Summer 2013 Transfer Rumour Thread - Mk3

I think it suits him well, and I'll explain myself. In a situation such as the one you described, where we win the ball in midfield and try to quickly open the opposition defence, the typical way to do it is indeed to find a quick striker who can get behind the back line and comfortably finish.

An alternative, however, is to play a "false 9", which is a role Lambert excels in. He drops deep, towards the ball, and brings his marker with him. From then on, the AMC or one of the wingers (preferably Rodriguez) drifts into the space that Lambert has opened up and attempts to run in behind the back line, and the ball is played to him. This is why I advocate playing Rodriguez wide left with Lambert up front: Rodriguez is the quick finisher, as you put it, and he overlaps Lambert to get in behind.

With the more typical and rigid strategy of simply having the quick poacher up front from the start, it's common for that player to just get marked out of the game, especially when the opposition plays a deep line, unless he's a very complete striker with great pace, height and strength. I prefer the idea of fluidly overlapping forwards, pulling defenders and generally being unpredictable. Rickie's intelligent, has all the characteristics of a supporting striker, and tends to be on the same wavelength as Rodriguez and Lallana. I know the goals dried up towards the end of last season, but I believe that was largely down to fatigue (and of course we do need more depth to counter that) rather than the players not suiting the manager's tactics.

The only problem, which DTLW just touched on, is that Ramirez doesn't seem to be the right fit for AMC when we play that way. I reckon he can get better at it, though.

 

I see what you're saying, but to my knowledge (I may be completely wrong) the only teams that have used a false nine with regular success are Barca and Spain. Both these teams have an abundance of talent in the attacking midfield positions which we don't possess.

You are right in that the quick front man will be marked out of the game for long periods, but if we steal the ball mid way into the opponents half, which I think is what the high pressing is intended to do, then we bypass their midfield meaning their defence does get dragged out, leaving space for the striker to seize on through balls. If Lambert were that striker then he would drop deep to receive the ball, if it was a quick poacher type then I believe he would be going in behind looking for a through ball.

 

And THIS, is exactly why I am glad it is Pochettino's decision to make. I honestly think we should start looking to life post-Rickie, as hard as that may be to fathom.

 

An example of a lesser team using that strategy is Roma. Francesco Totti as a false nine allowed players like Taddei, Perrotta and Mancini to cause havoc.

Also Arsenal often deploy such a tactic to release Walcott, I suspect Swansea will often do the same with Michu, and I don't know if you watched any of Shakhtar's games last season but that's pretty much what they did with Mkhitaryan.

I think this is true for teams that play a positive game with a high line, but not so when we come up against a team that purposefully keeps a deep back line. We need to have different strategies to suit the occasion, basically.

 

And we can get better at making him better at it. For Rickie to work as a deep-lying 'false nine', two things need to happen. One, he needs to make decisions quickly; when he played the ball quickly to a streaking Rodriguez, good things happened, and having Ramirez running into space offers similar opportunities. When Rickie holds the ball and waits for the rest of the team to arrive, it bogs down. Two, he needs to remain (relatively) central...if he drops off to a position on the wing fifty yards from the goal, the defender is not going to go with him.

 

I think it works okay with Lambert. Pressing high up the pitch means Lambert has to do less running up and down the field. He's not the kind of guy who can get the ball on the counter and outrace 2 defenders 30 yards to the goal.

This way, you shrink the field so Lambert isn't having to cover as much ground. Someone knicks it off a defender, Lambert will be right there. He doesn't have to get behind the defender, all he needs is to create just a bit of space and he's good at that. Also, the way we play means the attackers have to play some defense, and Lambert is a bit more well-rounded than the typical striker and can make a tackle or two. And if he's the one who steals the ball, he knows how to pass as well. Lambert's a good target, and he can shoot from distance and create space. It's no problem for him if there's a defender in front of him as long as he gets the ball in striking distance of the goal.

In some ways, it's harder for a speed guy like Rodriguez. If you are defending even up the pitch, then you're behind the ball and on the wrong side of the attacker-turned-sudden-defender. He can't play off the shoulders of the last guy like he wants. And there's not enough space for him to race past.

I think you need a striker with quickness more than speed. And really not so much physical quickness but mental. Can you go instantly from defense to offense? Can you get the ball and read the situation faster than your opponents and make a move (whether to shoot or pass) before they can? Lambert has that midfielder side to him. And really when you press like that you're kind of turning your forwards into midfielders, IMO.

 

Inter rumoured to opened talks on Ramirez

 

If we sell Ramirez wouldn't be the end of the world, it would be a bit of a shame because it would have been interesting to see if he could truly adapt to the EPL and excel as we all hoped in his second season

 

Is Ramirez even on tour with the lads? Didn't play a part in the first game and not seen him in any of the pictures.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23364260?#

Sour grapes!

 

Does he not understanding bidding, he seemed surprised that when more than one party was involved the price rose, well der.

 

Uruguay was in the final stages of the Confederations Cup. He then had a holiday and was always known to be the last to join up with Saints preseason.

 

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OK, fair enough. Shame, I was thinking Ramirez was one of the players that would have benefited most from a good warm up and some team building.

 

Saints are expecting Gaston to join up with the rest of the squad over the weekend.

 

Silly season's well and truly underway with respect to the big clubs. Some crazy transfers being discussed in the papers - Bale to United, Rooney to Chelsea, Suarez to Arsenal... anyone see any of those actually happening?

 

None of them have made any big money buys yet so anything is possible! If the price is right anyone is available hopefully it causes confusion in the ranks! So we can slip into the top unnoticed! Spur without Bale would see them drop down the table. The same if Suarez leaves Liverpool. I'm a bit surprised with Chelsea stating they only want to buy Rooney?

 

Well given that Arsenal and Chelsea have already made official approaches for Suarez and Rooney, who have both asked to leave, yes I can.

 

I've probgably missed is, but I don't think anyone has posted this link yet?

http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2013/07/verona-midfielder-wanted-by-southampton/

 

Not that actual link, but it's known he's said to being followed by Saints. Whether he really is or not is another matter.

Incidentally, I noticed on the accompanying, normally very annoying VOD that the Napoli squad went white water rafting. Kind of puts the dangers of fire-walking into perspective. I know which is more potentially dangerous by a mile.