Declan Rice

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ChicagoBlue said:
Let’s not be too rigid in our thinking. Remember, the thought of Stones as a paired DM with Rodri wasn’t even on the radar 6 months ago!

If Stones can step forward, then he would, and the fluidity of our shape would morph into a 2-2-3-3 or 2-2-2-4.

The ONLY thing that concerned most people last season was the fast counter attack. That threat will be ever-present because Pep wants overloads going forwards, which can create exposure when the opposition breaks…especially when they break wide and we are not playing with recognized full backs.

That is why possession and ONLY losing the ball in the final third while trying to create the perfect scoring opportunity is acceptable…giving the opposition 80 yards before they get to our goal and our own players 80 yards to recover or check the counter attack.

The 2-2 gives you an opportunity to stop the attack in midfield, but if it has bypassed the midfield two by going wide, then one of Dias or Gvardiol (in this example) moves out wide to slow the attack allowing the 2 DMs to slot into a reconstituted back 4, with the two wide players in the midfield diamond funneling back into the now vacant DM roles to blunt any runners and the wingers (Foden & Grealish in the above line up) stopping any full backs from creating attacking overloads against us.

That leaves only Haaland up front, with KDB filling in as needed and able in midfield. As we have seen Alvarez is VERY GOOD at playing that KDB role, as he creates better defensive cover on the counter with his speed late in the game,
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Take it you do not follow the Cubs or Sox after that analysis of the Gods of Manchester ;-)
 
ChicagoBlue said:
You’re running last years race, and forgetting not only what Pep said about Walker, but the fact that Walker was dropped multiple times at the end of last season.

What is NEXT SEASON’S iteration of Pep’s City is what we are talking about.

As for his “licence to roam,” I think you are confusing the fact that Pep was using him as a midfield overload last season and it wasn’t until the second half of the CL that Pep told him to push forward, into the 8 position (to get behind the Inter press or drag them back) that Stones truly “roamed” at all.

Previously, Stones role was as a second player to overload the opposition midfield when they pushed a midfielder up on Rodri or pulled their CF back to mark him.

City need to create the angle for the DM to pick up the ball if he is going to play the pivot role. If Rodri is being man-marked, we had been shifting it wide to Akanji/Ake/Walker, but teams realize these are the weakest ball players in the team, and are constrained by the touchline, so they can squeeze them and force the long ball or a bad/hurried pass into an already tight midfield.

What the SECOND DM does is to create another angle for that “behind the first press” pass to release us into midfield.

If you watch, Rodri & Stones are involved in a simple “dance” where they keep sliding left/right or forwards/backwards to be available for the pass. Their movement is not choreographed but decided by the movement of the other players and whether the other DM receives the ball or not. It’s simply triangles in fluid motion to create the angle for that first attacking pass, so that the ball can then be played wide or through to the striker(s).

Against a retreating opposition, there is no need for a rigid Back 3, or especially 4, so we often find ourselves with only two “defenders,” even though they are ball playing defenders, often well inside the opposition half!!!
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Stones was popping up on the edge of the opposition box and deep in the right hand channel in multiple games. As for me running last seasons race, you think Pep will switch to a back 3, I don't, so I guess we will have to wait for the season to start to see who's right.
 
People predicting teams and just nonchalantly dropping Ake/Akanji like they both of them didn't have pivotal roles in winning us the treble! Mind boggling if you think new recruits are just going to walk straight into the treble winning side, bar the people being moved on.
 
Greenblue92 said:
People predicting teams and just nonchalantly dropping Ake/Akanji like they both of them didn't have pivotal roles in winning us the treble! Mind boggling if you think new recruits are just going to walk straight into the treble winning side, bar the people being moved on.
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its more why would you write out a line up to show where the new guys would fit, if you are just gonna list them on the bench. its no a set in stone starting XI. lol
 
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