Yes. The beard is the cats whiskers.

Lets not judge them, either way, before a ball is even kicked. Its a massive job long term for them all.

comment by RB&W - He kicked lumps out of them (U21434)
posted 30 minutes ago
Lets not judge them, either way, before a ball is even kicked. Its a massive job long term for them all.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Agreed. But I'm interested in getting to know more about them, and not ashamed to be optimistic.

Was just listening to Whitwell talking to the Stretford Paddock crew.

He was saying all the signals he’s reading are pointing towards Ineos expecting and planning for Amorim and his team being in for the long run, regardless of how things go in the first couple of seasons.

There’s a recognition in the hierarchy that even Amorim’s backroom staff are very, very young, and that with the squad and youngsters coming through, they’ll also have a lot of learning to do as they not only adapt to the English game, but also grow into their own roles.

I get the impression he thinks (and fwiw, I hope he’s right) that Ineos are going all in on an Amorim Project, and will at least want to try to stick with him through hell and high water, if it comes to that.

born in Angola like United legend Manucho
-----------------------------
exciting times!

comment by It’s time for some Lancashire hotPote, Ruben (U17054)
posted 10 minutes ago
Was just listening to Whitwell talking to the Stretford Paddock crew.

He was saying all the signals he’s reading are pointing towards Ineos expecting and planning for Amorim and his team being in for the long run, regardless of how things go in the first couple of seasons.

There’s a recognition in the hierarchy that even Amorim’s backroom staff are very, very young, and that with the squad and youngsters coming through, they’ll also have a lot of learning to do as they not only adapt to the English game, but also grow into their own roles.

I get the impression he thinks (and fwiw, I hope he’s right) that Ineos are going all in on an Amorim Project, and will at least want to try to stick with him through hell and high water, if it comes to that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

A bit off-topic but I'm not doing another article: here's quite an interesting and very detailed breakdown of Amorim's tactics followed by assessment of suitability of our current squad to the roles. This guy may be wrong, but he's clearly thought about it a lot more than me.

https://thedevilsdna.com/?p=274244

A lot of it chimes with conversations we've already had. Biggest surprise for me is the idea that Lisandro could be the ideal central CB, because that player tends to have a pivotal role in build-up, often stepping into midfield to receive from the keeper with back to goal. If he's right about the profiles of the respective CBs, this is bad news for De Ligt: he doesn't have the ground coverage a wide CB needs, and he lacks the passing / turning on the ball excellence of the central defender.

I try not to get too excited, but there's something about this appointment that Feels Different™ this time!

6th time lucky, as they say.

comment by Ji Sung Park's Cousin (U2958)
posted 9 minutes ago
I try not to get too excited, but there's something about this appointment that Feels Different™ this time!

6th time lucky, as they say.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 1 minute ago
A bit off-topic but I'm not doing another article: here's quite an interesting and very detailed breakdown of Amorim's tactics followed by assessment of suitability of our current squad to the roles. This guy may be wrong, but he's clearly thought about it a lot more than me.

https://thedevilsdna.com/?p=274244

A lot of it chimes with conversations we've already had. Biggest surprise for me is the idea that Lisandro could be the ideal central CB, because that player tends to have a pivotal role in build-up, often stepping into midfield to receive from the keeper with back to goal. If he's right about the profiles of the respective CBs, this is bad news for De Ligt: he doesn't have the ground coverage a wide CB needs, and he lacks the passing / turning on the ball excellence of the central defender.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Interesting, and only skimmed it, but:

- I think he’s wrong about Martinez at CCB for various reasons. Most obviously, he doesn’t look anything like Coates or Diomande, and I think the author may have misread the role a little (particularly defensively). Amorim won’t decide who is playing CCB based on the first phase of play.

- For me, he puts too much emphasis on the differences between the CM roles. Yes, Hjulmand and Morita/Bragança have different kinds of attributes, but offensively and defensively they rotate literally all the time; it isn’t Hjulmand sitting whilst the other drives forwards. If Amorim wants to use the same system, Mainoo and Ugarte, for example, will both be expected to get involved in build up play, crash the box and cover for each other.

