came to deal with late timed forward runs into the room between the lines(often too passive in this situations). -Have problems when it comes to handover the opponents offensive players because they act with assignments( the left CBs is marking zonal the right sided forward..etc). Interchanging and fluid movements are key factors to make them problems.

Image 2

Offensive Organisations
-They come into the final third with direct passes among the sideline to their Wingers. They act often through the left wing where Bueno helps to create triangles for combinations in the left offensive halfspace. From this position he also plays often horizontal/diagonal lay-offs to the on coming movements either from Trashorras or guez. In this case Larrivey is moving permanently among the backline to prevent on coming movements from the opposition CBs and to start a run behind the defense if possible. This potential danger helps them to push the opponents backline deeper which opens the interspace between midfield and defense from which the forward pushing Trashorras can play good through balls (2,4 Key Passes per game). -Larrivey is making often good precise lay-offs to his teammates who tries to exploit the interspaces with vertical runs (guez,Trashorras).Also to Falque, Bueno and Rochina who drop ahead of him to receive his balls. It is important to force him to errors because he helps his team to gain room and to came forward. In the game against Espanyol 14 of his 16 backward passes were successful.

Image 3 In this picture you can see the triangle formation in the left halfspace (a few seconds later supported by the forward run from guez).Ball far you can see Larrivey as the focus point around the penalty area. Rochina also roamed inside to finish(if possible) with his strong left foot.

-Good local situations in the penalty area when they attack through the flanks. The ball far wide midfielder joins the centre regularly(with Larrivey remaining also in it or trying to attack the near post, supported from Bueno) to increase the chances for a successful header. Sometimes the wide midfielders also drop deeper to give a passing option in the backward room for a flat cut back (Image 4).

Image 4 blue lines: possible passing: either high crossing or flat cut back red lines: possible movements Defensive Organisation Adaptive and flexible defensive organisation here are a few examples from the matches against Celta Vigo and Real Madrid: -Against Celta Vigo out of a 4-3-3 defensive shape to equalise an numeral advantage which Celta had with Kron-Dehli dropping deeper in the build up. - Against Real Madrid they acted often out of a situational 4-2-2-2 formation with the two CMs in high central positions to have the access on the oppositions CMs (Illaramendi, Di Maria) and the wide midfielders in wide deeper positions to have the access on their FBs(Carvajal, Coentrao), the room between the lines was big opened but there were no players who

acted in this room or targeted it so it was just a "dead" non used area. They focused on the access of the opposition players (either with the cover shadow or a near positioning)so Real Madrid should have acted with more fluid, room opening movements and more interchanging circles to cause chaos in Rayo Vallecanos defensive structure (image 4). General defending: -They act out of a 4-2-3-1 defensive shape. Situational also out of a 4-3-1-2 starting from a 4-4-2 shape with Trashorras pushing out of it to come behind the 2 forwards to equalise an numeral advantage in the oppositions half and to throw a cover shadow behind good individual players/sometimes supported by guez. In this situations they are acting with a high line near to the halfway line. It leaves big areas in the right halfspace to cover for guez when Trashorras can be outplayed. They usually press higher up the pitch when the ball came into wide areas. -They always try to stay very compact near to the ball. They are pressing the opponent to the sideline to make use of the limited action radius. Opens ball far rooms and sometimes even in the centre(when pressing out of a 4-3-3) because of the proactive movements toward the opponent and the big spaces guez has then to cover as the only leftover in the central zones(Image 5). Image 5

Image 4 Attacking Corners Taken by Trashorras from the right(often very accurate!) and Falque from the left. They act with 6 players in the penalty area, out of a 1-1-4 constellation (Larrivey sometimes starting from a deeper position, constantly searched with Glvez).The ball is usually sent into the near post with 3 or 4 players starting to get into these areas, other players try to stretch the opponent and to make the targeted room less compact.

Image 6 corner from the right side

Image 7 corner from the left side

Defending Corners
Two banks of four with man-markings in the goal far line. Have problems with their passive defending in the last position oriented row . Many movements to lose the markers are important to cause them problems. In the last line forward pushing movements towards the passive opponents could be vital(with specific overload zones near to the edge of the goal/Image 6).

Image 8 defending of the opposition corners