What Did We Think Of Our Midfield Today? A Lot Going On?

cleavers said:
It was, but it was enabaled by how Bournemouth played, we won't get those chances against the majority of the PL, with 10 men defences.
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Agreed, when we kicked off and I saw Doku hanging around the centre spot I knew we were in for something a bit different.
 
I made this post in the Squad Planning thread the other day, after the Villa defeat.

Weird to see it come to life today with that narrow 4-2-3-1 formation, with Bernardo dropping to support Gonzalez and Cherki & Doku tucking in to get closer to Haaland.

youngbob said:
It's hit me today that 4-2-3-1 might be the most ideal way to get the best out of this current set of players we have.

There are virtually no issues with the back four - at the moment anyway. Pep seems to have found that Donnarumma behind a traditional flat back four (that wins headers and duels first) is a method/formation he's happy with.

Midfield is where the problems start. Basically, for a dozen reasons now, we're not as confident in Rodri, Kovacic, or Reijnders as a lone #6. Gonzalez seems to be the only player we have capable of doing that job.

BUT playing a lone #6 at all forces Foden and Reijnders (two forward players/goal-scoring #10s) to operate as "free #8s" a la De Bruyne, Bernardo. Reijnders is doing okay, but he's having trouble acclimatising as a result.

The same goes for Foden, who's having good spells in games but is also having spells where he goes missing. Him and Reijnders are sometimes arriving into the exact same space and it's tough watching them get used to each other.

Foden's best form during his 23/24 POTY season (23 G/A in 26 games) came primarily during a period when he was played inside left, with Rodri and Kovacic behind as two defensive pivots and Bernardo and KDB up alongside him.

We've got issues out wide. Savinho, Bobb, and Doku are all players who thrive closer to the box. Having them be touchline wingers is leaving them with far too much to do, hence the low G/A output and trouble finding Haaland.

Would it not be better to have Nunes and Ait-Nouri providing that width (a la Zabaleta and Kolarov from back in the day) as the wingers tuck in to provide support to a lone #10, backed up by two defensive midfielders behind him?

I think this would especially help Bobb, who's composed and skillful but maybe lacks the pace and strength to get beyond his man and whip a ball in for Haaland. Maybe we need to start creating overloads on the edge of the area?

And while we're much stronger defensively this season, we do still sometimes have a tendency to get caught beyond the ball when we give it away, allowing opposition midfielders the chance to run at us (Villa did that once or twice).

Something like:

Donnarumma
Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, Ait-Nouri
Rodri, Gonzalez
Cherki, Foden, Marmoush
Haaland

Trafford
Khusanov, Stones, Ake, O'Reilly
Kovacic, Bernardo (Lewis)
Doku, Reijnders, Bobb (Savinho)
(Haaland)

We're definitely heading in the right direction, but I think what we're currently dealing with is a squad that can't get a run of games together due to injuries and isn't really operating in a system that fits to the parts it currently has.

Khusanov is the better defender out of him and Nunes - no doubt about that - but Nunes is much stronger arriving in the final third. He has 7 G/A in the 25 starts he's made at RB under Pep and should get the nod, if only for now.

I'd also take some pressure off Reijnders and rest him. Let him watch from the bench for a few games so he can focus on the patterns Pep wants, and then we ease him back in. Whenever he plays, Foden can move to the right.

We have lots and lots of exciting options. Lots of players around Haaland who are capable of scoring more than enough. Cherki (12), Reijnders (15), Marmoush (28), Foden (13) - all hit double figures for goals last season.

The problem we've got is that Cherki and Marmoush have both been injured, while Foden and Reijnders are having a tough time getting used to each other. Hopefully a more narrow 4-2-3-1 formation from Pep is on the horizon.
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The Fat el Hombre said:
What did people make of our midfield today? Seemed like there was a lot going on (in a good way)?

Cherki seemed to be coming into the centre a lot from the right making a box with Nico G, Bernie and Phil. Generally Bernie and Nico G were behind Phil and Cherki as you'd expect but there seemed to be a lot of interchanging going on, with both Phil and Cherki dropping deep at times and sometimes Bernie and Nico G going further forward with one of Phil or Cherki behind (alongside Bernie or Nico G).

We were incisive through the middle with with some ballsy passes played to great effect as we saw with the goals and Phil and Cherki comfortable taking the ball in tight spaces. It felt there was some real advanced stuff going on in that midfield today - really fluid and some real quality with one touch stuff and even good picking up second balls and layoffs, but with players consistently in the right positions at the right times (and a lot of the credit for that goes to that exceptional first half from Nico G).

Cherki needs to start now he's all but up to speed, he's a killer. I was wondering how Pep would fit him and Phil in but today it worked a treat and we could be seeing the early signs of something very promising with those two, with some handy link up play and them getting close to each other often. We're not gonna miss Kev so much with Cherki playing some of the passes he did today. Looks like he can play Erling in for fun. We've got to be getting those balls in behind the creaking van Dijk for Erling to get at next week.

We're suddenly looking stacked in midfield with Bernie playing effectively, Nico G consistently doing a good job, Rodri coming back, Foden having a good season and Cherki making his mark. Last years Seria A midfielder of the year Reijnders on the bench today and a pkayer of Kovacic's quality seemingly not having much chance of a look in right now, and Pep looks to be having fun with it all. Nico OR also available to play there but smashing it at full back so don't see any need for him to move unless the situation changes (dramatically).

