Anyonelse slightly concerned that we have signed 2 right backs yet Yoshida played there whilst they both sat on the bench? Seems strange to me!!!
I was being serious. I thought he played well there last night, and is a better defender than the likes of Targett.
The way FC Michelin-Man liked to play, and with Yoshida able to play RB, I understood the reasoning behind having a bigger defender playing at RB, instead of the 5ft 7in Soares. Would expect to see Sores come back into the team on Sunday for sure.
I thought Maya did a suitable job last night in the main, from a defensive point of view the tactics worked well with him there. I did feel though that by having him there it meant he was marked much deeper and that left Mane marked out the game a bit as the full back could afford to sit back and mark him more often. Hence why most of his good work seemed to come about after he moved more centrally. I like Maya, he's a decent CB and will do a good job for us, however if we want the best out of Mane or Tadic in another game (including the return leg), we need to play Cuco or Soares to pull their full back higher and give our winger the space in the gap.
Well it sure as hell didn't work, especially in the first half. We were all over the place defensively in the first half.
What Cedric would have offered going forward would have more than made up for his lack of height to defend set pieces with. I imagine he'd have caused them all sorts of trouble getting forward. Especially with us being at home. Playing Yoshida made it really difficult to get into good positions to cross the ball and get Mane in the game. Their defence wasn't worried about Yoshida at all and could focus almost solely on Mane. Our team is big enough as it is with two tall strong DMs and a tall strong centre forward. There was no real need to play Yoshida at right back. It was key that Pelle had a great game or we would have been completely out of ideas going forward.
I can see the argument that maybe Soares should have played, but I'm still not worried about it. Reed and Koeman have earned enough rope that I trust their reasoning. Doesn't mean they don't make mistakes, but even in that situation I believe those errors will be rectified going forward.
I thought it was an awful tactic to play him there. The team was so unbalanced. The man cannot pass a football. We had no width. We should have played cedric, to give him game time and practice against physical opposition and to force them to defend. It was a negative decision to play Yoshida IMO
Sounds very odd to me; would want your attacking right back playing at home against them surely - take the game to the opposition at home and all that
Don't get me wrong he was ok, better defensively than target or soares. As other's have said offers less going forward. With the exception of Everton he comes in and does a solid job. Can't understand the Yoshi bashing but would prefer him at CB. 3 CB's would offer target more protection?
I agree. Really surprised how negative is being against Maya - genuinely thought he had a good game on Thursday.
Yeah, he did okay. But it was still evident that he was out of position. So for me the OPs question still stands. We have just brought in not one but two right backs, yet we played 90 mins with a central defender in the position. Why? I'm more than willing to trust Ronalds team selection, but that was a little curious to say the least. For what it's worth, I think Targett did okay and improved as the game went on, but this was a game when we really missed both Bertrand and that other bloke; the one that went to Liverpool and probably stalled his career.
And that was because Yoshida was RB? Give over! Surely fans can we that we played a team that has build its reputation in set pieces with big physical olayers and so Ron decided not to play a tiny RB. If our fans can't see or understand that then no wonder I shake my head at half the stuff or read and hear.
I understand the decision, but I still think it was the wrong one personally. A) How will Cedric learn to cope with a more physical game if he doesn't get given a chance B) We were at home, we should have been more positive C) If he doesn't trust him, why did we buy him?
