A Case Study for Egypt: Carlos Queiroz, A Man with Enormous Wings
Egypt is one of the largest teams in Africa, a country known for their attacking-first style of football (Especially under Hassan Shehata’s leadership). On 8 September 2021, the Egyptian Football Association announced the signing of Carlos Queiroz. Taking over from Hossam El Badry, ex-manager, whose period witnessed a great fluctuation in performance. While this may have been unanticipated when taking the job, this heightened pressure on Queiroz to be successful. The assistant technical staff includes Diaa El-Sayed as general coach, Mohamed Shawky as coach, Essam El-Hadry as goalkeeper coach, and Wael Gomaa as national team manager. With him, Queiroz brought Mahmoud Seleem @mahmoudseleem74, a performance analyst known for his great competence as well. This piece will look to investigate all aspects of their play, including how players fit the game model and training sessions used in the process. It should act as both a ‘realization’ for people who have never watched the team, as well as my most in depth analysis of anything ever.
As a group of frogs was traveling through the woods, two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs crowded around the pit and saw how deep it was, they told the two frogs that there was no hope left for them.
However, the two frogs decided to ignore what the others were saying and they proceeded to try and jump out of the pit.
Despite their efforts, the group of frogs at the top of the pit were still saying that they should just give up. That they would never make it out.
Eventually, one of the frogs took heed to what the others were saying and he gave up, falling down to his death. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die.
He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?”
The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.
In fact, this fully reflects what the Portuguese manager has done since the beginning of his tenure with the national team.
“I want to express my commitment to use the best of my experience and knowledge to fulfill the goals and dreams of such a prestigious Football Country with passionate and dedicated supporters. To the future”
Carlos Queiroz
Now let’s move to tactical things, and looking at how they suit the squad. Let’s get straight into it, starting with the defensive aspect of the game.
Out of possession/Defensive phase:
Queiroz has a more aggressive combative mentality just as any typical manger who’s a defensive model up his sleeve would prefer. Let’s look at some defensive principles and see what Queiroz’s Egypt look to accomplish.
Formation and Defense Principles
Egypt’s primary formation in all games is 4–3–3/ 4–1–4–1. This generally defends pretty wide, and is also used when playing against an opposition who use a back 3/5 to help counter the natural width of those formations. The midfield is usually comprised of one 6, while two 8 aim to veer centrally.
When their opposition is in possession in the middle third, they’re aggressive in trying to win the ball back. Fullbacks get in on the action as well, trying to prevent attacks down the flank before the opposition can get in a good position to cross the ball.
Pressing & Purpose:
The team presses from the inside of the pitch, to the wide areas where a combination of the winger, 8, and fullback can overload to win the ball back.
One of the team ideas is the idea of isolating a player through pressing angles, and winning the ball back with intense pressing based on certain triggers. For example: intense pressure from the midfielders when a line breaking pass is played, or similarly in the wide zones when a player is isolated.
Defending goal kicks:
Against back 4 line
It all starts with pressing angles and a supporting press, one of the things that Queiroz’s striker should be excellent at. He should be able to direct the opposition to certain sides of the pitch simply with body shape (Covering the other CB’s shadow). He rarely is instructed to press hard, but his body shape forces a pass to one direction or the other. His movement acts as a pressing trigger for the players around him, who are able to anticipate the next pass and press before or as the pass is made, rather than when it arrives.
Next, the winger and then CMs play a big role in ball recovery as quickly as possible. The winger turns his body from outside to inside and vice versa according to the team’s intention to direct the opposition’s path ((For example if the opposition’s 6 has a problem with the ball then the team will have a good chance to engagement or the winger is not good enough in 1v1, it’s possible to leave space for him on the touchline and get the ball there), while two 8 who take the opposition’s double 6 must remain ready to engage aggressively.
Against back 3 line
This is often used to line up the amount of forwards with the amount of defenders, whether the opposition uses 3 CBs or drops in a midfielder to create a back three. They also all have an emphasis on the wide areas.
