Hard to see and compare anything in regards to heatmaps as after half time we were far better on the ball and off it, awhich enabled us to be qble to push Ipswich back.
The only thing is to somehow look at our shape with the ball at Ali’s feet
I’m still wondering how much of the team selection and formation in this match was down to managing player time and easing in those who have been on international duty all summer?
Had Konate had more time in preseason, I wonder whether Slot may have started him purely for tactical reasons?
It feels like a learning curve for everyone at the moment.
My read is that the change in the personnel and the tactical tweak were connected. Watching it back, at one point it appeared that Slot was actually gesturing to Quansah to move further up.
Unfortunately the heat map I posted earlier is not available by half, but this one (defensive actions) is interesting for Van Dijk:
First half
Second half
Further forward, and van Dijk is not as central as in the first half.
Trent’s are not as interesting, he is a little further forward but actually does a lot less defensively - about half his defensive actions are somewhere in the Ipswich half and fairly central.
One thing becomes clear, Gravenberch had a monster of a second half. Hard to characterize it as a positional difference, there is just more everywhere.
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I’d like to see the Trent heatmap in the first half compared to his heatmap the second. Is there a site which allows me to do that ?
That is why I posted that link, scroll down to the Match Centre, click on Chalkboard
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this is the average position of the team when making the pass. If I’m reading this right. Probably does mean that he’s being inverted into a double pivot of sorts with Gravenberch. Interesting to note that Mac is the more advanced of the midfielders.
Not a whole lot different from Jurgen’s tactics. Would be interesting to note how the tactics did change when Tsimikas and Bradley came on for Robbo & Trent. Will see if that flexibility is there in this site.
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Robbo & Trent look surprisingly parallel position wide there, but Trent has far more forward/attacking passes.
Actually, you can’t tell the direction of pass from there, can you?
Like everyone else, the evaluation from the first 50 minutes will be very different than from the final 40. In that latter period a lot of what we did well went through him, but it’s not clear to me whether he started finding the spaces to play in better that allowed us to play Slottball (what you need out of the player in that role), or whether the spaces opened up and allowed him the opportunity to get on the ball and move it around (what you might expect of anyone in the squad to be able to do).
The book on Ryan is pretty well defined - talented player when he gets on the ball but often needs to do more to make that happen when opportunities for it arent so easy. For all the positivity about the performance I dont think it really showed anything we didnt already know and I think we’re going to need to see quite a bit more before we know how much he benefited from the change in the dynamic of the game vs helped create it.
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We have a gem of a player and he is from Liverpool we should be begging him to stay I cannot understand how casual the club appear to be the same goes for Salah he should get another 2 years contract this guy will turn out to be another Milner ie he will still be playing at a top level in his forties.
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feel a bit for Quansah to be honest…
i get that im working against the tide of opinion, but bit disappointed Slot humg him out to dry… hes a young centre back with immense potential, if hes not doing what you asked int he FIRST 45 MINUTES OF THE SEASON, then just ask him to adjust…
to me, and i know im in the minority here, but to me, it felt like slot trying to prove something to people external to the club…it doesnt feel like the ‘ill work with the players’ rhetoric…
as for the heat maps, is that Konate changing the game, or did the game change and allow Konate further forward
id lean towards the latter…
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I think there is a bit of both about Konate - he was clearly more aggressive and less worried about getting beaten in the air, but the midfield had also shifted.
But I am not particularly concerned about Slot trying to prove something. It wasn’t working, he adjusted the team. I expect him to work with Quansah, he certainly has kept it low key rather than going full Mourinho.
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If Slot felt were were getting beaten in the air too easily (which was my impression as well) then getting Konate on to be aerially imposing is the right move. That means hooking Quansah or Van Dijk.
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The right sided CB has always been the one who’s had the role to be proactive in duels,winning headers etc.
Was the case from Lovren , Matip , Konate , Gomez and now Quansah.
If Quansah wasn’t doing that properly , he had to get hooked.
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I’m not so sure that’s the case as much as it simply being Virgil’s partner who had to do that. The bigger question is what we do when he isn’t playing.
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Let’s not forget that Konate was literally being told how to do basic defensive actions a week ago. I don’t think Quansah has necessarily fallen out of favour already, think Slot just felt Konate was a better fit for that particular match after he saw the first half.
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If he was already out of favour, it would be a disgrace. But as you say, there is no reason yet to believe that.
I genuinely think it’s overblown. It feels as though the kind of thing that pundits and fans make a fuss about that genuinely has no bearing on the squad or what the players feel, similar to the idea that Mané and Salah hated each other.
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Trivial things being overblown? In the modern world?
Nah.
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I mean, if he thought Quansah was losing duels in the air, then sticking on a player who is 5cm taller seems like a logical idea.
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