- Same can be said of the tens. Like Trincão, Pote isn’t a second striker, and I would bet that if you looked at their heat maps, you wouldn’t find that Pote spends any more time up alongside Gyokeres than Trincão. Again, they’ll both drop deep occasionally to link or carry, but they rotate in doing so, and their roles are pretty similar.

comment by It’s time for some Lancashire hotPote, Ruben (U17054)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 1 minute ago
A bit off-topic but I'm not doing another article: here's quite an interesting and very detailed breakdown of Amorim's tactics followed by assessment of suitability of our current squad to the roles. This guy may be wrong, but he's clearly thought about it a lot more than me.

https://thedevilsdna.com/?p=274244

A lot of it chimes with conversations we've already had. Biggest surprise for me is the idea that Lisandro could be the ideal central CB, because that player tends to have a pivotal role in build-up, often stepping into midfield to receive from the keeper with back to goal. If he's right about the profiles of the respective CBs, this is bad news for De Ligt: he doesn't have the ground coverage a wide CB needs, and he lacks the passing / turning on the ball excellence of the central defender.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Interesting, and only skimmed it, but:

- I think he’s wrong about Martinez at CCB for various reasons. Most obviously, he doesn’t look anything like Coates or Diomande, and I think the author may have misread the role a little (particularly defensively). Amorim won’t decide who is playing CCB based on the first phase of play.

- For me, he puts too much emphasis on the differences between the CM roles. Yes, Hjulmand and Morita/Bragança have different kinds of attributes, but offensively and defensively they rotate literally all the time; it isn’t Hjulmand sitting whilst the other drives forwards. If Amorim wants to use the same system, Mainoo and Ugarte, for example, will both be expected to get involved in build up play, crash the box and cover for each other.

- Same can be said of the tens. Like Trincão, Pote isn’t a second striker, and I would bet that if you looked at their heat maps, you wouldn’t find that Pote spends any more time up alongside Gyokeres than Trincão. Again, they’ll both drop deep occasionally to link or carry, but they rotate in doing so, and their roles are pretty similar.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How do you know so much about Portuguese football?

On points two and three above, just pop over to Sporting’s WhoScored page and across shots per game, chance creation, passes, touches and defensive actions, check out:

- Bragança vs Hjulmand vs Morita (who share the two CM berths), and

- Pote vs Trincão.

They’re very, very remarkably similar figures.

comment by It’s time for some Lancashire hotPote, Ruben (U17054)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 1 minute ago
A bit off-topic but I'm not doing another article: here's quite an interesting and very detailed breakdown of Amorim's tactics followed by assessment of suitability of our current squad to the roles. This guy may be wrong, but he's clearly thought about it a lot more than me.

https://thedevilsdna.com/?p=274244

A lot of it chimes with conversations we've already had. Biggest surprise for me is the idea that Lisandro could be the ideal central CB, because that player tends to have a pivotal role in build-up, often stepping into midfield to receive from the keeper with back to goal. If he's right about the profiles of the respective CBs, this is bad news for De Ligt: he doesn't have the ground coverage a wide CB needs, and he lacks the passing / turning on the ball excellence of the central defender.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Interesting, and only skimmed it, but:

- I think he’s wrong about Martinez at CCB for various reasons. Most obviously, he doesn’t look anything like Coates or Diomande, and I think the author may have misread the role a little (particularly defensively). Amorim won’t decide who is playing CCB based on the first phase of play.

- For me, he puts too much emphasis on the differences between the CM roles. Yes, Hjulmand and Morita/Bragança have different kinds of attributes, but offensively and defensively they rotate literally all the time; it isn’t Hjulmand sitting whilst the other drives forwards. If Amorim wants to use the same system, Mainoo and Ugarte, for example, will both be expected to get involved in build up play, crash the box and cover for each other.

