Sevilla CF - Formation & Tactics

[PES Stats Database]

Season 2019-20

Coach: Julen Lopetegui.

[TheShocker]

[Tellmo]

Full Name: Diogo José Rosário Gomes Figueiras
Name: Diogo Figueiras
Shirt Name: D. FIGUEIRAS
Shirt Number: 5
Nationality: Portuguese
Height: 168 cm
Weight: 64 kg
Age: 22 (01/07/1991)
Foot: R
Side: B
Positions: SB★, SMF

[Oriello]

Shocker's formation from a couple years ago is still generally correct, I would like to note some things though.

Firstly, does anyone know where/if one of the older PES formation creators are online (the ones with arrows)? I googled but could not find any - I just want to be thorough so that people who play with older versions can still enjoy the info.

4-5-1 is the modus operandi for Unai Emery's Sevilla, it is the consistent framework no matter what the situation or match (The 2015 super cup vs Barca, 5 first-team players were out with food poisoning, Emery still forced players into the formation, rather than change the shape), only slight tinkering of one or two players positions might happen from match-to-match or during a game for a tactical effect, it is this consistency and familiarity of the system that bestows Sevilla good success in recent years despite being a stepping-stone (i.e. selling) club.

The team has a few phases/variations that they cycle through depending on context;

Defense Phase: Variation I (Movement as a block, light pressing aimed to filter the ball out as opponents try to breach the block. *AMF* in this phase is usually Banega, and if protecting a lead will be a CMF in his behaviour and deepness, used to clog up the middle, just in front of the DMFs. This can be considered the standard Sevilla defense style.)
--------------GK------------
-----RB---CB---CB---LB---
---RMF--DMF-DMF--LMF-
------------*AMF*----------
--------------CF------------
-----------------------------
-----------------------------

Defense Phase: Variation II (A press high-up the pitch, when behind and especially if the opposition is trying to keep the ball deep, aim is clear, win ball counter attack with speed. This is what makes Sevilla dangerous at home for big sides, few teams can handle the counterattack, it's quick, penetrating and almost always decisive.)
--------------GK------------
----------CB------CB-------
-------------DMF------------
-RB-----DMF--AMF-----LB-
-----RMF----------LMF-----
--------------CF------------
-----------------------------

Possession Phase I (one of the holding midfielders becomes a "free" CMF* that has licence to roam higher up the pitch, sometimes they rotate which is free but generally Krychowiak is the covering DMF (a constant in the team), with M'bia/N'zonzi/Iborra/Khrone-Dehli/Banega being the possible midfield partner allowed to be free. If Iborra is played at *AMF, he can be considered an SS and used as a quick release of the ball from deep, due to his height he wins almost all aerial balls, the CF buzzes around him or into the channels. IF Banega is AMF he will drop to connect play or thread wingers into space.)
-------------GK------------
-----CB-------------CB----
RB---------DMF---------LB
------------CMF*------------
RMF--------------------LMF
-------------*AMF-----------
--------------CF------------

Possession Phase II (3 man back line, DMF moving freely to offer a passing option, to either cycle possession or start plays from deep, CMF operates from the center circle connecting play but can show up anywhere as he engages in a lot of lateral movement, SMFs move into the centre to create rather than looking to put in a cross, though they still are free to overload a flank if the oppositions defense becomes stretched.)
-------------GK--------------
-CB--------DMF---------CB-
------------------------------
------------CMF-------------
RB---------AMF----------LB
------RMF--------LMF------
-------------CF--------------

Possession Phase III (Only Banega as AMF will drop super deep (beside CBs) and look to connect plays or thread players in on the overload at the front. DMF covers for absent SBs and plays as a pseudo SB helping to cycle possession. CMF (M'bia/N'zonzi/Iborra) have freedom to get into the box aggressively and offer their height as a danger. SMFs and SBs combine regularly, not unusual for SMF to play in a SB who squares the ball for CF but other SB is also waiting for the cross.)
-------------GK--------------
------------------------------
------CB------------CB------
-(DMF)----AMF-----(DMF)-
------------CMF----------
RB---RMF-------LMF-----LB
-------------CF--------------

