It's Quiet thread 14 - 'do one' edition

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Not the keeper.

Walker is a better footballer than Wan Bissaka but not better defensively, Garcia would not get a game as a defender in any other PL team, Laporte would be better than Maguire but is curently all over the place & we don't have a defender of any kind at left back.

Rodri can be ok but has done nothing defensively in recent times at all, Gundogan can't defend full stop, the rags have 3 to choose from who all have a case. In actual fact Fernandinho is still better than all of them on noth sides but doesn't play there.

We are miles better at football back there but equally as hopeless in the other direction.
Agreed. Ederson seems so eager to be involved in the offensive side of our game he at times botches his defensive assignment makes a rash last second decision and trips over the keeper 101 handbook (keep the ball out of the net) which he at times throws out the window.
 
And it's been a good way of defence for us.

Anyway, is it that everytime the ball gets past the press we're just hoping and praying that we don't concede? There's still defending to be done. We still had plenty of defending to do in 18/19 but there were plenty of times we dealt with it excellently.

Again I'm not pretending our defence is mightily good at defending. They're not even coached to be. But you are massively doing them a disservice. Stick United or even Liverpool's back 4 in our team and ask them to play the same way and I don't think they'd look anywhere near as good. Maybe still better than ours, and that's something to be looked at, but it'd be nowhere near as big a gulf as it may currently look. I think a big CB signing transforms our defence back to the levels of 17-19, just as it only took Ederson and Walker to take us out of our 16/17 rut.

The possession/pressing system is not the problem, it's the personnel often picked to do it & the lack of def mid & the total shit offside side trap with no recovery pace, we rely on when it goes wrong.

Tbf, Liverpool looked like us, at times v Arsenal. But that's their problem.

I'm sure we can fix ours by a couple of signings but I hope that actually happens.
 
It is, but that isn't a bad thing if it's done well, as Bayern showed and we have before. I think we'll find it easier this season if we use the right midfield alongside the defensive additions. Not fitting silva in make us a better pressing team, great player that he was, than we were last season, as does Torres, or Jesus playing too.

Imo, Pep has been here longer than anywhere else, he, we & the whole league & the whole of Europe, know exactly how he wants to play & the fact we have been watching Garcia, Fernandinho, Otamendi, Zinchenko etc involved in the back 4 is nothing short of criminal.

By now we should have sussed out a backline of high speed, decent passing, quality defenders & have at least one player of great defensive mobility, to use as an option in front of them.

We just haven't 'cared' enough as it's gradually got worse.
 
1) He didn't lose his man, he was tracking Mane and was in a good position. What happens is Walker squares up to Salah which allows space in the right channel directly behind him.
2) Stones is on Mane's left side so when Salah plays the well weighted pass it takes Stones out of the game
3) After Mane's shot Stones continues running back to the goal (like any good central defender does) in case of an oppurtunity to clear. Blind panic would have seen Stones most likely try to make a diving tackle on Mane, therefore risking a penalty and a red card.
4) The ball hits the post and falls to Stone's who because of his decision to track the ball, finds himself in a good position to clear.
5) As he kicks the ball he is confronted by a reckless dive from Ederson (a common trait of Ederson's which can't be denied) and the ball clatters off him. Was there a shout from either player? Who knows, but as Stones finds himself goal side of the ball he's in the best position to clear.
6) Despite the ball bouncing of Ederson and back over his head, Stones has the presence of mind to quickly turn back towards his own net and make the goal line clearance which was one of the key moments in us winning the league.
I think we’ll have to agree to disagree
 
Agreed. Ederson seems so eager to be involved in the offensive side of our game he at times botches his defensive assignment makes a rash last second decision and trips over the keeper 101 handbook (keep the ball out of the net) which he at times throws out the window.

It's a hazard of the job though. De Gea couldn't play for us.
 
Agreed. Ederson seems so eager to be involved in the offensive side of our game he at times botches his defensive assignment makes a rash last second decision and trips over the keeper 101 handbook (keep the ball out of the net) which he at times throws out the window.
For the way we play Ederson is the best keeper out there, end of story.
 
I agree.

I thought Rodri would be awesome but he is too slow for how we play.

Teams now will just sit back in a low block and long ball over our entire mid. Rodri doesn't have the legs to get back and defend.

Indeed mate.

Compare and contrast with peak Fernandinho.

It's like replacing a Lamborghini with a fucking milk float.
 
most of our goals conceded are from wayward passes, we push our fullbacks up high and wide , the ball comes into our dm, if the dm loses possession or gives a bad ball then the oppo break, leaving the CB exposed ,imo we shoot ourselves in the foot 99% of the time rather than great play from the oppo, a brilliant passing DM is what we need to cut out 50% of the goals we concede , and a 20% improvement in our finishing.

There's a chap I've seen who could fit the bill. Quite young and still developing, a bit conservative in his approach, but seems to be able to pick a pass. Also rather good at retaining possession. Oh and he's pretty useful from corners and I've also seen him score thunderbolt goals. Think his name is Rodri or some such. Not sure why he's not on our radar.
 
I agree.

I thought Rodri would be awesome but he is too slow for how we play.

Teams now will just sit back in a low block and long ball over our entire mid. Rodri doesn't have the legs to get back and defend.

At least if we are going to play him, we need the players behind him & around him to be sharp enough to compensate. Usually we have several who aren't.
 
I agree.

I thought Rodri would be awesome but he is too slow for how we play.

Teams now will just sit back in a low block and long ball over our entire mid. Rodri doesn't have the legs to get back and defend.
Did you watch Rodri before he played for us, because you can't possibly think he would be "awesome" but are now surprised how slow he is?

He is slow, that isn't an issue here. The problem is a stupidly highline with defenders incapable of playing it. Gundogan stood 3ft away from him for 90mins also doesn't help.

Put KDB and Bernardo or preferrably Aouar in that midfield and Rodri can be left to do what he does best.
 
I agree.

I thought Rodri would be awesome but he is too slow for how we play.

Teams now will just sit back in a low block and long ball over our entire mid. Rodri doesn't have the legs to get back and defend.
Rodri is nothing to do with the long ball over the top, no more than Fernandinho would be. The problem is not pressing enough to prevent that, and defenders not being quick enough when it does happen. Fix those two thing, and I think we will myself, then Rodri will be the player you expected .
 
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