Pratique du Shadowing: How Fabregas Curious Tactic is Breaking Serie A - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo

When you think of build -up shapes, it usually looks something like this.

But now just think of a build -up where the actual center backs are running away from it.

And if they stayed, then everyone else disappear, creating a strange 2 -0 -8 structure.

This is the unique tactics of Cesc Fabregas, a man who took this small second division club and turned them into challenging some of the biggest clubs in Italy.

And the reason?

Just like a chameleon, his system keeps on changing its shape and patterns, depending on the opposition's weaknesses.

And on top of that, his strange build -ups are becoming a new way to break the dominant man -to -man press

that has taken over modern football.

So how exactly does Fabregas' build -up work?

And how does he combine control and freedom to make his team so unpredictable?

Too much listening to the coach sometimes can create many, many doubts and take away many things from your game.

When you look at the playing days of Fabregas, he was managed by many greats who had completely contrasting philosophies.

So he understands both sides of the game really well, and he's not afraid to switch his style depending on the situation.

For instance, when you look at his formation, sometimes it's a normal 4 -2 -3 -1, sometimes it's a back 3, and in In rare cases, he even uses a classic Christmas tree formation,

and within these, some players won't be seen nowhere close to their actual positions.

For instance, this was Como's left winger, and now look at his heat map, he actually played on the right for the entire match.

And the reason?

Udinese were actually stronger on the left, so Fab sent this winger on the right, creating an extra overload to protect that side.

But football is so complex.

Football takes you into so many different aspects in a game.

If you tell a player all the time, oh, this is your zone, this is where you have to move, football is not like that.

The game will demand that you go a little bit more into the right and to the left.

And just like that, his systems are tailor -made based on each opponent's strengths and weaknesses.

And this is the reason why he uses certain rotations and build -ups against specific oppositions.

As before 2019, most build -ups used to look like this, where the pressing teams were happy to send only their front line higher while the midfield stayed deep.

But after FIFA allowed more players inside the box for the first pass, this naturally made the front line to press even higher, leaving a huge central space.

And as we know how managers like De Zerbi targeted that space with their famous third man passings.

But to counter

that, teams started sending more men higher up who would mark each build -up players no matter where the ball is.

This way they blocked every free man in the build -up

so if you are a strict positional team you either have to take the risk

or go long which is something we are seeing with teams like arsenal but

if you lean more towards a relationist side like fabregas they

have found ways to use chaos to break these man -to

-man pressing systems like this one the player you're seeing is

actually como's full back next to the keeper instead of going

direct the keeper plays it to him who then lays it off to the center back

and moves back into position so by By adding this middleman who moves away, it creates a distraction for the markers, which then creates more space and time for the center back to make the next move.

This way Fabregas uses several techniques where the defenders make forward runs and drag the front markers into unfamiliar places.

And with the ball often traveling through the air rather than on the ground, it becomes easier for these physical defenders to beat the forward pressers.

But this only works if your opposition's pressing is moderate.

Against extreme pressing teams, you need even more distractions to make the buildup less risky.

And this is the reason you will know why Fabregas pushes everyone forward except the centerbacks.

And when you compare this with a deep buildup due to the close proximity of pressers, you have very little space to receive the ball comfortably, as the marker is right next to you,

giving you almost no time to react.

But with this buildup, if you are here, you can run into this space while your marker is still chasing you from behind.

This gives you more space and time to react, where you can pause and even turn.

Also with the center back already staying deep, they can act as safe support options for a back pass.

This then naturally pulls the opposition's deeper players in a forward momentum, creating space at the back to play a third pass to the running forward.

However, this doesn't always work.

Sometimes the opposition stays in a low block and doesn't step up.

So in that case, you are forced to carry the ball forward but unlike the buildup, here the density of defenders are much higher.

As a result, this shape may have a low risk when building up from deep, but it also comes with a lower reward if you want to actually break the opposition's backline.

