OutByEaster? Posted August 18 Moderator Share Posted August 18 Formation was interesting yesterday - McGinn and Rogers playing mainly from the inside left position with Digne outside them left a lot of room for Bailey to work in but did give gaps for Kudus to come deep and collect balls. Our midfield balance and the way we overload areas is fascinating. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enda Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 Useful to think of the men that didn’t even make the squad yesterday: Olsen, Mings, Kamara, Dendoncker, Enzo, Iling Jr. (Assuming Moreno is off.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 At least we aint Arsenal. Still not sure this isn't AI parody 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 16 hours ago, OutByEaster? said: Formation was interesting yesterday - McGinn and Rogers playing mainly from the inside left position with Digne outside them left a lot of room for Bailey to work in but did give gaps for Kudus to come deep and collect balls. Our midfield balance and the way we overload areas is fascinating. I think it was our usual 4 2 2 2 shape. Which is always more skewed with Bailey appearing the highest average position as he's kept there as a counter attacking outlet while Rogers dropped deep to take passes into feet and drive forward. It feels like our two 6s cover their full backs whenever one or other gets forward. So we have attacking flexibility left and right, with it skewed a bit more to left (as per usual). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinebro Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 Unai will have a lot more options this season 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eholm Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 17 hours ago, OutByEaster? said: Formation was interesting yesterday - McGinn and Rogers playing mainly from the inside left position with Digne outside them left a lot of room for Bailey to work in but did give gaps for Kudus to come deep and collect balls. Our midfield balance and the way we overload areas is fascinating. Definitely. It’s great to view each individual game as you can see variances and ‘tweaks’ week in week out without the overall system changing dramatically. It will be interesting to see what UE does with the LB tile vs Arsenal. Saka clearly their most dangerous attacker so you would expect Digne (or Maatsen) to be less advanced. Therefore could we see JJ on the left to keep a more attacking threat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted August 19 Moderator Share Posted August 19 1 hour ago, CVByrne said: I think it was our usual 4 2 2 2 shape. Which is always more skewed with Bailey appearing the highest average position as he's kept there as a counter attacking outlet while Rogers dropped deep to take passes into feet and drive forward. It feels like our two 6s cover their full backs whenever one or other gets forward. So we have attacking flexibility left and right, with it skewed a bit more to left (as per usual). It was, but in general we'd see McGinn and Rogers swapped from that map, with Rogers in the left channel and more advanced role, I suspect that's something to do with the less attacking nature of Digne and our desire to prevent them building through midfield - the back four were much more of a traditional four as opposed to what we'll see when Maatsen is playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders129 Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 (edited) What do people think about the deeper defensive line? I always thought it would be a sensible option away from home to drop five yards deeper. Not certain but my impression was also that the back line were more involved in progressing the ball and we were less reliant on the pivot to do that? Maybe a tactical tweak with Dougie gone? Really saw Pau pushing left and getting on the ball as well as being very aggressive with his progressive carries. Feel like with extra steel in the middle from Onana we’ll see Pau more unleashed. Interested in how we set up for Arsenal at home. Onana has played well against them for Everton as well so feeling positive. Will be a tough test though. Edited August 19 by rodders129 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 22 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said: It was, but in general we'd see McGinn and Rogers swapped from that map, with Rogers in the left channel and more advanced role, I suspect that's something to do with the less attacking nature of Digne and our desire to prevent them building through midfield - the back four were much more of a traditional four as opposed to what we'll see when Maatsen is playing. Yes I think Digne and Cash are good defensively and old fashioned full backs. I think we'll see Maatsen more often when we play with 3 CBs ie Konsa or maybe Geertruida at RB. This gives Maatsen the freedom to overlap on right or underlap into the half space 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eholm Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 24 minutes ago, rodders129 said: What do people think about the deeper defensive line? I always thought it would be a sensible option away from home to drop five yards deeper. Not certain but my impression was also that the back line were more involved in progressing the ball and we were less reliant on the pivot to do that? Maybe a tactical tweak with Dougie gone? Really saw Pau pushing left and getting on the ball as well as being very aggressive with his progressive carries. Feel like with extra steel in the middle from Onana we’ll see Pau more unleashed. Interested in how we set up for Arsenal at home. Onana has played well against them for Everton as well so feeling positive. Will be a tough test though. It does feel that having Onana central gives the back four a bit more