I'm going to suggest he saw, in sequence i.) A foul in the buildup to the goal right in front of him ii.) Replays of the foul in the buildup to the goal, with him clearly visible in at least one shot given how close he was to it iii.) A tin of Brasso, which was fortunate as his neck needed it when he decided to give the goal anyway
He seemed to be trying to see if the Brighton player touched the ball before following through into Hojbjerg. Which is odd since the reference in the Laws to contact with the ball in a tackle was removed years ago. According to the current Laws a tackle is a foul if the referee considers it to be careless, reckless or made with excessive force. Since it is the referees opinion that matters and the criteria are vague in the extreme it seems odd that VAR is involved.
He said to Kane that he thought the player got a touch on the ball. Like you say, it's irrelevant. If there was any contact, then it was extremely minimal. He fouled him with both legs and should've been booked.
I swear these are getting posted later and later... please log in to view this image * I see they're still acting like the swotty kid who knows Ndombele's full name. Stop that. Just...stop that * Once again, it's good to see a right flank where the ball goes in but also comes back out again, even if the main ball from Lamela was back to Doherty while the main ball from Doherty was back to Toby * Ndombele's positioning just seems wrong. Some No10s should be playing that high, Dele the most obvious example while Lo Celso certainly did at Betis, but Ndombele really needs to be level with Doherty & Reguilon if he's playing the role Poch used Dembele in for a few games * Yes, that is Toby's sexy crossfield diagonal to Reguilon which led to the winning goal you can see crossing the map * There's certainly an issue with Hojbjerg and Ndombele both pulling to the left so much, which on the one hand does indicate we were trying to contain Lamptey but on the other it reminds me of the Man Utd game last season where most of Sissoko's touches were on the right flank covering for Aurier - yes, that was the game where Harry Winks was constantly overrun in central midfield, thanks for asking * Bale having the most progressive carries is an issue, given he was on the pitch for twenty minutes
Tanguy really is playing too high, he needs to be more central like you say. There’s a gaping hole in the middle of the pitch where someone with his close control and ability to beat a man then pick a quick pass forward will do the damage. What he’s doing so far up the pitch is anyone’s guess but it’s not helping us get through well-organised teams.
At a guess he was moved higher up due to his early booking, but doing so is what helped Brighton control midfield
It was the same against Burnley though. Nobody in the middle of the park to progress the ball quickly. Watching it, it feels like a more deliberate ploy from Jose than circumstance. Could just be me though.
Sissoko really didn't pass the ball much, did he? Why does the right-sided player in the front three see so little of the ball in comparison to the left? It doesn't seem to matter who plays there (Moura/Bergwijn/Lamela/Bale), they still don't get passed to, for some reason.
Our left flank is stronger than the right at present so I think that may play a part, whether consciously or subconsciously. Reguilon and Son are both far more dangerous outlets than they're right sided counterparts at present so I think the team will generally prefer moving play towards that flank, therefore going through the LCM more so than the RCM. Hopefully once Bale is fully fit it can be evened out a bit.
The pass map against Burnley was similar though and Davies was at right-back: please log in to view this image Kane seems to be drifting left and packing that section of the pitch, too.
I think it’s still because of Son. Until Bale is up to speed, Son is leagues above whoever else plays on the opposite flank so I think the team will generally prefer getting the ball to him over the others. Is it similar for when Son doesn’t play do you know? That may give a better idea. I think touching on what you’ve said in the past too about lacking balance also has something to do with it. Ndombele generally seems to play more centre left or drifts to the left, so he’ll naturally look to play passes into Son/ Reguilon as well as Kane. With Sissoko currently on the right, he doesn’t have the same skill set to make those passes whilst his options aren’t as good either. When Bale and Lo Celso get fully fit and into the side, that really should balance the team from an attacking and creative aspect. Ndombele will then play in Reguilon and Son, Lo Celso will play in Doherty and Bale, with everyone also looking centrally to Kane too.
Son's played in all of our league games this season and most of them last season, barring the period where Kane was also missing. The pass map from our loss to Wolves is more balanced, but it's an utter mess: please log in to view this image 3 centre-halves, no holding midfielder and no striker or anything close to one. Lots more down the right and I think Gazzaniga fell asleep.
When Aurier plays it makes sense that Lamela/Lucas aren't receiving passes, as Aurier's bombing down the flank so his passes should be reaching Kane or Son The issue for the Brighton match is both Doherty and Lamela like to come inside, which goes a long way to explaining Doherty's passing being backwards or sideways because if Doherty is closed down when he comes inside the ball to the right winger is cut off, meaning that sideways or backwards are the only options available - and with Lamela also coming inside that removes the off chance of Doherty being able to ping it out wide Realistically we got our right flank combination wrong, and Lamela is a better partner for Aurier as he will do the dirty work to allow Aurier to get forward, while Doherty is a better partner for Bale and Lucas as he plays like a right-sided Ben Davies so he isn't going to be caught up the field and leave our right flank wide open - which was a frequent issue with the Lucas/Aurier pairing last season
