Amazing how much better a team can look when a creative player or two are on the pitch, eh? Both Gio and Eriksen were brilliant. Dave Sanchez was also excellent at the back - again. Harry put in a real shift.
It's about getting some balance. I'm really pissed at Mourinho's comments about not fixing defensive issues, so as not to affect our attack. It's complete bollocks for a manager of his experience and ability to come out with stuff like that. If he can't walk and chew gum at the same time, he can **** off. Picking a pair of nightclub bouncers in midfield doesn't mean you control the middle of the park...and we really don't under Mourinho. Today was a fantastic opportunity for Mourinho to start Lo Celso. We were at home to Brighton who are organised and durable but do come out to play these days. He fluffed it and we just about got out of jail in the second half. Had we drawn or lost, no doubt it would be weeks before we saw Lo Celso again. Yes, he hasn't fully acclimatised. Yes, he will make the odd mistake but it's not like he's expected to replace Mousa Dembele from 2015/6 or '16/17. Now start him at Norwich!
I refuse to believe that Eric Dier has shown 90 minutes worth of fitness in training, yet he's been a near-permanent part of our starting lineups
I'm not having that. Dier lumbers around like me first thing in the morning, he gets hooked before the second half, but makes the team on a regular basis. He couldn't look less fit.
Lo Celso and Ndombele cost us the thick end of £100m. Daniel Levy didn't buy them because he felt the need for some retail therapy. They're players who can control matches and open teams up. I understand using players who are used to the league and each other for the first few games. However, this summer, the club were ready to listen to offers for Aurier and Dier for good reason. It's time for Mouriinho to pick Foyth, Lo Celso, Ndombele and Sessegnon more regularly. If he doesn't, he's in the wrong job.
Atrocious showing in the first half rescued by some good fortune combined with sheer determination in the second. The game changed with the Gio for Sess swap. The latter started brightly but struggled to have any kind of impact on the game. But that was more down to our tactics than anything else. I'm not sure if it's fair to pick on Aurier as he is (one hopes) merely carrying out his manager's tactical instructions, but the domino effect his presence has on the team took another step for the worst today. Jose started with a basic defensive transition in mind: when in possession, Aurier and Sess pushed high up the flanks with Jan shifting across into a back 3. This reaped fruit early on as Sess looked bright and almost scored with an excellent run which was marginally offside (he hit the post in any event). The plan when out of possession was interesting as it is something we can't do when Son plays as he has zero experience playing as a defender save for a bizarre and untimely experiment in an FA cup semi final: Strangely, Aurier would stay pretty high up the pitch, Jan would stay pretty central and it was Sess who dropped back into a flat 4 as a LB. He isn't suited at all to the role and often seemed confused as to whether he should push forward or drop back, instead hugging the touchline as a comfort zone. It is no coincidence that their goal came from a free kick (for a dive) down his flank. The above isn't quite so mad if you're in possession a lot. But with Sissoko and Winks, that is never going to be the case save for sideways and backwards movement. As a result, Sess spent the bulk of the first half in pointlessly wide or deep positions. This led to Dele and Lucas shifting across the pitch (the former struggles on the left as he has no left foot, the latter was actually trying to make things happen and is stronger played more central but lacks any end product), which in turn led to Aurier being exposed, which in turn led to Sissoko spending an inordinate amount of time on the right flank, which in turn led to gaping holes through the middle, which in turn led to us having less control over the game, which in turn led to Sess being pinned back and hugging the touchline, which in turn led to the same vicious cycle repeating itself over and over again. If I, a bad tempered man with a keyboard, can see it, what on earth are the coaching staff watching? The game changed when Gio came on. I was expecting him - as a left footer - to be given the same brief as Sess, but he wasn't. He went out to the right, Lucas pushed inside, Dele went left, Jan went to LB and we stopped the nonsense of the entire team having to adapt to accommodate the whims of Serge Aurier. We still had almost no control of the middle, but with Gio and soon after him Eriksen on the pitch, we found ourselves in 'possession mode' far more often than in the first half and so Aurier's weaknesses weren't as pronounced. Lucas moving centrally also freed up Kane to start roving across the front 3, which he did superbly - that was probably his best 45 of the season in terms of effort. With Winks and Sissoko both out for Norwich, it'll be interesting to see how we set up. I wouldn't mind seeing a 433 with Dier sitting in between Lo Celso and Tanguy with Kane, Alli and Lucas further forward. I just worry that without Sissoko in the team we'll have no one to babysit Aurier and Norwich will target that flank relentlessly.
Lo Celso and Eriksen need to start the next game. Ndombele should too, if he's fit. We need to control games and we'll do that by winning the midfield battle. We've been basically playing with one man in there recently and it shows.
The thing with playing asymmetrical fullbacks is that there's only one way to set up either flank If Aurier starts, he needs Lamela in front of him If Foyth starts, he needs Lucas in front of him The issue at the moment is we're not doing that, we're actually setting up with the worst combination available so end up with Aurier playing as a winger, Sissoko at right back, and Lucas is cutting far to deep inside...and a nervous breakdown every time the opponents break in midfield
Agreed. I was intrigued at the possibility of seeing us use out and out wing backs today. A few of us (myself and PS among others) have been calling for it for a while. But as a system it isn't possible unless you control the midfield. The biggest problem with most of our midfielders is that 80% of their game is reactive rather than proactive. I.e. making up for mistakes made in possession by themselves or others. We are fortunate that Winks and Sissoko are generally very good at firefighting. But a team with CL aspirations simply shouldn't be spending so much time on the back foot and panicking.
Interesting comments from Maureen after the game. Looks like he wanted to start Tanguy but the player himself asked to be omitted from the match day squad. Not injured, just not in the right 'condition' to play due to fear of a recurring injury, whatever that means. Not sure how much his 'condition' can change between now and saturday night but it'll have to as we have no other options!
