False nines don’t work on their own.
If a centre-forward is dropping to link the play and trying to create an overload in midfield, they need the right movement from team-mates to complement that. Otherwise, it’s a simple task for the opposition defenders because the space they are vacating is safe.
It takes a collective effort from the wingers and the midfielders to make a false-nine approach work and, fittingly, today’s Paris Saint-Germain are all about the team.
Coach Luis Enrique’s side are more than the sum of their parts, and one player in particular has seen an upturn in his form this season. Since the manager changed Ousmane Dembele’s position from right-winger to centre-forward, the latter has been running hot.
It’s not only about the goals, though, Dembele’s importance to PSG’s flexible front three has added more fluidity to the team’s attacking play.
Heading to Anfield on Tuesday night, PSG needed a victory to avoid being knocked out of the Champions League at the round of 16 stage, and their eventual 1-0 win levelled the tie, before the Ligue 1 visitors went through 4-1 on penalties.
Dembele scored the only goal, and his performance as a false nine — complemented by the movements of his team-mates — was central to PSG’s attack.
Throughout the game, Dembele dropped from his central position to attack the vacant space in Liverpool’s midfield and overload that area of the pitch.
As Vitinha, Joao Neves and Fabian Ruiz were marked by their Liverpool counterparts, Dembele’s roams created overloads which centre-backs Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk were either late to react to, or simply couldn’t engage with at all, because of the movements of other PSG players.
Against Liverpool’s high press, Dembele’s positioning acted as a wrench flung into Arne Slot’s machine because Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai were all dragged out of position to keep an eye on the France forward.
In this example, PSG are trying to build up through the Liverpool press — Vitinha is on the ball, Neves is between the lines and Ruiz is looking to attack the space Dembele has vacated.
Dembele’s movement forces Mac Allister to hand Neves over to Konate, but Szoboszlai also follows the dropping centre-forward…
… which moves the Hungary midfielder to the centre of the pitch as PSG circulate the ball to their left centre-back, Willian Pacho.
Another consequence of Dembele’s movement and Ruiz attacking the space is that Gravenberch gets dragged deeper.
The manipulation of his and Szoboszlai’s positioning disrupts Liverpool’s pressing scheme because Mohamed Salah’s task is to press Pacho while his team-mates cover Nuno Mendes.
However, in this scenario, Gravenberch is so deep he isn’t even in the frame in our next screengrab, Szoboszlai is in a central position and can’t leave Vitinha free and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is pinning Trent Alexander-Arnold (also out of shot) down PSG’s left wing.
Salah tries to block Pacho’s passing lane to Mendes, but the centre-back dribbles forward and creates one that allows him to find his left-back.
Mendes then carries the ball forward and tries to find Bradley Barcola’s run behind Van Dijk, but his pass is over-hit.
In this next sequence, Dembele drops and forces Mac Allister to move towards him and away from Neves, while signalling to centre-back Marquinhos to play the ball short to the Portuguese midfielder.
PSG then combine to find Barcola in a right-back position, which forces Andy Robertson to move forward. Dembele then attacks the vacant area this creates.
Dembele’s positioning pins Van Dijk, and with Mac Allister occupied by Achraf Hakimi in midfield, neither of them can press Neves when he pushes into the space behind Robertson.
Barcola finds him…
… and Neves returns the pass with Van Dijk unable to challenge due to Dembele’s positioning.
Eventually, Van Dijk has to defend Barcola, which allows the right-winger to find Dembele in space.
Meanwhile, Ruiz and Kvaratskhelia are attacking the penalty area…
… which puts Alexander-Arnold in an impossible two-versus-one situation because Konate has to defend Dembele.
Ruiz’s movement drags Alexander-Arnold towards the near post, and Dembele finds Kvaratskhelia near the edge of the 18-yard box…
… but the latter’s shot deflects off Gravenberch and loops over the crossbar.
PSG’s goal originated from a similar move, where Dembele’s false-nine role alongside Vitinha and Kvaratskhelia’s off-ball movement allowed them to cut through Liverpool.
Here, Mendes is on the ball as Vitinha is looking to attack the space.
Kvaratskhelia’s movement pulls right-back Alexander-Arnold up the pitch and creates a larger space for Vitinha to attack. The midfielder’s run drags Szoboszlai deeper and opens a passing lane for Mendes to directly find a dropping Dembele, who is free because Konate is trying to cover behind Alexander-Arnold.
Dembele is then able to comfortably pick out Barcola’s run behind the defence…
… before PSG’s right-winger plays a return pass which is intercepted by Konate.
In a touch of fortune for the visitors, the ball spins towards goal and Dembele puts it in an empty net.
It is easy to highlight Dembele’s role in PSG’s victory, but without the synchronised movements of his team-mates, the false nine would have just been false.
Unlike some of PSG’s previous iterations, Luis Enrique’s side are using individual talent for the greater good of the collective.
