Just tell it like it is and cut all the crap, Davitt. I mentioned Leitner and Amadou in place of Mclean and Trybull the other day and still think it could work. From yesterday at 7.30 a.m.
I claim my prize . I posted this on the Rumours thread just before the Amadou/Chalobah/Drinkwater links first surfaced:
I've suggested itas well but Robbie wins the prize for being there first! I think PD comes on here to steal our suggestions and then feels the need to dress them up in hifalutin language in the hope that no one will notice! As for the formation, Robbie, it's more like the 4-1-1-3-1 you mention with Leitner moving up towards Stiepermann when we're attacking and dropping back to CM when the ball is lost. That allows him to play as a deep playmaker when back and then as a number 10 if Stiepermann moved to a flank as the wide player draws his marker out of position, which is one of DF's favourite tactics.
I like that idea, with 13 outfield players we can get lots more of our talented midfielders on the pitch. Bah!
Also to be factored in is the additional dimension that Amadou reportedly brings. My understanding is that he is a genuine "pivot" (think Pirlo, who revolutionised the role of the traditional No.6 (e.g. Mascherano at Chelsea, Kante at Leicester), metamorphosing it from pure defensive midfielder into defensive midfielder who is also the team's deep-lying play maker). We haven't had such a player in recent years. What I am expecting is to see the back five playing out principally to Amadou, with Leitner freed to do what he excels at, which is combining with those in front of him to work the ball swiftly forward with short passing to open up the opposition defence.
There's also the possibility that Amadou and Leitner could form a double pivot in DF's preferred 4-1-4-1 formation where Amadou receives the ball from defence and either interacts with Leitner as the forward play-maker or carries the ball forward himself if the space is there (as he also has box to box CM skills), or plays it to one of the attacking players who has found space to lay it off or shoot himself. If the ball is lost, both Leitner and Amadou fall back to shield the defence while the FBs and wide players retreat to their defensive positions. That gives a variety of options within the midfield like those already seen in the movement of the attacking players, with the difference that it features a pacy DM who can also break up attacks and move the ball forward quickly. It's a whole new possibility for PL farkeball.
One interesting tactical quandry for Herr Farke is what balance he needs to strike in attack vs defence. As I recall the much vaunted cup performances vs Arse and Chelski in his first season were during a period of fairly defensive football where we were showing some form, but for the main in the form of 1-0 wins. We performed well then but there were ironically given what we have seen since big doubts about whether we could under Farke ever really create and score enough goals. We all love the attacking football and I certainly don't want us to astart trying to park the bus, but is our balance right? Are we just a little too open/gungho? Time I think will tell as we play more sides swimming more in our non-top 6 waters. Bah!
The balance in attack and defence is absolutely at the heart of tactics. The 4-1-4-1 formation I mentioned becomes a 4-4-1-1 when defending. The key is pace and we have a lot of that (more when Amadou is playing), allowing Jamal to get back into position supported by the pacy wide players. Jamal often hangs back a bit as Ben powers forward so that he can get back to join a 3 at the back until Ben is back in position. It also means we can counter quickly with medium length passing if we get players in space.
Great article from PD's interview with DF this morning - "If we stick together and work further on with the same spirit then you have the chance to celebrate another big party," he said. "We know it is Everest again without the tools but let's see the outcome. We are not naïve. We are the favourite to finish in position 20, but we broke the rules in the Championship. "We were told with those players we could not win playing attacking football." "I don't want to talk about league positions. I just want us to stick to our principles. We want to show our belief can work in the top flight. "We have this mentality that we fight for each goal and each minute and I have told the players this. If we go with this style I will protect you and back you and not complain about a lack of quality." "We are not going to park the bus in front of the goal. That is not our playing style, although we know it will be much more difficult to dominate possession like we did several times last season." City's starting line up at Anfield featured a clutch of academy talent such as Ben Godfrey, Todd Cantwell and Max Aarons. "We know in every game we are the underdog. We play with a very young side and we don't have the financial opportunities of other teams," said Farke. "It can be a positive that we do not have a lot of experience in the Premier League. In many respects we need to try and keep this naivety. "We will stick to our plan, our principles.2 "This squad is made for playing this type of football. If we try to defend or rely on individual quality in this league we have no chance. Whether this is good enough at the end we will see. We won the title last season and it was well deserved. "So it's important we take this confidence with us. "I know if we lose three games in a row in this league there will be some criticism. But one thing is for sure we all know inside the club what we are trying to do. "I have a business degree as well and if I wanted realistic targets I would work in that industry. Believe me." #YouGottaLoveTheGuy
Another interesting stat. "Friday's match against Norwich was only the 4th match at Anfield in which their opponents restricted Liverpool to fewer than 500 passes since the start of the 2017/18 season. The others were against Tottenham (twice) and Man City!" Also, here's an evaluation of the match not based on pundit prejudices: https://welovebetting.co.uk/weekend-debrief-the-pitfalls-of-outcome-bias/ This says it all: "You’d have to be a dope to ignore the fearless intent from Norwich on Merseyside. Liverpool allowed more shots at Anfield on Friday than in any home Premier League game last season, and the Reds conceded five on-target efforts – more than any Anfield outing in 2018/19. So why are focusing all our attention on their supposed defensive flaws? Firstly, Liverpool were below last term’s average in their Expected Goals (xG), shots, shots on-target and shots in the box figures. I know game state plays a part here and the hosts noticeably took their foot off the gas in the second period, but I’d still argue they were far from dominating in the first-half. Secondly, Norwich were without key centre-half and skipper Christoph Zimmermann. Peculiarly, Aston Villa were described as “brave” and putting up “stern resistance” following their 3-1 loss at White Hart Lane. That was despite grabbing an early breakaway goal and facing a relentless Spurs side that pressed and pressured before finally getting their rewards for an assertive performance the final half hour. Villa were well and fairly beaten whichever way you look at it."