Curious as to what other people made of the midfield today? It looked good.
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Thought it was by far our best performance of the season. Other than Nico it seemed all roles were interchangeable. I absolutely loved it.
 
Didsbury Dave said:
Usually when I watch the MOTD analysis I feel they haven’t watched the game and have just cobbled some cliches together having seen a few highlights. This time they actually echoed the tactical points made earlier in this thread.
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Indeed. Thought Carrick was spot on with what he’d said and it made a refreshing non-cliched change.
 
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The Light Was Yellow Sir said:
Indeed. Thought Carrick was spot on with what he’d said and it made a refreshing non-cliched change.
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Sorry it's off-topic for this thread but - Carrick was good but it was unbelievable that they didn't dwell at all during the highlights or the analysis on the arm-pulling on Bournemouth's goal.

I was a bit worried about our midfield pre match but couldn't have been more impressed with how it all worked. Great 3 points.
 
the blue panther said:
Sorry it's off-topic for this thread but - Carrick was good but it was unbelievable that they didn't dwell at all during the highlights or the analysis on the arm-pulling on Bournemouth's goal.

I was a bit worried about our midfield pre match but couldn't have been more impressed with how it all worked. Great 3 points.
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I was somewhat surprised myself, given they had a goalkeeper on the panel…
 
Didsbury Dave said:
I’ve just posted a (very brief) version of this in the Pep thread. This was a new formation today with the two full backs providing the width to enable the midfielders to operate in that way. It meant most things came down the middle with Cherki and Foden playing very close to Haaland. Doku roamed everywhere. Bernado sat deep.
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With the signings we made in the summer, this is how I thought we would set up this season, but we've had so many injuries to players who you would think were key to the system that it's not been done until we've got a virtually fit squad.

It's going to be interesting now if we carry on playing this way, instead of the width coming from the wingers. I thought we looked far more compact as a team today than in any other game this season, without losing any attacking threat.
 
Nico and Rodri behind Foden Cherki Doku and Haaland is a league winning attack. Just hope we can play it consistently enough to show it.
 
The Fat el Hombre said:
What did people make of our midfield today? Seemed like there was a lot going on (in a good way)?

Cherki seemed to be coming into the centre a lot from the right making a box with Nico G, Bernie and Phil. Generally Bernie and Nico G were behind Phil and Cherki as you'd expect but there seemed to be a lot of interchanging going on, with both Phil and Cherki dropping deep at times and sometimes Bernie and Nico G going further forward with one of Phil or Cherki behind (alongside Bernie or Nico G).

We were incisive through the middle with with some ballsy passes played to great effect as we saw with the goals and Phil and Cherki comfortable taking the ball in tight spaces. It felt there was some real advanced stuff going on in that midfield today - really fluid and some real quality with one touch stuff and even good picking up second balls and layoffs, but with players consistently in the right positions at the right times (and a lot of the credit for that goes to that exceptional first half from Nico G).

Cherki needs to start now he's all but up to speed, he's a killer. I was wondering how Pep would fit him and Phil in but today it worked a treat and we could be seeing the early signs of something very promising with those two, with some handy link up play and them getting close to each other often. We're not gonna miss Kev so much with Cherki playing some of the passes he did today. Looks like he can play Erling in for fun. We've got to be getting those balls in behind the creaking van Dijk for Erling to get at next week.

We're suddenly looking stacked in midfield with Bernie playing effectively, Nico G consistently doing a good job, Rodri coming back, Foden having a good season and Cherki making his mark. Last years Seria A midfielder of the year Reijnders on the bench today and a pkayer of Kovacic's quality seemingly not having much chance of a look in right now, and Pep looks to be having fun with it all. Nico OR also available to play there but smashing it at full back so don't see any need for him to move unless the situation changes (dramatically).

Curious as to what other people made of the midfield today? It looked good.
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We are witnessing quiet Evolution.We are getting to grips with new players,formations,the absence of Rodri,and slowly bedding in the wonderful double ambi dexterity of Foden and and Cherki.both players having the ability to turn twist and pass with the merest clinical touch ..either foot.
That is a powerful weapon to have.i love it.
What Paul Meron ,who doesn't think we are a top team anymore, doesn't realize is that this system is still in its infancy,will grow over the season,and while arsenal may well be winning the Early Winter League title award,again......It's May 2026 which counts.

Our midfied is growing quietly.
I like it..
 
johnny crossan said:
Carrick paid our midfield a lot of compliments in his MOTD analysis tonight. Good to hear and an interesting listen for once on there. Compare and contrast with Micah's infantile waffle.
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Is that Michael Carrick ? One of the best homegrown central midfield technicians I've ever seen.
So yeah.he,d be all over Peps midfield.

Micah ? Re -take up being a part time DJ.
 
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Bigga said:
Personally, I don't think the balance is quite right. Quite a few times they tended to occupy the same spaces (I'm sure Foden and Cherki were on virtually on each others toes in the oppo area at one point), like overloading the right allowing B'mouth a breakaway into our half.

I think Gonzalez needs to learn to be a better outlet and control the mid like Rodri did as soon as he came on. I'd like to think swapping out Gonzalez for Rodri anchors the Foden/ Cherki dynamic way better, right now.
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Agreed. The balance is not their yet. Needs fine tuning.
 
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