Yep,and anyone in their right mind would have chosen Barca previously.Twice? Don't think we were in for him when he went to the arse due to ffp.
Anyone would chose Munich over us as well fact!Yep,and anyone in their right mind would have chosen Barca previously.
But let's not allow facts to spoil a good bashing.
Previously perhaps,can't agree now,especially given our manager and the team he's building.Anyone would chose Munich over us as well fact!
Kolo Touré, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gaël Clichy, Samir Nasri and Bacary Sagna disagree.so even when he wants to join us, I think arsenal will never sell to us. I think the Problem is rather Arsenal then Alexis
Alexis-----Aguero-----G. Jesus?
Reckon Roberts will go out on loan or be sold with a buy-back clause this summer. 9 is enough for 5 places.feck me.
aguero, sanchez, jesus, sane, sterling, bernardo, de bruyne, silva, gundogan & roberts.
10 players rotating to play in front 5 next season.
If we missed out on Sanchez what other (realistic) attackers would you like us to go for.
feck me.
aguero, sanchez, jesus, sane, sterling, bernardo, de bruyne, silva, gundogan & roberts.
10 players rotating to play in front 5 next season.
I don't think 3 at the back is in Pep's calculus, as he wants flying full backs (midfielders in disguise) and the extra defender costs him an attacker.Roberts will be loaned out and Gundogan will be eased back in, possibly in the deepest role competing with Dinho/Yaya. So it's more likely 8 players competing for 5 positions.
Add to that Sterling and Sane will be rotated being young wingers. Jesus and Aguero will rotate. Plus we're not going to keep everyone injury free/suspension free.
Also not out of the realms to see something like this against weaker opposition:
-------------------------------Ederson
-----------Kompany---------Otamendi---------Mendy
B.Silva-----------D.Silva--------------Dinho-------------Sane
------------Sanchez----------Aguero-------------Jesus
Subs: Bravo, New CB, Sterling, KDB, Walker, Gundogan, Yaya
Plenty of flexibility with something like the above, allows you to get more attacking players onto the pitch. Could put Walker or Sterling where B.Silva is, could move Mendy to where Sane is and bring in the New CB. Could go completely mental and play Kev/B.Silva where Dinho is. Could drop one of the front 3 and play an extra centre mid.
I definitely think 3 at the back will be in Pep's thinking given the amount of attacking players we have/will have.
Be honest, how many edits before your seal of completion for this one? ;-)I don't think 3 at the back is in Pep's calculus, as he wants flying full backs (midfielders in disguise) and the extra defender costs him an attacker.
More likely, we have a deep lying midfielder who slots into the middle of the back four to pick up the ball for distribution, as the full backs push forward. That allows a few things to happen...wide two of three attackers to tuck in, the remaining two midfielders to roam behind the front 3/5, just as those full backs can also now become the wide midfielders, allowing the wingers to get down the wing.
The fluidity of Pep's formation requires two main things: the ability to retain the ball when we are exposed in our attacking formation, and the ability of the non-defenders (everyone except the center backs and DM) to move freely in and out of understood formations that do not always directly translate to their "position" on the field, but rather are based on where other players have found themselves.
To do both of those things requires special players. We have a handful of them already (Merlin, KDB, Yaya) and Pep is trying to teach the others, and must have already seen this ability (or the ability to adapt to him) in this summers targets, because this season is about not messing around, about having quality replacements fo injuries, late game fatigue or lack of performance, and to be able to rotate players without any noticeable drop off in quality or performance.
There has always been this notion that teams require the squad to have two full teams and a few spares. This may be the first season where we actually witness a squad that literally contains two first teams that can compete with any team, on any given day, with almost zero overlap of personnel...especially in the key midfield area.
The future is Blue!
P.S. All that said, he may well have seen Chelsea's success and decided that Walker and Mendy can operate as actual midfielders allowing his middle two and forward three to operate as a pack. Personally, I'd like to see us play the 5-3-2/3-5-2 and swarm teams with SEVEN attackers and defend with EIGHT defenders/midfielders. Can hardly wait to see how this all unfolds...!
Did the P.S. Then realized I'd made an error and quickly tried to correct that. Sorry, mate. Just trying to be "complete!" :-)Be honest, how many edits before your seal of completion for this one? ;-)
You don't have to apologise to me—I'm known as King Edit XVI in these lands.Did the P.S. Then realized I'd made an error and quickly tried to correct that. Sorry, mate. Just trying to be "complete!" :-)