What about our left side?
And defence as a whole is an issue that needs to be worked on over the next few days.
Newcastle created a few chances that would be put away by better teams. Atsu was quite dangerous. If he had scoring boots on he could have had a few.
We could indeed do with an upgrade on the right but should also read this stat a little bit in context. Teams are rarely set up completely symmetrically. E.g. when Fergie circa 2008 played Ronaldo on one side and Park or Hargreaves on the other, Ronaldo was something between a winger and a striker, while the other wasn't a counterpart, but rather something between a winger and a central midfielder.
If we're playing Mata / Lingard ostensibly on the right but letting them drift inside and Martial / Rashford on the left, we can look at it in two ways: 1) the right sided players don't pose the same goal threat; 2) the right sided players have a slightly different function.
I think there's an element of truth about both of those statements. We do need to upgrade (particularly on Valencia), but we shouldn't always read lower stats from a certain flank to denote a weakness.
Imo bringing in someone like Willian this summer would have been a great move. It’s not even about the player on the right side needing to be a bonafide world class player. More that bringing in someone capable and dependable (of which Willian is) would give us balance there and make us less predictable - because we spend so much of the game attacking from the left. We get a right winger in and even if we attack through the right 30% more than we do, it takes away some of the defensive attention from our left side giving more space for Sanchez/Martial/Rashford for work in.
Obv we won’t get Willian now but hopefully this summer we look at some of the options out there.
Imo bringing in someone like Willian this summer would have been a great move.
------------------
It really wouldn't. He's been trash for Chelsea this season.
comment by Bumblebeetuna (U4302)
posted 2 minutes ago
Imo bringing in someone like Willian this summer would have been a great move.
------------------
It really wouldn't. He's been trash for Chelsea this season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s been up and down. And someone who is oft under appreciated by the fans. But who’s to say a move wouldn’t have freshened him up ?
Even without Willian, we really need a right winger ASAP
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Bumblebeetuna (U4302)
posted 2 minutes ago
Imo bringing in someone like Willian this summer would have been a great move.
------------------
It really wouldn't. He's been trash for Chelsea this season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s been up and down. And someone who is oft under appreciated by the fans. But who’s to say a move wouldn’t have freshened him up ?
Even without Willian, we really need a right winger ASAP
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He's not even first choice for us.
Willian is a terrible choice. I know you championed him since Jose wanted him, but he wouldn't have made much of an improvement to our right side. Rather have Lingard there.
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Bumblebeetuna (U4302)
posted 2 minutes ago
Imo bringing in someone like Willian this summer would have been a great move.
------------------
It really wouldn't. He's been trash for Chelsea this season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s been up and down. And someone who is oft under appreciated by the fans. But who’s to say a move wouldn’t have freshened him up ?
Even without Willian, we really need a right winger ASAP
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He's not even first choice for us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s first choice in all your big games
I think a bone fide right sided attacker is our most crucial signing. We need at least an option to stretch that right side out, even if Ole carries on the Mata/Lingard approach of allowing the right sided player to drift (wasted for the most part when playing a 4-3-3, imho).
He'd probably have ended up replacing Valencia at RB if he was bought last summer.
We do need someone on the right as we don't have any natural player there. The closest we have is probably Sanchez and he hasn't played there properly for years.
The right back position needs sorting. Either allow Dalot to become first choice as the season progresses, or get in someone who is ready to play there while allowing Dalot to improve and establish himself in two seasons time.
Though, the while defence needs improving.
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 32 seconds ago
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Bumblebeetuna (U4302)
posted 2 minutes ago
Imo bringing in someone like Willian this summer would have been a great move.
------------------
It really wouldn't. He's been trash for Chelsea this season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s been up and down. And someone who is oft under appreciated by the fans. But who’s to say a move wouldn’t have freshened him up ?
Even without Willian, we really need a right winger ASAP
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He's not even first choice for us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s first choice in all your big games
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If Pedro and Hazard are fully fit they start regardless of the opponents (against Liverpool Pedro was out and vs United hd still wasn't fully fit).
