The Quality of Our Press Has Gone Down - Agree / Disagree?

I think our press would be a lot better if Pep starts compensating for the possible flaws we may have in central defence?

Problem being, some 'established' big names won't get game time as a result.

Play wing-backs in Mendy and Cancelo/Walker.

Play Fern, Rodri and KDB.

A bit more defensive like Liverpool but with more quality in the pass through the final third. There's a technical link between the base of the midfield and the three at the back, the willingness to get back in and cover from Jesus and Bernardo when Cancelo and Mendy bomb on.

The press from the front would be insane.

...................EDERSON............

CANCELO........STONES.........MENDY......

...............RODRI....FERN.......
.................. KDB..........
BERNARDO........................JESUS

..............SERGIO..STERLING....

I can see that team getting on the pitch but as 433 with Fern at CB and Jesus-Aguero-Sterling as a front 3.
 
I can see that team getting on the pitch but as 433 with Fern at CB and Jesus-Aguero-Sterling as a front 3.

I just don't think Fern can give us the aerial presence that Mendy would on defending set-pieces, so I looked at a way of incorporating Mendy from an attacking POV?

Also, I don't think Rodri is able yet to come short and receive the ball on the half turn like Fern, he's more of a shielder of the ball, using his size to get himself out of trouble.

To me, the ball seems to be going back to the centre-halves a lot more than previously and Rodri can't get back in quick enough, he needs another foil, perhaps.

With just two fit and recognised centre-backs on the fit list, can't see Pep hanging either out to dry between now and January?

Our full-backs, however....
 
Some of the football Norwich played to break our pres in first 15-20 minutes was as good as we ever played in same situations. It was EXCELLENT for a team of their stature and with so many injuries. In one particular instance, we pressed with 4-5 players and it was joy too watch how good they broke that pressure from the left side of their defence.

Their manager is one to watch. I don't expect him to stay there longer than this season. Looking how Silva is doing, wouldn't surprise me if Everton comes calling.
Wouldn’t go anywhere near Everton
 
It's because of Liverpool. They are very good and we have very small margins to lose points and + people are scared of letting them winning the title. It would be like dinosaurs extinction moment in Worlds history.

if the league would still be at 80-85 points to win, people would be far less nervous. It's probably at least 90 now, 98 was needed last year. It's a tense affair.
I get that, what i don't get is the hysteria a bad performance generates. We go from being the greatest side the PL has ever seen to a weak team that can be got at in the blink of an eye.
 
I just don't think Fern can give us the aerial presence that Mendy would on defending set-pieces, so I looked at a way of incorporating Mendy from an attacking POV?

Also, I don't think Rodri is able yet to come short and receive the ball on the half turn like Fern, he's more of a shielder of the ball, using his size to get himself out of trouble.

To me, the ball seems to be going back to the centre-halves a lot more than previously and Rodri can't get back in quick enough, he needs another foil, perhaps.

With just two fit and recognised centre-backs on the fit list, can't see Pep hanging either out to dry between now and January?

Our full-backs, however....
Mendy would be in the team too.

Walker/Cancelo-Stones-Fernandinho-Mendy
Rodri-Bernardo-KDB
Sterling-Aguero-Jesus

I think having Fern behind Rodri would solve a lot of the problems you're talking about. Also we know from Gundogan they always try to set up in possession as 3 defenders behind 2 midfielders, and at the moment that's Walker-Stones-Otamendi behind Rodri and Zinchenko who is tucking in. If we played the team I put above, that'd turn into Cancelo/Walker-Stones-Mendy behind Fernandinho and Rodri next to each other.
 
The quality of our press has been declining since the internet was made. All of the reporters are now just Cut and Paste experts.

Wrong sort of Press I suppose but I dont want to talk about this atrocious redcafe style thread :)
 
The game on Saturday was basically played in Norwich's half.

Norwich had not much more than 20 touches of the ball in or around our box.

A few poor moments, including some very uncharacteristic ones, cost us.

It's far too soon to bemoaning our press.
 
To be honest, it’s not surprising the same intensity isn’t there and I expect similar from time to time.

It seemed almost the moment the final whistle went at Southampton in centurions season, the narrative coming out of everyone at the club was how the Prem had not been retained for years and we’d never retained the league. Kompany was relentless.

Unless I’m mistaken I’ve not heard much about 3 in a row. The noise seems to be about the CL and that was the challenge Kompany set them. It proves how ridiculous our last 2 seasons were. You only have to be a little bit off in this league.
You say Kompany was relentless, and while he ended the season well with a good run of games - he only played four games for us between 1st September to 27th February.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think the new rule allowing defenders to play the ball in the box from the keeper is definitely affecting the efficiency of the press as it makes it much easier for the keeper to release the ball.
This combined with the fact more and more teams are playing out from the back and getting better at is as a result is probably why our press is not as effective as it has been.
Playing out from the back is becoming the norm now rather than the exception.
 
I just don't think Fern can give us the aerial presence that Mendy would on defending set-pieces, so I looked at a way of incorporating Mendy from an attacking POV?

Also, I don't think Rodri is able yet to come short and receive the ball on the half turn like Fern, he's more of a shielder of the ball, using his size to get himself out of trouble.

To me, the ball seems to be going back to the centre-halves a lot more than previously and Rodri can't get back in quick enough, he needs another foil, perhaps.

With just two fit and recognised centre-backs on the fit list, can't see Pep hanging either out to dry between now and January?

Our full-backs, however....
Mendy would still be on the pitch to defend set pieces though. How does our formation affect defending set pieces? Maybe I’m missing your point.
 

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.