But they didn't high press last season? The system from hell is a 23-24 innovation. In effect we've been deep both seasons but this year it wasn't supposed to be like that.
The point is that the transfer department and the head coach have to already be on the same page about playing style and what's needed. If they're not you get exactly the Frankenstein squad problems we now have.
I think it's the case that Maguire and Evans just have to defend deeper because it's so easy to push the ball past them and beat them for pace. So they can't do anything but defend deep regardless of what they are told to do, to ensure a ball...
I'd be surprised if he wasn't sacked next week. Then again I was surprised INEOS managed to buy into the club at all. So I clearly know less than I think I do.
Why is it so hard to believe? Ancelotti didn't do the double at Everton but he did at Madrid. Players and club structure are a far bigger determinant of success than head coach - though you obviously need a good one of those too.
There's a reason Ancelotti won the UCL with Madrid but not Everton. The coach is only a small cog. You're right we need to fix so many things, including nailing down our style. But fast attacking is meaningless because all attacking has to be...
Whether or not he is a good or bad coach, the problem is not Ten Hag. The problem is an incoherent squad that can't play the same type of football from one area of the field to the next, purchased by a club with no footballing philosophy to guide...
True it's over simplifying. But fundamentally its 'been a failure of high press and (in theory) high line all season versus counter attack and sitting deeper at Wembley. And that latter is what Ole did and what ETH was brought in to end.
Although I want to keep ETH, the final should really be seen as an argument not to. After refusing to change his tactics all season, he reverted to counter attacking football, the exact thing we don't want to do and he rightly said we shouldn't...
I agree but there's a damage goods vibe about ETH that makes marketing next season feel like an uphill slog. Being able to pretend we are amazing kind of matters when there are better things to do on a Sunday fternoon.
And this is the heart of it. He says that had he done so it would have set us back and cost even more points later. Who knows. If he gets sacked it's for being inflexible in the face of constant demands to compromise. A compromiser would last...
Well quite. The heart of the Ten Hag problem is his refusal to compromise his playing style to meet the reality that the players available couldn't perform it. Is that a sackable offence? Well maybe it is. But what else could he have done? Played...