How Luton completely stifled Barnsley.
Some interesting tactical concepts used by Nathan Jones.
Luton won 0-1 at Barnsley in midweek, with Nathan Jones’ side putting in an excellent tactical performance to limit the hosts to only 3 shots on target. Here is a look at some of the tactical nuances that were key to The Hatters’ impressive away win.
Stopping the build up / forcing long
Stopping Styles
Stopping the Right
Stopping Woodrow
Gaining territory
Defending the box
Firstly, Barnsley have continued using their 3-4-3 shape, but this season there is more emphasis on building short and playing through than under Valerien Ismael last season. On Tuesday, Barnsley had 70% possession and attempted over 500 passes, which is a complete departure from what we became accustomed to last season.
Nathan Jones’ side allowed Barnsley to have safe possession in deeper areas in their asymmetric 3-2 build up, with LWB Callum Styles inverting to become a No.6 in the build up. Luton went for a lop-sided 4 man press against the 5 man build up to great success, not allowing Styles to become free and often forcing the ball back to the Keeper and then long, where Luton had a numerical and height advantage.
Luton’s shape resembled a 3-4-1-2, but this was extremely fluid as the RWB Bree was man orientated with Styles, whilst the LWB Bell protected the space behind, so at times the defensive line was more of a back 4.
The front 3 were tasked with pressing centrally and then sinking wide, especially on their left, to prevent Barnsley’s right sided overloads and to minimise the 1v1 situations between Callum Brittain (Barnsley RWB) and Amarii Bell (LWB). Mpanzu was tasked with sinking into a left midfield position to protect against the overload and this worked brilliantly as Barnsley attacks developed.
As the 1st half went on, Barnsley’s LCB Kitching stretched wider, causing a slight issue for Bree, who wasn’t sure whether to engage wide or whether to leave Kitching to advance. When Styles did have some joy becoming free from Bree, Luton’s players showed impressive awareness to block his passing lane, meaning he was usually unable to be found.
So, even when Barnsley aimed to be more expansive to get Styles free, they still struggled due to Luton’s discipline. Luton were prepared to leave their left hand side empty, knowing that Bell had a good aerial advantage to defend long switches of play, and we saw this throughout, winning 3 of his 4 contested aerials.
As we have seen, Barnsley aim to utilise Benson/Styles in a left hand side skewed build up, but as possession develops they aim to overload the right hand side, with Brittain a key outlet.
Due to Brittain’s running power and 1v1 ability, and his ability to cross, Luton preferred to protect the space on their left hand side and aimed to keep Bell deep, minimising the number of Wing Back vs Wing Back match ups. Instead, Mpanzu and Adebayo were tasked with moving into wide areas to engage with Brittain, whilst Bell stayed in the defensive line to protect the space behind and the central defenders. This generally worked very well and Barnsley’s combinations were limited.
The use of Jones’ wing backs was completely different on either side. Bree was aggressively man to man with Styles, whereas Bell was rarely man to man with Brittain, with space being the No.1 factor.
So, Luton stopped both the left hand side and the right hand side build ups, whilst also defending long balls with relative ease due a height advantages. Brittain and Styles were completely nullified throughout. Another key player, Woodrow, was stifled by Henri Lansbury who wasn’t strictly man to man, but he protected the 10 space well with good awareness and reading of the game.
When Woodrow dropped into that space, Lansbury engaged early, not allowing the turn.
On the occasions where Lansbury’s momentum shifted away from the pass, as we see below (due to a well disguised inverted pass from Brittain), a teammate is on hand to press Woodrow aggressively. The key was not allowing him to turn.
So Barnsley’ 3 key threats (Brittain, Styles, Woodrow) were all stifled extremely effectively in an attacking/ possession sense.
Another key element was the directness of Luton, hence Cornick not starting. Despite only 30% possession and 85 accurate passes, the Hatters gained territory well due to intelligent long passes, and the ability of the front 3 (Jerome, Adebayo, Muskwe) to retain the ball in isolated areas, to run the channels and the press effectively.
Due to the front 3’s effectiveness and the intelligent directness of Luton, only 27% of the game had to be played in Luton’s third (43% in the middle third, 30% in Barnsley’s third). Here's how they did it, forcing Barnsley’s front 3 to become very isolated in the process.
As well as balls behind the defence, there were accurate long passes into the front 2, with Muskwe and Mpanzu bursting forward for the 2nd ball very effectively. The key points here are 1) Sluga’s distance on kicks and 2) how deep this forces the defence.
Again, Muskwe gets into an excellent area. This simple tactic forced Barnsley deep, and the front 4 were able to attack the box effectively whilst leaving Lansbury + the back 5 in rest defence.
This directness continued to be effective deep into the game, and Barnsley struggled to gain momentum due to this. The physical power and the intelligence of the front 3 + Mpanzu was so important to the result, despite none of them scoring.
So, Luton gained territory with very basic tactics, made effective by excellent performances from the front 4. Their running power, intelligence and physical strength allowed Jones’s side to attack with just 4 against 7, leaving Barnsley’s front 3 isolated against the back 5 + Lansbury, meaning Luton were never at threat of transitions.
On the occasions that Barnsley were able to move into dangerous attacking areas, Luton defended the box with numbers effectively, with the back 8 (all apart from the 2 strikers) being instructed to sink into the box during dangerous crossing situations. This way, Barnsley had very few clear sights on goal.
So Luton’s 3-4-1-2 completely stifled Barnsley, limiting them to 3 shots on targets, and whilst there was some last ditch defending, that’s what you have to expect at Championship level.
Jones’ nuanced usage of the wing backs and the early pressing system was important, as well as the constant puncturing of Barnsley’s defensive line. Defending the box when they had to, whilst maintaining that running power, and nullifying Woodrow was key too.
An extremely impressive away performance from one of the most intelligent coaches in the League. Luton are extremely flexible and their squad is underrated, and with Jones at the helm they could do something special this season.
Excellent analysis Oli. I was there, and at the time it felt like we were under a lot more pressure than we evidently were.
I noticed how far forward Bree was. On a couple of occasions he had to sprint back hand to defend the RB position (from a starting position around the centre circle), but was competent and effective doing so. I now understand why he was often “out of position”.
Soccer analytics…. Nice