BluesJr
Owns the moral low ground
- Joined
- May 15, 2013
- Messages
- 9,236
More possession and more passes than Arsenal that half.
Which is why it's laughable when people say things like "get rid of ETH and hire De Zerbi". As if that would solve any of our underlying structural problems.Because we dont have proper footballing structure like these clubs. These clubs dont have managers identifying and choosing which players to buy for them.
That's not surprising actually. People ignore facts just to moan. There were periods we completely dominated but couldn't find a break.More possession and more passes than Arsenal that half.
Our defence against Arsenal comprises of AWB, Dalot and Lindelof. The former two are bad in possession. The latter is average. They are not passing through anything even if they’re instructed to.The transition back to ole ball. Everything being passed along the back line and and then lumped forward to the wingers. No ability to pass through the middle
That's not surprising actually. People ignore facts just to moan. There were periods we completely dominated but couldn't find a break.
I dont like the way of inviting pressure but that's what it is.
Across our own area yeahMore possession and more passes than Arsenal that half.
What he means by that is new signings need to bed in quickly during their transition period.
Except against Forrest and Spurs.We're starting to look like Van Gaal's United again with plenty of the ball and passes in areas that don't hurt the opposition for the sake of saying we had the ball. And very few ideas of how to actually use the ball to make openings
We were away from home against one of the best sides in the league. I think the tactics were ok
We would have been turned over if we had allowed them to have more of the ball and been more open
I agree we didn’t offer enough of a threat. Mainly as the midfield didnt get on the ball and pass forward. ETH even said so. Second half we played a bit more.We've played on the counter against Arsenal since the majority of Sir Alex's time at the club. Relegation sides will have more of a threat going forward than we did in the first half
I think a large reason for this is that none of our midfielders can carry the ball. So if the players can't do that, but are still keeping possession it means that once they receive the pass from the defense, they have to pass it back to a defender to keep the opposition press from winning it back. This is a micro improvement from some of our usual midfield who can't even do that well, but still lacks in getting us to stay up the pitch or creating chances. I would say that only Eriksen provides that safe passing option for our midfield, but also can't carry the ball. Casemiro and Bruno can do neither from their position.We're starting to look like Van Gaal's United again with plenty of the ball and passes in areas that don't hurt the opposition for the sake of saying we had the ball. And very few ideas of how to actually use the ball to make openings
In the first 30 minutes we were comfortably the worst transition team in the world. Then we did it brilliantly once
I’m really confused as to what our “style of play” actually is. ETH himself says he wants us to be the best transitional team in the world which suggests to me he wants us to move the ball from back to front really quickly and effectively and yet when you watch us play, we knock the ball around the back line and Onana before eventually just hitting it long for Rashford to chase.
Yesterday we had 2 examples of good transition actions (I am still not sure how this differs from counter attacking, seems like this phrase is just not so fashionable these days).
Both situations brought us goals.
The rest of the game we lumped the ball forward or passed in around between defenders.
If ETH thinks this is sustainable and will bring us long term success then he's out of his mind.
I don't fully blame him as we are really struck with injuries, so that has to be taken under consideration. However, I don't like the brand of football we played under ETH earlier this season so really not sure where this team is heading.
Looks to be heading back to Ole's way of playing against the big teams. Not sure that's what EtH was hired for tbf. However since we really don't have any actual football director , I don't think playing style was ever mentioned during his job interview.Yesterday we had 2 examples of good transition actions (I am still not sure how this differs from counter attacking, seems like this phrase is just not so fashionable these days).
Both situations brought us goals.
The rest of the game we lumped the ball forward or passed in around between defenders.
If ETH thinks this is sustainable and will bring us long term success then he's out of his mind.
I don't fully blame him as we are really struck with injuries, so that has to be taken under consideration. However, I don't like the brand of football we played under ETH earlier this season so really not sure where this team is heading.
We lack players in the middle who can receive the ball under pressure, retain and keep momentum. Maddison is a great example of a player available this summer, a younger Eriksen and would have made a huge difference on Sunday. Casimero was never that player and is even less capable of it now. Bruno is not that player as he loses the ball too often and then throws himself to the ground, it was embarrassing how often he did that yesterday. Whatever we think of Mount he doesnt change this gaping void. Maybe its Amrabat but lets see.Looks to be heading back to Ole's way of playing against the big teams. Not sure that's what EtH was hired for tbf. However since we really don't have any actual football director , I don't think playing style was ever mentioned during his job interview.
Not the first team to do this Vs us.Arsenal know we are only dangerous on the counter so just let us have the ball. They often do it and it has worked very well the last few years. Needed magic from rashford to break through.
When they chased the guy we looked like we couldn't stand the heat, especially after the changes at the back to players that have barely played in a long time
They didn't press much.ETH bemoaned at the lack of forward passes in his post-match presser.
I believe the intent was to suck Arsenal in and then break with a vertical pass to bypass their press and take advantage of isolations/numerical superiorities.
We just didn't manage to find the forward passes until late in the 1st half.
We're starting to look like Van Gaal's United again with plenty of the ball and passes in areas that don't hurt the opposition for the sake of saying we had the ball. And very few ideas of how to actually use the ball to make openings
Now De Gea has gone, teams don't press our GK & CBs anymore, instead they press FB and midfield cuz these players are useless when it comes to ball progression.
Possession is all about passing it around the back though. You don’t dominate possession around the final third or you end up toothless in attack.Now De Gea has gone, teams don't press our GK & CBs anymore, instead they press FB and midfield cuz these players are useless when it comes to ball progression.
It's why United has more ball possession (on our half) now but pretty much clueless with it. That's not "dominate".