When Hazard at the start of the season was on the bench to build match fitness Willian not Pedro was the one to make way when it was time to bring Eden on.
Willian has started a lot of games due to Hazard and Pedro barely being fit at the same time and then when they are we reverted to a false 9.
Make no mistake Hazard and Pedro are numero uno and dos under Sarri.
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 13 seconds ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 32 seconds ago
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Bumblebeetuna (U4302)
posted 2 minutes ago
Imo bringing in someone like Willian this summer would have been a great move.
------------------
It really wouldn't. He's been trash for Chelsea this season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s been up and down. And someone who is oft under appreciated by the fans. But who’s to say a move wouldn’t have freshened him up ?
Even without Willian, we really need a right winger ASAP
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He's not even first choice for us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s first choice in all your big games
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If Pedro and Hazard are fully fit they start regardless of the opponents (against Liverpool Pedro was out and vs United hd still wasn't fully fit).
When Hazard at the start of the season was on the bench to build match fitness Willian not Pedro was the one to make way when it was time to bring Eden on.
Willian has started a lot of games due to Hazard and Pedro barely being fit at the same time and then when they are we reverted to a false 9.
Make no mistake Hazard and Pedro are numero uno and dos under Sarri.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sarri, the new LVG
My sympathies
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 7 minutes ago
Sarri, the new LVG
My sympathies
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lets hope your managers for the next 5 years rate Sanchez, Lukaku, Matic and Fellaini as much as you do so we have one less team to worry about overhauling us.
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 42 seconds ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 7 minutes ago
Sarri, the new LVG
My sympathies
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lets hope your managers for the next 5 years rate Sanchez, Lukaku, Matic and Fellaini as much as you do so we have one less team to worry about overhauling us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We have the momentum. You guys are struggling to create anything. The smart money is on us catching you.
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 12 minutes ago
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 42 seconds ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 7 minutes ago
Sarri, the new LVG
My sympathies
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lets hope your managers for the next 5 years rate Sanchez, Lukaku, Matic and Fellaini as much as you do so we have one less team to worry about overhauling us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We have the momentum. You guys are struggling to create anything. The smart money is on us catching you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not now you've predicted it isn't.
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 26 seconds ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 12 minutes ago
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 42 seconds ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 7 minutes ago
Sarri, the new LVG
My sympathies
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lets hope your managers for the next 5 years rate Sanchez, Lukaku, Matic and Fellaini as much as you do so we have one less team to worry about overhauling us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We have the momentum. You guys are struggling to create anything. The smart money is on us catching you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not now you've predicted it isn't.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Even I can’t stop Chelsea being boring and average
Best performance of the season against Newcastle while Spurs thrash United confirmed
We need to address the RW problem we've had for years, but that means a change of tactics as well as personnel.
Also, you need to get off the 'Willian' thing, he wouldn't have been a good signing at all. He's been poor this season and would be another ageing 30+ player on big wages we'd be wanting the next permanent manager to improve on.
Robb, you're insulting Chelsea because you got corrected on Willian's contribution this season. Sarri doesn't rate him so let's call Sarri's team boring and average, is that it? I seem to recall you gave Mourinho more time to make his mark on United (as I did), and this season we of course were far more boring and average than Sarri's Chelsea until Mourinho was sacked.
You didn't use to be half as prickly or dogmatic as this, Robb. I recall the days when you were mainly known for posing random theories and mischievous questions that would unfailingly produce 250 comments of thoroughly enjoyable rancour. I think the last few years of three disastrous managers have taken a toll on all of us, with feuds and agendas, and too many people trying to be right about stuff. I hope we (collectively) return to the golden age of less polarisation, where the hatreds are less pervasive but more random, shifting and funnier for the spectator (cf. Arab vs SLM), which is to say this post isn't about you in particular.
We play with a midfield shifted to the left (Pogba is often found on the left touchline whilst Herrera is in the centre circle), an inside right in place of a right winger and a defensive right back.
