Of Spaces, Ladders & Space-Eaters
Twitter, or X (whatever you prefer) is teeming with data, opinions, tactics analyses & the lot these days. From some expert takes & vital stats & info to some downright bizarre opinions & views; thrown in the memes in there & the platform is like the online Leaky Cauldron of the real world. Very leaky.
The Leaky Cauldron did have occasional “death-eaters” amongst its visitors. But sh*te Harry Potter references aside, there’s been a strong upsurge of new terms & technicalities subtly implored by Twitterati both credible & idiotic. Newell’s Old Boys vs BSC Young Boys, for lack of a better analogy.
I recently stumbled upon an interesting piece by a Medium writer named SilvaOB where he outlines the coining of (yet another) nascent term in the annals of football in the 2020s that emerged on Twitter — the “space-eater”.
If you follow my Medium profile or my publication After The Full Time Whistle, my last football piece dived deeply into Positionism vs Relationsim — two other deep rooted philosophies that have emerged as of a couple of years ago.
The term “space-eater” is rather broad, however. I’m a bit of a purist & from an older generation of football upbringing where the “water-carrier” role of the likes of Makelele (founder of the Makelele role), Deschamps, Thiago Motta, to more aggressive “water-carriers” like Gattuso, Roy Keane & naturally, his tunnel lover Patrick Vieira & others, emerged as the players who resorted to the darker arts in midfield on the pitch.
The “space-eater”, however, doesn’t particularly check the box of an out-and-out defensive player or a transitional attack minded player. But it’s a term, as per my understanding, for players who exude mastery of mitigating space on the pitch.
I guess a “space-eater” can come in several categories — a more defensive minded player like former Chelsea & Leicester City mercurial talisman N’Golo Kante & his successor at the Bridge in Moises Caicedo(who runs like a flailing duck). But on the flipside other space-eaters include the likes of the more attacking players like Jude Bellingham, the more box-to-box Bruno Fernandes or the more defensive-minded Amadou Onana. Nevertheless, the quintessential “space-eater” is perhaps Arsenal’s Declan Rice(which I’ll get to).
As you can piece together so far, the “space-eater” isn’t exactly primordially attacking or defensive, but just a champion of affecting space on the pitch. I’ve earlier explored the importance of “space” & “time” on the football pitch in my Moneyball piece.
But according to SilvaOB, the characteristics of a “space-eater” are:
• Extensive ground coverage, by virtue of their long strides which help them cover ground rapidly and their endurance which allows them to move around readily and effortlessly in large zones or spaces.
• Wide tackling range and large duelling domains that create suffocating presences, from their wide torsos and long limbs.
• Springiness in the first steps, as a result of their powerful cores and strong quads.
• Ground power which allows them to maintain their dueling postures under pressure, also a consequence of strong quads, powerful cores and long limbs.
While his parenthesis is mainly physical, to further expand on SilvaOB’s characteristics for “space-eaters” from a gameplay standpoint, I would add:
• A player who minimizes space in midfield for opponents
• A player who allows the balancing of different pressing structures & formations by commanding large areas of space
• A player who can effectively utilise space to create space for his team’s attacking phases with a pass or carry or to help defensively by tackling, dueling or commanding space to help defensive strategies & shape
• A player who can patrol large areas of space on the pitch using his physical attributes, or positioning & intelligence
In short, as the name suggests, they “eat space”.
But how do “space-eaters” fit into progression with & without the ball when it comes to a tactical viewpoint?
Ladders
In India, there’s this board game kids play called Snakes & Ladders. While I did quite randomly stumble upon an article outlining the board game’s history, in essence, it’s about climbing snakes & ladders to get to the top most point & finishing square on the board. So, quite similarly, ladders have been employed in tactical set ups in football to get higher up the pitch & towards the opponent’s goal.
To outline two categories of ball progression, in his article, SilvaOB sets a framework of a ladder & the progression of the ball either vertically or horizontally. He defines the two kinds of progression as rungal progression and territorial progression, respectively.
The ladder framework pictured below is of a team set up in a 3–2–2–3 with the rungs of the ladder running along each line of players in the formation — from the back three to the holding midfield two, the slightly higher midfield two and the front three.
