I didn't think that Reguilon was registered for the Premier League, but I've just checked and he is. Rather silly to never use him, in that case. Not having the right squad balance to be able to register him and Spence in Europe was awful planning, though. The homegrown and club-trained failures were exceptionally short-sighted. I agree about Postecoglou's style of play being very demanding. Combining that with the extra games is a lot to ask for many of our players. I don't think that the stop-start nature that's settled into the league is helping, either. VAR, the extra-time that comes with it and the influx of faked injuries has made things very choppy.
Yeah that was me. There's a myth that we work hardest and run furthest but it isn't true. The system is designed to produce loads of sprints because multiple players are constantly 40-50 yards out of position. One solution is to change the system. I think we know that ain't happening unless Ange leaves. The alternative is to invest heavily in better players who will minimise sprinting by minimising the opposition's ability to beat our press and catch us out of position. The area in question is the midfield.
I mentioned similar in the summer and at the end of last season that we needed better players to make Ange's system flaws seem less of an issue and we all know how the summer turned out... It's partly why I now struggle to see him lasting the season. He'll be the fall guy for the board's lack of intent to bring in quality and unfortunately for Ange he isn't anywhere near as good a manager/ coach as Pochettino to be able to improve the current personnel and work within financial/ quality restraints, especially with all the injuries we keep picking up, players are falling like dominos again.
I think there is truth to this. In a way comparing him to Poch isn't fair as I believe the latter was the perfect fit at the perfect time for the club, but it is very difficult to ignore the fact that aside from Porro and arguably Sarr, we haven't seen sustained and consistent improvement in any of our players so far. If anything, more appear to have regressed than progressed. In a funny way, Ange seems to be exactly like Maureen or Conte. He needs the best players out there in order to succeed. The only significant difference is that his interpretation of football is miles more palatable than theirs. But the conditions for success seem to be the same. And we can't or won't provide that. I fear the club may have totally overlooked this obvious problem when it appointed him.
I think I'll always compare managers to Poch to be honest, as well as Redknapp and Jol, as they were the three transformative managers in my life time and each set the benchmark of where you'd want a manager to match or better. Jol got us back on the map, Redknapp got us into the Champions League and Poch got us to finals and competing at the top of the table. I'm not even sure he can take much credit for Sarr or Porro to be honest. Sarr's talent was evident under Conte, he dropped a MOTM performance away at the San Siro but was then rarely seen again, we can definitely credit Ange for simiply playing him though. Porro was tearing it up in Porgual and probably just needed an adjustment period here, he still has his defensive flaws and the current system isn't getting the most out of his attacking ones at present.
A few PL clubs do a winter training session in Dubai, which definitely does not need investigating because surely there's plenty of warm places a lot closer...?
"If a club has an injury crisis but the manager doesn't bang on about it in every press conference, is it really an injury crisis?" - literally every pundit's take on our current injury crisis
Dan KP has confirmed that the club is undertaking a thorough review of the medical staff and their methods following our latest wave of injuries. What's worrying is that we undertook a similar review in the summer which apparently led to a number of personnel and practice changes, and it doesn't appear to have solved anything.
Could be random luck but could also tie into the idea the intensive style just isn’t sustainable. Especially without 22 (21 if we say the keeper doesn’t need much rotation) players of equal calibre, which is likely never gonna be achieved anyway.
I was reading the opinions of some Celtic fans about Postecoglou's time with them and he had a similar issue. I don't think that his style of football is sustainable in the Premier League and Europe without a massive squad.
Agreed. It has to be the style of play and training that has led to the high number of injuries. That along with rushing players back too quickly from injuries, ie Richarlison, Romero & VdV AND not rotating players in certain positions.
Ange has said a few times that his squads often encounter fitness issues in their first season with him while they adapt to his methods. He obviously doesn't realise that in the PL, this process is likely to take a lot longer, if it succeeds at all. This isn't the SPL where you can charge into a 2-0 lead and then enjoy a leisurely training session for the bulk of the game. Hopefully the Brighton and Chelsea collapses have made this clear.
Dan KP says the club have launched a review of the medical department Djed Spence may have an opinion...
