Did you just list Martial as not being technically proficient?
Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24
- Thread starter sewey89
- Start date
- Status
Did you just list Martial as not being technically proficient?
I would sadly, given he couldn't take two steps without crumbling into pieces.
I would not say we played better yesterday than in the cup final. We lacked sharpness, which is why we missed multiple big chances.
I loved the commitment and workrate that was shown: if we do that each game, we will have a good season.
Stylistically it is a continuation of last season with a few tweaks. We still aim to get the ball forward quickly instead of passing it a lot, which is a-ok with me.
We do have weaknesses in the squad that will be exposed unless we get more signings in.
I want Collyer in the squad this season and Garnacho + Amad to start; Rashford on bench until his finishing gets better.
I loved the commitment and workrate that was shown: if we do that each game, we will have a good season.
Stylistically it is a continuation of last season with a few tweaks. We still aim to get the ball forward quickly instead of passing it a lot, which is a-ok with me.
We do have weaknesses in the squad that will be exposed unless we get more signings in.
I want Collyer in the squad this season and Garnacho + Amad to start; Rashford on bench until his finishing gets better.
Martinez signed is our most comfortable defender on the ball.
Antony whilst having near 0 ability to take on is probably the best attacker we have at receiving the ball under pressure and keeping it. His issue is that he does nothing with it.
Eriksen at the time was the most comfortable midfielder we had in keeping possession.
Ten Hag also wanted to sign De Jong, again a comfortable possession player.
Last season Onana, same as above. Mount is also comfortable in possession, Rasmus is probably the one whose profile isn't the best for a possession side but again if the money was there then intent would have been to sign a Kane type player.
This season, Zirkzee is very good in possession, Yoro, De Ligt, Mazraoui all comfortable in possession and upgrades.
So yeah, pretty much every signing has been made with an eye to make us more comfortable in possession.
Yeah not sure about this....whether crumbling into pieces of not, Martial has always been the most technically proficient attacker we've had.
A less valid point when he is always injured.
The point is about his technical proficiency, not whether he can stay fit. We all know he's a sicknote, we also all know he was the best technical attacker in the squad. Both are true.
If you want to be pedantic, Martial was included in a list of players who were incapable of playing the technical style and it being down to his constant injury still makes the broader point valid. I dont think I've seen Martial play a real part for us in a season since Ole.
Even if he was, could you count on him when it mattered?
Fresh start? Seems like the same problem players are still here. Let's see at the end of the summer if he's being honest.
Well said Jimbo.
There will still be plenty of ups and downs this season but I truly think last season was the nadir. We persevered through it and now have a very solid base to build from. While pre season results have been mixed, we’ve been the equal or better in performance level in every fixture, often without our strongest line up due to Euro/Copa players.
With the recent additions in defense, we shouldn’t see a massive decline in technical level in case of injuries/suspensions, and they are all young enough as a group (except Shaw) to plan the next 5 years around. We need a DM to share the game time with Casemiro and eventually replace him, and possibly another midfielder to share the load with Mainoo depending on how Mount get on this season, need to trim and replace the wide options if they don’t buck up their ideas.
EtH this season should have 2 targets, a) see a drastic rise in general level of performance for the squad and b) get CL football, either by winning the EL or finish top 4/5 in the league. I was in favour of keeping him due to circumstances last season but another League Cup/FA Cup wont save his bacon this time, not unless we achieved (a) and missed out on (b) by the skin of our teeth similar to how Arteta did 3 seasons back.
With the recent additions in defense, we shouldn’t see a massive decline in technical level in case of injuries/suspensions, and they are all young enough as a group (except Shaw) to plan the next 5 years around. We need a DM to share the game time with Casemiro and eventually replace him, and possibly another midfielder to share the load with Mainoo depending on how Mount get on this season, need to trim and replace the wide options if they don’t buck up their ideas.
EtH this season should have 2 targets, a) see a drastic rise in general level of performance for the squad and b) get CL football, either by winning the EL or finish top 4/5 in the league. I was in favour of keeping him due to circumstances last season but another League Cup/FA Cup wont save his bacon this time, not unless we achieved (a) and missed out on (b) by the skin of our teeth similar to how Arteta did 3 seasons back.
I think he is talking about fresh start in terms of the non playing senior staff.
That was a definite problem and fair play to INEOS, we have hit the complete reset button there.
How it plays out in the long term, time will tell. But intention and action clearly demonstrated
I'd give him benefit of the doubt for the first season because he inherited a set of circumstances that weren't optimal. By the time of the second season rolling around, bringing in a midfielder who was strong in possession should have been a priority.
