- Joined
- Nov 23, 2021
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- 752
Did well to not get himself sent off in fairness to him, I'd never have thought he'd see out the 90 minutes after getting yellow carded so early.
Adjustment to who. Maybe don’t get booked in 60 secondsThat yellow changed everything. He couldn't go for challenges with intensity after that. City targeted him entire game and 3 goals came from his side.
ETH should have made the adjustment after the yellow.
That wasn't an yellow. But shit happens and some help from midfield would have helped. Antony helped but then they doubled up on midfield which means KDB had acres of space on right midfield.Adjustment to who. Maybe don’t get booked in 60 seconds
Has it happened a lot?This thing he does where he gets booked early on in games for pointless hard man challenges is really helpful. Keep it up lad.
He’s already on four bookings and three of those happened before half time. So yeah not great tbh.Has it happened a lot?
I think there was a number of reasons why we lost the way we did, but Dalot failing to to occupy the space behind Antony was particularly damaging. EtH mentioned at the end of the game about wanting to defend from the front, but defending from the front isn't a option if the fullbacks are not backing the press. And as it transpired, Dalot ended up in 1v1 scenarios far too many times due to holding back in a deeper position. There was a lack of intensity and poor use of the ball all round in the first half, but we can't compensate if the fullback isn't closing the space. Below are recent examples of Dalot not moving into the space against Arsenal, Man City and Real Sociedad, which makes it far too easy for the opposition to bypass the first line of pressure. And I've noticed a similar problem on the left.
It was said by some that Dalot backed off due to protecting Maguire. But he's repeated the same unwillingness to close the space when not playing with Maguire, as seen in the clips below.
Real Sociedad
Arsenal
Man City
The clip below is one example from ten Hag's Ajax in the UCL, where the RB (Mazraoui) closes the space and wins the ball back to turn defence into attack. And whilst Mazraoui is advancing towards the active area on the pitch, Alvarez is closing down the unmarked player in the zone Mazraoui has vacated.
I think there was a number of reasons why we lost the way we did, but Dalot failing to to occupy the space behind Antony was particularly damaging. EtH mentioned at the end of the game about wanting to defend from the front, but defending from the front isn't a option if the fullbacks are not backing the press. And as it transpired, Dalot ended up in 1v1 scenarios far too many times due to holding back in a deeper position. There was a lack of intensity and poor use of the ball all round in the first half, but we can't compensate if the fullback isn't closing the space. Below are recent examples of Dalot not moving into the space against Arsenal, Man City and Real Sociedad, which makes it far too easy for the opposition to bypass the first line of pressure. And I've noticed a similar problem on the left.
It was said by some that Dalot backed off due to protecting Maguire. But he's repeated the same unwillingness to close the space when not playing with Maguire, as seen in the clips below.
Real Sociedad
Arsenal
Man City
The clip below is one example from ten Hag's Ajax in the UCL, where the RB (Mazraoui) closes the space and wins the ball back to turn defence into attack. And whilst Mazraoui is advancing towards the active area on the pitch, Alvarez is closing down the unmarked player in the zone Mazraoui has vacated.
Dalot should push forward to maintain compactness and McTominay then takes up position to back up Dalot with Varane behind to cover. McTominay's next movement is dependant on Dalot closing the space behind Antony which he doesn't do and hence Bernardo Silva pulls towards the space between Dalot and Antony which disrupts our defensive structure and opens up gaps in the half spaces and exposes the midfield and back-line due to McTominay having to go with Bernardo Silva.Doesn't Dalot have to mark the left winger? Who takes the left winger if Dalot pushes onto the left full?
Fair enough. It's a bit risky though. If one man is beaten it leaves a 2 on 1 scenario straight away.Dalot should push forward to maintain compactness and McTominay then takes up position to back up Dalot with Varane behind to cover. McTominay's next movement is dependant on Dalot closing the space behind Antony which he doesn't do and hence Bernardo Silva pulls towards the space between Dalot and Antony which disrupts our defensive structure and opens up gaps in the half spaces and exposes the midfield and back-line due to McTominay having to go with Bernardo Silva.
The clip above showing the Mazraoui - Alvarez off the ball combination is what should've happened. That's front foot defending and something we need to learn quickly.
It is, that is why pressing was and is still a high risk, high reward endeavour. We have cruised through opponents trying to do it to us under Ole for a reason. Plus I'd add, that the overall compactness of the team is important to it. As long as players are far away from each other, the risk of situations you describe is even bigger - on the other side do you need distance to stretch defense once you win the ball - finding the right balance is a very delicate thing to master.Fair enough. It's a bit risky though. If one man is beaten it leaves a 2 on 1 scenario straight away.