“Wide & Deep” J. Sellas

"This is my not-so-humble analysis."Today, I want to honour one of my hockey mentors, J. Sellas, naming this analysis after one of his most repeated phrases during a game: “Wide & Deep.”

Today’s analysis is on the OkLiga Day 3 match between Sant Just and Voltregà, ending 4-2 for the home team. We analysed Sant Just last season for their strong tactical play after promotion to OkLiga. This season, they’re aiming high with a reinforced lineup.

As a reminder, follow these steps:

1. Take a look at the video.
2. Read and think about the analysis.
3. Match the analysis and the video. It starts at 0:47.

Restarting

Let’s meet our main characters for today, Sant Just players, Sito Ricard (Sant Just Nº8) and Gerard Miquel (Sant Just Nº77), who are restarting play after a foul. On the weak side, Joan Pujalte (Sant Just Nº33) waits to create space. Sito chooses to pass to Pujalte, giving him some advantage to skate alongside the wall to keep space open.

Deep & Wide

Pujalte skates down, and upon reaching 3, he passes to Alex Joseph (Sant Just Nº4), who emerges from 7. Sito holds at the weak side, while Pujalte crosses paths with Joseph, who returns the pass. Meanwhile, Sito works for an opening at 9, shaking off his defender. Gerard Miquel is balancing on the weak side, handling two jobs: balancing play and occupying the weak side. Pujalte stops at the bottom corner as Joseph, having moved past 3, pivots to face Pujalte for support.

"ancho y profundo" J. Sellas

Weak Side

Pujalte continued toward his own goal cage, passing to Miquel upon crossing Joseph at 3, easing defensive pressure. As Miquel advances along the wall, Sito sees and opportunity and blocks for him (though technically a mistake here). Spotting an opening, Miquel shifts the ball across the floor, with Sito’s and Pujalte defenders now grouped on one side.

Back Door

This lateral block fake, transitioning to the weak side, is known as a “back door”—a term familiar from my days as a player and coach back home. Sant Just has now worked two weak sides into one play, redirecting defenders' focus. Miquel executes a back door perfectly, giving Pujalte a two-metre edge on his defender. Pujalte reaches 3 and shoots, making it 2-0. As Pujalte shoots, look over at 9. Alex Joseph moves toward the second post for a pass or rebound opportunity, catching his defender unawares.

• Weak Side: The backbone of this play. Two quick weak sides in under 20 seconds which are really impressive. showing that timing is essential to this tactic, creating sides based on the ball’s position and also defenders’ attention.
• Accordion: Sant Just’s rhythm from the restart, carrying the ball to 7 before resetting to 0, a seamless spatial flow.
• Skate-Pass-Skate: Each weak-side pass is effective due to Miquel and Pujalte skating, stopping the ball while moving and skating again.
• Wide & Deep: A tactic in itself—using 7 to reset the ball and both sides of the floor with wide-open positioning.

Grab a stick & keep skating!!