Starting XI 2015/2016:
------------Sergio Rico
--------Rami----Kolodziejczak
Coke(v.C)--------------------Tremoulinas
-------N'zonzi--Krychowiak(3rd C)
--Reyes(C)-----Banega------Vitolo
--------------Gameiro

SFK/LFK/LCK/RCK: Banega (mainly him, but Reyes, Konoplyanka might do it just as much)

Some of this is up in the air due to injuries (Beto is out long term) and suspensions that seems to give a different CB pair every week, Reyes is not really a starter and if he does he rarely finishes a match, if Konoplyanka plays then Vitolo moves to the right, Coke and Mariano can be interchangeable (Coke is an option at CB).

Notice how much of a French presence this team has (Krychowiak is a Bordeaux youth product). And Emery seems to have a predilection for tall players: Rico (195 cm), N'zonzi (196), Iborra (195), Llorente (195), Rami (190), Fazio (195) ...

[Zala-Man]

GK: D. Soria / Rico
RB: Mariano / Coke
RCB: Rami / Fazio / Pareja
LCB: Carriço / Kolodziejczak
LB: Trémoulinas / Escudero
RDMF: Krychowiak / Carriço
LDMF: N'Zonzi / Iborra
RSMF: Vitolo / Krohn-Dehli / Coke
LSMF: Konoplyanka / Reyes
AMF: Banega / Reyes
CF: Gameiro / Llorente

Right Corner: Konoplyanka
Left Corner: Banega
Long Free Kick: Banega/ 2 Fk: Vitolo
Short Free Kick: Konoplyanka
Penalty Taker: Konoplyanka
Captains: Iborra 1 /Carriço 2 / Go up: Rami, Krychowiak, N'Zonzi

4-5-1

[Eternal Night]

Matchday 29

[Eternal Night]

Matchday 30

[Eternal Night]

Matchday 31

[Eternal Night]

More or less Sevilla FC is using this formation with Pablo Machín, the same tactics than Girona FC in the past season:

[Houy]

Two pieces of text i wrote on discord, based on my experience watching Sevilla this season. One is recent and the other from a month ago. I tried to cut a few irrelevant bits out and fix the spelling ( should work on that , damn ) but otherwise it's unedited so pretty rought around the edges, basically me ranting and giving a few thoughts on what i've seen this far.

Spoiler: show

Aris 10/04/2018
speaking of mids that play it simple i recently started watching Sevilla, i'm catching up with them at least on Footballia which uploads full games a month after they're played so i've watched up to Betis
they are playing a 3-4-3 like so

------------Vaclik-----------
Mercado--Kjaer--Sergi Gomez
Jesus Navas---Banega--Mesa---Escudero
Sarabia--Andre Silva--Vasquez

