The fact that Grav has the talent to drive into the middle of the park with the ball, even advancing beyond that in some cases, means ‘someone’ has to fill the void he leaves behind.
We could say that it is that ‘someone’ who lets the defence down by not filling this newly exposed gap quickly enough…
OR
We could blame Grav by making the wrong choice of progressing the play with the ball attached to his bootlace, instead of playing a pass from AtoB. Whether that is 50m long defence splitting, or short to prevent exposing our defence is a part of his game that needs to be managed.
In all the years of watching football, I have yet to see any player, or even a Usain Bolt, with or without the ball, running faster between points AtoB than a straightforward pass…
Obviously, type of game, stage of a game, calibre of opposition, scoreline at any given/particular minute, and teammates playing alongside, all have a bearing on the crucial decision a holding midfielder, a protector of our back four defensive line, needs to make at each differing juncture within a match.
Grav has played this role for maybe 12months. He is not a seasoned thiago type of professional at the moment, he is a young player still learning the important basics of what is, a vital position to get right if the team is to play well, and not concede goals willy-nilly…!
Whether this player exists to be bought at the moment to play this role, or whether Grav is making such a leap in becoming a superstar in that position he has been tasked to play, is a conundrum only AS can answer.
I guess it depends on our definitions of passing. He won’t find a winger with a long, diagonal pass, that’s for sure, and I suspect he’s not the kind to thread a ball through a wall of deep-sitting opponents. I guess that Wirtz is the one primarily tasked with that purpose.
When it comes to turning his marker, winning a few yards with the ball, picking out the right pass after that and making himself available for the next one - well, that sequence of moves is what got him recognition as a key player in PL-winning side. I’m just in utter disbelief that Slot hasn’t been able to make our build-up more compact, so it doesn’t completely crumble whenever an opponent picks someone to press Gravenberch at all times. There were already signs of that in the last few weeks of the last season.
His ability to progress the ball with his passing.
It’s not only the spectacular passes, it’s the ‘vertical’ passing. The little passes around the corner to move the ball on quickly.
Too many touches, too slow in the head for this stuff. When teams stand off him he’s blunt. Him spinning players sticks in the memory more than a Wharton or Vintinha splitting a midfield with a simple 10 yard pass but it’s no more effective.
We need somebody else to carry that burden, and allow Grav to move about more freely.
The player you’re looking for would have to be pretty special, though. I genuinely can’t say if Wharton is the kind of player who would do well playing in a midfield three with Gravenberch and Wirtz - I think that Wharton would do better in a midfield three with Szoboszlai and Wirtz but I’d still be concerned about whether that midfield could actually provide enough grit and protection to the defence.
I do think the music regarding Guehi is still playing in the background, and at seasons end we will go back in for him… Whether this is also part of the Red pyrotechnic flare smokescreen to surround CP/Parish/Glasner, but my thinking, is if LFC rate Adam Wharton; and if the RM rumours regarding Alex MacAllister persist throughout the season; they will be walking away with Wharton in our pocket, regardless of what happens with the Guehi negotiations.
When it comes to the first part, I’m trying to look at the bigger picture. That player would have to be both aggressive/athletic (since we’re seeing that our midfield can get bullied quite often) and a good passer, not to mention being able to fit in from the first minute - how many of those are around?
When it comes to the second part, I blame Slot, genuinely. I don’t want to think that working with Trent for one season has somehow convinced him that every fullback has to have his vision and range of passing. I now find his comments about Guardiola being his biggest influence ironic - I expected to see some that influence in the build-up but his midfield tactics have been muddled this season.
Aye, passing is not just a question of the Gerrard/Alonso style technique that can put the ball on a 6 pence from 60 yards away. Especially for players in this position it is a question of whether you can find a way to get on the ball in pretty much any situation (he can), and then quickly and productively move it on (not his strength at all). The technique involved in this trivial with the passes often being no more than 5-10 yards. Instead it is all about the early recognition and the chess like mental approach of knowing the pass you want to make multiple moves ahead and manipulating everyone’s positioning with preparatory passes to create that opportunity to split them with that simple pass.
There are guys in non-league football with the technique to hit those long accurate raking passes. There are orders of magnitude fewer players who mentally play at the pace required to move the ball productively and sufficiently quickly to stay ahead of the pace of the game of this level.
What I enjoyed about our midfield performance against Frankfurt was the way Jones Szob and Wirtz interchanged positions they were all constantly on the move, with sharp quick passing, quick give and goes that the opposition just couldn’t get to grips with.
For me it was pass and move football at it’s best.
Although my favourite bit was a bit of play in the 2nd half along our back like that worked towards our left and it looked to me as the opposition had us trapped, the ball was played to Jones who audaciously dummied it and let the ball run to Robbo, it sold their entire press and then he turned and moved to receive the pass from Robbo, sheer class and so simple.
Fullbacks still a major weakness. Kerkez and Frimpong nothing special so far, though not writing them off. Robertson washed, Bradley a squad player. Still no proper number 6. Gakpo good but not great. Salah a shadow of his old self. Konate not a great start to the season either, and could be gone by season’s end.
Alisson still the best in the world, but Mamardashvili hasn’t convinced as a potential replacement, at this stage at least. Easy to see the need for five or six new starters.
I was thinking that, do it again and I bet you get the same results. There is nothing from those 6 we bought that suggests they were shit.
Also see the posts about Dom last season who is now by far probably one of a few who deserve to be playing. I do think the stuff on Gakpo is harsh as he is a fits and starts player.
We’ve evidently left ourselves short in certain places and that’s probably in each section of the pitch.
Guehi.
Schlotterbeck or similar.
Olise or Semenyo or similar.
Wharton or Anderson or similar.
Four players in.
The sting in the tail is we will need to phase out some big players, and/or replace a couple, as we won’t make four big additions without subtractions.