Silva writes:
When a team in-possession assumes any of its attacking forms in open play[form in deep build-up / advanced build-up / counter-attacks], we can regard the structure as a ladder on which the ball advances up the pitch, with each line of attack being a rung of the ladder.
He further defines rungal progression as:
1. Rungal Progression — “Rungal” is a term I coined from ‘rung’, to describe the type of progression achieved by the movement of the ball up the ladder of attack, from a lower rung to a higher one. This can be achieved via an action[Pass or Carry] that breaks the opponent’s lines of defence.
While defining territorial progression as:
2. Territorial Progression — This type of progression involves movement of the ball on the same rung/line via a lateral forward pass to a player on the same line or a carry that does not break the opponent’s lines but nonetheless gets the ball closer to the opponent’s goal.
Furthermore, the aims of rungal and territorial progression are essentially different with some slight congruence, but adhere to the broader goal of progressing the ball toward the opponent’s goal.
If the sequence of passes/or carries ends with the ball reaching a higher line on the ladder, rungal progression has been achieved.
Whereas, if the sequence of passes/or carries ends with the ball staying within the same rung or territory of the ladder, territorial progression has been achieved.
Going Around The Block
SilvaOB’s article outlines how teams employ the above progression methods tactically, with respect to both in-possession & out-of-possession sequences. You can read them up in detail in his piece but for this article I’ll simply state an outline of his analysis.
Silva explores 3 primary pressing strategies in tactical set ups in the High-Press, the Mid-Press & the Mid/Low-Block.
The example below, which I pulled from some FM dude’s website elucidates the sheer effectiveness of the Guardiola high-press at City rather perfectly, showing how the passing lanes are blocked and suffocated & the numerical advantages in the 3v2 out wide and 4v3 in the middle of the pitch.
The mid-block and low-block perhaps don’t need too much explaining but if you’ve watched Jose Mourinho’s teams over the years, he’s perhaps employed both blocks most successfully over the course of his managerial career.
But for the sake of a fresh name; a manager who is equally an ardent proponent of the low-block, here’s Diego Simeone’s Atleti side camped in their low-block zones.
You can do a deep dive into pressing strategies,including Hybrid Pressing, explained by Jon Mackenzie, who seems to be everywhere these days (a space-eater perhaps)…..
A Space Eater Here | A Space Eater There
The modern-day space-eater allows hybrid pressing structures to operate at full-tilt. In the high-press, a space-eater usually marshals the rungal line to let the players in front press high & aggressively, while also not being afraid to push higher up to suffocate the opposition when they have the ball.
SilvaOB uses a couple of example gifs including Everton’s Onana in this particular instance.
But perhaps the most compelling evidence of the tactical flexibility that having a space eater in your team allows is that the formational structures can be tweaked because of a space eaters.
The most compelling evidence is that due to their abilities to marshal and patrol large spaces, it can create an extra line in the ladder for both offensive & defensive formations & strategies. A space eater can turn a typical 4–4–2 or 4–3–3 low or mid-block into a more dynamic 4–1–4–1, 4–1–3–2, 4–2–3–1, 5–2–1–2 & so on.
The Archetypal Modern-Day Space Eater — Declan Rice
If you’re from India or perhaps even South Indian, rice is your staple food at home, & that’s true for Arsenal this season too. While the masquerading defensive-forward Kai Havertz seemingly occupies the minds of most rival fans & the banter on Twitter, Arsenal’s eating habits involve more Rice than even the most fervent South Indian families.
Rice’s physical, technical and defensive attributes make him the most paradigmatic space eater. When Rice makes a move, it allows the entire rungal line of ladder to all advance forward, while defensively, he allows the back line to stay in shape.
Like this interception & pass to Martinelli below, Rice single-handedly transitions from Arsenal’s low-block into a swift counter-attack.
Again, as gif-ed(a term I’m coining now) below, Rice’s movement pulls the entire rungal line forward & his interception leads to the instant movement & transition into attack.
