Corrected for youWHEN we lose to Chelsea I predict a tsunami of bed wetting (I know, mixed metaphor) on here, totally failing to take any of the above into account!!
In the interview with Hürzeler posted above he highlighted two aspects of the tactice:Had Veltman held the position he should have done, Forest would have been easily offside.
Not chewing the fella out who has had a terrific start to the season.
But these are the things we need to improve on if we're going to make this work
Just think that whoever we put in central midfield, however fast they are or however deep they play, they would not have stopped the Forest breakaway goal, nor Utd's.Chelsea strike me as the ultimate test for the high line. They are in fine form, scoring for fun and have pace to burn all across front line. It feels like the game where we get found out ... but ... if it's that obvious to me, someone who's never managed a football team, then I have to hope that FH is well aware of Chelsea's strengths and puts in place a plan to counter them, perhaps involving Baleba playing deeper with the CBs.
Any idea where the counter pressing numbers are from?In the interview with Hürzeler posted above he highlighted two aspects of the tactice:
Our counterpressing, which he is quite happy with and which is, statistically, the best in the league,
and our rest defence (how we set up defensively when out of possession and trying to win the ball back), which he says has room for improvement. He believes that our defensive players are not always in the best positions in these situations. This is obviously an area he will focus on to make us less susceptible to the fast counterattack. The high line is here to stay.
I totally agree with this, I just think there needs to be some question mark about how high the CMers are. There’s such a huge gap between them and the defensive midfielder on transition that it often only takes 2 passes and teams are in behind.Just think that whoever we put in central midfield, however fast they are or however deep they play, they would not have stopped the Forest breakaway goal, nor Utd's.
They are better off forward pressing the ball to prevent it coming through in the first place
In my understanding of it they are high because they are pressing the opposition to win the ball. If they stand off and take a position, more how they would have under GP or RDZ, the opposing midfielder can turn, pick a pass, then the whole team is backpedallingI totally agree with this, I just think there needs to be some question mark about how high the CMers are. There’s such a huge gap between them and the defensive midfielder on transition that it often only takes 2 passes and teams are in behind.
Antony Taylor not happy until at least 15 cards have been shown. Shit ref useless.The Hurzeler cam makes his sending off look even more bizarre. Not sure what he did TBH.
It’s funny - for the Arsenal game I was thinking “surely Fab won’t play Hinsh at left back - Saka will have him on toast. It’s so obvious.”Chelsea strike me as the ultimate test for the high line. They are in fine form, scoring for fun and have pace to burn all across front line. It feels like the game where we get found out ... but ... if it's that obvious to me, someone who's never managed a football team, then I have to hope that FH is well aware of Chelsea's strengths and puts in place a plan to counter them, perhaps involving Baleba playing deeper with the CBs.
Which is fine, but they’re often next to Welbeck, Mitoma and whoever is at RW. It makes sense to a degree, when you’re Man City and your technical players are so good that they can keep the ball on the edge of the opposition area, but for us, with our higher turnover of the ball in these areas, it means there’s then a huge gap between them and the 6, who’s often isolated against 2-3 runners from deep, as well as the wide men who teams are keeping high against us, and it leaves the 8s out of position on the turnover to put real pressure on, unless the ball is lost in very specific areas. Early season, with Hinsh at LB, he was often inverting to nullify this issue, but it meant he was often out of position if the ball was switched quickly to the right back, which is why Amad had so much success against him.In my understanding of it they are high because they are pressing the opposition to win the ball. If they stand off and take a position, more how they would have under GP or RDZ, the opposing midfielder can turn, pick a pass, then the whole team is backpedalling
Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.It’s funny - for the Arsenal game I was thinking “surely Fab won’t play Hinsh at left back - Saka will have him on toast. It’s so obvious.”
Lo and behold, Hinsh *did* play LB, and Saka went past him for fun! Amazingly - through good luck and poor finishing - we survived.
So maybe we’ll let Chelsea play their game and maybe we’ll be lucky….
If we play percentage football it’s very unlikely we will be top 6.Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.
Give him time. Its too early to judge so far. I do hope Bloom hasn't made a huge mistake with the 200 million he's spent this summer all to be undone with a manager who isn't up to the task?It’s a head scratcher the season we retain our best players and add £200m worth of talent is the season we hire an equivalent league one manager or am I being harsh?
I have no idea how far down the list he was but by recent reports he wasn’t near the top.