If somebody is interested, City are now playing vs Southampton. Pretty good demonstration on how to effectively push your midfielders very high and still have the proper shape (Foden and Bernardo are playing as near wingers on top of Jesus and Mahrez). The solution is to move the CBs very very high as well. So far, the City CBs are well in Southampton's half. This way, the team is still short, with the correct playing distances between the lines. This is very risky, but necessary in order to keep a short team. The shorter the team is, the more easier it is to create overloads based on numerical superiority in important zones.
In Valverde-ball, the midfielders move up, but the defenders keep the same position. So every time the midfielders push up, and occupy a position deeper into the opponent's half, the defenders lose the possibility to constantly pass to them due to not making the push as well. Long team in possession with huge distances between compartments equals slower and more difficult progression.