Another look at the game from one of our fans at the game (from the Pink'un board): "Just some summary thoughts from the match: At half time, I am pleased to report the vibe in the away end was not a reflection of the negativity of the pinkun match thread and 'chants of ‘yellows yellows’ rung out as the players wandered off. There were no grumblings and no finger pointing at individuals (although Hanley did have a stinker...). There was simply so much from us to enjoy from the performance, we had taken the game to Liverpool at Anfield, created excellent chances and played big bolluck football out from the back with no fear. The scoreline itself felt like a kick in the stomach, but I don’t think anyone thought 4-0 at half time was a fair reflection of that game. I did wonder if this would become the theme of the season as has been the case in previous years. The ‘proud of the lads’ posts, the plucky underdog moments and all of those what ifs and maybes. I spent halftime pondering all of them. It all seemed so unfortunate yet so familiar. That said, I thought offensively we had looked even sharper than last season, considering there were no new additions starting and the huge step up in quality of opposition, we managed to up the tempo and play our intricate football at a pace I have not seen it played at before. I was also impressed with the freedom our back 4 were playing with in possession. Particularly Lewis and Godfrey. Liverpool’s press was putting a lot of pressure on us and we generally coped with it well, I don’t recall us stupidly losing possession many times at all in the first half. They made it super difficult for us but when we managed to beat the press - sexy football ensued. Was great to see Cantwell continue his preseason form, he looks a completely different prospect this season. Krul was also calmness personified on the ball. He seems to have turned a mental corner from where he was at 12 months ago - there were no jitters, he was not to blame for any goal and he looks reassured as our number 1. I was really pleased with how things panned out in the second half, without actually playing notably better. The luck appeared to balance out somewhat, with Liverpool missing some great chances, Krul compounding his stable first half performance with some superb saves and a great goal for Pukki to boot. Excellent! However it did appear that Liverpool had taken it down a gear in this half, understandably so. There were also some really sloppy moments from us in possession that we didn’t concede in the first half, Godfrey and Cantwell both at fault for dallying too long on the ball - fortunately neither chance led to a goal. Buendia had been fairly quiet but grew into the game and capped it off with the assist. I thought Leitner’s introduction really helped us galvanise some neat passages of play, allowing us to apply more prolonged pressure on Liverpool. As to the negativity and finger pointing in the match thread, really? Hanley getting some unnecessary stick, other than the stinker I thought he did a decent job. He is about the level I would expect our 4th choice CB to be at. Our midfield pair of Trybull and McLean got overran, yes they did, good spot guys. This PAIR also played in the championship last season and are now playing against Liverpool’s midfield THREE (three is more than two) at Anfield! We let in 4 goals, Krul must be benched! Come on! I am not against constructive criticism at all but this is pathetic to read after just the first 45 minutes of our season against bloody Liverpool. I saw plenty of signs tonight (even at half time) that this will be a really special season and I am despondent to see others clearly not on board and showing so much negativity. This team is going to make mistakes, we are a young side making a big step up with very little in the way of financial support. We are playing the best football I’ve ever seen us play; in a more sustainable way than any other team in the league. What isn’t to like? I can confidently say that I will be sticking with this manager and team all the way wherever we finish this season. If you have not bought into this model by now (which I can only presume is the case for some in the match thread), please just don't bother contributing - because it ain’t getting much better than this."
I haven't yet replayed the Liverpool game to check on my at-the-time impressions, but the Liverpool full backs were the chief architects of our downfall. It's no good having pace if you over-commit against players who have equal pace -- which many in the EPL do. Amadou will help if assigned to cover across the pitch in front of the back line, but IMO it isn't enough to leave just the CBs plus 1 other facing 3 pacy attackers, as happened on Friday and in pre-season against Atalanta.
A positive twist on the Norwich approach: https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...nho-daniel-farke-frank-lampard-premier-league
BBC article on moneyball evaluation of transfer window. Apparently we are the best at it! ' Premier League new boys Norwich City got the steal of the summer. They bought Sam Byram from West Ham for just £747,000. He was valued at £27.7m by the selling club but is significantly lower for Norwich at £7m. They have still secured a player with Premier League experience for just over 10% of his monetary value though.'
David Squires has caricatured Farke and Delia. We have arrived https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...eagues-return-friends-and-the-eye-of-saurinho