- Same can be said of the tens. Like Trincão, Pote isn’t a second striker, and I would bet that if you looked at their heat maps, you wouldn’t find that Pote spends any more time up alongside Gyokeres than Trincão. Again, they’ll both drop deep occasionally to link or carry, but they rotate in doing so, and their roles are pretty similar.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Is it OK with you if I condense your comment into an abusive post on his Twitter feed?

comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 6 minutes ago
comment by It’s time for some Lancashire hotPote, Ruben (U17054)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 1 minute ago
A bit off-topic but I'm not doing another article: here's quite an interesting and very detailed breakdown of Amorim's tactics followed by assessment of suitability of our current squad to the roles. This guy may be wrong, but he's clearly thought about it a lot more than me.

https://thedevilsdna.com/?p=274244

A lot of it chimes with conversations we've already had. Biggest surprise for me is the idea that Lisandro could be the ideal central CB, because that player tends to have a pivotal role in build-up, often stepping into midfield to receive from the keeper with back to goal. If he's right about the profiles of the respective CBs, this is bad news for De Ligt: he doesn't have the ground coverage a wide CB needs, and he lacks the passing / turning on the ball excellence of the central defender.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Interesting, and only skimmed it, but:

- I think he’s wrong about Martinez at CCB for various reasons. Most obviously, he doesn’t look anything like Coates or Diomande, and I think the author may have misread the role a little (particularly defensively). Amorim won’t decide who is playing CCB based on the first phase of play.

- For me, he puts too much emphasis on the differences between the CM roles. Yes, Hjulmand and Morita/Bragança have different kinds of attributes, but offensively and defensively they rotate literally all the time; it isn’t Hjulmand sitting whilst the other drives forwards. If Amorim wants to use the same system, Mainoo and Ugarte, for example, will both be expected to get involved in build up play, crash the box and cover for each other.

- Same can be said of the tens. Like Trincão, Pote isn’t a second striker, and I would bet that if you looked at their heat maps, you wouldn’t find that Pote spends any more time up alongside Gyokeres than Trincão. Again, they’ll both drop deep occasionally to link or carry, but they rotate in doing so, and their roles are pretty similar.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Is it OK with you if I condense your comment into an abusive post on his Twitter feed?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Please do

(I actually think it’s a pretty good analysis, RR Just nitpicking really.)

comment by It’s time for some Lancashire hotPote, Ruben (U17054)
posted 8 minutes ago
(I actually think it’s a pretty good analysis, RRJust nitpicking really.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Always good to test different informed opinions against each other.

comment by Ali - 🇪🇦 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (U1192)
posted 50 minutes ago
comment by Ji Sung Park's Cousin (U2958)
posted 9 minutes ago
I try not to get too excited, but there's something about this appointment that Feels Different™ this time!

6th time lucky, as they say.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------
I will remain hugely optimistic and excited until my first FFS against Ipswich as within the first 20 minutes we destroy Amorims years of work and faith in a back three.

I'm deferring judgement about Amorim until I get to see what the Ipswich match thread has to say.

Frustrating how much I love this fckin club though that every new gaffer or new season I am fully thinking we are gonna be back!

This time it REALLY feels like it though. But long term.

I'm most interested in the GK coach. Can he get Onana to release the ball quicker?

Looks like you gone full Portuguese or have you still got some Brits kicking around to interpret the FFSs for them?

comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 3 hours, 20 minutes ago
I'm deferring judgement about Amorim until I get to see what the Ipswich match thread has to say.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I think it’s high time we had a separate Portuguese match thread.

Hope Alternative Comms will be using this, RR.

Good article, glad to get an overview of the good guys in charge for the next 12 months

comment by Onana_banana_fi_fa_fofana (U20611)
posted 4 hours, 10 minutes ago
I'm most interested in the GK coach. Can he get Onana to release the ball quicker?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I wouldn't be surprised if Amorim likes to use the goalkeeper to bait the forward so spaces appear to play in behind.