Here’s another Rice interception stopping a clear Everton counter-attack
It’s not just at Arsenal. There’s a reason Arteta shelled out over 100 million quid on Rice; he is an expert space eater. In the gif below, you can see how he commands the space in West Ham’s low block & then makes the crucial interception to allow his team to start their progression. At the instance that he wins the ball, he’s sucked in 5 opponent players.
Mind you, Rice is nowhere near the quickest player, nor does he have the kind of running energy of an N’Golo Kante, but his intelligence in using his positioning to mitigate space, is perhaps second to none.
That leads me down another rabbit hole, which I will write about later, that players who cannot cover enough ground by running make up for it by intelligent positioning. But for now, let’s leave it at that.
The Space Eaters Of Yore
While I must attest that I’m approaching & treading into that rabbit hole a bit with this section of the space eaters of yore, the best that is, apart from the names I mentioned at the beginning of the piece, would probably be Seedorf, Scholes & Pirlo.
Contrary to the physical demands of the modern game, which Michael Owen (surprisingly) had an intelligent take on, where he said something along the lines of not having to be a “proper footballer” these days & that modern footballers are more like athletes, is that — the space-eaters of yore were proper footballers.
Seedorf & Pirlo in that AC Milan midfield along with the Italian bulldog Gattuso were almost unplayable. Sitting mainly in front of Gattuso, but also dropping in between the lines, Seedorf was a rare blend of strength & guile. Pirlo, on the other hand, was the artist. Pirlo had zero physical attributes, but the way he made use of space on the pitch & the way he orchestrated attacks & passes in his regista role, is a farcry from any player I have watched since.
I did have a lot of hope running on Marco Verrati of emulating Pirlo when I saw him in his younger days, but he just didn’t quite fit any particular box or excel in any particular trait as his career progressed. Pirlo’s mastery of space made him an anti-thesis to the modern space eater, showing that he could command space despite not having the physicality to use to his advantage.
Paul Scholes was also one of the best space eaters of old, similar to Pirlo in many ways, but with that bit of English ruggedness. Dubbed Sat-nav on the pitch, pinging pinpoint passes about for fun & popping in with some exquisite strikes from distance, Scholesy was another less physical space eater of diminutive physical stature, but a master of space.
The list could go on, if you look farther back enough. Of course, no space eater piece is complete without mentioning Sergio Busquets who enabled his corroborators Xavi & Iniesta, equal masters in utilising space in midfield to gain the upper hand in middle of the park, but perhaps Busquets fits more into the modern-game narrative.
While Germany teammates Philip Lahm & Michael Ballack were also pretty effective at Bayern. But I digress, the game was different back then as compared to now, but the essence remains the same — space & time remain the most valuable components of mastering & winning a football game.
“Espacio-tiempo” as Xavi puts it
The Pinnacle Of Space-Eaters Working In Tandem — John Stones & Rodri
A walk down memory lane aside; they're arguably as complimentary as bread & butter. Salt & soda in a fresh-lime juice stall or a vada and pav in the streets of Bombay. But in John Stones & Rodri, it’s space-eaters travelling at the speed of a ship in proverbial Star Wars hyperspace — not because of their industry & running abilities, which certain track-and-field athletes like Mason Mount seem to possess in abundance but lack effectiveness. But Stones & Rodri are the Imperial heads of state of the space eater race.
Both equally capable of playing the ball, Stones slightly more than Rodri. When they’re on the pitch for City, the midfield seemingly has zero leeway for opponents. They can both tackle astutely as well & marshal rungal lines, & more often than not, dictate entire games, & plays for City.
They also rotate as pivots in midfield, sometimes Rodri, sometimes Stones, as the other moves higher up the pitch to support or orchestrate an attack.
City are just scary; it’s well established now. While there might not be as many Man City fans worldwide as compared to their deluded cross-town rival fans of Man United, especially exemplified by that Garnacho bicycle-kick goal tweet having more interactions that City’s treble winning tweet, it’s no secret that Guardiola has assembeld a modern day juggernaut. There’s enough said about that squad but Rodri & Stones are the heart of it.
