With regard to the "excellent" result vs city let's not forget or delude ourselves that had the cast iron non penalty decision involving Walker and Sterling been given we would have had another bad defeat, lost Walker for a game at least as a red card would have had to have been issued, have one less point and City have two extra points and we would be right back in the hunt for top four.
Another game that we were overwhelmed by a high tempo, high pressing opposition much like has happened all too often in our European matches where teams are superior to most opponents we play in the PL. We are lauded as being a good pressing team but boy are we vulnerable to teams doing it to us. We must learn quickly to deal with these kind of teams or we will stay as also rans for the foreseeable future.
We talk about the press as if we're surprised by it? It's not a surprise at all despite the fact that most teams don't press us. None of the smaller teams do (bar Bournemouth who we struggled against this season) and most the big teams sit and contain against us too or just can't press effectively.
It wasn't a surprise at all, because we should all know by now that we don't have midfielders to beat a good pressing system. Whilst Dembele is strong on the ball and can glide away from opponents at times, it's very difficult to do that if you've got 3 players coming at you with proper pressing, then you've got Wanyama who is a unit in there and has done well but there's a reason why we paid £11m for him. Neither are very good enough on the ball to beat a proper pressing team. None of them are one-touch players who've got their head up before the ball comes to them, knowing exactly where they'll pass the ball. They control it and then decide generally. Then what do we have in reserve if one or both of them aren't playing?
Exactly why we should have gone out and bought a deep-lying playmaker in the summer, someone different stylistically to Dembele to give us an alternative to him or even in some cases in addition to him. Whatever happens this season, I can't wait to get to th summer so we can right the wrongs of last summer's transfer mess. How can we aspire to be a big club with such an amateur scouting and transfer setup? Identifying targets at the end of August, constantly signing players who are clearly inferior to those in the starting XI.
Title has gone. Chelsea win today and we can forget about riding their coat tails and trying to apply pressure as our mindset. Changes into hanging on for a CL spot which is going to be an anxious final 3 months.
Mentality (rant)
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posted on 12/2/17
With regard to the "excellent" result vs city let's not forget or delude ourselves that had the cast iron non penalty decision involving Walker and Sterling been given we would have had another bad defeat, lost Walker for a game at least as a red card would have had to have been issued, have one less point and City have two extra points and we would be right back in the hunt for top four.
Another game that we were overwhelmed by a high tempo, high pressing opposition much like has happened all too often in our European matches where teams are superior to most opponents we play in the PL. We are lauded as being a good pressing team but boy are we vulnerable to teams doing it to us. We must learn quickly to deal with these kind of teams or we will stay as also rans for the foreseeable future.
posted on 12/2/17
We talk about the press as if we're surprised by it? It's not a surprise at all despite the fact that most teams don't press us. None of the smaller teams do (bar Bournemouth who we struggled against this season) and most the big teams sit and contain against us too or just can't press effectively.
It wasn't a surprise at all, because we should all know by now that we don't have midfielders to beat a good pressing system. Whilst Dembele is strong on the ball and can glide away from opponents at times, it's very difficult to do that if you've got 3 players coming at you with proper pressing, then you've got Wanyama who is a unit in there and has done well but there's a reason why we paid £11m for him. Neither are very good enough on the ball to beat a proper pressing team. None of them are one-touch players who've got their head up before the ball comes to them, knowing exactly where they'll pass the ball. They control it and then decide generally. Then what do we have in reserve if one or both of them aren't playing?
Exactly why we should have gone out and bought a deep-lying playmaker in the summer, someone different stylistically to Dembele to give us an alternative to him or even in some cases in addition to him. Whatever happens this season, I can't wait to get to th summer so we can right the wrongs of last summer's transfer mess. How can we aspire to be a big club with such an amateur scouting and transfer setup? Identifying targets at the end of August, constantly signing players who are clearly inferior to those in the starting XI.
Title has gone. Chelsea win today and we can forget about riding their coat tails and trying to apply pressure as our mindset. Changes into hanging on for a CL spot which is going to be an anxious final 3 months.
posted on 12/2/17
If anyone went missing today it was Delli Alli.
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That's because he wants to play for Liverpool really
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