Up until around the 35th minute, Malmö had trouble stringing together an attack against Sparta Prague. They came alive when wingers Sebastian Nanasi and Hugo Bolin started moving to the ball side.

If the ball was on the right, Sebastian Nanasi would run over to the right from the left wing. And vice versa on the left, with Hugo Bolin moving over from the right wing.

It is teams like Malmö that have an edge in the chaos because their game model is made to create unpredictability. That is what makes them unique and notable.

When you watch Malmö, you will not be able to close your eyes and predict where each player will be. That is why it is important to know each player, because if you don’t know the players, you won’t know they are moving out of their starting position.

They weren’t as sharp as they normally are on the day, and they didn’t deserve to concede that own goal, but they didn’t abandon using the principles of relational play. The freedom to roam, to create those overloads and diagonals, is key.

But it is interesting that regardless of what a team’s philosophy is, when they are under duress, as they were to start the game, they revert to staying in their positions or zones. It makes sense. Everyone wants something predictable, something stale, when they are being attacked. No one wants to be surprised.

When you are not feeling well, you want saltines, you don’t want a steak. You want something stale.

But when Malmö is stale, they perform below par, below the team they are facing, unlike positional teams that are used to being stale and predictable all game.

Match: Malmö 0-2 Sparta Prague, 21 August 2024