Tactical discussion

[bluethai]

Our CMs, apart from Yaya and Fernandinho, are not good enough to play in more dynamic system as our management hoped though.

 

[blueju]

We are definitely missing Kompany's drive from the back and his energy. Our defence looks lethargic without him.

 

[BigOscar]

We just don't seem able to keep possesion now that we've spread the midfield and playing 2 up front. 442 is just not a formation that works for possession football anymore. We need to go back to 4231 or to 433, get more men in central areas and start really controlling games again. Play with one upfront, but get runners from deep. We can't carry on how we have been, we are getting hugely exposed.

 

[Blueband Brother]

Or we could start players who have done more with there opportunity. And let Rodwell get blooded in slowly. He simply isn't the fantasy player people imagine him to be. He is a talented, athletic, 2 footed youngster. But he hasn't put it all together yet.

Using that logic, everybody that went today is benched. We're bringing in more athletic, vocal supporters that can be bothered to sing.

Wrong. The team as a whole wasn't great. No surprise there, we benched 6 starters.
Kompany for Garcia, Dihno for Rodwell, Silva for Nasri, Kun for Jovetic and Navas for Milner and suddenly we have five starters back in. We go from having just 2 players who could hold on to the ball (Yaya and Nasri) to having 6: Yaya, Kun, Komps, Silva, Navas and Dihno. Komps presence also improves Nasty's play a bit, maybe even Zab gets more comfortable attacking his flank. and suddenly we are moving the ball better again.

In this game we had 2 players who could hold it long enough and make a decent pass most of the time. We need to push that number up to six. We will still have some problems coz we have too few in the midfield. This is where a team like Arsenal is superior to us. They have 7 ball handling midfielders on there squad. They dominate play and create chances at will because so many players understand how to make a pass and move intelligently. We don't have enough of that.

Exactly!!!, and that is why Arsenal has won all those trophies over the past 5 years or so and why we have struggled to even finish in the top 4 in the last few years and not even came close to a trophy.

It was a bad performance by the team but there is no need for uber-analysis. The season is long and things will get better. All those ''starters'' you mentioned did not dominate and create chances against Cardiff did they?

Ultimately it comes down to making the most of your qualities and attributes as a team but the most important and deciding factor is honesty, hard work and spirit and that is what we want to see.

Pellegrini needs to fully learn the attributes of his players and then the tactics will become easier to decide and implement but I think he is still getting to know the players.

 

[Chi-town blues]

playing 69 formation can be very pleasing ..

 

[daxman]

Using that logic, everybody that went today is benched. We're bringing in more athletic, vocal supporters that can be bothered to sing.

Wrong. The team as a whole wasn't great. No surprise there, we benched 6 starters.
Kompany for Garcia, Dihno for Rodwell, Silva for Nasri, Kun for Jovetic and Navas for Milner and suddenly we have five starters back in. We go from having just 2 players who could hold on to the ball (Yaya and Nasri) to having 6: Yaya, Kun, Komps, Silva, Navas and Dihno. Komps presence also improves Nasty's play a bit, maybe even Zab gets more comfortable attacking his flank. and suddenly we are moving the ball better again.

In this game we had 2 players who could hold it long enough and make a decent pass most of the time. We need to push that number up to six. We will still have some problems coz we have too few in the midfield. This is where a team like Arsenal is superior to us. They have 7 ball handling midfielders on there squad. They dominate play and create chances at will because so many players understand how to make a pass and move intelligently. We don't have enough of that.

Exactly!!!, and that is why Arsenal has won all those trophies over the past 5 years or so and why we have struggled to even finish in the top 4 in the last few years and not even came close to a trophy.

It was a bad performance by the team but there is no need for uber-analysis. The season is long and things will get better. All those ''starters'' you mentioned did not dominate and create chances against Cardiff did they?

Ultimately it comes down to making the most of your qualities and attributes as a team but the most important and deciding factor is honesty, hard work and spirit and that is what we want to see.

Pellegrini needs to fully learn the attributes of his players and then the tactics will become easier to decide and implement but I think he is still getting to know the players.

Was talking about Arsenal's current squad, which is 4 game old. Unless I missed something, this discussion is about our tactics and personell "this season", no?

As for the starters I mentioned, they all didn't get to play together against Cardiff. Kompany was Injured, Nasri was on the bench, and Dihno and Navas got sent to the bench later when Nasri came in. Inspite of that, we did create way more chances in that game than this.

Terms like "honesty, hardwork and spirit" are mostly fluff. Who isn't being honest and hardworking? They all are. So that is not the issue.