What do you mean when you say Mount is comfortable in possession? He's an extremely low volume passer and doesn't really get on the ball much at all. He's just as chaotic as the rest of them under pressure. The bar is very low if we're describing him as 'comfortable'.
It remains to be seen with this summer's signings. Yoro looked good before the injury. The others are yet to make an appearance and I'm a bit skeptical with one or two of them.
As I've said multiple times though, the most important part of the pitch with regard to playing possession football is the midfield. You only have to look at our possession numbers over the last year or so to know that. None of our players bar Mainoo look to recycle the ball there. That is by design and because the manager wants it that way, else he would've prioritised different profiles and ousted the likes of McTominay (who he still says he wants to keep).
Ten Hag targeted de Jong in the first summer and has never attempted to sign a midfielder of a similar profile since. He went all out for Mason Mount last summer and this summer the main links are defensive midfielders whose best traits are out of possession. He doesn't care about controlling the game in that part of the pitch, that has been abundantly clear for at least the last 12 months.
Sure looks that way, we lost almost every midfield battle last season.
I think the last couple of pages is proof that simply losing games isn't why ETH gets massive backlash here. We played very well mostly yesterday, and if he can carry that into the season we'll all be delighted. Tactically and stylistically we looked like an actual football team, instead of looking like a hot potatoe side in possession, with no midfield. More of that please.
For anyone that missed the game - our attacks look very fluid, we look structured and have already got some exciting chemistry forming.
City didn't play a 'weak' side despite having 2 academy kids + Bobb (who I think will play more prominently this season). They had a backline of Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol and were struggling to keep pace with our quick exchanges at times.
City didn't play a 'weak' side despite having 2 academy kids + Bobb (who I think will play more prominently this season). They had a backline of Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol and were struggling to keep pace with our quick exchanges at times.
His problem are teams who are siting deep and hiting us on the counter. We always looks solid against teams who attacks us or are up for the game.
At least the man in charge of the club is acknowledging the issues. We can't fix everything in one window and it's not like the clubs are lined up to take up our dross.
He was always an extremely technical player. Lovely first touch, close control, hit a ball well.
Not soley due to being comfortable in posession though and more importantly in relation to the point you made about signing previous ETH players. None of the midfielders who played last season and are clear posession issue players were ETH driven signings. Eriksens issues were due to his loss of legs and nothing to do with his ball handling skills, not to mention he hardly played.
Also our midfield problems as has already been pointed out where about the pressing structure and the lack of aggressive defensive line to close the gap.
Yes but rather irrelevant if he cant get on the pitch. So I don't see an issue with putting him in the list of players that Ten Hag was hamstrung with by way of being able to implement a technical style.
And the roofs are still leaking! ETH out!!
Contracts are both ways, he can't just tell people to go.
It's just silly to list Anthony Martial (a player with excellent technical football ability) in a list of players with poor technique.
Not everything has a deeper meaning.
No wonder the roof is still fecked if we had ETH trying to sort it out.
I agree there but broadly speaking Martial was part of a list of players who were not able to partake in the technical style. The others because they couldn't, he because he couldn't get on the field.
He completely changed the higher ups at the club, and we've signed 4 players. It's a couple of months into his ownership.
The one thing I will say is O'Reilly did not have a good game at all and so their midfield wasn't really in the game which made a difference. Still we did play well and lots of positives.
Robie Fowler
Liverpool thugs already started barking before we even kick a ball for this season.
Do you think he keeps playing his sort of 4-4-2 / 4-2-4 he played at the end of last season and yesterday again? Or will he switch back to 4-2-3-1 / 4-5-1 he played most of last season?
Robie Fowler
Liverpool thugs already started barking before we even kick a ball for this season.
Has to write about us because no one wants to read about his boyhood club.
Anyway, our pre-season last year was dreadful for multiple reasons. We have more reason to be optimistic this season, though it might take a bit of time for the team to get going.
If he is around Christmas >10 points after leaders, he should go. It is his 3 y at the club.
I actually like to hear this. When you're in a shit company it's on you to get things done when everyone else is wanking in the toilets. If you don't then everyone dies.
That's not what being technically proficient is though.
I'm pleased you agree.
I don’t think the 4-2-4 would work against teams that sit deep, and I would be in favor of a more proactive approach at home against almost any one.
However, I think we should set up in that 4-2-4 against any top half team away from home, some of the bottom teams as well, there’s something about it that works really well when you have players like Bruno and Garnacho in your side, excellent transition players.
I think we could really punish some of the teams that try to play out from the back that way, who are not as good as City, which is literally everyone.
- Status