Aside from poor decision making/finishing in the final third, pretty much a perfect away performance in Europe. Before the pen, that is. I'm happy with the system. We just need to find the players who can really make it thrive.
Funny enough, I think we've adapted now to the system. i think the current problem we have now is personnel, not because they are necessarily bad, but some people simply don't fit. .
I think the ideal team is a strong, direct and attacking team, with a solid defensive shape.
At present, we've had four core issues that have stopped us from realizing that identity.
1. our midfielders are not great receiving the pass from the defence, so as a result we play really slowly out of the backline.
2. Our Central Midfielders are not athletic enough to operate in a 2 man midfield
3. Our pressing from the front hasn't been good enough
4. Our attackers don't have the athleticism or ball carrying ability to take advantage of the space provided by the system....which is supposed to be our main attacking outlet.
In terms of passing out from the back, what has become clear is that none of Casemiro, Mainoo or Ugarte can do this. In addition to this, Eriksen doesn't have the athleticism to carry this out. However, what we have discovered is that Bruno operates best as a central midfielder in this system and can support us as a passing option for defenders bringing the ball out of defence. In addition to this, the combination of him and Ugarte have the requisite level of athleticism to compete in the Premier League. I think we should sign a CM/DM that can play both as a 6 and an 8, but at the moment, I think that midfield partnership works. The key problem is that outside of those 2 and a young Collyer, we don't have anyone else that can play in the midfield 2 in this system.
In regard to our pressing, Zirkzee and Garnacho aren't the best at pressing and I think the system requires it a lot more than we have actually seen. This weakens our system. Its one of the reasons Amad stood out so much when he was fit. I also think Mainoo and Mount would have been really successful in the 2 no.10 roles to support this. I also think Hojlund isn't always as consistent as he should be in this regard, and as a result, we don't benefit from direct attacks in the opposition half as much as we should.
In regard to athleticism in attack and our ability to carry the ball in the from 5 (wingbacks, AM's and striker), I think this is where we are the poorest at the moment. The spaces are there, but when you have Dalot and Mazraoui who can't really complete takeons, Eriksen and Zirkzee who don't have the pace or bally carrying ability, Bruno needing to play deeper and Garnacho not having the positioning or strength to carry the ball centrally, it leads us to looking tepid in attack. From watching Amorim's system, this is supposed to be our main source of attacks, direct drives from those 5 players, causing havoc in the box and leading to a lot of cutbacks. Mainoo, Mount and Amad who could do this are all injured. So as a result, we end up clipping balls or stalling our attack.
Obviously a return from injury to some of these players would solve this issue.
However, I would sell Garnacho, Onana, Antony, Rashford and Zirkzee this summer. I would controversially keep Hojlund and Mount, as I feel, even as depth, they both work in this system.
In terms of profiles, we should be looking for athleticism as our key attribute for any player coming into this squad, as I think its key to succeed in this system.
In terms of positions, I think we should sing a new keeper ( Onana's presence has led to the defensive instability imo), an athletic attacking right wing back, an athletic CM/DM that can play as a 6 or an 8 and a new no.9 with a good first touch and can attack on his own.
I think in Mainoo, Mount, Amad, Shaw and Collyer, we have absent players who would already turn the performances around. But moving forward, even in depth, having strong athletic players is the key in making Amorim's system tick.