Jude Bellingham, The Space Eater Anomaly
Casting a drift to sunny Spain & the true holders of the title of the biggest club in the world, especially in contrast to their Premier League rivals(City, United, Liverpool,Chelsea et al), Real Madrid struck gold or maybe even some outer space rare metal, like that Avengers special metal Vibranium or whatever the f*ck it’s called, by signing Jude Bellingham.
While the crux of this article, and perhaps SilvaOB’s piece mainly outlines more defensive-oriented space eaters, Jude Bellingham is a Goliath in the middle and on the opposite side of the pitch. And one of the reasons for his breakaway success in Madrid, apart from the obvious physical advantages he possesses in the typically lesser physical La Liga(although some may argue otherwise), is that his space eating traits make him a nightmare to deal with & a space eater anomaly.
Bellingham has everything. He’s imposing. He can dribble. He can pass. He can tackle. He can finish. Left foot. Right foot. It’s hard to find a player with a profile as complete. Coupled with Ancelotti’s remarkable & innovative use of deploying Bellingham who’s arguably a more box-to-box kind of midfielder in a free role, & it’s a recipe that is yet to be learnt by the football chefs of European football, but they can all feel how it tastes — the sour taste of defeat after a Bellingham sting, that keeps the Real machine marching onward.
Some key stats I’ve pulled of Belligham vs other midfielders in the Europe’s top 5 leagues from Fbref are: i) he’s in the 95th percentile for passes blocked ii) 89th percentile for total carrying distance & 91st percentile for progressive carry distance iii)93rd percentile & 98th percentile for carries into the final 1/3rd and penalty box respectively iv) 89th percentile for defensive actions that lead to a goal v) 1.4 tackles per game & 1.1 interceptions per game. This is to highlight his space eater attributes apart from his lethal goalscoring abilities.
With 17 goals in 21 games for Real at the time of writing this piece, I don’t think any midfielder has achieved numbers such as this since Frank Lampard. Bellingham is also currently La Liga’s top scorer with 13 goals so far this season. Although I have my doubts, if he can win the pichichi by the end of the season, it would surely be some feat (here’s an old piece of mine about the history of Spanish football La Furia Espanola and the pichichi).
The Need For The Space Eater Profile In The Modern Game
The game is changing rapidly & so are the strategies deployed by managers in-game. This particular stat highlights the stark shift in aggressive pressing tactics & higher tempo play leading to significantly more turnovers.
The high-press & accentuated pressing intensity further up the pitch & in midfield has led to the next iteration of aggressive tactics, something which cries out for a space eater.
As Silva writes:
There has been a steady uprise in the incidence of high turnovers in the past few seasons, primarily due to the increasing potency and variability of out-of-possession schemes.
Silva further explains:
Also, the increasingly organized and compact blocks have incentivized teams to attack quickly the spaces that appear in transition moments, instead of consolidating possession.
Games with higher intensities and increased number of turnovers are the consequences of this chain reaction.
To navigate through and thrive in these games, players with either broad or high physical capacities are imperative. Going man-to-man in a press[mid or high] sans dominant duellers in your backline that can defend the yards of space behind is suicide.
Likewise, pressing high and opening up spaces within the structure without midfielders that can defend those spaces is detrimental. Not having forwards who are either pacey or strong and can attack spaces that open up in transition moments will make a blunt or inefficient attack etc etc.
These trends therefore cause an increase in the sporting and economic value of these player profiles.
The importance of the space eater today, is clear and it’s further highlighted by the fact that all the top teams in Europe have signed, or at least, have 1 player of this ilk & profile in their squad. While some teams rely on just the solitary space eater, other teams are more spoiled for choice with space eaters in their squad. Furthermore, the rigors of the game today demand it.
The need is largely apparent for space eaters in the modern game. While the terms is still in its infancy, I have perhaps shed light on a broader profile of players falling into the “space eater” category as opposed to simply using it as a term for strong, and well-built defensive midfielders.
From the conventional space eaters of the modern-era to more multi-faceted space eaters, now & before, this new term could see its explanation expand & be built on further into a more complex role on the pitch.
But for now, whether NASA approves or not, the space eaters are here to stay.