People have ripped Valencia apart in the last few seasons but he has a very important and very difficult job to do, because as we saw against Newcastle, he often doesn't have a right winger or even a (positionally) right sided midfielder to protect him.
You won't see him overlap Lingard or Mata on the right without two thing happening: firstly, the inside right covering, and two, the rest of the midfield, and the right sided number eight in particular, moving back across the pitch to cover. When Valencia receives the ball in an advanced position on the right from a deep diagonal from Pogba, it's easy to get excited about how much space he can seem to be in, but often in those situations, to take on his fullback and be dispossessed would be suicidal as the rest of our players would still be loaded across to the left side of the pitch.
Overloading one side of the pitch is a well-established tactic which has been used for years by coaches deploying 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 variants, and often to great effect. But it can leave the opposite side, and particularly the fullback, very exposed.
People who want to see Dalot every week will have to wait for both his defensive game to improve vastly *and* for a tactical change that sees us deploy a wider right sided player with defensive discipline.
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 37 minutes ago
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 26 seconds ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 12 minutes ago
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 42 seconds ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 7 minutes ago
Sarri, the new LVG
My sympathies
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lets hope your managers for the next 5 years rate Sanchez, Lukaku, Matic and Fellaini as much as you do so we have one less team to worry about overhauling us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We have the momentum. You guys are struggling to create anything. The smart money is on us catching you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not now you've predicted it isn't.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Even I can’t stop Chelsea being boring and average
----------------------------------------------------------------------
They could get Jose back if they wanted that
comment by rosso is facking happy (U17054)
posted 1 minute ago
We play with a midfield shifted to the left (Pogba is often found on the left touchline whilst Herrera is in the centre circle), an inside right in place of a right winger and a defensive right back.
People have ripped Valencia apart in the last few seasons but he has a very important and very difficult job to do, because as we saw against Newcastle, he often doesn't have a right winger or even a (positionally) right sided midfielder to protect him.
You won't see him overlap Lingard or Mata on the right without two thing happening: firstly, the inside right covering, and two, the rest of the midfield, and the right sided number eight in particular, moving back across the pitch to cover. When Valencia receives the ball in an advanced position on the right from a deep diagonal from Pogba, it's easy to get excited about how much space he can seem to be in, but often in those situations, to take on his fullback and be dispossessed would be suicidal as the rest of our players would still be loaded across to the left side of the pitch.
Overloading one side of the pitch is a well-established tactic which has been used for years by coaches deploying 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 variants, and often to great effect. But it can leave the opposite side, and particularly the fullback, very exposed.
People who want to see Dalot every week will have to wait for both his defensive game to improve vastly *and* for a tactical change that sees us deploy a wider right sided player with defensive discipline.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Excellent post. I was touching on the same issue with my earlier point about asymmetrical formations, but rosso nails the details far better than I ever could.
Mata just shouldn't play that role, he spends too much time on the left and in the middle imo.
As Rosso says there is a balance to be had, Mata offers no protection for Valencia and under Ole we don't have two sitting midfielders to cover.
To counter Rosso's point, Valencia did have the opportunity to attack under Jose I feel, since we DID have two sitting midfielders, often 4 players sat back to only 1, sometimes 2 attackers.
When Valencia receives the ball in an advanced position on the right from a deep diagonal from Pogba, it's easy to get excited about how much space he can seem to be in, but often in those situations, to take on his fullback and be dispossessed would be suicidal as the rest of our players would still be loaded across to the left side of the pitch.
------------------
for the most part, you are right... But in those situations, certain players should then bust a gut to move into a position to fill any gaps their left side could exploit to move the risk from suicidal to just taking a risk. This is probably where a more mobile DM would help out.
Sign in if you want to comment
Our right flank
Page 1 of 3
posted on 4/1/19
What about our left side?
And defence as a whole is an issue that needs to be worked on over the next few days.
