Why Man City Broke Their Transfer Record For Elliot Anderson
Manchester City have hypothetically shattered their transfer record to acquire Elliot Anderson. In this tactical analysis, we break down why the versatile midfielder is worth every penny and a perfect fit for the Premier League champions.
Video Transcript
Man City have shattered their transfer record to buy Elliott Anderson, and he's worth every single penny.
From shutting down countless attacks, playing through the lines, and connecting a team entirely, I'm Jacob Horsfall, FourFourTwo's resident tactician, and this is why Elliott Anderson may well be perfect for Manchester City.
It's Elliott Anderson Elliott Anderson is a unique type of player.
His stature and his mobility remind you of a well-rounded number eight.
Now, he can do that, and if he took up that role under Enzo Maresca, then I have no doubt that he would be brilliant, being able to connect players across big distances and get in the final third and hurt teams.
But he's more than just a final third player.
Thomas Tuchel labeled him a mobile number six.
The word mobile is particularly important because it's half the reason that Thomas Tuchel has him as a nailed on starter for England, and it's a huge reason as to why Manchester City have paid the big bucks for the Geordie midfielder.
One of Anderson's biggest strengths is his spatial awareness.
He regularly sits as the anchor as his team goes forward, which means that he is the safety option, tasked with maintaining pressure on the opposition's box.
To do that, he has to read the attacking situation and shift the ball into dangerous space regularly, which for Manchester City is key.
They will regularly come up against those low block sides, so having a player who can pick up the ball and find players in space on a consistent basis, well, that is huge.
Which may suggest that when Maresca looks to use a 3-1-6 in position, that Elliott Anderson could be the holding midfield player who acts as that sort of anchor.
Now, Rodri obviously will have a say on that, and he affects how Elliott Anderson could be used.
But he missed out on 27 games through injury last season.
So having another player who's effective as that deep sort of playmaker, well, that's only a positive.
But with this City team, there's one thing that connects every single player on this pitch: positional fluidity.
Even if he was to be sort of a mobile number six as Thomas Tuchel would say, he still wouldn't just be a number six.
He'd be playing in multiple different positions over the course of 90 minutes, which is something he proved he can do during his time at Nottingham Forest.
Anderson has dropped into the back three here.
He does this to allow Forest's right back to push on when they have the ball.
But when Villa counter-attack, he's in an uncomfortable position.
His instinct here is to step out to man with the ball to stop the central carry, but his man really in this case is this runner.
So he maintains a slightly central position to protect that center space before jumping to the runner as soon as the ball is played, and then smashing straight through him.
Which takes me back to the point of spatial awareness.
Elliott Anderson is so aware of his surroundings and has such an appreciation for timing that he can play in pretty much any position.
If we look at the 23-year-old's World Cup heat map, which is probably the most accurate comparison to Manchester City, you see him cover the entirety of the mid third, whilst also popping up in the defensive and the attacking thirds.
That's because he has the intelligence and the technical ability to contribute for his side in all three thirds of the pitch.
Which means if Rodri stays and we see a pivot of Rodri and Anderson, Anderson could very easily be the number eight who pops up in the half space and makes things happen.
Here, we see Forest push players onto the last line to pin Newcastle's defenders inside the box.
Anderson has the ball set for him, and instead of keeping the slow tempo of the move, he finds an incisive pass beyond Newcastle's midfield block.
He then darts into the box, exploiting the space left by Newcastle defenders being pinned inside their box.
He receives the ball and keeps the ball away from the oncoming challenge before then finding a way to get a shot off.
Anderson has that creative gift that allows him to be the perfect deep playmaker, but also it allows him to be a serious threat in advanced positions.
Only 10 Premier League players created more chances in the Premier League last season, bearing in mind he was in a team who had the eighth lowest possession and the fifth lowest XG.
Now, that's not bad going from the Geordie Maradona.
And then Anderson, what a pass.
Bro, what a finish to the last minute Elliott Anderson is a player who has grown into press evasiveness, and because of him playing for a lower league team, he's been forced into that and being able to adapt to teams who press his side very, very high.
At Nottingham Forest, Anderson would often find himself in a 3-1 build-up, meaning he'd have his back to goal in 1v1s, with most of his passing options being higher up the pitch.
Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Dan and Doi, all those types of players, they want to receive the ball in the opposition's half in between the lines, which meant Elliott Anderson, well, he had to do a lot of breaking of the lines.
For England, we've seen him constantly break the lines this summer.
