Talking Tactics: How Pep Guardiola utilised the “Double No. 10? role against Mainz

Bayern Munich’s head coach Guardiola talks to his player Mario Gotze

Mario Gotze may not have settled at Bayern Munich as well as many expected him to do this season, but his performance against Mainz 05 this weekend showed just how important he can be to Pep Guardiola’s team. Coming on as a half-time substitute for Rafinha, Gotze single-handedly brought Bayern back from a one-goal deficit to storm home and win 4-1, ensuring that the defending champions kept their unbeaten start to the season in tact.

Having made his name as a No. 10 in the middle of the field for most of his career, Gotze’s main skills are obviously as a playmaker and creative force in attacking midfield. The problem for Guardiola to manage at Bayern Munich was that he already has several players who fill this role in the team (Arjen Robben, Thomas Muller) and has others capable of playing a similar role.

On paper anyway, Bayern didn’t appear to be all that stronger with Gotze in their team than they were last year, but the former Barcelona manager showed that to be certainly not the case. What he showed—in the role that he used Gotze in—was that the youngster has an important role to play at Bayern and that his biggest strength isn’t his playmaking or creative skills.

His most useful asset to this team is his creativity and the options that he provides, and the Germans are going to use that to full extent.

Gotze as Double-Pivot No. 10, Defensive

What we can see in the image below is the lead up to the first Bayern goal. Bastian Schweinsteiger (playing as a central midfielder) has picked up the ball and quickly shifted it up field to Gotze, who has dropped back to play essentially as a second midfielder alongside the German.

Bayern First Goal

His positioning is alongside that of the Mainz midfielders, but importantly, he is ahead of the Mainz defensive back-five. It’s hard to consider him as a sole No. 10 here given how far down the pitch he’s dropped and the fact that he has both Mario Mandzukic, Muller and Robben ahead of him on the field, which is why I’ve kind of coined the term here “double No. 10”.

Like a double-pivot in central midfield (acting with an attacking and defensive arm), Gotze is acting as a double-No. 10 with Muller.

Here he’s the defensive arm, and Muller is the attacking arm of the pair.

The advantage this has is when the play progresses (seen the image below), is that Gotze is able to act as a playmaker and distribute the ball, without immediate pressure from Mainz’s defenders.

Gotze Stats

Having Gotze drop back and collect the ball in the middle of the field allows both Muller and Robben to push up on the defensive line like Mandzukic does and give the youngster the option of playing them in behind—which is exactly what happens. Noveski and Gels are unsure as to who should pick up Gotze which gives him about 10-15 yards to run at the defence and slide through a perfectly-timed pass to Robben. The Dutchman isn’t going to miss those chances too often!

It’s important to note here that Gotze dropping back as a double-attacking-pivot (or double No. 10) makes Mainz think that he’s more of a playmaker than he is a forward. Because, as we’ll see later on in the match, Gotze can transition into the more attacking branch of the No. 10 combination with Muller—yet the results are just as potent for the defending champions.

Gotze as Double-Pivot No. 10, Attacking

Goal number two for Bayern again saw Gotze instrumental in the build-up, but this time it was the summer signing in the attacking role rather than the defensive one.

Robben dropped back to collect the ball (acting as the defensive half of the double No. 10) and allowed Gotze to sit on the defenders and try to get in behind.

Via a well-timed run and cross from the overlapping Philipp Lahm, that’s exactly what happened.

Lahm’s cross finds Gotze (who was the highest attacker on the field at the time he collected the ball), who in turn finds Robben with a back-pass. His ball goes to Muller (who scores), and while it’s Robben that collects the assist from the final pass, it was Gotze’s run and subsequent layoff that made the move possible (which is really just as good as an assist).

The defenders were unsure as to whether they should be picking up Gotze (who was the defensive arm of the double No. 10) only moments before, or whether they should be picking up Robben.

The same problem occurred in Bayern’s third goal too.

Gotze Stats

This time the Muller/Gotze double No. 10 was in action but with Muller as the defensive half, and the German plays in a lovely ball for Gotze to run on to. He turns and beats his man (again, making him the highest attacker on the field), with his inch-perfect cross meeting the feet of Mandzukic for the simplest of tap-ins. Note that the defender on Gotze isn’t a defensive midfielder or even a centre-back but that of left-back Junior Diaz, such was the strength of movement on the move.

Defenders (and defensive midfielders) weren’t sure as to who they should be marking—whether they had Muller or Robben or Gotze—and that indecision proved fateful. Mainz’s half-time lead was gone in a manner of minutes, and Bayern eventually ran out comfortable 4-1 winners to preserve their undefeated start in the Bundesliga.

Is This Gotze’s Permanent Role at Bayern?

The question, having seen Gotze dominate in the second-half, as to whether this will be his permanent role or not is a good one, but it’s one that’s very hard to tell here. Bayern Munich were dominating possession on the day and finished with a staggering 699 total passes, such was their control.

Bayern Passes

Mainz were playing with five at the back and two more defensive midfielders, which meant that Guardiola could afford to throw a few more attacking players forward. His “double-pivot No. 10” experiment was able to work here, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it won’t work in every circumstance. The timing needs to be right, so don’t be surprised to see Gotze played in both a regulation No. 10 role and perhaps even the false-nine at some point this year.

But like I mentioned above, that’s the versatility that he offers Bayern, and it’s what makes them so tough to beat. Over 90 minutes, there is no team in world football that can present as many different attacking formations as they did on the night, and their attacking double-pivot of Gotze/Robben, Gotze/Muller or even Muller/Robben is impossible to shut down all the time.

The presence of multiple playmakers means that there is always going to be runners between the channels. It means that defenders must give the man on the ball plenty of attention, and this will so often open up space in behind for another attacker to exploit.

When used ineffectively, multiple playmakers on the field is a terrible tactic. It muddles the midfield and takes the sting out of a team’s attack; a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth, per se.

However, in the same way that a regulation central midfield double-pivot can be so effective, an attacking double-pivot can provide one of the most deadly platforms in world football and it could lead to some seriously big things for the reigning European champions this year.