Beyond the Spotlight: Is the Pec-Paintsil overload working?
One of the latest tactical adjustments LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney has made is playing Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec close to each other on the right side of the pitch. Vanney has utilized this setup in his last three games with varying effects.
As I watch Pec and Paintsil on the pitch, I don’t see how this tactical approach helps elevate the Galaxy attack. In fact, I believe it lowers their ceiling.
Pec has tallied one goal and one assist in 413 minutes of action so far this season. It’s a big enough sample size to notice some trends - one of which is his dependence on his left foot.
13 out of 14 shots were taken on the Brazilian’s left foot. Here is Pec’s shot chart on his left and right foot in his seven appearances with the Galaxy. He’s clearly much more comfortable on one foot compared to the other.
This leads to my one worry about Pec; he needs to be a right winger to be goal-dangerous.
Now that’s not a bad thing, you need to know what position gets the most out of your players. However, Joseph Paintsil is putting up goals and assists and playing at an MVP-caliber level in the same position.
On the right wing, Pec will cut inside to take a shot (look at the shot chart one more time to see) or adjust his body to take the shot on his left quickly. Look at how he positions himself for the shot in the build-up to the Galaxy’s first goal.
To get this threat from Pec, Vanney has instructed the Brazilian and Paintsil to play closer together on the right wing. During the Galaxy’s match in Vancouver, Paintsil was positioned centrally off-the-ball and would start to drift wide in possession. Take a look at the Galaxy’s average positioning during the game - Paintsil and Pec are almost side by side.
Usually, the two would combine together in possession but that didn’t lead to creating high-quality chances. My biggest critique about this tactical setup is that the two wingers tend to get in each other’s space.
In this clip, Pec and Paintsil chase after the same ball with very similar runs. It’s their instinct to chase a ball down like that and thus both are close to each other contesting for that.
Another interesting stat of this game was Dejan Joveljić recording just two touches in the box all game long. The wing overload relies on chance creation from the wingers and thus Joveljić needs them to feed him the ball.
The Serbian’s first goal came because of a loose rebound from Pec’s shot and not in possession. Joveljić has had quiet outings when Vanney implements the winger overload - that correlation is hard to ignore.
“Playing at the right side, it's something that I've always been playing also in my ex-team. It's something that I'm used to”
- Joseph Paintsil
Paintsil is at his best with space to run into out wide and in one-on-one opportunities. The winger overload takes that away and forces him to find the game in different spots.
This tactical approach needs to take a step forward in its evolution to see both wingers recording goal contributions. Until the Galaxy’s DP wingers can do that, this approach has yet to show signs it will elevate the performances of Pec and Paintsil on the pitch.
Pec seems VERY left-footed and I think it limits him a lot, even on the left. He seems to even avoid passing with his right, which means he has to cut onto his left from the right wing, making him very predictable.