 

[Blueband Brother]

Wrong. The team as a whole wasn't great. No surprise there, we benched 6 starters.
Kompany for Garcia, Dihno for Rodwell, Silva for Nasri, Kun for Jovetic and Navas for Milner and suddenly we have five starters back in. We go from having just 2 players who could hold on to the ball (Yaya and Nasri) to having 6: Yaya, Kun, Komps, Silva, Navas and Dihno. Komps presence also improves Nasty's play a bit, maybe even Zab gets more comfortable attacking his flank. and suddenly we are moving the ball better again.

In this game we had 2 players who could hold it long enough and make a decent pass most of the time. We need to push that number up to six. We will still have some problems coz we have too few in the midfield. This is where a team like Arsenal is superior to us. They have 7 ball handling midfielders on there squad. They dominate play and create chances at will because so many players understand how to make a pass and move intelligently. We don't have enough of that.

Exactly!!!, and that is why Arsenal has won all those trophies over the past 5 years or so and why we have struggled to even finish in the top 4 in the last few years and not even came close to a trophy.

It was a bad performance by the team but there is no need for uber-analysis. The season is long and things will get better. All those ''starters'' you mentioned did not dominate and create chances against Cardiff did they?

Ultimately it comes down to making the most of your qualities and attributes as a team but the most important and deciding factor is honesty, hard work and spirit and that is what we want to see.

Pellegrini needs to fully learn the attributes of his players and then the tactics will become easier to decide and implement but I think he is still getting to know the players.

Was talking about Arsenal's current squad, which is 4 game old. Unless I missed something, this discussion is about our tactics and personell "this season", no?

As for the starters I mentioned, they all didn't get to play together against Cardiff. Kompany was Injured, Nasri was on the bench, and Dihno and Navas got sent to the bench later when Nasri came in. Inspite of that, we did create way more chances in that game than this.

Terms like "honesty, hardwork and spirit" are mostly fluff. Who isn't being honest and hardworking? They all are. So that is not the issue.

The Arsenal squad you talk about has essentially been the same over the past few years- lots of possession and play but ultimately no solidity and no spine in the team, which have led to their lack of success. Do not be distracted by the start they have made because as I said, It is just the beginning and their possession play thus far does not predispose to consistency and cannot be seen as a blueprint for success.

The hard work and honesty and desire or lack there of has been an issue for the team and it was quite evident today and that positive spirit is what usually is the difference in terms of salvaging results and overcoming tough challenges, particularly away from home. That was why Barcelona scored that last minute goal yesterday and that is what a team needs as an intangible to set itself apart among the other talented teams.

We don't need 6 media brain washing tika taka gibberish ball handling players to win games,we need talented players that are diligent and hardworking enough to play to the best of their abilities most of the time and in a squad like ours, that is more than enough to win most games.

 

[daxman]

Exactly!!!, and that is why Arsenal has won all those trophies over the past 5 years or so and why we have struggled to even finish in the top 4 in the last few years and not even came close to a trophy.

It was a bad performance by the team but there is no need for uber-analysis. The season is long and things will get better. All those ''starters'' you mentioned did not dominate and create chances against Cardiff did they?

Ultimately it comes down to making the most of your qualities and attributes as a team but the most important and deciding factor is honesty, hard work and spirit and that is what we want to see.

Pellegrini needs to fully learn the attributes of his players and then the tactics will become easier to decide and implement but I think he is still getting to know the players.

Was talking about Arsenal's current squad, which is 4 game old. Unless I missed something, this discussion is about our tactics and personell "this season", no?

As for the starters I mentioned, they all didn't get to play together against Cardiff. Kompany was Injured, Nasri was on the bench, and Dihno and Navas got sent to the bench later when Nasri came in. Inspite of that, we did create way more chances in that game than this.

Terms like "honesty, hardwork and spirit" are mostly fluff. Who isn't being honest and hardworking? They all are. So that is not the issue.

The Arsenal squad you talk about has essentially been the same over the past few years- lots of possession and play but ultimately no solidity and no spine in the team, which have led to their lack of success. Do not be distracted by the start they have made because as I said, It is just the beginning and their possession play thus far does not predispose to consistency and cannot be seen as a blueprint for success.

The hard work and honesty and desire or lack there of has been an issue for the team and it was quite evident today and that positive spirit is what usually is the difference in terms of salvaging results and overcoming tough challenges, particularly away from home. That was why Barcelona scored that last minute goal yesterday and that is what a team needs as an intangible to set itself apart among the other talented teams.