But on the other hand, the deeper buildup is really risky at the start, but if you manage to progress through it, the reward is much higher due to less numbers at the back.

So to solve this, Fabregas tried to find a balance of both where he lets his keeper step up as a third center back, while also dropping his both pivots deep.

This way, you still have enough numbers to attract the oppositions.

And at the same time, you can create a numerical advantage further up the pitch, with your fullbacks are now free to join the front line.

But as Como progresses through the buildup, this is where their shape slowly starts to blur and become harder to read.

For instance, they often form an unusual box midfield, where instead of a fullback or centerback, a winger drifts inside to complete that box.

And unlike normal box, it doesn't rotate within a fixed structure.

Rather, it keeps moving constantly without holding its shape, as the main objective of this is to prevent the opposition's lines from staying stable and create spaces in between.

And these movements are so quick that it becomes almost impossible to predict them beforehand.

But even with all this chaos, Como still have one of the best defenses in the league.

And the secret behind this is Fabregas' hybrid rules, where one half of the players are free to roam across the pitch, while the other half are strictly instructed to stay in a resting position.

And these resting position mostly looks like a 2 plus 3 shape, where the pivots tilt to one side with the full backstepping higher.

And the special thing about this is it can easily turn into a 4 plus 1 shape while moving back.

So if they lose the ball high up the pitch, these resting players use their preserved energy to aggressively counterpress and block all available space for the opposition to counter.

And this explains exactly why Como have scored so many goals from counter -pressing situations.

But these tactics can only be understood even better when we apply them practically in a simulation.

With Fabregas keeps changing his formation based on the oppositions, but his most common shape is the 4 -2 -3 -1.

And within this, the front four are the most flexible ones in the squad.

So the striker and 10 could act as a false 9 and free roamers respectively, while one of the winger plays as a playmaker, who drift inside as a second 10 to fill that box midfield.

While in team instructions, since Fabregas uses both deep and high buildup, it's not uncommon to see them playing wide ranges of passings, so we will keep it standard.

While the creative freedom will be set to expressive, as Fabregas gives his players the freedom to think and move based on what they see on the pitch, rather than relying only on fixed instructions.

And just like company, Fabregas likes to have a balance of both extremes so most of the settings can remain balanced.

While out of possession, Como are known for their aggressive gegenpressing style, so we will keep a high press and turn counterpressing on.

But against opposition's buildup, you won't see them pressing straight away.

Instead, they defend in a narrow 3 plus 2, where the front 3s stay back and shadow mark the central players.

So the pressing trap should be set as outside.

So overall, like many modern managers, Fabregas showed us how valuable it is to stay flexible and adapt when one plan isn't working.

And his innovative build -ups may have opened doors to be more creative at the back to counter the high presses.

And this is the reason why they are considered one of the most unpredictable sides in Europe.

I think sometimes we're just making players so robotic,

just looking at one way when there is so many other things happening in the game.

But speaking of other things, there is one team in England who has taken this idea and turned football corners into deadly goal machines, using tactics from completely different sports.

So what exactly is this new corner trick, and why rivals are calling it to be banned?

Let's check it out in this video.

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Vocabulaire et conseils d’expression pour cette leçon

Cette leçon d’expression orale s’appuie sur la vidéo « How Fabregas Curious Tactic is Breaking Serie A ». Les mots qui reviennent le plus souvent : Fabregas, player, buildup, pressing, space. Cette vidéo contient 82 phrases et 1640 mots à répéter en shadowing. La partie parlée dure 8:20. Le locuteur parle vite, environ 197 mots par minute : attendez-vous à des liaisons et à des sons réduits. 85 % des mots font partie des 3 000 mots les plus courants en anglais ; le reste mérite d’être vu avant de commencer.