He scans early here and identifies Madueke and Jude Bellingham making sharp direction changes to go in beyond.
He then doesn't scan again and comes towards the ball to create separation and disguise his pass over the Croatia press and through to his England teammates, which is the foundation of Elliott Anderson's line breaking.
Yes, his pass map against Panama shows him playing a ridiculous volume of forward passes, but he also held an 85.53% pass completion rate whilst attempting the fourth most passes in the Premier League last season.
So there's a little bit more to it than just constantly playing forwards.
Video aside for a second, here's a hypothetical question for you.
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But for now, let's get back to this video.
Elliott Anderson is in an advanced position here, and he looks towards the box, which suggests he's probably gonna play a ball towards the back post.
But you see a little glance tow- towards Gibbs-White here.
This allows Andersen to recognize Gibbs-White's darting movement across the edge of the 18-yard box.
However, he keeps his hips forward and his head looking towards the ball as he steps up to hit it.
This means that these two Manchester United players switch off, as they assume the ball's gonna be going into the box, and they can then react to it once it's entered the box.
But instead, Elliot Andersen fizzes the ball in to the edge of the box and Gibbs-White has a beautiful finish toward goal.
And that's why Elliot Andersen is able to break the line so regularly, because he sees passes that not only do other people not see, but he's able to disguise them, so if they do clock onto what he's trying to do, well, they've probably clocked onto the wrong thing.
At Man City, you expect he'll have 11 players in front of him trying to crowd out space, so if he can use that disguise to beat the opposition out before playing a different space, well, Man City may have another way to break through against those sides that can really, really frustrate you.
Enzo, you're back at Manchester City for a third time, so- Now, Maresca has a bit of a task on his hands with this Man City side to get it into shape for the way he may want it to look, but Elliot Andersen, he can be Swiss Army knife, and he can play in a few different roles.
The first would be next to Rodri as that all-phase number eight.
He can step forward to join the attacking line and rotate to drift out wide, which he actually did for Newcastle when he first came through, believe it or not.
He played a few games on the wing.
But with this Man City team, he could also act as someone who facilitates Nico O'Reilly's presence in the box.
One of Man City's biggest things last season was getting Nico O'Reilly into the final third to score headers.
Elliot Andersen can be someone who can rotate out of that central space or out of that advanced area to allow Nico O'Reilly to do exactly that.
The number eight role that a Man City team would ask of him, for me, is perfectly suited to Elliot Andersen, and the data backs that up.
In the Premier League, no outfield player took more touches than Elliot Andersen, no player won the ball in the mid third more than him, and he ranked 10th for successful take-ons.
So have him in that role that requires him to tap into all three thirds of the pitch, and well, for me, you get the best out of Elliot Andersen.
Erling Haaland, for example, would love to see Andersen in these advanced positions.
Here we see he beats Diallo using a bit of disguise with a backwards touch, and then delivers from that right channel to the back post, a type of cross that Haaland has scored from on numerous occasions.
The other role that best suits Elliot Andersen would be that number six position.
If Man City slot him in as the six with Rodri potentially leaving or just being, well, constantly injured, well, Elliot Andersen could be trusted to allow others to bomb on whilst he covers the mass space.
Last season we saw him in basically a two-man midfield, with Gibbs-White having more of that free role as the number 10, and that meant that Andersen had to cover so much distance to help Forest defend.
Here we see him protecting the central space in case this man decides to try play inside.
But as soon as that player decides to play in beyond the Forest defense, Andersen eats up ground to win the ball back.
Because of his past with Nottingham Forest, he has this sort of timing and appreciation for when to make certain jumps to protect his defense, which, for Manchester City, could be really important for them being able to maintain pressure at all times.
Now, Andersen's technical qualities are something that is huge for Manchester City in possession, something Enzo Maresca will really, really love.
But his athleticism and his physical traits, well, they're what really make Elliot Andersen special, which means you get the best of both worlds.
You get a player who in possession can be the difference-maker, and someone who allows you to constantly pressure the opposition, but also someone who out of possession constantly makes sure that you're secure, someone who hunts down balls, someone who chases down the opposition, and that is huge for a Man City midfield that maybe has grown a little bit tired, has grown a little bit old over time, because Elliot Andersen is gonna be huge for them next season.
I've been Jacob Horsfall, this has been 442.
150 million, Elliot Andersen's worth every single penny.
And I'll see you all later for some more tip-top analysis.
Peace.
