Yesterday All my troubles seemed so far away · Suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be · There's a shadow hanging over me. Oh, yesterday
You're right - the only alternative is that they're basically being coached to interpret the game as they see fit, which is fine if you're talking to a Ginola/Bale/VDV type player, but is suicidal if you're saying it to your back line. But then I look at Radu's performance and his positioning and conduct was generally much more disciplined and, dare I say it, 'defensive' than the rest of them. The second goal is a really solid example of this. Radu is 2-3 yards deeper than the rest of the backline, which is part of the reason Murphy has so much space to run into. It is easy to blame him, but then you take a second look and realise that he is exactly where a normal defensive line would be in that situation. It's the other three who are hugging the halfway line which makes the offside trap that much harder to spring. Watching Radu's game develop under Ange will give us the clearest indication of the truth. If he starts playing as erratically and undisciplined as the rest of them, it's definitely a coaching issue.
I think Romero weaknesses are far more evident when he doesn’t have VdV beside him. He’s certainly not suited for a high line without a speedy CB around who can rescue the situation when the line has been breached. Was very disappointed yesterday but we need to hold the course. We missed VdV yesterday as well as not having any strikers. It’s the tactics for sure. This high line nonsense won’t work against the better teams. I would be quite happy for the CBs to stay back and defend rather than get caught up by the counter attacks.
I think Dragusin is very much in line with the defenders of old. It’s as if coming through the Juve academy he studied the likes of Chiellini, Bonucci and Barzagli to a tee. No nonsense, body on the line, get the ball clear types more so than what a lot of modern day CBs are like now with seemingly incorporating slick and risky passing at the back and having the ability to dribble in their games which arguably comes at the expense of learning their primary duties of actually defending. His performances at the Euros were very much dogged defensive displays and he earned a lot of plaudits, think he even made the “team of the group stages”. I actually think Romero is very much the same but he’s taken on a lot of what Ange wants by getting forward/ taking risks and that’s causing his game to suffer. Like Dragusin he’s had that Juve and Serie A upbringing and even won the defender of the year out there in what I feel is the best league in Europe for defenders. Can we not just let these guys do what they do best?!
Very much agree with this. I certainly see Dragusin as the more "old fashioned" of the bunch and in my opinion all the better for it! I come from a background of goalkeepers (my late father was a semi pro and played for Walthamstow Ave back on the day, I played CB etc..) and watching some of the modern lads defend does make me wince at times! I am tending to side now with just how they are being coached though. Romero was very solid but headstrong at the startof his time here, but he does get pulled out of position far too easily for my liking. VDV is by far the pick of the bunch though, and I fear he'll be playing elsewhere in a season or two....
Do you not think the fans need to shoulder some responsibility? The pressure you put on average players and managers?
We don't need to look very far to find an example of a CB pairing who were very much in the 'modern' mold without compromising what they are actually paid to do: Toby and Jan. Two of the most cultured, technically gifted CBs in the world during their time here, but they harnessed that ability with discipline and an understanding of their role. So while both of them almost certainly had the ability to waltz through the opposition and set up goals like Micky did last week and as Romero constantly tries to do (Jan actually did it once, against Swansea iirc), they didn't do it, because they knew that they'd be leaving a 40 yard hole behind them which better opposition would exploit. There are only two solutions to this as far as I can see. One requires Ange to wind down decades of doing things in a certain way. The other is to sign a DM of Rodri's quality who will allow our CBs to play like City's do. Both solutions are highly unlikely to happen, sadly.
Completely agree, although I would naturally say that it was also down to Poch’s tactics as to why they wouldn’t be so kamikaze with high lines or often being out of position. I’d love to see Udogie and Porro act like Rose and Walker too, I think they have the potential to be just as affective, I hate this nerdy inverter FB nonsense where they’re constantly taking up positions and space that should be occupied by Maddison, Kulu etc. A part of me does feel bad constantly dissecting Ange’s tactics because he's clearly had a lot of success with it but at the same time that success has come at levels where tactics probably don’t need to be as in depth as they do in Europe’s top leagues and I’m beginning to fear that he just isn’t astute enough to acknowledge or accept that this style - while at times exciting - isn’t really sustainable if you want to achieve anything. It seems to result in lots of injuries and fatigue, coupled with a number of on-field failings especially from a defensive standpoint. That said - and it’s something I’ve stressed all window and even in the second half of last season - his tactical failings can be negated to a degree with better players, so what did we do this window? Sign no one who is an actual upgrade for the first XI…
There are so many ifs and buts though. Poch had a much more solid (and gifted) midfield and his attacking options were vastly better. Opposition teams rarely took risks against us because they knew given half a yard of space, any of Kane, Son, Dele or Eriksen would punish them. By contrast, teams now know with near-certainty that they can afford to make half a dozen huge mistakes in a single passage of play and we won't punish any of them. So they are more open to pushing men forward and taking risks, knowing that at the other end of the pitch, as long as you can get the ball past the halfway line you have a really strong chance of scoring against us.
David is a bit of a mystery, no idea how he's flown under the Big Club radar for so long. He'll have permission to speak to clubs about a pre-contract from January, so it'll be interesting to see who picks up the phone. Omorodion has scored fewer than 10 La Liga goals. Given that Chelsea were being quoted £35m for him and he ended up moving to Porto for £12m, I'm glad we went with Solanke instead.
Porto only half-own him, too. I think that how people view this result is largely based on their overall view of Postecoglou and our transfers more than the performance. Those with optimistic opinions will see it as a good performance which lacked a finishing touch because of injuries. Those with pessimistic opinions will see it as a damning indictment of the manager's naive playstyle and chucking away 3 points. There's some merit to both, of course, but I lean towards the former. Our results have been mixed so far, but our performances are much improved over the end of last season. We didn't start a game well for months and barely got a result in that time, either. How many **** first halves did we all have to endure? I lost count.
The thing that appeals to me with both is the unknown. Solanke like Richy feels like you know what you’re getting which isn’t enough despite the huge fee (he doesn’t score enough goals) Both the two I mentioned could easily come and flop or turn out to be amazing especially Omorodion is only 20 so could have been a possible long term solution too. The way things are now, I’m hoping to see Lankshear given some game time and hopefully he can become important anyway.