Mesa and Vasquez have caught my eye the most
the mid of Banega and Mesa is docile and the team mainly relies on the WBs Navas and Esqudero to deliver the end product in the final third
Banega is technically the outright creative player of the two but he doesn't consistently deliver dangerous through balls, he regulates play well and makes the occasional long pass, more of a pivot really
Vasquez who plays something between an SS/AM has probably the most positive impact on the game creatively but he plays a short range game
so the left side relies on Vasquez creativity and Esqudero's consistent runs up and down his flank
while the right does on Navas's and Sarabia's individual efforts, Navas speed and dribbling and Sarabia's movement as wide forward
Mesa plays deeper than Banega, initiates build up and provides support mainly down the center
i find him to be an efficient build up player that covers tons of ground in a relatively silent manner
with a good underlying technical ability, not a great defender nor very responsive but he puts a lot of effort maybe even more so than in build up into covering areas defensively in spite of being picky about when he confronts opponents directly
though there is an edge to his touches and to his passes he's been playing it as simple as a lot less refined DMs up to now
so i was curious to see out set of him
which i found to be really well done
i find his short passing to be surprising at 84/84 considering how little to none he's used mid range passes up to now
combined with Jurgens referring to him as deep playmaker i'm assuming he's had a different role in a little more advance position than he plays now, since i'd refer to him as a great build up player that provides structure to the team and plays very very simple in an efficient manner
Mesa and Banega is an interesting combo in the sense they are both really not tat eager to play forward in a direct manner aside Banega's long passes
i'm interested to see if Mesa takes more initiative throughout the season because in this 5 first games the lack of a creative direct approach from the midfield has been an issue, limiting the attacking transition to reaching Vasquez by way of Esqudero or vise versa and a creative opening of the game by Banega
who's frankly been hit and miss in his performances
providing just a decent level of support and a high tier range of diagonal long passes for the most part
As far as Mesa goes i also believe a big decrease in DS could be in order
he seems like a player that uses speed and any semblance of dribbling sporadically
he 's shown a sharp turn and some footwork sparsely and not connected to each other, just individual motions
he's had no real displays of movement on the ball let alone a run
and he's been dispossessed a couple of times because of his lack of mobility on the ball
he has a solid speed and acceleration and some decent strength but up to now his inability to combine his qualities in an effective prolonged manner has made him somewhat average in keeping possession and promoting play when pressed
and considering he is not too far off from a winger-type with his combination of speed and technical abilities i think it's important to limit him in some of the relevant stats
though i trust Jurgens in the fact the ability is there, for the moment at least he is not actively incorporating to his game at all
and failing when doing so
beside DS, Agi is a couple of points high from what i've seen up to now
but with just 5 games in a new team it's perfectly possible that he will start changing things up
rob10/04/2018
his DS was quite surprising to me originally tbh
he was rated as 85 i think? and the set was all wrong, so i assumed that was too
Aris10/04/2018
so i'm waiting to see as i find him quite interesting
rob10/04/2018
but he showed several times where the value was coming from
some good runs from deep
and even more advanced
but that was at las palmas
he did not have the team-mates around him that he does at sevilla
so he'd be more inclined to have to make something himself
hes a dlp
so not likely to do stuff like that much with a competent team
what is he on, on PSD?
I have him at 78
Aris10/04/2018
sec
rob10/04/2018
ah 80
Aris10/04/2018
can't see the stats again, yeah 80
rob10/04/2018
those are whats on my OF based on las palmas days
Aris10/04/2018
you might think me harsh but just on this little set of games i'd have him at 74
i really like the resp-tw-def we have on the psd set
really captures him for me, he isn't the sharpest when defending
but covers as much as any great DM
rob10/04/2018
well, that was 2 years ago
i'd keep an eye out for his DS though
his type of players very rarely show it, and its quite possible hes completely dropped it in sevilla
but he definitely had it
Aris10/04/2018
i'll be keeping an eye on Mesa, his DS is the more noticeable aspect of him i see different to the current set but i am more interested to see how his creative contributes will be moving forward
cause they need something extra there badly
rob10/04/2018
how is he functioning at sevilla?
at las palmas he was like the closest players to the CB's
moving all around his own half for build
was honestly, probably red tw
but i was scared to give him it
it was like, absolute support
Aris10/04/2018
yeah he plays the closest with Banega covering more conventional CM ground
support wise my too comments would be he has a clear preference to limit the extend of his movement up to the edge of the edges of the box and not move to the wings. Up to now he has had that level of intimate support, he is covering whole areas in an incredibly smart and constant way but he hasn't been the player that weaves through players to give them options all the time
that could be because he is the key defensive midfielder and need to keep the structural integrity
with Banega not being reliable in his defensive positioning
so 88-90 for now, not reds
i'm basically lagging by a month though so ''now'' is relative :slight_smile:
pcrooce10/04/2018
88-90 sta or tw?
Aris10/04/2018
tw
sta 90 is deserved, he is possibly higher
the volume of his movement has been a little more impressive than his movement in my eyes in these first games
* btw he is liable to get quite close to the final third once a game though generally he moves behind the first half and a little higher after he's filtered the ball once
pcrooce10/04/2018
a player like that shouldn’t have low 60’s for agg and/or att?
Aris10/04/2018
looking at your draft from las palmas jurgens the values for Agi, DA and Sta seem right on the money
Agg possibly but he is pretty low at 66 if i;m right, that's not a bad value but a little lower would work too
Amine10/04/2018
who's @G<Numbers> ?
Aris10/04/2018
he is clearly a smart player 70+ for Att
considering his role
as i said i'm waiting to see the extend of his creative contribution
game's started, good night
rob10/04/2018
@Amine adieets
@aris thanks for the good info