The 3 forwards matched up man-for-man, with the striker tracking the backwards pass or covering the middle CB shadow. The two 8 matched up with the opposition’s 6, while 6 played conservatively once again. Collectively, all options are closed down (or made useless) and it forces a long ball which is covered comfortably by the back line.
High Block Pressing:
Against back 4 line
Queiroz will often ask his side to press high up the pitch, trying to force errors in vulnerable positions. And It’s just like defending against goal kicks, in which the striker throws himself between the two CBs and tries to direct the opposition into wide areas. Wingers take fullbacks, CMs take double 6 (If the opposition goes with a single 6 and two 8, then one of CMs will take their 6 while the other CM alongside with 6 take care of their CMs). Once the ball is played wide, it acts as a trigger for right winger and two 8 to press. While fullbacks have already begun to slide to cover his gap, and in the end, the opposition has nowhere to play the ball. It becomes more and more apparent that these pressing traps are Egypt’s way to win the ball.
Against back 3 line
Queiroz does not usually resort to pressing with a high block against teams with a back 3 line (Except for goal kicks, as mentioned above or or emergency moments), so we will skip this part and pass to mid-block pressing.
The defensive line is high in the previous two phases, defending goal kicks and high pressing (a little bit) to make sure the whole team is compact. One of the CBs (depending on which fullback has jumped to press) drifts wide a little, covering the fullback who jumps to press the opposition’s W/WB.
This should not pose a threat to the two CBs, especially as they are proactive in defense and good at aerial duels.
Mid-Block Pressing:
Against back 4 line
Against teams that are more skilled with build-up and that can break a high press, Queiroz will relinquish that act and make his midfield the line of engagement instead at its most aggressive. Queiroz’ defense aims to win the ball high as its most old-line still aims to prevent forward play further up the pitch.
Once the ball passes the halfway line, one of the two 8 will track the ball if it’s in the middle of the pitch while the other drops deep to join 6. Wingers will remain in a similar position, remaining mobile enough to track back and block opposing efforts to pass down the flanks.
The striker begins to put pressure on The right CB, forcing him into wide area, left 8, left FB take opposition’s right 8 and right W respectively, while left W makes sure that their fullback is shut down by closing lanes down. Right 8 jumps into the 1st pressing line while covering the opposition’s 6 shadow, making sure he’s isolated before waiting for a signal from his teammates who are closing channels on the opposition’s left FB, forcing him to pass into middle.
Against back 3 line
There’s a general rule for the team against a back 3 line as mentioned above, They often used to line up the amount of forwards with the amount of defenders.
One of these variations can be seen within the 4–3–3 specifically. You’ll sometimes see the 8’s will step up even higher than the wingers, and press the outside CBs and this is actually due to two reasons:
1- Because it becomes a necessity to initiate the pressure and take the ideal form to sit while defending.
2- If the oppositions have high-quality FB/WB, you should not allow them to receive in high zones of the pitch by closing down outside CBs and preventing them from passing into wide areas.
Once the ball passes the halfway line, they will take a 4–1–4–1 narrow shape, the winger will initially sit in the channel, allowing space for the opposition’s WB to receive, and then the team will start pressing.
The winger will make sure that he closes down the opposition’s WB, while the fullback tracks the opposition’s winger with 6’s help. The opposition’s WB is forced to back pass and then 8 is ready to press the left-sided CB as the striker comes close to ensure ball circulation.
The reference here for the two CBs is space, they must defend space well. Meaning they will have to track the opposition’s striker a little further into the middle just for protection and to make sure he is isolated from the interaction, so they don’t have to get too caught up in the tracking process. Ahmed Hegazy is good enough at this part while Ahmed El-wensh has to work on it more.
It should be noted that this phase, along with defending wing play, are the most vulnerable. This is primarily due to fullbacks’ lack of technical skills needed to deal with different defensive situations from body orientation, space awareness, communication to defending 1v1.
Low-Block Pressing:
This is how Egypt will likely set up in a low-block. At this point their structure is 4–5–1. The block is usually narrow, shifting according to the ball location where the striker tries to put pressure in advanced areas
CM, who sat back in a double-pivot, steps out to close down the space in the midfield, while 6 remains tight to the back line. Perhaps the most noticeable element of this structure are the wingers; they remain wide, reacting with the midfield line to provide help in defending and forcing the play inside and acting as pseudo-full-backs.
There were several occasions when they set up in a 6–3–1 shape in an attempt to deny any opportunity for the opposition to penetrate their back line and force them to take shots from distance.
In Possession /Attacking Phase:
Shape:
Build-up:
Starting from the back, Egypt have used the same build-up structure across the board in their build-up, even with variance in shapes. When deepest, like on goal-kicks, it resembles almost a 2–2 shape, where Hamdi fathi and Amr El-solya become a double pivot while full-backs remain on the same horizontal line.
This shape creates problems for them in build-up because it does not match the tactical and technical characteristics of their midfielders, so it was easy to put them in pressing traps, especially since their full-backs are not good at inverted runs into the middle, and therefore it was difficult for them to get out of narrow areas. in the FIFA Arab Cup Queiroz tried to use his winger to fall into the middle and provide support by going with the same shape in their build-up, but that did not help either thanks to the same reasons mentioned above.
This actually made Queiroz forced to go with another structure, 3–1, creating a shape that looks very similar to the diamond in build-up. This form allowed CBs more time on the ball to have a more clearly vision on the pitch and gain a number of yards forward and enabled one of the fullbacks to push up high and take more advanced positions down the flanks while the other one stuck to a deeper position , forming 3–2 shape on some occasions.
This shape perfectly matches the characteristics of the players in the back
1- Ahmed Hegazy and Mahmoud Al Wensh need more time on the ball to play progressive passes.
2- Akram Tawfik is not good enough in terms of passing and offensive positions 1v1 on the touchline and the final third to involve him in the creation phase. He can also be used in rest defense, Protective Coverage and Counter-pressing, he may not currently have a good body orientation and space awareness around him, but he’s good at tackles.
3- Ahmed Abou El-Fotouh is comfortable on the ball and also has enough vision to involve him mainly in the team’s progression and creation phase.
Progression:
As we progress slightly higher up the field, there are several variables that occur.
First, the striker plays a big role in this phase. His first touch must be excellent and accurate, and his vertical and horizontal movement must be good and appropriate to the pattern followed, otherwise they will find themselves trapped.
Second, the far sided CMs, who float in the half space as a quick vertical option. For the most part, he rarely receives the ball, but he can be used in winning the second ball or creating midfield rotations that create space to receive. Some of these rotations create opportunities for the midfielder who rotates into the space to receive facing forward.
The left midfielder starts to fall deeper to contribute to the progression process, getting the opposition’s right 6 out of his position. This allows the far sided CMs (Right midfielder) to have a certain space in the middle when the left winger finds him after falling into the left half-space without being tracked.
Third, CM’s running the channels. This often happens when the full-back finds time on the ball, allowing the midfielder to freely decide. We should not forget that players (FB, CM and Winger) must form a triangle in order for the team to progress the ball without problems.
CM puts himself in the opposition’s cover shadow and in seconds he starts making his decision to run the channel, in that time the winger falls deeper to pull the full-back and create space for his teammate.
Often it can be said that the “second ball” is one of Queiroz’s approaches to progress the ball. It pushes the team further forward by skipping the build-up phase completely and allows them to get faster into the final third of the pitch.
Players were able to understand this pattern well and in a short time, which gave them a direct threat to the oppositions’ target and the possibility to play through a disorganized and unprepared defense to get engaged.
The goalkeeper or one of CBs starts sending long balls forward, and here there are two paths to direct the ball, either sending it into the center or half-space. This really depends on the oppositions’ weaknesses, but in both, CMs are well prepared to engage and get the second ball from an opposition that often gives up the ball.
If the team goes with the first path, this means that the opposition has a problem with ground or air duels at the center of the pitch or insufficient protection for zone 14, causing the wings to drift inside more, followed by aggressive CMs.
And if the team goes with the second path, this means that the opposition has a problem with the space down the flank (whether the opposition’s defense is narrow or the full-back easily gives up the ball), and then the full-back will be ready to get involved.
