[Albion] Levi Colwill

[Cowfold Seagull]

We've just had a couple of Beavers released up here as part of a rewilding project - so, we're well equipped!

Indeed, young Levi will be a dab hand at dam building by the time the beavers have finished with him.

 

[Questions]

We've just had a couple of Beavers released up here as part of a rewilding project - so, we're well equipped!

That’s nice.. I like a nice beaver.

 

[Machiavelli]

That sounds like quintessential De Zerbismo.

Not convinced by that but it is quintessential RdZ

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

That’s nice.. I like a nice beaver.

Big teeth though.

 

[Swansman]

He's a good player but what I don't like is when he just stands there with his foot on the ball waiting for opponents to come in. Yesterday there was a moment where he just walked forward with the ball at his feet. I understand that the point is that you're trying to draw the players in but is quite dull to watch.

Well:

You need to blame RdeZ for that, Levi will be following instruction. Dunk does it just as much.

That sounds like quintisential De Zerbismo.

Indeed this.

This is RDZs signature move and you can watch any highlight from any Sassuolo player (but most noticable among defenders) when RDZ was a manager there and they'll all do it.

Players will follow it to different extent. Colwill is absolutely the one who has adapted to it the most, pretty much every single time he gets the ball, he'll stand on it. Sanchez also does it a lot, Dunk to lesser extent. Joel Veltman looked like he caught himself not standing on the ball a few times yesterday, controlling it normally before putting his foot on it for a milli-second and then passing it on. I guess it comes naturally for some and less natural for some.

While I'm not sure that the move itself is all that fantastic or important, it indeed shows how much a player is willing to learn and listen to tactical instructions, and clearly this Colwill-guy is obsessed learning and improving.

 

[AstroSloth]

Yup, suspect there is some kind of option (or obligation to buy after x appearances).

Generally I agree with this take but with the increasing possibility that Brighton could challenge for a spot in Europe... no time for ideology: should just let the best available players play.

Suspect Van Hecke might go on loan again to Bundesliga or something.

Think Van Hecke's contract is up at the end of the year though.

 

[AstroSloth]

He's a good player but what I don't like is when he just stands there with his foot on the ball waiting for opponents to come in. Yesterday there was a moment where he just walked forward with the ball at his feet. I understand that the point is that you're trying to draw the players in but is quite dull to watch.

He's been told to do that, it's a part of De Zerbi's style of play where the defenders move the ball slowly to lure out the first line of press then play through it.

 

[Napper]

I trust him more than Webster. Settling in nicely.

 

[Questions]

Big teeth though.

It’s not as good as no teeth …….. or Mrs Q as I call her.

 

[pb21]

This is RDZs signature move and you can watch any highlight from any Sassuolo player (but most noticable among defenders) when RDZ was a manager there and they'll all do it.

This is going to do wonders for my blood pressure.

 

[albionalex]

He's certainly got a lot of potential but I don't think he's been that impressive yet, in a small sample size.

Got caught out a few times vs Charlton and Saints and doesn't have Dunk's range of passing or Webster's ability to progress the ball.

 

[METALMICKY]

He's a good player but what I don't like is when he just stands there with his foot on the ball waiting for opponents to come in. Yesterday there was a moment where he just walked forward with the ball at his feet. I understand that the point is that you're trying to draw the players in but is quite dull to watch.

He's a good player but what I don't like is when he just stands there with his foot on the ball waiting for opponents to come in. Yesterday there was a moment where he just walked forward with the ball at his feet. I understand that the point is that you're trying to draw the players in but is quite dull to watch.

This with bells on! I should confirm that I've read the earlier response suggesting this is a move that RDZ likes. For me I think it just sometimes slows things down unnecessarily and as a device to draw in opposition players I'm not convinced.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

I just worry a little bit that he may have caught a bit of Sanchez’s casualness.

 

[macbeth]

This with bells on! I should confirm that I've read the earlier response suggesting this is a move that RDZ likes. For me I think it just sometimes slows things down unnecessarily and as a device to draw in opposition players I'm not convinced.

maybe slows things down, but look at how it worked here:


think the whole point is using the movement/press of the opponent as the trigger for when to accelerate the buildup. standing on the ball like that means the opponent will probably go towards who has the ball, and the onus is on them to come and get it, whereas for us, the player just has to focus on where teammates are and how close the opponent is. would imagine it's a lot less easy to do this as a centre back if you're expected to be carrying the ball

 

[amexer]

Funny tactic that and terrible to watch. Always thought faster you release ball more likely to catch defenders off guard.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

He's certainly got a lot of potential but I don't think he's been that impressive yet, in a small sample size.

Got caught out a few times vs Charlton and Saints and doesn't have Dunk's range of passing or Webster's ability to progress the ball.

To be fair a good thousand of us got caught out at Charlton

 

[origigull]

This with bells on! I should confirm that I've read the earlier response suggesting this is a move that RDZ likes. For me I think it just sometimes slows things down unnecessarily and as a device to draw in opposition players I'm not convinced.

maybe slows things down, but look at how it worked here:


think the whole point is using the movement/press of the opponent as the trigger for when to accelerate the buildup. standing on the ball like that means the opponent will probably go towards who has the ball, and the onus is on them to come and get it, whereas for us, the player just has to focus on where teammates are and how close the opponent is. would imagine it's a lot less easy to do this as a centre back if you're expected to be carrying the ball

To me this seems ok when we are not losing the game but when we are losing I think a bit of pace/speed of movement of the ball matters. In the game against arsenal we were 0-2 down and still using the tactics 1st half. It was only the last half hour we moved the ball much quicker which bought us the 2 goals.

 

[KZNSeagull]

maybe slows things down, but look at how it worked here:


think the whole point is using the movement/press of the opponent as the trigger for when to accelerate the buildup. standing on the ball like that means the opponent will probably go towards who has the ball, and the onus is on them to come and get it, whereas for us, the player just has to focus on where teammates are and how close the opponent is. would imagine it's a lot less easy to do this as a centre back if you're expected to be carrying the ball

The point of that style of play is that with 6 short, relatively simple passes, you have got full control of the ball with half of their team effectively out of the game and you have created a 5 on 5 attacking situation.

 

[METALMICKY]

To me this seems ok when we are not losing the game but when we are losing I think a bit of pace/speed of movement of the ball matters. In the game against arsenal we were 0-2 down and still using the tactics 1st half. It was only the last half hour we moved the ball much quicker which bought us the 2 goals.

Precisely! It shouldn't be the default move and in Colwill's case it looks just a little like a poor man's impersonation of the arrogance of johan cruyff. I'm not convinced he's all that.

 

[macbeth]

To me this seems ok when we are not losing the game but when we are losing I think a bit of pace/speed of movement of the ball matters. In the game against arsenal we were 0-2 down and still using the tactics 1st half. It was only the last half hour we moved the ball much quicker which bought us the 2 goals.

often the case when losing the other team will be sat back more. this makes it a lot easier to get to a point where you'd usually have broken through the first few lines, but obviously those players aren't there because they're sat further back. so there's less need for the centre backs to dwell on the ball, as baiting the press against a winning team will be difficult, and as a result there's much more open space in front of them, until you get to the more densely packed final third, which is when problems start. obviously moving the ball quickly is good, and this was one of the bugbears we had with GP too, but ultimately the issue is that teams like city, who have better players, will find it much easier to move the ball without losing it. the faster we move it, the more likely we are to lose it, and obviously not having the ball is bad if we're losing the game. accept that conversely, the faster we move it the more likely we are to find an opening, but it's a delicate balance