Marvin said:
We've tried to attack in every game.
When you watch Utd and Liverpool in Europe away, their priority has been not to lose.
If there is a lesson it is we are not at Barcelona's level yet, and should be more defensive away from home. At 1-1 we should not have lost that game. Still we did, move on to the next Cup Final
Absolutely agree!
I posted this on another thread, but it speaks the issue. So, I apologize ahead of time if anyone read it before.....
The technical expertise of those around NDJ is making his "skills" look ordinary, and his "locked door" DM position is being replaced in a system that allows interchangeability as a norm.
There are very few teams against which we need to try and shut up shop and attack on the break, but he also seems a bit lost in that set-up, as he is the master of the 5-10 yard sideways pass.
Tonight, Napoli attacked down the channels, which bypassed NDJ, and exposed our attacking full backs, especially if the midfield had committed itself to attack. Sadly, we have seen NOTHING on the order of Napoli's lightning counterattacking in the Prem, and we look a tad ordinary when we are defending under pressure, especially when we have not had a little time to get organized.
NDJ is a specific TYPE of player that we needed against the Top 6 last season, as we were building from the back. This year, we are defending by attacking, and (for me) we were more than a little naive in Napoli. We should have been playing for the draw and counterattacking at speed to try to expose Napoli's frailties. However, we often pressed with 7 or 8 players and were almost begging to be hit on the break.
In the Prem, we have set off at a sprint and have not really slowed down yet. In the CL, we have not learned that it is a six game marathon and the way into the next round is win at home and play not to lose away. We appear incapable of NOT trying to win by scoring more than the opposition. Last season, we won by not letting the opposition score, and thus did not need to average 3 goals per game.
Time to shut up shop for a few games, as Baconface has done at ManUre after we spanked them. I would rather we started winning a few games 1-0 and grab a few draws away at some of the tougher teams than go for broke for 90 minutes every game and play with a 3-1-6 formation that leaks goals to teams we should not be leaking goals to.
De Jong certainly has a role to play in such games, where we need to fill the midfield with NDJ, Yaya, Barry and Milner, with Silva/Nasri/Aguero in the hole behind Dzeko/Mario. Milner has the engine to get forward, and Yaya always gets up there when needed and even creates a few runs a game from that position. However, we will have the opportunity to put this to the test in a few games coming up, so it will be interesting to see if we do.
In short, would hate to see us throw away a 5 point lead by attacking with our hair on fire while leaving the back door open for other teams to exploit. Love the attacking flair, and the goals, but would like to see us shut up shop a little and let the flair players show their skills on the break.
