When Leganes was promoted to La Liga at the end of last season, there was little to suggest that they would have the opportunity to compete in the top flight.
Often found without a natural goal scorer during their title-winning campaign in Segunda, and harvesting a team with a very small La Liga experience between them. In Borja Jimenez, who, just like the majority of his team – was not managed by a top flight before this season – they have a manager who can ensure that his team performs at a level that is more than the sum of their parts.
Currently locked up in a relegation struggle, level at points with Deportivo Alaves, who have their heads above water on target difference, Los Pepineros give them everything in an attempt to guarantee a second consecutive LA Liga campaign since 2020.
So how exactly do they do it?
Jimenez tends to set his way somewhere between a 4-2-3-1 and a 3-4-3, and the transitional frequency between these two systems often depends on the game status and the opposition they are against. This flexibility leans on the tactical insight of their 40-year-old manager.
Against Atletico Madrid, where they completed a huge scalp by ending Diego Simeone's 15-game winning run with a 1-0 win at Butarque, Leganes switched very fluently between the two systems. In this used Jimenez Peruvian Renato Tapia as a vehicle to switch from one to the other.
When Leganes had the ball in this game, Tapia became free to go into a midfield position and instead go into a single pivot oil. This became a real dilemma for the urgent front-line of Atleti, which instead of closing three center-back options, had to concentrate on shielding a pass behind them in Tapia.
The Peruan was also the player who was chosen to fall back into a five during defensive scenarios, which even occur more often when Los Pepineros wanted to hold their slender benefits in the game.
It was easy to see why Jimenez went for this, because Athleti wanted to use serious combinations in the channels to create broad overloads, which means that a broader back line would help LEGANES to combat that specific threat.
However, if Tapia falls into a five, sometimes too early, this can lead to extra space between the lines for the opposition to exploit – without the Peruvian they can appear in those spaces.
Jimenez is demonstrably a better success in using the 3-4-3 as a blueprint in possession, just as with little natural creativity in their ranks, Leganes must use a more systematic approach to produce scoring opportunities. The use of Flying Wing-Backs is similar to the ManagementStarlet Claudio Giraldez this season at Celta Vigo, with whom Leganes Teen went to toe by matching their wide system last weekend.
Los Pepineros Wing-back Valentin Rosier has posted some of the better grades in the division in terms of his attacking output. Of course, the Frenchman is a fairly active defender in this Leganes team, but is also within the top 4% of the full-backs for shot-creating actions of successful take-on-on-ons.
Against Vigo, Rosier and Maverick wing player Juan Cruz Los Celestes gave Oscar Mingueza and Marcos Alonso a scorching time on the Leganes -Rechts.
It is a simple concept, but Cruz who dropped Infield to put on a Vigo defender, Rosier allowed Rosier to fly around the outside and to create a crossing opportunity. The threat of the Spaniard alone is sufficient to confuse most defenses, but put the powerful runs of Leganes' wing-back in the comparison and it becomes too much for everyone.
Against Getafe, in a game of very little quality, the same combination destroyed their Madrid rivals in the last seconds of the game. As Los Pepineros do so often, they bounced on a transition created by Cruz's smart turn in midfield.
Rosier's incredible physicality meant that he flew around the outside of Getafe's back line, free to cross, allowing Diego Garcia to kick a glorious overhead behind the desperate David Soria to offer a dramatic end to the South Madrid Derby. One of the many examples this season of the Leganes wingbacks is the biggest attacking threat in their side.
The Frenchman is not the only unique profile that Jimenez wants to get the best out of this Leganes side, as the midfield pairs of Seydouba Cisse and Yvan Neyou Noupa offer both special functions within the Jimenez system system.
The ability of Cisse to keep the ball good offers a width of options for Leganes when they build from behind, especially farewell to that popular back three. The defenders of Jimenez often split into wider positions to make it more difficult for the opposition to press them directly, but also block the options of midfield from behind.
One of the most common movements of the Guinese is to wait until the center-backs spread in an advanced position, while he attracts the press of the opposition and use his exceptional back to target and sit out the ball wide. This not only beats the press, but invites his teammates to get ahead from that center-back position, which would usually be a three-versus-two situation in the broad areas.
In the top 10% of La Liga midfielders, Cisse stands for successful take-ons, and also does not shy away from his defensive tasks, flies quickly enough to sit within the top 10% for ball recovery too.
As far as Neyou is concerned, he is often the unwanted trigger for Leganes, and the sealing option for their prints. In what is often a Stodgy Middenblok, the Cameroonian does his best to protect the back line against all direct fits in that zone.
In the last third, Neyou covers considerable land to reduce the options of opposition in midfield to their goal. Leganes usually beg when they try to pin the other team, which means that Neyou can add the front two as part of a 2-1 press line.
For his part, the 28-year-old within the top 20% of midfielders in the division is won for won tackles, Dribblers Tacked and antennas. He is the perfect compliment for the agile Ball-Play power of Cisse.
Although their survival is still in the balance, Jimenez has played the strengths of his team as well as possible and he has certainly proven his value at the highest level. Only Espanyol and Sevilla have lower salary limits than Leganes, and both indicate well more than their allowance – a sign of how steep their heavy task is. However, due to a thorough and organized approach, Leganes can still dream of successive seasons of La Liga Football at Butarque.
Comments