Soldado Just Favourited This Link...

comment by fridgeboy (U1053)
posted 22 minutes ago
It's quite simple really. We play 4 at the back and two holding which restricts how creative we are going forward. The two wingers are encouraged to come inside which narrows our play. It's easy to play against. Sit deep and squeeze the play. It's no coincidence that lack of goals runs parallel with a great defensive record. This is intentional, and I can't see it changing.

It worries me that Soldado 'likes' this link though. It just means he's getting seriously frustrated with our lack of ambition.
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I don't think we're necessarily defensively minded so I don't really agree with his. Vert/Rose and Walker all like to bomb forward and get involved in the attack, and Paulinho frequently gets into great positions to have a shot at goal.

I think we commit enough people forward, but that the problem lies in our build up play being too slow and unimaginative. The result of this is that the opposition team is happy to give us the ball knowing that if they stay well organised we will struggle to break them down.

we've played with one holding in Sandro the last few games. Paulinho was practically 2nd striker at times with his willingness to get forward

we aren't as negative as people are becoming to think. Our attacks just aren't paying dividends at the moment far too wasteful for my liking and it grinds my gears.

Walker - wasteful
Townsend - wasteful

Vert has gone into LB from CB and showed Walker how its done these last few games. Walker is very good i like him but he has a long way to go before fulfilling his actual potential.

we aren't having any joy down the middle either. I can only put this down to a lack of understanding between the new players. Its only logical that this will improve over time.

I would be a lot more concerned if we weren't winning these matches naturally, but we are. We're grinding out solid results

comment by fridgeboy (U1053)
posted 39 minutes ago
It's quite simple really. We play 4 at the back and two holding which restricts how creative we are going forward. The two wingers are encouraged to come inside which narrows our play. It's easy to play against. Sit deep and squeeze the play. It's no coincidence that lack of goals runs parallel with a great defensive record. This is intentional, and I can't see it changing.

It worries me that Soldado 'likes' this link though. It just means he's getting seriously frustrated with our lack of ambition.
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I think Vert has said some worrying things somewhere as well.

bad times.

I think Vert has said some worrying things somewhere as well.

bad times.
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According to Twitter he said to the Belgian media that he wasn't a LB and expressed his desire to play as a CB. Nothing new though as he said the same thing last year.

where the hell is Danny Rose anyway?

Can't say I blame Soldado or Vert for getting frustrated..

Soldado is a far better player than we're seeing, and he knows he's not getting the right service for him to show what he's really made of

Vert is always first to get shifted into LB when its obvious he sees himself as CB. He's been unlucky we've had the injuries at LB, but you can see his point about not wanting to be seen as a Jack of all Trades

The sooner Rose is back for us the better

Comment Deleted by Site Moderator

It's quite simple really. We play 4 at the back and two holding which restricts how creative we are going forward. The two wingers are encouraged to come inside which narrows our play. It's easy to play against. Sit deep and squeeze the play. It's no coincidence that lack of goals runs parallel with a great defensive record. This is intentional, and I can't see it changing.

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I disagree. Man City don't play with natural width, Nasri and Silva don't hug the touch line and Navas is not a regular starter.

I think it is simply a case of an overly cautious approach.

The CM prioritise possession and take no risks thus build up play is often pedestrian and predictable.

I also think their organisation is too rigid so there is not enough interchanging of positions, unpredictable movement, overloading of the flanks....not enough risks taken and players seem inhibited, not prepared to gamble or take a risk in case we lose possession and face a counter attack.

All of this boils down to a lack of vision by the CM players - Sandro, Dembele, Paulinho, Capoue and thus when the creative players receive the ball it is often in in front of 2 banks of 4 or in tightly marked parts of the pitch.

We are easy to defend against as a result and until we start to show more of a threat the tactics used against us will continue to frustrate us

comment by fridgeboy (U1053)
posted 2 hours, 31 minutes ago
It's quite simple really. We play 4 at the back and two holding which restricts how creative we are going forward. The two wingers are encouraged to come inside which narrows our play. It's easy to play against. Sit deep and squeeze the play. It's no coincidence that lack of goals runs parallel with a great defensive record. This is intentional, and I can't see it changing.

It worries me that Soldado 'likes' this link though. It just means he's getting seriously frustrated with our lack of ambition.
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About as clear cut a statement I've seen on these boards in weeks.

Van nistelrooy barely left the penalty box at man united but he didn't have to, he had service on tap. Same applies for all poachers, which soldado evidently is.

We don't play 2 DMs.

Look at the positions on this piece... http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24794729

Sandro is deep, everyone else is much further up the pitch vs Everton, more like a 4141.