Here's a tactical breakdown of key moments from last night's game. Why Reece James is a long way from displacing Azpi, why Alonso shouldn't be starting at FB ever again, how Mount helped turned the game and CHO's impact on our shape. Clips are below –
1st goal, Alonso mistake, but watch Reece James in transition. When ball is lost, James has to take the man AC leaves to reduce space. Once Reece tracks, he has one job – shunt Robinson further from goal on his weaker foot. He stands off instead. Willy's positioning suspect too.
Alonso's woeful time at LB. Off the ball, Silva presses, Mount presses and the ball falls to Havertz. Timo miscontrols, and there are at least 7-8 meters between Alonso and the man on the ball. Beaten like a high-school track athlete vs Usain Bolt. Yellow in the 7th minute.
"Don't play Mount on the wing," "play him in his position." This is not the wing. James is out wide to provide width. Mount is NOT a winger, but a #10 in half-space. Here he turns away delightfully and puts in a peach for Werner, who should have equalized. Excellent from Mount
Two important things to notice – 1) James providing width, and Mount making a clever run inside.
2) Alonso applying his WB skills to LB. He's bottom-left, waiting at the edge of the box to hit a loose ball at goal. On a counter, his man has over 70 yards to beat him for pace.
The risk from the last vid becomes real. As Kova progresses, Alonso steams ahead to provide support, but the ball is lost. There is no way he is recovering here. Furthermore, James (again) leaves Diangana in acres of space. Luckily, Christensen is diligent and covers his error.
Havertz forging a Brandt-like understanding with Mount. Havertz plays Mount into space, causing three panicked defenders to close him down. Mount chooses poorly and shoots from an awkward angle, instead of laying off the ball to Havertz, who had a better angle and space to shoot.
After leaving Mane free for a header last game, Reece goes to sleep again, and fails to "reset" the defensive line, playing everyone onside. Mistakes like these go away with time, but Lamps won't be happy with 2 errors in 2 games. Long way to go before he benches Azpi
Just before HT, Lamps saw enough of Alonso. After two errors and a yellow, Alonso AGAIN moves himself close to the box. When the ball is lost, he's ball-watching, instead of looking around for someone to mark. When the ball breaks loose, he dawdles and almost gives away another.
Havertz at his best. In a #10 role, he looks unstoppable, turning away from three surrounding defenders and picking a cute ball for Tammy, who chooses the right option, but a second late. Werner loves playing off another forward, and we will see more of this (with better results)
Here's how CHO changed our shape. In the first half, James was providing width and Mount was playing inside-right, now CHO is stretching play and James is playing in half-space. After moving the ball around, James allows CHO to take on his defender, almost leading to a goal.
Another glimpse into a possible Tammy-Werner link up. Caballero goes long to Tammy, who heads it to Werner. From here it's quick passes and Werner is immediately in space. CHO intelligently makes a run towards goal, taking the defensive line ahead, and leaving space for a cutback
Here's why CHO is so clever on the left. When James has the ball, CHO is far left, so no defenders pick him cause he's harmless. Werner is smart; he drops in half space and pulls defenders towards him. CHO sneaks in unmatked from the left, and plays a 1-2 with Havertz. Easy.
A part of his game Havertz has to improve on. We are now in ultra attacking mode, playing a 3-1-4-2, Kante is the lone DM. Here, Pereira drags Kante to the wing, leaving our center exposed. Havertz is tasked with marking Sawyers, but fails. If this had gone in, 4-2, game over.
Final goal, have to give props to Tammy. When the ball falls to Mount, he is the only one who sniffs a chance. He knows the strike will be difficult to save in a crowded box, so immediately he runs to the space out of pure instinct. Trademark poacher's trait.
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