Vocabulaire clé de cette vidéo

15 mots de la vidéo à retenir, avec leur prononciation et leur sens :

Mot	Prononciation	Sens
pitch nom	/pɪt͡ʃ/	tir, jet
marker nom	/ˈmɑː(ɹ)kə(ɹ)/	marqueur
winger nom	/ˈwɪŋ.ɚ/	ailier
tactics nom	/ˈtæktɪks/	tactique
defender nom	/dɪˈfɛndə(ɹ)/	défenseur, défenseuse
keeper nom	/ˈkiː.pɚ/	gardien, gardienne
naturally adverbe	/ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/	naturellement
reward nom	/ɹɪˈwɔɹd/	récompense, salaire
chaos nom	/ˈkeɪˌɑs/	chaos
depend verbe	/dɪˈpɛnd/	dépendre
weakness nom	/ˈwik.nɪs/	faiblesse
react verbe	/ɹiːˈækt/	réagir
instruction nom	/ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/	instruction
flexible adjectif	/ˈflɛk.sɪ.bəl/	flexible
risky adjectif	/ˈɹɪski/	risqué

Les verbes à particule que vous entendrez

Mot	Prononciation	Sens
build up verbe		s'accumuler, s'entasser
step up verbe		accroître, augmenter
move away verbe		déménager
take away verbe	/ˌteɪk əˈweɪ/	retirer
take over verbe		reprendre

La grammaire de cette vidéo

Les structures que le locuteur utilise le plus, avec les mots exacts de la vidéo :

Structure	Dans la vidéo
Voix passive be + participe passé — l’accent est mis sur ce qui arrive, pas sur qui le fait	was managed · won't be seen · are forced
Present perfect have/has + participe passé — une action passée qui compte encore maintenant	has taken · have found · have scored
Propositions relatives who / which + proposition — une précision sur une personne ou une chose	man who took · long which is

Prononciation à surveiller

Le locuteur utilise 7 contractions et formes réduites, comme doesn't, won't, isn't. Prononcez-les sous leur forme courte, telles que vous les entendez.

Les sons « sh » et « zh »: instruction /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/, distraction /dɪsˈtɹæk.ʃən/, contrast /kənˈt(ʃ)ɹæst/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/
Mots longs — placez bien l’accent: naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, respectively /ɹɪˈspɛktɪvli/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, practically /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.k(ə.)li/, innovative /ˈɪn.əˌveɪtɪv/

Les sons difficiles pour les francophones :

/h/ — il se souffle, il n’est pas muet: nowhere /ˈnoʊ.(h)wɛɹ/, hybrid /ˈhaɪ.bɹɪd/, beforehand /bɪˈfɔɹhænd/
/tʃ/ et /dʒ/ — à ne pas adoucir en « ch » et « j »: pitch /pɪt͡ʃ/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, chase /t͡ʃeɪs/, objective /ɒbˈd͡ʒɛk.tɪv/
/r/ anglais — langue recourbée, sans frotter la gorge: marker /ˈmɑː(ɹ)kə(ɹ)/, defender /dɪˈfɛndə(ɹ)/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, reward /ɹɪˈwɔɹd/, react /ɹiːˈækt/

Comment s’entraîner avec cette vidéo

Écoutez la vidéo en entier une fois sans parler et notez les mots que vous ne connaissez pas.
Commencez à la vitesse 0,75×, répétez phrase par phrase, puis revenez à la vitesse normale quand cela devient facile.
Enregistrez-vous et comparez avec l’original, en faisant attention à des mots comme pitch, marker, winger.

Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?

Le Shadowing est une technique d'apprentissage des langues fondée sur la science, développée à l'origine pour la formation des interprètes professionnels. Le principe est simple mais puissant : vous écoutez de l'anglais natif et le répétez immédiatement à voix haute — comme une ombre suivant le locuteur avec un décalage de 1 à 2 secondes. Les recherches montrent une amélioration significative de la précision de la prononciation, de l'intonation, du rythme, des liaisons, de la compréhension orale et de la fluidité.

Technique du shadowing : lire le guide complet étape par étape →

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