Adam Wharton

[Gabriel]

We shall see. That 17-20 team had more space in behind against the better and middling teams. Only the likes of Burnley under Dyche used the low block.

If we want to use a player lacking in physicality that has a unique skillset, then Rico Lewis could be that player.

Lewis lacks the height and physicality to play in the back line, for me, so his only hope of securing a position is to play in midfield. However, much like Foden, he’s been raised on a diet of ball retention and squeezing the opposition into the final third; I’m not sure either currently has the lung power to play more expansively. That said, if we do play with a higher tempo and use the length of the pitch, we need to rotate and substitute more progressively, which means you need bodies.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

Lewis lacks the height and physicality to play in the back line, for me, so his only hope of securing a position is to play in midfield. However, much like Foden, he’s been raised on a diet of ball retention and squeezing the opposition into the final third; I’m not sure either currently has the lung power to play more expansively. That said, if we do play with a higher tempo and use the length of the pitch, we need to rotate and substitute more progressively, which means you need bodies.

I did mean Rico in midfield. I think his time as a full back is well and truly done.