Newcastle created a few chances that would be put away by better teams. Atsu was quite dangerous. If he had scoring boots on he could have had a few.
posted on 4/1/19
We could indeed do with an upgrade on the right but should also read this stat a little bit in context. Teams are rarely set up completely symmetrically. E.g. when Fergie circa 2008 played Ronaldo on one side and Park or Hargreaves on the other, Ronaldo was something between a winger and a striker, while the other wasn't a counterpart, but rather something between a winger and a central midfielder.
If we're playing Mata / Lingard ostensibly on the right but letting them drift inside and Martial / Rashford on the left, we can look at it in two ways: 1) the right sided players don't pose the same goal threat; 2) the right sided players have a slightly different function.
I think there's an element of truth about both of those statements. We do need to upgrade (particularly on Valencia), but we shouldn't always read lower stats from a certain flank to denote a weakness.
posted on 4/1/19
Imo bringing in someone like Willian this summer would have been a great move. It’s not even about the player on the right side needing to be a bonafide world class player. More that bringing in someone capable and dependable (of which Willian is) would give us balance there and make us less predictable - because we spend so much of the game attacking from the left. We get a right winger in and even if we attack through the right 30% more than we do, it takes away some of the defensive attention from our left side giving more space for Sanchez/Martial/Rashford for work in.
Obv we won’t get Willian now but hopefully this summer we look at some of the options out there.
posted on 4/1/19
Imo bringing in someone like Willian this summer would have been a great move.
------------------
It really wouldn't. He's been trash for Chelsea this season.
posted on 4/1/19
comment by Bumblebeetuna (U4302)
posted 2 minutes ago
Imo bringing in someone like Willian this summer would have been a great move.
------------------
It really wouldn't. He's been trash for Chelsea this season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s been up and down. And someone who is oft under appreciated by the fans. But who’s to say a move wouldn’t have freshened him up ?
Even without Willian, we really need a right winger ASAP
posted on 4/1/19
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Bumblebeetuna (U4302)
posted 2 minutes ago
Imo bringing in someone like Willian this summer would have been a great move.
------------------
It really wouldn't. He's been trash for Chelsea this season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s been up and down. And someone who is oft under appreciated by the fans. But who’s to say a move wouldn’t have freshened him up ?
Even without Willian, we really need a right winger ASAP
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He's not even first choice for us.
posted on 4/1/19
Willian is a terrible choice. I know you championed him since Jose wanted him, but he wouldn't have made much of an improvement to our right side. Rather have Lingard there.
posted on 4/1/19
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Bumblebeetuna (U4302)
posted 2 minutes ago
Imo bringing in someone like Willian this summer would have been a great move.
------------------
It really wouldn't. He's been trash for Chelsea this season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s been up and down. And someone who is oft under appreciated by the fans. But who’s to say a move wouldn’t have freshened him up ?
Even without Willian, we really need a right winger ASAP
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He's not even first choice for us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s first choice in all your big games
posted on 4/1/19
I think a bone fide right sided attacker is our most crucial signing. We need at least an option to stretch that right side out, even if Ole carries on the Mata/Lingard approach of allowing the right sided player to drift (wasted for the most part when playing a 4-3-3, imho).
posted on 4/1/19
He'd probably have ended up replacing Valencia at RB if he was bought last summer.
posted on 4/1/19
We do need someone on the right as we don't have any natural player there. The closest we have is probably Sanchez and he hasn't played there properly for years.
The right back position needs sorting. Either allow Dalot to become first choice as the season progresses, or get in someone who is ready to play there while allowing Dalot to improve and establish himself in two seasons time.
Though, the while defence needs improving.
posted on 4/1/19
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 32 seconds ago
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Bumblebeetuna (U4302)
posted 2 minutes ago
Imo bringing in someone like Willian this summer would have been a great move.
------------------
It really wouldn't. He's been trash for Chelsea this season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s been up and down. And someone who is oft under appreciated by the fans. But who’s to say a move wouldn’t have freshened him up ?
Even without Willian, we really need a right winger ASAP
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He's not even first choice for us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s first choice in all your big games
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If Pedro and Hazard are fully fit they start regardless of the opponents (against Liverpool Pedro was out and vs United hd still wasn't fully fit).
