90s boyband haircut and a vocabulary of seven words, all of them slowly uttered in broken English.If you include the preseason friendlies it’s P10 W8 D2 L0. What the f*** do people want from a new coach?
90s boyband haircut and a vocabulary of seven words, all of them slowly uttered in broken English.If you include the preseason friendlies it’s P10 W8 D2 L0. What the f*** do people want from a new coach?
i new weird winWrong Dear Friend, very Wrong
(6th time in a row)
Correct and after a shocking second half I still have the same question marks over the same players with the exception of Hinshelwood who looked much better in midfield.After that superb half of football, you thought there were huge question marks over the majority of the team?
OK, refreshed now. So my feeling was that in the second half Steele and the CBs in particular, maybe the full backs too, were reverting to the whole bait the press thing, hold the ball, look for the opening through the middle of the pitch. And it didn't work in much the same way as it didn't work at the back end of last season. Last year it stopped working because the injuries, chopping and changing of the team, opposition counter tactics, (and drop of morale?) meant we just didn't have a good enough well-drilled team out there. And last night it didn't work because the forward half of the team weren't playing that way, so the defenders didn't have the outlet they were looking for.In fact, let’s get down to brass tacks on that.
Hurzeler picked that back five. And despite our biggest spending window ever, Tony Bloom and the recruitment team chose to leave Webster and Igor as our third and fourth choice centre backs, without addition, replacement or challenge.
The coach also decided we’d play out from the back if we could and it can be changed in a game or two. See Pickford launching it for Everton and then trying to be Allison for England after literally two training sessions.
De Zerbi didn’t pick our back five tonight, nor did he instruct them. We’re agreed on that, right?
Fair enough. Always good to sleep on something. I only saw from 60 mins yesterday but in the last 30 and definitely for the second goal you have a point.OK, refreshed now. So my feeling was that in the second half Steele and the CBs in particular, maybe the full backs too, were reverting to the whole bait the press thing, hold the ball, look for the opening through the middle of the pitch. And it didn't work in much the same way as it didn't work at the back end of last season. Last year it stopped working because the injuries, chopping and changing of the team, opposition counter tactics, (and drop of morale?) meant we just didn't have a good enough well-drilled team out there. And last night it didn't work because the forward half of the team weren't playing that way, so the defenders didn't have the outlet they were looking for.
I've seen your comment that this is a veiled criticism of RDZ. It's not. When his style worked it was glorious. But it's never going to work when only half the team are doing it.
Insofar as I know what Fabs style is based on the limited evidence, it seems it is to get it forward quicker and wider than what RDZ wanted. Move the ball quickly and move it out wide via the FBs first before coming back inside to the midfield and 10. RDZ liked using the FBs to pull their midfield wide, waiting for the opportunity to move it straight down the middle, before moving it wide to Mitoma or Adingra. Probably subtle changes but that's how I see it.
I do think it will take a little while to move on from everything we did under RDZ, not only because of habit but also because Fab is going to gradually introduce his ideas. And no, RDZ didn't set up the team last night, but when the defence were put under pressure they reverted to how they've been playing the past 18 months. Makes sense, things get hard, you fall back to what you know, especially when for a couple of them it was their first start under the new manager. I felt I could see the same thing against Everton when, for the first 20-30 at least, Steele, Dunk and van Hecke seemed to be on one wavelength and Wieffer and Milner another. But they sorted it out.
Other opinions are available.
"it is what it is, we take the positives"?a vocabulary of seven words,