Much like the currently struggling Manchester clubs, we don't have the players for the system. Our fullbacks are all at their best playing the traditional role and our wingers all want to cut inside. We're asking both sets to do the opposite and it can be disastrous when it's not working. We're fine if we go ahead early or we're playing against open teams that aren't great. Effect pressing or organised low blocks **** us up completely, though. Galatasaray and Liverpool did the former, while a bunch of mediocre sides have done the latter. Closing down Maddison quickly shuts him down and then Kulusevski has a ton of work to do to compensate. That he often manages to do it anyway is a testament to his form, fitness and mindset. Son's passing range appears to have increased too, but he's clearly shattered, so his explosiveness isn't there.
From what I've seen so far, Spence looks like he could be suited to the system. He's lightning quick, cuts in but also can hug the wing (even on the left which is not his favoured side) and appears to have better defensive capabilities. Udogie is almost there too, so for me it's either a case of hoping Porro, when fit and rested, can adapt to the role better and we get another suitable LB in or we look for two if not. The position is one of the most crucial if we are going to persist with the system.
It’s beyond amateur. Ange moans about tired players but then asked them to play the exact same way as if they were 100%. If Porro is feeling tired then tell him to stay back a bit more rather than be in the final third and unable to get back quick enough.
I feel that I must defend Porro on at least one of the goals (4th maybe), he was in acres of space and if Kulu had played the ball right instead of left he would have been in, unfortunately the ball went inside was cut out and one pass later he looks way out of position, I guess Ange would call it risk and reward unfortunately we are seeing more risk than reward.
The issue is which players are back Any of Dragusin, Mickey Van, Dragusin, Gray or Sarr are fine, because they're supposed to be there Bissouma, on the other hand, might be back when the ball is played into our half - but the ball, several players from both sides and on at least one example the referee are further back than he is within a matter of seconds even though he's supposed to be back there Methinks Bentancur is going to be getting a run of games at the base of our midfield in the very near future
...so I've had a thought, which might explain a few issues Contrary to what pundits claim with the predictability of a parrot with Asperger's, Ange has changed his tactics, specifically in terms of how the CBs are positioned as the Dragusin/Davies and Dragusin/Gray pairings clearly play deeper than the Romero/Mickey Van pairing does, and neither of them play like box to box midfielders half the time And the issue with this is that we are creating space between our midfield and defence, and this is where the problems come from as not only does this expose Bissouma's sleepwalking approach to closing down opponents, but as none of Dragusin, Davies or Gray have the pace of Romero or especially Mickey Van that also means our lack of pace isn't snuffing out threats as quickly or as high up the pitch as it needs to which has the knock-on effect of adding another couple of phases to our passing in transition The problem is there's no real fix here: the midfield sitting deeper only risks potentially isolating the front line (and we've seen enough of that for the last 4-5 years...), while the defence sitting higher like the regular configuration does is simply asking for trouble
Weirdly I actually thought Porro was the least involved in the goals we conceded anyway, I’d say Spence and Gray were probably involved the most but I’m not gonna berate either of them for it, in one of the cases I think Spence was simply following certain tactics anyway, plus both are inexperienced in the roles they were playing, Spence barely kicking a ball this season won’t have helped with positioning and decision making either and I think our style of play just played into Pool’s hands. I can’t remember if I’ve got the order of all of them right but the first goal was just a beautiful ball from Trent into the box, I still expect Dragusin to win most headers in the box but equally sometimes you have to accept a team will score from an excellent delivery and that was a pinpoint ball. Spence and Gray were beaten to a header by Szob in which MacAllister converted the second ball. Spence went pressing about 35+ yards out of position (likely told to do stuff like that) which then caused Dragusin to come over and challenge for a header he was never gonna win and then that lead to a goal in the sequence that followed. Kulu losing the ball and failing to find Porro was followed by Gray having two chances to clear the short ball across goal from Gakpo whilst both Sarr and Spence didn’t track being Salah open to tap it in. Gray and Porro both stuck out a limp left leg to prevent a pass from Gakpo that one more pass later led to Salah scoring his second and I think Forster was too easily beaten on the final goal from Diaz.
I was monitoring the BBC live "distribution" stats for the game. At one point they had recorded ONE cross vs 13 for the Poool. The number of crosses only surged in the game when Spurs in the final 15 mins were wholesale attacking to attempt to keep the scoreline respectable. So : - inward moving FBs, with little observable end product - low frequency of crosses across the game
I think a lot would improve if we had a proper number 6. The biggest issue since early last season was that none of the midfielders are proactively anticipating danger when we (by design) commit too many men forward. I pointed out above that the easiest first step to solving this is to use the same tactical tweak Poch used for a time in which the DM dropped in line with the CBs. Nothing fancy about it and the stronger teams we met (usually in Europe) figured out how to bypass it, but at the very least it gives you an extra man and more width when the opposition counters. The more advanced version of that is a DM who doesn't follow a fixed pattern but anticipates the play as and where it develops, often cutting out the counter attack deep in the opposition's own half. But as far as I can see, the only player in the PL who is at that level is Rodri (Declan Rice isn't too far off) and we're not signing someone of that calibre any time soon.
^by design ^forced to commit is IMHO a fairer comment. "I pointed out above that the easiest first step to solving this is to use the same tactical tweak Poch used for a time in which the DM dropped in line with the CBs. Nothing fancy about it and the stronger teams we met (usually in Europe) figured out how to bypass it, but at the very least it gives you an extra man and more width when the opposition counters." The 'big lump in the way' was primarily what Sissoko offered post peak Pochettino teams.
The fact Poch reached the CL final with a midfield pivot of Sissoko and Winks remains one of history's great unsolved mysteries.
Technically he didn’t, as Winks missed the second leg vs City and both semi final games. It wasn’t just Kane that Poch rushed back into the side for the final.
I forgot to mention that I was pleasantly surprised that virtually nobody left at 5-1. Couldn't see many gaps even late in injury time, from where I was sitting. Liverpool's fans were pretty quiet too, considering the way the game went. Not like they had far to travel home, either.
As I watch Santa cross the sky in his,presumably,Liverpool disguise,I wonder....if Spurs are relegated this year....and it's entirely possible! How long would it take to get back with a defence like ours?
No they were infact singing Ange songs losing 5-1 but that’s not the point we were playing the ‘Tottenham way’ our fans get what they deserve