protection hence possibly less need for the previous line which condensed central those spaces. As you say, Unai adjustig the system with new personnel in and Luiz out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 1 hour ago, rodders129 said: What do people think about the deeper defensive line? I always thought it would be a sensible option away from home to drop five yards deeper. Not certain but my impression was also that the back line were more involved in progressing the ball and we were less reliant on the pivot to do that? Maybe a tactical tweak with Dougie gone? Really saw Pau pushing left and getting on the ball as well as being very aggressive with his progressive carries. Feel like with extra steel in the middle from Onana we’ll see Pau more unleashed. Interested in how we set up for Arsenal at home. Onana has played well against them for Everton as well so feeling positive. Will be a tough test though. The line was getting too high last season and teams look to exploit it. I think the line will be adjusted based on the opposition. I still think we'll have one of the highest lines in league but recovery pace is key. We'll see plenty of tactical flexibility this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 In one aspect it’s like we have a big central defender playing at number 6 (Onana) and a cultured number 6 playing CB (Torres). We get more ball playing from a deeper position where the player has more time and space whilst winning possession and duels from further forward from our dominant midfielder. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom13 Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 Something looked different about us on Saturday. Obviously we've had numerous top performances under Unai and this was another one, but it just filled me with confidence. I think it's the added physicality (Rogers, Onana) and energy (Onana, Maatsen) we have. But also so many players comfortable on the ball now. Really exciting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 13 minutes ago, Tom13 said: Something looked different about us on Saturday. Obviously we've had numerous top performances under Unai and this was another one, but it just filled me with confidence. I think it's the added physicality (Rogers, Onana) and energy (Onana, Maatsen) we have. But also so many players comfortable on the ball now. Really exciting. Agreed. The physicality part is massive. Whenever you look at the best teams across the premier league era they are units as well as being technical. With that added to our game, I think we will see games won solely on our ability to be physical, akin to city who have broken the deadlock so many times just from corners. We’ve added another dimension which I think splits us from the likes of Brighton who have concentrated arguably just on the technical element. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeypuzzle Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 10 hours ago, Jareth said: At least we aint Arsenal. Still not sure this isn't AI parody Its not even accurate science or history. Edison didn't invent the light bulb. He was the first person to make them commercially. I can cope with managers spewing rubbish, we all deal with that at work. At least make it correct rubbish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke313 Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 16 minutes ago, Tony said: Agreed. The physicality part is massive. Whenever you look at the best teams across the premier league era they are units as well as being technical. With that added to our game, I think we will see games won solely on our ability to be physical, akin to city who have broken the deadlock so many times just from corners. We’ve added another dimension which I think splits us from the likes of Brighton who have concentrated arguably just on the technical element. I can see us bullying a few team like Brighton this season. Regarding the physicality aspect of the PL, just look at Newcastle the last couple seasons, arguably a big part of their game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 20 minutes ago, Monkeypuzzle said: Its not even accurate science or history. Edison didn't invent the light bulb. He was the first person to make them commercially. I can cope with managers spewing rubbish, we all deal with that at work. At least make it correct rubbish! I just cannot see Unai doing that. Brendan Rogers definitely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anything11 Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 12 hours ago, Jareth said: At least we aint Arsenal. Still not sure this isn't AI parody This will be their downfall if they don't win. Players will only eat so much of this over the top motivation without a proper win (league/CL). Doubt creeps in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Scorpio Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 If we don't get a replacement for Diaby as second striker behind Watkins. Will that mean we are going to play Rogers or Buendia there, which in turn weakens availability on the wings? Or is Philogene now the wing depth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted August 19 Moderator Share Posted August 19 3 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said: If we don't get a replacement for Diaby as second striker behind Watkins. Will that mean we are going to play Rogers or Buendia there, which in turn weakens availability on the wings? Or is Philogene now the wing depth? I think for the most part we'll play Bailey and Rogers off him, with Philogene, Buendia and Ramsey also more than capable - I've never seen the position as a need, more that Felix was an opportunity that Emery saw as too good not to try for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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