The real test then is how we respond to the low block. West Ham came at us and got eviscerated. Many others haven't and left with points. How does Zerbing effectively and consistently deal with a deep defence?
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[Albion] Jamie Carragher joins the Roberto De Zerbi Fan Club
- Thread starter Bozza
- Start date
Neville's Breakfast
Well-known member
Yes, they talked about that at length. I haven’t watched the links above but it was certainly shown pre Brentford game last night.
- May 8, 2018
- 10,623
As said before in this thread, the big difference is speed of play which we lacked under potter allowing the opposition defence to reorganise themselves.
Listen out of the De Zerbi whistle each time a better ball is on, it’s a constant throughout the game
Listen out of the De Zerbi whistle each time a better ball is on, it’s a constant throughout the game
Weststander
Well-known member
I would imagine that RDZ will have a significent say in summer transfer business, both the strategy and names, the extent depending of whether we make Europe or not. That isn’t always the case at clubs, new players thrust upon managers.
5Ways Gull
È quello che è
Delivery was shit. Looked like he was reading from an autocue, but didn’t actually know where it was.
Seems fairly conclusive that we have improved under De Zerbi.
Green Cross Code Man
Wunt be druv
Wonder when the illustrious former Liverpool Captain Souness will apologise?
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Obviously a lot better compared to than December last year but I don't know if there's much difference from Caicedo-era Potter.
Kalimantan Gull
Well-known member
in games like West Ham and Liverpool, this must be what it's like to support Man City
brightn'ove
cringe
In both recent cases ... we really should have done enough to win, our finishing fell short. Against palace we should've been 2-0 up and cruising but got f***ed by an incompetent VAR and Mac Allister should've scored 3. Against fulham we had chance after chance after chance. Very easy to say the low block is what stopped us but equally it was awful finishing and dodgy refereeing.
Souness said appointing RDZ was "a risk".
He could perhaps say he was wrong, but apologise?!
Johnny RoastBeef
These aren't the players you're looking for.
- Jan 11, 2016
- 3,471
To my eye the pace of play is the big difference, although I'm struggling to find a metric to back this up.
The general patterns of play in the final 2/3rds seem very similar to what we were doing under Potter.
Is it that by moving the ball faster we are creating more space?
Kalimantan Gull
Well-known member
Although the stats are a little skewed by a long period of pre-Caicedo and Mitoma in lSt seasons stats, and excluding Potters games this season. Ultimately its better players that are a large driving force of this, and Caicedo, Mitoma and Ferguson coming through has made a major difference. De Zerbi is of course managing them wonderfully.
Kalimantan Gull
Well-known member
If City is the benchmark of our playing style, then they give clues to how to do this. 1. Have players who can dribble past defenders. Adding Mitoma, and March getting better has added this dimension. 2. Be able to win soft penalties. Not quite there yet, we've had a few denied of late. 3. Have a superb free kick taker to score from set pieces when we can't get past the block. Don't have this yet.
City win games against the low block in this manner.
erkan
Well-known member
This. It really pisses me off that EVERY time the odd game comes along where we don't finish well and/or get decent luck then our manager has either been "worked out" by his opposite number or our system of play just is no good...
We absolutely BATTERED Fulham.
That is precisely what I was thinking at half-time on Saturday. Up till then it had been a relatively dull game - where we had just been so superior to West Ham, without creating a huge amount of chances. I was struggling to get hugely involved - because we were just so much better than them, it wasn't much of a game. I was thinking that 'this is what it must be like for the big clubs - routine wins over the 'minnows' - with just the occasional blip - and then getting up for the big clashes with the top 6-7'.
Picked up with the piss-taking in the second half - which ramped up the play and the atmosphere.
Weststander
Well-known member
Scoff
. They're a poor man's RDZ-ball.
Weststander
Well-known member
I really liked the first half, it flew by and I get bored at football easily.
Obviously we shifted from 3rd to 6th gear after HT.
el punal
Well-known member
Yes, that might be the case - but also the case might be that some of the players have had a dip in form. From Christmas to mid-February the whole team was absolutely on fire. It doesn’t matter how good you are that level of excellence can’t be sustained for ever. It just so happened that the performance and result against West Ham was perfect, for whatever reason. Everybody, and everything, clicked. Confidence was sky high with the icing on the cake of giving our young starlets Buonanotte and Enciso a run out was a management master stroke.
albionfan37
Well-known member
I thought West Ham sat in pretty deep and were one of the most passive sides I’ve seen in a long while
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