Aris Yesterday at 2:29 PM

it's been about about a month ? that i had given some initial impressions here and the team has changed quite a bit since then, in both system and protagonists
they've currently settled on a 3-5-2 of sorts
like this:
------------Vaclik------------
Carrico----Kjaer----Sergi Gomez
Navas-----------Banega------------Arana
----Sarabia-------------Vaquez-------
---------Ben Yedder-----Andre Silva--------
----fuckin lines---...
notable changes since the first few games of the season have been Escudero's injury, a vitale part of the team's function from the left since he played the whole flank with great efficiency
Arana is quite similar to him and has all you'd want from a fullback but he doesn't have the same command over his side neither the end product yet
Roque Mesa, who we had discussed in length with Rob has been dropped from the squad with Banega taking the role of deep lying playmaker and technically sole central midfielder, which i will talk about in a moment
Carrico has returned from injury and has replaced Mercado, and has added much security to the right side of the defensive trio
Ben Yedder has been added to the mix to aid Silva and provide an extra threat and link to the midfield as he is playing lower than Ande moving like a second striker for the most part
i had talked last time about this awkward dynamic that existed between Mesa and Banega at the midfield, basically playing a double pivot with a clear assignment of defensive work and providing the first pass from Mesa and passing distribution by Ever
Banega has now been dropped further behind taking beginning build up and orchestrating and i've been trully impressed by what he's done ever since
his passing and creativity have come into play a lot more and his game has expanded and varity juggling covering, build up, orchestration and even directly threatening the opposition with admirable efficiency
it's impressive to see a player thrive when moved to the main role of responsibility, since he is arguably the most important player of the team at the moment
the notable thing about this formation would be Sarabia's and Vasquez conversion to a more complex role
Vasquez is playing on the left covering ground as CM, AM and SS playing adjacent to Arana
Sarabia has an even bigger variety in his movement, converging from a side midfielder to a winger to an SS and even doing defensive work at center tracking back
Sarabia in particular has adjusted to this role very well, as it'd making great use of his well wounded skill-sets, work ethic and energetic play-style
Vasquez while a more individualistic player has given the creative inspirations you'd expect but has also done a good job at running his area of responsibility and keeping up with the team when necessary
as you'd expect by seeing the system, no matter how well everyone performs individually the midfield will inevitably be lost once possession is lost
the edge of the system is to hit very hard on the counter
with Banega leading the charge and Vasquez and Sarabia moving the the offensive variant of their roles so the team has 6 players assaulting the opposition's exposed back-line, including Arana and Navas
this ''free flowing'' attack and fluid system working, as well as it can work has been interesting for me to see as i haven't watched teams that played similar systems in the past
as you can also imagine very much of the weight of the team's defensive responsibility now falls on the effectiveness of the CB trio
as most teams won't have much trouble reaching the edge of the box
it's why Carrico has been an important addition to the more vulnerable right wing that Navas defends
that about covers it i think, didn't touch on Ben Yedder and Silva but theirs is a pretty simple SS- high octane CF dynamic, it works but i don't know if it wil develop into something more interesting in the long run

* there's a little discussion in there on Roque Mesa, thought i might as well leave it

[Eternal Night]

This is one of the most used line-ups during this season: