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system clicking into place

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posted on 20/10/22

Very impressed with last night. It's not an exaggeration to say it's one of our better displays in recent years.

Everyone played their part. The only real concern was Sancho not quite doing enough and Rashford's finishing.

posted on 20/10/22

It was great to watch our team just doing things as a team from the stands, you could see the shifts of positioning happening across the field when the front pressed, or when Spurs broke the line with a pass.

Proper training ground stuff coming off in a game, it really shouldn't be such a big deal for a team that's spent like we have but there's just not been anything noticeable like that with the previous managers other than defending deep and countering.

posted on 20/10/22

comment by FFS Mike. (U1170)
posted 1 minute ago
It was great to watch our team just doing things as a team from the stands, you could see the shifts of positioning happening across the field when the front pressed, or when Spurs broke the line with a pass.

Proper training ground stuff coming off in a game, it really shouldn't be such a big deal for a team that's spent like we have but there's just not been anything noticeable like that with the previous managers other than defending deep and countering.
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There were elements of this under LVG at times but it was always so slow.

posted on 20/10/22

The only real disappointment was finishing, that game should have been 6 or 7-0, don’t know how long Martial is out for but finishing must be a worry for the manager, we won’t get 8 or 9 clear cut chances every game

posted on 20/10/22

Watching Rashford yesterday, why is he always blasting the ball. The harder you hit the ball easier it is to save. I remember when he used to place them but I guess he is not that player anymore.

posted on 20/10/22

comment by David The King Beckham (U10026)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by FFS Mike. (U1170)
posted 1 minute ago
It was great to watch our team just doing things as a team from the stands, you could see the shifts of positioning happening across the field when the front pressed, or when Spurs broke the line with a pass.

Proper training ground stuff coming off in a game, it really shouldn't be such a big deal for a team that's spent like we have but there's just not been anything noticeable like that with the previous managers other than defending deep and countering.
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There were elements of this under LVG at times but it was always so slow.
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Yep, I remember us looking fantastic in that mini run against Spurs, Liverpool and City but we never really kicked on from it.

posted on 20/10/22

comment by (K̇ash) - FSG OUT! - Free Palestine 🇵🇸 (U1108)
posted 4 minutes ago
Watching Rashford yesterday, why is he always blasting the ball. The harder you hit the ball easier it is to save. I remember when he used to place them but I guess he is not that player anymore.
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He's placed some of the goals he's scored, this season.

I guess these are just split second decisions that either pay off or don't.

posted on 20/10/22

One thing I find bizarre in the media is that some are pretty nailing Spurs on for top 4 this season and almost talking them up as title contenders.

Very premature. They've been getting results but haven't beaten any of the big sides and rarely look that impressive.

posted on 20/10/22

That's the standard now. There will be dips but we seem to be getting there. Oh for a CF so that Rashford can compete with Sancho on the left.

It's interesting seeing De Gea too. He's clearly improving his passing (and he knows when to boot it forward) and he's also started sweeping. Goodness knows why this wasn't coached to him previously though!

Our game v Chelsea will be interesting. Potter got the better of ETH at the start of the season. Can Erik strike back? I think Chelsea are beatable certainly.

posted on 20/10/22

comment by Diafol Coch 77 (U2462)
posted 3 minutes ago
That's the standard now. There will be dips but we seem to be getting there. Oh for a CF so that Rashford can compete with Sancho on the left.

It's interesting seeing De Gea too. He's clearly improving his passing (and he knows when to boot it forward) and he's also started sweeping. Goodness knows why this wasn't coached to him previously though!

Our game v Chelsea will be interesting. Potter got the better of ETH at the start of the season. Can Erik strike back? I think Chelsea are beatable certainly.
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Potter has had decent results so far but certainly not the most intimidating Chelsea side of all time. A point would be decent in fairness especially after they dropped points last night.

comment by Kobra (U19849)

posted on 20/10/22

Really good performance. First half was best I've seen from us despite no goals.

I do think spurs helped a bit, wtf was Conte doing?

comment by aroon1 (U7949)

posted on 20/10/22

Lets not get too excited. Very good performance.

But just the week before we almost drew with Omonoia at home and City put 6 past us. We are still most likely to finish somewhere around 6th.

comment by Tu Meke (U3732)

posted on 20/10/22

Challenge for you lot will be consistently dealing with teams that press aswell. Spurs basically do nothing but counter. Good signs though.

Unfortunately

posted on 20/10/22

The harder you hit the ball easier it is to save.
———


Even for kash this is facking stupid.

posted on 20/10/22

comment by aroon1 (U7949)
posted 9 minutes ago
Lets not get too excited. Very good performance.

But just the week before we almost drew with Omonoia at home and City put 6 past us. We are still most likely to finish somewhere around 6th.
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I'm not drawing any conclusions about what this means for our season, and as I send in the OP, there will be ups and downs in our coming games. What I'm really pleased about though is how we can see the system taking shape bit by bit. In the early games we would see individual passages of play that looked like the kind of football ETH wanted (e.g. leading up to Antony's goal against Arsenal) but we were generally unable to execute the desired dominance, tactics and shape for more than short spells. And, conscious of this, we were largely setting up pragmatically for the needs of the games.

Over the last four-five matches I think we've seen more and more evidence of the side feeling clear and confident about the system and their roles within it. Two of those were of course against a very poor Omonia side, and I'm not arguing that they were great performances overall. But the specific methods that achieved dominance of possession and territorial advantage vs Everton, Omonia, Newcastle and Spurs have been pretty consistent.

Lots of things to still improve, and some of those things can only be done by player upgrades / round pegs in round holes, so there's obviously a ceiling to what we can achieve this season.

posted on 20/10/22

comment by King TUt (U3732)
posted 12 minutes ago
Challenge for you lot will be consistently dealing with teams that press aswell. Spurs basically do nothing but counter. Good signs though.

Unfortunately
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We've actually had more luck with teams that press us this season (apart from the Brighton match). Not because we're great at passing our way through a high press, but because we've been going long to by-pass it altogether, and then we've been pretty ruthless hitting high line defences on the transition.

The Spurs game is the first time we've created a lot of good chances against a well organised deep defence.

posted on 20/10/22

Not 100% convinced. I think a lot of last night was down to spurs badly wrong tactics, rather than ‘clicking into place’, but I did love the energy on display.

comment by Zacab (U18502)

posted on 20/10/22

comment by aroon1 (U7949)
posted 16 minutes ago
Lets not get too excited. Very good performance.

But just the week before we almost drew with Omonoia at home and City put 6 past us. We are still most likely to finish somewhere around 6th.
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This. Take Rashford out, that team lacks speed like we saw against Newcastle. Martial won't be fit to play enough games, Sancho, I don't think has anything left in him to go a level up and I think Anthony will struggle once teams realize he is one dimensional and all he can do is to cut and shoot.

posted on 20/10/22

Definitely starting to see the style of play improving week on week.
Omonia looked like a training game. The only problem being that we looked more concerned with the shape and moving the ball than actually scoring.
With city we bit off more than we could chew. We're improving but we aren't ready to go toe to toe with city like that. We should have set up a lot more conservatively.

I think the most important signing we could make right now is a shooting coach. Go out, find the best one in the world, and pay him any number.

posted on 20/10/22

comment by Wonder Man (U11164)
posted 2 minutes ago
Definitely starting to see the style of play improving week on week.
Omonia looked like a training game. The only problem being that we looked more concerned with the shape and moving the ball than actually scoring.
With city we bit off more than we could chew. We're improving but we aren't ready to go toe to toe with city like that. We should have set up a lot more conservatively.

I think the most important signing we could make right now is a shooting coach. Go out, find the best one in the world, and pay him any number.
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Is Ole still available? Come to that are we still paying him?

comment by Cloggy (U1250)

posted on 20/10/22

RR - I am so shocked to see that an article title without a capital letter is from you, by all means.

posted on 20/10/22

Really promising performance and everyone seemed to be on the same wavelength. I know Rashford’s finishing wasn’t great but I thought he did everything else pretty well and at times we saw some nice quick passing between him, Sancho, Bruno and Shaw on our left side. However a proper forward who can put the ball in the net would make such a difference to this side.

I think with Varane and Casemiro we’ve got some great experience and leadership coming in while Martinez has been a revelation. So composed, always talking to the other players and is a natural leader, his English is also way better than I assumed it would be.

Antony is fun to watch but I do worry about players who are so one footed. Quite often you felt he could have reached balls or successful got round players if he had just used his right foot. Also with him clearly favouring cutting inside Dalot needs to get up the pitch more and whip some balls from wide (which he tried tbf and had a good performance overall).

Fred was really useful and gave us so much energy, will be interesting to see if/when he brings back Eriksen who clearly offers the team something different.

Just seeing the players putting in a shift for 90 minutes and seemingly having a plan was so refreshing and the players genuinely look happy and willing to work for the manager.

posted on 20/10/22

comment by Diafol Coch 77 (U2462)
posted 47 seconds ago
comment by Wonder Man (U11164)
posted 2 minutes ago
Definitely starting to see the style of play improving week on week.
Omonia looked like a training game. The only problem being that we looked more concerned with the shape and moving the ball than actually scoring.
With city we bit off more than we could chew. We're improving but we aren't ready to go toe to toe with city like that. We should have set up a lot more conservatively.

I think the most important signing we could make right now is a shooting coach. Go out, find the best one in the world, and pay him any number.
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Is Ole still available? Come to that are we still paying him?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Excellent point. If he's still on the books rope him back in. There's no doubt about that aspect of his expertise!

posted on 20/10/22

I am almost trepidatious of getting excited after the last decade or so, so I’m glad to see a few of my fellow reds are equally brimming and it’s not just me running away with myself.

That being said, I do think the Spurs performance flattered us to an extent; really quite baffling from Conte and his post-match interview didn’t do much to dispel that feeling.

Some wonderful performances all around, with the exception of Sancho. I also thought that Henry’s comments on Rashford after the game were very apt. Henry generally gives me the impression he’d be a good coach somewhere in the future

posted on 20/10/22

comment by rooney_hernandez (U7012)
posted 52 seconds ago
I am almost trepidatious of getting excited after the last decade or so, so I’m glad to see a few of my fellow reds are equally brimming and it’s not just me running away with myself.

That being said, I do think the Spurs performance flattered us to an extent; really quite baffling from Conte and his post-match interview didn’t do much to dispel that feeling.

Some wonderful performances all around, with the exception of Sancho. I also thought that Henry’s comments on Rashford after the game were very apt. Henry generally gives me the impression he’d be a good coach somewhere in the future
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Those Rashford chances I'd imagine Martial would have stroked in. Shame Tony can't seem to keep fit!

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