Mmmmm Manuel Ugarte to PSG.
https://twitter.com/fabrizioromano/status/1661640689359134720?s=46&t=WmjWm_FqqFdVHHP8b7dN9A
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Nice info on Van de Ven above, in the Twitter link/thread.
Inacio, Colwill, Van de Ven. Thereās a definite type there. I would probably lean towards Colwill, given what he has shown in the Prem, but that might be tricky due to his parent club.
So perhaps a decisive move for Micky Van de Ven, with our new/temporary Sporting Director in situ to work the German market for us?
If we are going to be playing a 3223 next season, it possibly brings Robboās position into question. Great fullback, obviously, and can do the job on the left of a three in defence, but we will probably prefer someone bigger, and at that point Van de Ven fits the bill. Very fast and strong too.
Iām more than prepared to have be eating humble pie, but there is zero chance weāre moving to a standard three at the back formation next year.
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I see 4123 / 3223
Trent is the player who makes the system go back and forth between the two. Inverted fullback in a four? Fine. But I suspect with a new central defender added, Trent will be more and more ensconced in the midfield, and will only nominally be a fullback, so Iām calling the system 3223.
I see a box midfield and three up front.
I suspect we see mostly the same thing, and itās just nomenclature.
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Does anyone ever think that within football clubs, and especially the big ones, they look at fans obsessing about formations and find it really funny?
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No.
They probably have enough of that at home with friends and families (who probably give up after a while if they even found football interesting in the first place), they donāt need this.
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Iāll just say that I know a guy who might play for a team weāve heard of who (with his work colleagues) has a good laugh at forums.
Would 3 central defenders mean Robo needs to be phased out and replaced with a TAA type player?
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I think there are two attitudes
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Ones who get led by it. Only this week Mark Ogden has a piece on ESPN about how Arsenal need to make a āstatement signingā. Why? Everything they have done on their return to relevence has been to eschew that sort stupid fan pandering. Why turn your back on what you got here now that one or two more smart singings can solify your position?
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Ones who know it is at best a sugar rush for the fans, appreciate points on the board are what gets you judged over the longer term and so just shut it out completely
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I dont think Iāve ever seen any team that does this with their FBs do it with both of them.
That means Iād be surprised if anyone coming on in the left would do so with a view to being able to do what Trent is now doing. If we were bringing someone in it would be a LB/CB hybrid. Someone who is comfortable in a back 3, but isnāt going to feel exposed out side during the periods when weāre having to defend and have slotted back into an orthodox back 4. The sort of profile of Azpi at Chelsea or Ake at city.
That Dutch lad at Wolfsburg mentioned above is fucking grease lightening
https://twitter.com/attackthespaces/status/1661398038491848705?s=20
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I guess I was being a bit trolling with the phrasing but it would still mean a change from what we have normally required. I agree with what uāre saying however.
Dan Burn??
Sorry back to trollingā¦.
Im still amazed at that clip above of the Dutch kid. The speed at which he makes up ground looks like someone playing FIFA on cheat mode.
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I thought his run had been sped up but wow I didnāt think of the context.
We wonāt need Trent defending with that pace
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Yeah, wow.
Great to see but thatāll soon be kicked out of him on his first visit to Everton, Villa, Newcastle, MU, MC - well pretty much as soon as he plays in the PLā¦
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He has no Ajax background so I am okĆ© with the transfer ā¦
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Was too slow to get up after the goalline clearance 
Iād 100% take a nap after doing that, and consider it well earned
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Iād probably stop half way through.
I took up the idea of pressing in my early 30s because our goalie was good at the time. Iād usually last 10 mins
Im still very good at directing other players, Hendo style, on where to step up to when trying to press (and then being responsible for it all coming apart when the ball gets to my guy)
āfuck sake, Jimmy. You should have been tighterā I tut
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