Egypt are also able to progress against other man-marking opposition through wide combination play. These patterns are designed so that when a player receives, they’re receiving the ball in a threatening situation. An example of this can be seen below, against another man-oriented side, Tunisia.
While this specific combination didn’t quite work out, it showed us the myriad of options posed to each player as they received based on common patterns.
— Striker looking for space to receive.
— Winger is wide and able to receive, body shape so he’s able to act as a ‘wall’ or a man where a pass can be bounced off of.
— 8 provides an option to run down.
Chance Creation:
In attack Queiroz aims to break quickly to the wingers often setup deep down the flanks where they choose to take fullbacks on 1v1 cross to the box or take advantage of the spaces created and vacated by their movement namely to the striker or oncoming center midfielder.
He wants to move the ball quickly, overlap, pass and drive forward- movement to create chaos for the opposition and then the opposite side forward must come into a central striker position (So it’s not surprising to see a striker as wing forward if that player has the requisite skill set and adequate speed cause he’ll often drift to and from both positions depending on the situation. This encourages players to move in and out by swapping positions and forces the opposition’s back into uncomfortable situations.
With attacks running to the right flank, the left winger would then move inside to accompany the striker giving the team two strikers when deep in the final third, the right winger may then take on the opposition’s defender thanks to the right 8 help. The right winger can keep the ball and play his main striker or cross it.
When attacking through one side Queiroz also loves to send his opposite center midfielder up to support, creating a sort of lopsided four to four/five.
Transition to attack:
There are two zones where Queiroz would like to have his side win the ball and then make transition to attack.
The first zone is the center of the field thanks to his aggressive midfield. Midfielders will wait until the right moment to start engagement with the opposition, Queiroz’s teams are impressive at this system.
If 6 jumped to press and the team succeeded in winning the ball, wingers and two 8 would immediately make run into the space (If one of 8 jumped to press, 6 would sit back in his position leaving the other 8 make the run with Wingers), creating an obvious numerical superiority over the disorganized opposition.
The second zone is down the flank, aiming for their target man (or the active-side winger) up front and trying to get the ball forward as quickly as possible in deadly counter-attacks.
Mostafa Mohamed or Mohamed Salah is key in their link-up play and structural dismantling of the opposition. Having a clear outlet up front to aim for who also pins the defence and creates space is crucial.
Mostafa Mohamed shows us as the focal point up front to get the ball to their ball-carriers in midfield while Salah takes care of getting the opposition out of position and out of the tight areas.
Mostafa is pinning the defenders and that creates separation between the opposition’s backline and the midfield line, ultimately giving Egypt space to work with when carrying the ball forward.
Transition to defend:
It’s one of the best phases that the players are good at since signing Queiroz. They learned it very quickly and it can be easily seen from the second game of the new era.
The team in this phase relies on counter-pressing and recovering the ball quickly in the opposition half (the matter is no different, no matter how strong the opposition is).
If the players did not succeed in ball recovery, they would try to stop the opposition from progressing the ball until they organize themselves again.
Egypt have changed their tactics based on opposition, whether that’s man-marking, finding a specific spot to exploit, or understanding their zonal marking schemes. There will not be enough time before the beginning of Africa Cup of Nations to explain these ideas in the Arab Cup especially in those big games against Algeria, Tunisia and Qatar but it was really good.
“I congratulate my players for their performance and also for deploying the coach’s strategy”.
“The winning spirit already existed inside the players’ hearts. They became unrestricted inside the pitch and they began to have fun in both training and matches, and that gave them more freedom to express themselves. But we still have a lot of work to do to reach the perfect performance.”
Carlos Queiroz
Conclusion:
It should be noted that I did not talk about set-pieces because it will lead to more crowding of words and perhaps more complications at the present time.
For many reasons, these tactics work well with this group of players. The first and main one is that they’re, for the most part, hard -working players who are able to identify the correct moments to use their energy.
I don’t have much else to add to this part, but I hope you enjoyed all of the tactical matters that I’ve given.
I put well in excess of 84 hours working on this project and it required a lot of mental support to keep going so If you’ve somehow read this entire thing, thanks for taking that much time out of your day to read all of these things I’m so passionate about.