We don't need 6 media brain washing tika taka gibberish ball handling players to win games,we need talented players that are diligent and hardworking enough to play to the best of their abilities most of the time and in a squad like ours, that is more than enough to win most games.

It is a blue print that allows them to successfully do what they intend; Dominate possession and create chances. This too is our mini goal. Dominate possession, play attactive football and create loads of chances. We will not be successful at this without creative intelligent players.

I think having the greatest player in the world on Barca's squad had a whole lot to do with that win. But this is a tough discussion, as your claims are very general and can be molded to fit anything. Hardworking, dilligent and spirited can mean anything to anyone.

 

[Blueband Brother]

Was talking about Arsenal's current squad, which is 4 game old. Unless I missed something, this discussion is about our tactics and personell "this season", no?

As for the starters I mentioned, they all didn't get to play together against Cardiff. Kompany was Injured, Nasri was on the bench, and Dihno and Navas got sent to the bench later when Nasri came in. Inspite of that, we did create way more chances in that game than this.

Terms like "honesty, hardwork and spirit" are mostly fluff. Who isn't being honest and hardworking? They all are. So that is not the issue.

The Arsenal squad you talk about has essentially been the same over the past few years- lots of possession and play but ultimately no solidity and no spine in the team, which have led to their lack of success. Do not be distracted by the start they have made because as I said, It is just the beginning and their possession play thus far does not predispose to consistency and cannot be seen as a blueprint for success.

The hard work and honesty and desire or lack there of has been an issue for the team and it was quite evident today and that positive spirit is what usually is the difference in terms of salvaging results and overcoming tough challenges, particularly away from home. That was why Barcelona scored that last minute goal yesterday and that is what a team needs as an intangible to set itself apart among the other talented teams.

We don't need 6 media brain washing tika taka gibberish ball handling players to win games,we need talented players that are diligent and hardworking enough to play to the best of their abilities most of the time and in a squad like ours, that is more than enough to win most games.

It is a blue print that allows them to successfully do what they intend; Dominate possession and create chances. This too is our mini goal. Dominate possession, play attactive football and create loads of chances. We will not be successful at this without creative intelligent players.

I think having the greatest player in the world on Barca's squad had a whole lot to do with that win. But this is a tough discussion, as your claims are very general and can be molded to fit anything. Hardworking, dilligent and spirited can mean anything to anyone.

Evidently no, because in that case Arsenal, Roma, Swansea, most la liga teams, Turkish teams etc will be dominant. It is an approach to football but I do not believe that it can be deliberate. It is actually an approach that can work if the team have the players that can fit into the system. But I still dont think its enough, you still need the all round qualities to achieve success.

This is the greatest folly and problem in modern day football- the deliberate attempt to emulate Barcelona, without even considering the fact that Barcelona do have some of the best players in the world and have an academy that indoctrinates and trains the players from grass roots to attain and develop certain skills and attributes.

The meaning of good football varies and is subjective. The new definition of good football by the mainstream nowadays is to pass the ball around regardless of whether the players have the qualities to actually achieve the primary objective, which is to create chances and score goals and also have the complete attributes as a team to defend and also the character required to overcome difficult situations. The problem and delusion of Arsenal is that they have always played good football under Wenger but now they have chosen to chase an illusive ideological dream of playing the so called beautiful football but have discounted the need to have the other qualities required for a successful team such as leadership, a great spine and actual world class players that can make the difference e,g like the Arsenal team with Viera ,Petit etc.

What am I saying? creative players do not win you games and are not a blue print for success, this is the new media agenda that is sipping into the consciousness of the masses. Instead, talented all round players that are diligent, good spirited, hardworking and are willing to give 100% for the manager and the club- this is the blue print for success.

So its a worry when Pellegrini says he wants to change the style of play because that is not a good sign. The style of play is not a deliberate adjustment but is a means of getting the best out of the players that are available at a particular club. We have great players and we played good football under Mancini and there is no need to divert attention towards style of play instead of focusing on discovering the best system to get the best out of the city players.

 

[Eccles Blue]

So its a worry when Pellegrini says he wants to change the style of play because that is not a good sign. The style of play is not a deliberate adjustment but is a means of getting the best out of the players that are available at a particular club

Is running around like lost sheep looking for a shepherd the change of style that Mr Pellegrini is looking for? Because if he is he has succeeded!!

There were times yesterday when there were chances to go straight down midfield because the Stoke players were following our wingers and what did our midfield do? Instead of running with the ball they decided to pass to the winger!!

Lost sheep need a shepherd. Advert for the MEN!!!