Whilst it was ultimately another disappointing result, it was another game which gave me encouragement for the future under Amorim, if only because its quite clear what he wants us to do and where the holes are that need to be filled.
Take Casemiro for example. I said before the game that I think Casemiro will be useful in a way that he isn't it the PL, and it proved correct. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't great, but he did some nice things in winning the midfield battle and getting the ball up the pitch. In the PL he's a liability as he's unable to deal with the intensity and physicality, but against Spanish opposition he gets a little bit more time to show what he used to be able to do.
In that example you see what the team needs to do it in the PL - a strong and physical presence who can win the battle in midfield and get the ball to the attacking 5. What worries me is that its going to be a really tough position to fill in the summer, but I'm excited/hopeful to see what Vivell and the new scouting team come up with. Hopefully they're just following the Brighton team round the markets of South America, because a Caicedo or Baleba type would be perfect.
We'll need an attacking wing back in the summer as well. This is well known, but again Dalot showed last night why its necessary. If they're going to leave one of the wbs to be marked by a single man, then you very obviously need wbs on both sides who can beat a man in a 1-1. Last night reminded me of how teams just used to let Wan-Bissaka have the ball.
Garnacho showed again why he isn't the 10 we need. He's just too focused on producing for himself and not the 9. But more importantly his uncompromising need to drift out into the wide spaces weakens our attacking moves. Instead of starting inside, receiving the ball, finding the space in behind and then finding the 9 (the intention in Amorim ball), he always goes wide. This would be fine (and Amroim has tried to accommodate it), if he's either sliding the ball through to the wb making the underlapping run, putting good crosses into the box from wide, or beating the man on the byline and cutting it back - but hes doing none of those things. Instead he beats the first man 1 on 1 and then dribbles into a congested area and lets off a low xg shot. Fun player, nothing against the kid, but lets get some good cash for him in the summer. We'll need at least one hard working 10 with good game intelligence, a good receive and turn, and good short passing and to play alongside Amad.
And finally the depth. We were shattered in the last half hour yesterday. If you watch Bruno you can see he starts to pass with his back leg locked out when he tired, like a drunk flamingo. 45 minutes with 10 a week ago, then 120 on Sunday. These players - especially Bruno, Dalot, Zirkzee and Rasmus are spent. We need a young, fit, motivated bench next year - possibly 2 if somehow we do find ourselves in Europe. This project will need lots of runners. Get him some.