When Hazard at the start of the season was on the bench to build match fitness Willian not Pedro was the one to make way when it was time to bring Eden on.
Willian has started a lot of games due to Hazard and Pedro barely being fit at the same time and then when they are we reverted to a false 9.
Make no mistake Hazard and Pedro are numero uno and dos under Sarri.
posted on 4/1/19
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 13 seconds ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 32 seconds ago
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Bumblebeetuna (U4302)
posted 2 minutes ago
Imo bringing in someone like Willian this summer would have been a great move.
------------------
It really wouldn't. He's been trash for Chelsea this season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s been up and down. And someone who is oft under appreciated by the fans. But who’s to say a move wouldn’t have freshened him up ?
Even without Willian, we really need a right winger ASAP
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He's not even first choice for us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s first choice in all your big games
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If Pedro and Hazard are fully fit they start regardless of the opponents (against Liverpool Pedro was out and vs United hd still wasn't fully fit).
When Hazard at the start of the season was on the bench to build match fitness Willian not Pedro was the one to make way when it was time to bring Eden on.
Willian has started a lot of games due to Hazard and Pedro barely being fit at the same time and then when they are we reverted to a false 9.
Make no mistake Hazard and Pedro are numero uno and dos under Sarri.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sarri, the new LVG
My sympathies
posted on 4/1/19
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 7 minutes ago
Sarri, the new LVG
My sympathies
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lets hope your managers for the next 5 years rate Sanchez, Lukaku, Matic and Fellaini as much as you do so we have one less team to worry about overhauling us.
posted on 4/1/19
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 42 seconds ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 7 minutes ago
Sarri, the new LVG
My sympathies
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lets hope your managers for the next 5 years rate Sanchez, Lukaku, Matic and Fellaini as much as you do so we have one less team to worry about overhauling us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We have the momentum. You guys are struggling to create anything. The smart money is on us catching you.
posted on 4/1/19
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 12 minutes ago
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 42 seconds ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 7 minutes ago
Sarri, the new LVG
My sympathies
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lets hope your managers for the next 5 years rate Sanchez, Lukaku, Matic and Fellaini as much as you do so we have one less team to worry about overhauling us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We have the momentum. You guys are struggling to create anything. The smart money is on us catching you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not now you've predicted it isn't.
posted on 4/1/19
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 26 seconds ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 12 minutes ago
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 42 seconds ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 7 minutes ago
Sarri, the new LVG
My sympathies
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lets hope your managers for the next 5 years rate Sanchez, Lukaku, Matic and Fellaini as much as you do so we have one less team to worry about overhauling us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We have the momentum. You guys are struggling to create anything. The smart money is on us catching you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not now you've predicted it isn't.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Even I can’t stop Chelsea being boring and average
posted on 4/1/19
Best performance of the season against Newcastle while Spurs thrash United confirmed
posted on 4/1/19
We need to address the RW problem we've had for years, but that means a change of tactics as well as personnel.
Also, you need to get off the 'Willian' thing, he wouldn't have been a good signing at all. He's been poor this season and would be another ageing 30+ player on big wages we'd be wanting the next permanent manager to improve on.
posted on 4/1/19
Robb, you're insulting Chelsea because you got corrected on Willian's contribution this season. Sarri doesn't rate him so let's call Sarri's team boring and average, is that it? I seem to recall you gave Mourinho more time to make his mark on United (as I did), and this season we of course were far more boring and average than Sarri's Chelsea until Mourinho was sacked.
You didn't use to be half as prickly or dogmatic as this, Robb. I recall the days when you were mainly known for posing random theories and mischievous questions that would unfailingly produce 250 comments of thoroughly enjoyable rancour. I think the last few years of three disastrous managers have taken a toll on all of us, with feuds and agendas, and too many people trying to be right about stuff. I hope we (collectively) return to the golden age of less polarisation, where the hatreds are less pervasive but more random, shifting and funnier for the spectator (cf. Arab vs SLM), which is to say this post isn't about you in particular.
posted on 4/1/19
We play with a midfield shifted to the left (Pogba is often found on the left touchline whilst Herrera is in the centre circle), an inside right in place of a right winger and a defensive right back.
