I don;t see why when the biggest reason we got 6th was Roy Hodgson and the second biggest reason was the uncertainty and turmoil caused by G&H. We had the players for 4th last season.
Agreed. Not like we fielded our best XI every single game filling our potential every game and only managing 6th. We got it by playing most of the games in the second half of the season well, despite missing our captain and another few players through injury. This season we'll have them back, have a full season, new players. No reason why we can't compete for 4th.
Good movement = more time and space on the ball. Having more time and space generally leads to better decision making. However, Barcelona are not only good at pressing and moving into space but they have so much confidence in each others ability that they will continue to pass to one another even when they aren't in space. i.e. Xavi/Iniesta are marked closesly but the pass to them is so sharp, and their control is crisp, that they are able to manoeuvre into a new position altogether.
Now if you are going to play a midfield duo against a midfield three,you must have players that can stick their foot in.Thats one of the reasons why Man United surrendered feebly to Barcelona.Carrick and Scholes won't give you that.It may work against the likes of Schalke who don't have dominant midfielders who will stick the boot in. But if you are up against the likes of Sergei Busquets who will stick a foot in and attempt to dominate posession and this allows more talented individuals to work their magic. Look at Liverpool vs Milan in 2005.Liverpool struggled in the first half as Kaka and Gattuso ran riot.They were allowed to,as soon as the system was changed(forced changes may I add),and the introduction of Didi Hamann(God knows why he didn't start instead of hopeless Harry),a no nonsense German that gives nothing away.Kaka had no space to work in because Didi grabbed Gattuso by the balls and squeezed them until they turned purple.This allowed Alonso,Riise,Smicer and Gerrard to push on and it gave them freedom. I'm convinced a midfield duo does work if one of them is dogged and determined and will annoy and bully the opposition. Some people call certain centre half ''pests'' and a ''rash'' ''or an itch that won't go away''.Examples Jamie Carragher,Martin Keown.The same can be said of central midfielders.And I reckon that if Jay Spearing wants to be something,I reckon he should become just that,in other words a pain in the arse...for the opposition.He needs to be allowed to buzz about and just annoy the oppositon.Emlyn Hughes when he played in the centre of midfield was brilliant at it.
