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@rickthereduk
People say he’s lazy & that he’s not playing like that anymore, not as clinical or not taking people on as much as he used to. I strongly disagree with that. If you watch closely this short clip you can see a few patterns, a few constants in most of the sequences. https://twitter.com/UtdLuke3/status/1380599403573051395">https://twitter.com/UtdLuke3/...
People say he’s lazy & that he’s not playing like that anymore, not as clinical or not taking people on as much as he used to. I strongly disagree with that. If you watch closely this short clip you can see a few patterns, a few constants in most of the sequences. https://twitter.com/UtdLuke3/status/1380599403573051395">https://twitter.com/UtdLuke3/...
The main thing I notice from these clips is the space. It’s either a counter attack, or the Monaco team stretching the pitch when in possession. Wether it is Martial stretching to put ball in, or him getting a good ball from a wide area. In most cases Martial runs into space.
Players are dangerous when there is space to exploit&that applies to almost all players, regardless of their abilities. Salah&Mane are a shadow of themselves when they can’t exploit space by counterpressing a team that builds from the back for example, as shown vs low blocks.
There is this misconception that teams need a player to be « creative& unlock defenses ». There is no such thing as a player unlocking defenses on his own on a regular basis : movement&space unlock defenses & you create space& movement by passing and moving the ball.
When in possession you need to pass the ball & stretch the pitch as much as you can if you want to open a defense. Sitting back& defending then hitting on the break is the another alternative: the opponent looses the ball& get caught out then you have lots of space to exploit.
Space is the only constant to score goals. Whether you do it by moving the ball, or by exploit the space left by a team losing possession. That is why Jose & Pep are so fundamentally different, but still two of the most successful managers of all time.
Somehow Pep always has the best passer in Europe& the good Jose sides always had the best 10s in Europe& broke goalscoring records despite adopting a defensive strategy. Ozil under Jose had so much space to exploit on the counter&pick the right option that he felt like a genius.
The quality of a player comes in once the space is created by the team work, once there is a platform for the player to showcase his talent. Very few players can pass like KDB, but very few players have the right environment to even try it.
You judge the quality of players once the entire team in the way it plays makes sense, then you can decide which position needs improvement. That is imo a massive problem for ManUnited under OGS. When we’re in possession& Martial is on the left, we often don’t create space.
Martial recognizes that& usually passes it to the next man. People get on him for not taking his man on. When Rashford’s on the left, there no space either, but he tries to attack, runs into 3-4 defenders& loses the ball. People get on him taking those silly decisions.
We have 2 players doing the opposite thing, both getting slated by the fanbase. They can’t win, which means something is wrong with the coaching&game plan. First, they shouldn’t be doing the opposite thing when playing the same position, which means they aren’t given instructions
It wouldn’t make any sense, if the coaching staff told Martial to do this& told Marcus to do the complete opposite, knowing that Martial’s dribble& close control are excellent. For example, it is not recommended to play possession football in a 4231, because possession requires
triangles & the two sitting midfielders (McFred) form a square/rectangle with their CBs, which invites sideways& backwards passes. You don’t create angles, which are necessary.
In possession the opponent waits for you,when McFred attempt a pass to Bruno with his back to goal, the opposition’s straight onto him when he gets it&pressure him into losing the ball. Bruno isnt the best at holding the ball, McFred aren’t the best at passing, which doesn’t help
But to be fair, as much as Fred Scott&Bruno have their weaknesses, they’re all put in a situation in which they cannot succeed. 4231 is better suited to countering, which we can see from past Jose, Benitez teams, but even from our good results when we set up defensively.
I personally don’t enjoy « defensive football » like Jose’s, or how we set up vs big teams under OGS, but at least it makes sense with the 4231. My problem is that Ole, supposedly, wants attacking high tempo football, with the ball. It highlights a very naive understanding of
the game in my opinion, because the coaching staff’s decisions don’t make any sense, if that’s what they want to achieve. Its contradictory& incompetent, or not being honest with the fanbase. There is so much more wrong with our team but I’ll stop here.
