im not going to get on to AVB here, it's just bloody ridiculous. the man has had 3 games in charge, is finding his feet and is trying to implement something which will takeus forward. we look rusty and are making mistakes, but I can see where it's going and the style/posession has the right idea behind it.
we have a slight issue IMO, which is the defensive 2. this isn't working, but i'm now starting to think that it's to do with the players and not the tactics.
The problem lies with players like livermore. he's a good player, but with this new formation, he's just not suited to it. the defensive players need to be able to play that role, but they need other elements to their game and more weapons in their armoury. sandro has these qualities to succeed whenhe gets used to what's require from him as an allound game package within this formation, but livermore doesnt. Parker might be that man to fix things, but I can see him struggling to adjust too. we need the "modric" replacement in that position. someone who can sit and defend when needed, but someone who can also get forward, before returning to help out defensively. a box to box midfielder. Joao Moutinho. that deal should have been wrapped up. we are desperate for the qualities he possesses and we're going to really struggle with out a player of is type, his attributes and his intelligence, sat in that position.
Defoe will not work in his position at all, ever, IMO. he just doesn't possess the necessary attributes to do so. end of, as far as I'm concerned.
dembele has shown us today just what he's got in the locker. we couldnt ask for much more from someone who signed a couple of days ago and doesn't even know his team mates. what a start and about the only positive thing today other than BF. - but what if he gets injured? we have no other game changing players of world class stature, becausewesold both of them. (yes I know why we did, and the business decisions made sense, but they should have been replaced).
must like fulham have had their heart ripped out by losing dembele and dempsey, we've had the same treatment losing VDV and modric with no replacements of the same ilk made.
we've very short of game changers.
i'm really disappointed i Levy, despite the quality he's signed. we've just not done enough, not got enough options and overall it's a real let down.
but I refuse to blame AVB. the signs are there for improvement, but I don't think he's got the strength in the squad to make his ideas work, unfortunately.