People have ripped Valencia apart in the last few seasons but he has a very important and very difficult job to do, because as we saw against Newcastle, he often doesn't have a right winger or even a (positionally) right sided midfielder to protect him.
You won't see him overlap Lingard or Mata on the right without two thing happening: firstly, the inside right covering, and two, the rest of the midfield, and the right sided number eight in particular, moving back across the pitch to cover. When Valencia receives the ball in an advanced position on the right from a deep diagonal from Pogba, it's easy to get excited about how much space he can seem to be in, but often in those situations, to take on his fullback and be dispossessed would be suicidal as the rest of our players would still be loaded across to the left side of the pitch.
Overloading one side of the pitch is a well-established tactic which has been used for years by coaches deploying 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 variants, and often to great effect. But it can leave the opposite side, and particularly the fullback, very exposed.
People who want to see Dalot every week will have to wait for both his defensive game to improve vastly *and* for a tactical change that sees us deploy a wider right sided player with defensive discipline.
posted on 4/1/19
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 37 minutes ago
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 26 seconds ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 12 minutes ago
comment by DD11 (U21614)
posted 42 seconds ago
comment by Robb Ferguson (U21234)
posted 7 minutes ago
Sarri, the new LVG
My sympathies
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lets hope your managers for the next 5 years rate Sanchez, Lukaku, Matic and Fellaini as much as you do so we have one less team to worry about overhauling us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We have the momentum. You guys are struggling to create anything. The smart money is on us catching you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not now you've predicted it isn't.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Even I can’t stop Chelsea being boring and average
----------------------------------------------------------------------
They could get Jose back if they wanted that
posted on 4/1/19
comment by rosso is facking happy (U17054)
posted 1 minute ago
We play with a midfield shifted to the left (Pogba is often found on the left touchline whilst Herrera is in the centre circle), an inside right in place of a right winger and a defensive right back.
People have ripped Valencia apart in the last few seasons but he has a very important and very difficult job to do, because as we saw against Newcastle, he often doesn't have a right winger or even a (positionally) right sided midfielder to protect him.
You won't see him overlap Lingard or Mata on the right without two thing happening: firstly, the inside right covering, and two, the rest of the midfield, and the right sided number eight in particular, moving back across the pitch to cover. When Valencia receives the ball in an advanced position on the right from a deep diagonal from Pogba, it's easy to get excited about how much space he can seem to be in, but often in those situations, to take on his fullback and be dispossessed would be suicidal as the rest of our players would still be loaded across to the left side of the pitch.
Overloading one side of the pitch is a well-established tactic which has been used for years by coaches deploying 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 variants, and often to great effect. But it can leave the opposite side, and particularly the fullback, very exposed.
People who want to see Dalot every week will have to wait for both his defensive game to improve vastly *and* for a tactical change that sees us deploy a wider right sided player with defensive discipline.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Excellent post. I was touching on the same issue with my earlier point about asymmetrical formations, but rosso nails the details far better than I ever could.
posted on 4/1/19
Mata just shouldn't play that role, he spends too much time on the left and in the middle imo.
As Rosso says there is a balance to be had, Mata offers no protection for Valencia and under Ole we don't have two sitting midfielders to cover.
To counter Rosso's point, Valencia did have the opportunity to attack under Jose I feel, since we DID have two sitting midfielders, often 4 players sat back to only 1, sometimes 2 attackers.
posted on 4/1/19
When Valencia receives the ball in an advanced position on the right from a deep diagonal from Pogba, it's easy to get excited about how much space he can seem to be in, but often in those situations, to take on his fullback and be dispossessed would be suicidal as the rest of our players would still be loaded across to the left side of the pitch.
------------------
for the most part, you are right... But in those situations, certain players should then bust a gut to move into a position to fill any gaps their left side could exploit to move the risk from suicidal to just taking a risk. This is probably where a more mobile DM would help out.
Page 1 of 3