I quite like Partey too. I’ve watched a lot of Atleti games this year and he stands out every time I watch. Played out of his boots against Liverpool too. Think he or Ndidi would fill that Fern role quite well. Both are monsters defensively, and Ndidi has improved his passing game quite well.He's like Rodri but worse at exactly everything. I'd prefer a different type of CDM to Rodri so we can rotate depending on opposition. I'd like Laimer or Partey.
Rodri against lower half teams and Arsenal. Laimer or Partey against teams like United, Leicester or Liverpool. Teams who only parks the bus and counter. Laimer and Partey has the recovery pace and agility to stop counters quick unlike Rodri, and they're good enough at passing to spray passes against top opposition
He's like Rodri but worse at exactly everything. I'd prefer a different type of CDM to Rodri so we can rotate depending on opposition. I'd like Laimer or Partey.
Rodri against lower half teams and Arsenal. Laimer or Partey against teams like United, Leicester or Liverpool. Teams who only parks the bus and counter. Laimer and Partey has the recovery pace and agility to stop counters quick unlike Rodri, and they're good enough at passing to spray passes against top opposition
Yeah Ndidi has gone from a destroyer to someone who also has good ability on the ball. I've seen him pull some great dribbles to escape pressure this seasonI quite like Partey too. I’ve watched a lot of Atleti games this year and he stands out every time I watch. Played out of his boots against Liverpool too. Think he or Ndidi would fill that Fern role quite well. Both are monsters defensively, and Ndidi has improved his passing game quite well.
The Mendy variant works great with Laporte back, he's got world class reading of the game so he can easily close those gaps that appears. I also agree about our formation, which was at it's peak with Gundogan who's got the recovery pace of a 50 year old dad.When it comes to the #6 Pep almost always prefers someone's ability on the ball before their defensive abilities. He values the importance of playing out from the back and not losing the ball in the middle of the pitch. Also their passing ability to recycle and swing the ball side to side. Even before we got Rodri we almost got Jorginho. Yeah it would be great to have someone who can do that and defend like Kante, but that player is a rarity.
How we set up is important to protect the #6. We won a fair few games with Gundogan as the loan #6, but it was how we set up to not leave him alone. He played closer to the CB's to narrow the midfield with both fullbacks (Zinch/Delph and Walker) inverting. So you had a system basically like this with the CB's pushed up high.
-------------------LB-------------DM------------FR---------
----------------CB-----------------------------CB-----------
The problem this year is you had Mendy playing higher and wide like a wing back which left Rodri to cover more space.
LB-----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------DM-----------------RB---------------
--------------CB---------------------------CB--------------
In the first setup the with Zinch/Delph the space for the opposition was behind and over the top on our left that's why everyone was saying they aren't LB's because they found themselves defending in those situations.
Now the space is between Mendy and Rodri which goes more through the midfield so everyone wants a DM. I believe that we can go with a #6 more like Gundogan provided we have the defensive cover for him like good and quick CB's and LB that can snuff out counters.
I like to partyI quite like Partey too. I’ve watched a lot of Atleti games this year and he stands out every time I watch. Played out of his boots against Liverpool too. Think he or Ndidi would fill that Fern role quite well. Both are monsters defensively, and Ndidi has improved his passing game quite well.
The Mendy variant works great with Laporte back, he's got world class reading of the game so he can easily close those gaps that appears. I also agree about our formation, which was at it's peak with Gundogan who's got the recovery pace of a 50 year old dad.
However I can't understand why we went for Rodri over Partey. Why not trade a little bit of playmaking ability for someone who's a lot faster, more agile, better going forward and defending. Partey is no slouch on the ball either, his passing range is excellent. Partey also had a much cheaper release clause. It must have been some bias going on given that Rodri is spanish just like Pep and that Busquets is probably Pep's favourite player after Messi. Rodri is good but Partey is as close to Fern you can get
We can either fix our counter attacking problem by getting someone to rotate with Rodri, for example Laimer, Zakaria or Partey who are fast box to box midfielders with excellent defensive capabilities and good feet. Or by buying a faster CB to pair up with Laporte. Someone like Upamecano, Varane, Sule or even buying Jason Denayer back from Lyon
Ideally I would buy both Laimer and Upamecano if i were Txiki and use Angelino as leverage. Zakaria is also someone who can play both CDM and CB just like Fern, he's also faster than some wingers even
That's very true. If Laporte was fit for the whole season we maybe wouldn't have this conversation. However his speed on the counters is a bit worrying, hopefully he can compensate with a great reading of the gamePersonally think Rodri suffered abit this season due to the shaky defence behind him? I think he’s done well to be honest and everyone has had bad moments in games this season including De Bruyne, sterling, ederson to name a few!? People are also always better in their second season under pep so if he goes up levels next season then he will be one of the best in the world.
I quite like Partey too. I’ve watched a lot of Atleti games this year and he stands out every time I watch. Played out of his boots against Liverpool too. Think he or Ndidi would fill that Fern role quite well. Both are monsters defensively, and Ndidi has improved his passing game quite well.
That's a legit answer, great viewpoint. I think Pep sees himself a bit in Busquets and Rodri too. Maybe even Gundogan. Pep is probably biased towards that type of player, but who can blame him? I personally think we need a Fernandinho type to break the pattern though. Someone who can step the opposition on their heels and tackle from behind without getting a yellow, someone who does the dirty work so KDB and the other attackers can focus on attackingI don't know you will just have to chalk it up to that's how Pep is. You can call it arrogance, but he's always says that is what he believes and how he wants to play. He himself playing in that position knows what he wants. The player has to be intelligent to know where the open man is before he receives the ball. They have to see the entire pitch. Some of why Gundo excels in that position is that he is a deep lying playmaker and can see and play a pass in to the winger making the run while at the same time breaking the press.
If you look at his days in Barca he preferred Busquets to Yaya to why he was sold to us. This is not to say Yaya wasn't a great player, but the qualities were different. Yaya was a beast on the ball. You couldn't take it off him and he would make surging runs, but that's not what he requires from the position. He knew Busquets would always make the simple pass to keep it moving. He knows the ball is always faster than the players pressing so you move the ball quickly and that's what Busquets did.