Yeah thought he looked different
Thereās another Bradders?!
The quadruple is on.
Iām guessing thatās one structural thing that can only come with practice, building familiarity with pressing scenarios, collective reaction patterns.
But obviously, opponents will break the press and create those situations at times, unless we play a very high line or a centre back pushes up to that player behind the midfield. Thereās always space somewhere, and if we play a high press without the defenders following up, that space will be between our lines.
Will always be a balance. We will need situational awareness and be reactive to how others set up - as you say much may come through practicing together.
On another note I noticed we tended to defend their breaks quite narrow - oftentimes they had an extra player slightly wider that if passed to earlier would have been in on goal. Some of this may be intentional, maybe opposition specific, but felt a bit uncomfortable.
Appreciate that we wont be prefect at all times and risks will need to be taken and that does not worry me so much as when the opposition do score - we have to look like we will be able to get back into it.
Another goal for Gakpo yet most of the fanbase want him goneā¦really dont get that.
Iād imagine Kerkez would be delighted to see him go after that. The guy has a phobia of passing on the overlap.
Iāve seen this as well a couple of times, but havenāt really thought about it until you mentioned it now. Could it be like a lesser of two evils type of thing, as in weād rather give them that extra space on the sides than giving them a chance to get through the middle?
Itās most definitely a work in progress, and Iām assuming itās not a straightforward scheme to get familiar with. No doubt there will be rough games along the way, hopefully not too many.
I think Wirtz needs to grow a pair and step up.
Clearly talented but all weve heard is..well the 2 behind need to be solid, we dont have the right wingersā¦the forwards dont move correctlyā¦maybeā¦Wirtz is the problem.
As i say he is clearly talented but he needs to dominate games now.
Was my thinking.
Ultimately you can have prime Messi or Pele there but w/o the rest of the team playing in sync weād still finish well of the pace.
Wirtz can work out or not - I donāt really care. I want a team. A team that is better than the sum of the individuals. It is why Dom can be so frustrating. There clearly a player there with skill, strength, a hammer of a right foot but he is more an individual moments type player than one that elevates the team.
Hopefully the manager can get a tune out of the individuals we have.
Few observations over the 2 games.
Munoz. Looks good, you can see why we bought him in, likes to take his man on and his burst of pace over the first few yards is going to cause a lot of fullbacks problems. Bit of trickery in there too.
Nyoni. Continues to impress. Deserves his chance to start next week. This is his time.
Harvey. Wish him well but sadly looks done.
Chiesa. See Harvey.
Isak. Much better condition to 12 months ago which already gives me great optimism.
Grav & Dom. Lack the defensive discipline and positional awareness in a double pivot to protect the back 4.
Jacquet. I thought Leoniās debut was impressiveā¦oh boy.
Frimpong. Donāt let the trolls weigh you down because some clown thought you were a winger, you can defend just fine my boy.
Araujo. Bienvenidos (whatever beast is in Spanish), heāll do just fine in this league. Trigger the option already!!
Iraola. Straight talker, no bullshit. Nice to have a manager with a bit of personality again.
Weāre gonna win the quad and no fucker can do shit about that.
Frimpong certainly looked like the player that he has only shown glimpses of. Stay fit and I think he will be good for us.
Must also be the only person who thought Grav was ok today.
Nope, I have commented both in game and after, on how much better he looked when allowed to join the press.
Both new CBs had good games, hopefully a sign of the season to come
Wirtz needs to involve himself more in games when heās not seeing enough of the ball in forward positions, and more importantly, he needs to be taking better decisions more consistently.
Heās not lacking in spirit or courage or whatever else you might want to call it.