Herve Renard’s Saudi Arabia Tactic

Herve Renard – a French actor who glazed the screens for…oh, I am sorry, the wrong script.

Herve Renard is a football manager, well known for the trophies he brought to Zambia and Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations.

I first found out about him when he was managing Zambia in the 2012 African Cup of Nations tournament.

And the trophy…fully deserved in my opinion.

Herve Renard managed several clubs and national teams and recently, he became well known for the way he masterminded Saudi Arabia’s win against Argentina in the 2022 World Cup.

Saudi Arabia had some good results while the French man managed them, and it all culminated with the 2-1 win against Messi’s Argentina.

Herve Renard used a few tactics while managing Saudi Arabia. But we will focus on his 4-1-4-1 setup.

However, before we move on, keep in mind that in a match like Saudi Arabia vs Argentina, tactics can get a team so far. It also depends on the players ambition and motivation.

We start with a sweeper keeper on defend duty. I was tempted to use a simple goalkeeper role, but with a sweeper keeper, you are covered should any loose balls get past your defence.

The back four are two wing backs on support and two central defenders on defend duty. Herve Renard seemed to have asked his central defenders to focus only on defending, while the wing backs were asked to go up the pitch gradually, when the team was in possession.

Argentina applied a bit of pressure in that game, so the wing backs were asked to stay wider, to stretch the pitch in a bid to avoid the opposition’s pressing game.

The defensive midfielder is on defend duty, as he is asked to prioritize screening the defence and then to recycle the possession of the ball.

Close down more for him, as in front of him there are 4 other players that could block the opposition, so he will most likely end up in a 1v1 situation with the opponent. Close down more will help the player apply pressure to recover the ball.

The midfield four are two wingers on support duty, one box-to-box and one central midfielder. They are the players that through their movement, should unlock the midfield battle and get the ball forward in attack.

The wingers start wide but are asked to cut inside with the ball. The left-sided one is also asked to mark tighter.

While the central midfielder is asked to get further forward. This player and the box-to-box one is also asked to mark tighter.

Argentina focused their build up through the middle. So Saudi Arabia’s setup was designed to crowd the midfield area, and the players were asked to press the opposition’s players, to slow their build up.

Even when Argentina escaped the midfield battle, they then faced 5 other players that would block their way to the goal.

The striker is an advanced forward, moving into channels trying to find the best way towards the goal.

He is also asked to mark tighter.

As mentality I used positive. I know one may be tempted to use cautious, but I would not recommend it. As the roles, duties and instructions of the players already cover the defensive part of the tactic.

Using cautious would only make the team play rigidly, most likely losing the ball often and being vulnerable to endless attacks.

In possession, fairly wide attacking width, shorter passing directness and slightly higher tempo. Play for set pieces and be more disciplined.

In transition, counter and throw the ball long.

And out of possession, a mid block and a standard defensive line. And trigger press more often.

Herve Renard seemed to aim to trap Argentina’s buildup in the midfield area and focused his team’s attack on the counter.

Which makes sense given that Argentina would have looked to unblock the midfield area, so whenever the ball was lost, they would have been vulnerable in defence.

This tactic helped us finish 2nd in the Bundesliga, scoring 63 goals and conceding only 26.

We also won the DFB Pokal.

Saudi Arabia’s result against Argentina was Herve Renard’s and his players’ mastermind. A result obtained by perfect tactic interpretation and individual motivation.