In the Zone: Carranza's space exploration with Feyenoord
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
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UEFA Technical Observers Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Ole Gunnar Solskjær analyse the attacking movement that brought Tuesday's two goals at San Siro.
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When Feyenoord substitute Julián Carranza rose to head in Hugo Bueno's cross and send his side into the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League, he provided a textbook example of how to find space in the penalty box as a striker.
That was the verdict of UEFA Technical Observer Ole Gunnar Solskjær, speaking after Feyenoord's play-off second-leg success at AC Milan on Tuesday evening, as he credited Carranza for his clever positioning. In this analysis brought to you by FedEx, the movement of both Carranza and Milan scorer Santiago Giménez is put under the microscope by Solskjær and his fellow UEFA Technical Observer Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
To focus first on the Carranza strike which earned Feyenoord a 1-1 draw on the night and 2-1 aggregate win, it features at the start of the video above and the first point to make, according to ex-Feyenoord coach Van Bronckhorst, concerns the quality of the cross. "The delivery from Bueno was outstanding – at the right speed and the right height," he says. "The finish from Carranza made the cross even better."
For Solskjær, as befits a former Champions League-winning forward with Manchester United, the way that Carranza finds space in the box warrants particular attention. "Your best friend in the box is space," says Solskjær, who explains how the Argentinian finds it.
"He makes it difficult for the defenders with his positioning by being in an offside position prior to the cross," he says. "He knows that the Milan back line will drop down before the cross and this way he gains some extra seconds, as in this time the defender doesn't have control. It's an excellent cross but really smart positioning too and Carranza does exactly what a striker needs to do with regards to his positioning when the ball goes over the first defender.
"Both goals come from good crosses," adds Solskjær, "but the timing is extremely well executed." To be more specific, both Carranza and Giménez, whose goal features in the second clip, meet the ball at the perfect moment. "Giménez jumped earlier than [Thomas] Beelen," notes Van Bronckhorst of the opening goal, which Giménez registered against the club he left only at the start of this month.
"They both take the ball when it is at its highest point," continues Solskjær. "Space created, ball delivered, man arrives."
Solskjær's lesson for strikers
From a coaching perspective, this begs the question: how can you teach players to get into the correct position, to arrive at the perfect moment?
We hear often about a striker's instinct but for Solskjær, on top of natural talent, hard work on the training ground is imperative. He says: "With more repetition, the bigger chance you get to be in the right position at the right time."
This includes working on your understanding with team-mates, according to the Norwegian. The video above shows him scoring from crosses from David Beckham and Ryan Giggs in his United days yet, as he reflects, he had to work on his understanding with those two players. "You have to be an optimist and a gambler but also to know your team-mates enough to understand how good the opportunity is," Solskjær explains.
"David Beckham crossed in a certain way so you had to understand what kind of cross would arrive from him. Ryan Giggs would deliver a different type of cross so you had to adapt. You have to train at this every day but also with your team-mates."
Eventually, that practice will prove perfect – as was the case for Carranza at San Siro last night. To give the last word to the scorer himself, he told Ziggo Sport: "I knew that Hugo [Bueno] would put in a cross towards the far post [as] he always does that, so I could run there and just had to head it in."
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