These players cannot play high-line football

Blood Mage

2+2=united are rubbish
Joined
Aug 25, 2019
Messages
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Until we completely overhaul the squad, it is tactical suicide for us to play with a high line right now. Our defenders are too slow and the squad as a whole is so technically poor and vulnerable to the press. We are a low-block shithouse team.
 
If we're going to make this work even slightly Varane and Bailly need to be our CB pair otherwise we need to drop our defensive line, simple as that.
 
So why does the manager persist with it? Square peg round hole. The best managers accommodate their systems to what they have. ten Hag isn’t going to get a new XI so he needs to do that.
 
DWelbz19 said:
So why does the manager persist with it? Square peg round hole. The best managers accommodate their systems to what they have. ten Hag isn’t going to get a new XI so he needs to do that.
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no he needs to stick to his principles and force those upstairs to provide him with the players to do it.
 
No they cannot, but some players are more suited to it than others.

De Gea and Maguire absolutely cannot do it so i am absolutely flummoxed as to why EtH and Rangnick insist on them
 
Spot on. After 3-4 years of Oleball whatever that was, we need a complete overhaul of the team.

Play kids and put as many pieces you can with the limited budget but players like McFred, Maguire, AWB, Shaw, Dalot, DDG need to be shipped and replaced one by one.
 
We're not playing to our capabilities and that won't change with one or two new signings. I think that the longer ETH persists with these tactics the more likely it is that he won't be here at the end of the season.
 
King Eric 7 said:
We're not playing to our capabilities and that won't change with one or two new signings. I think that the longer ETH persists with these tactics the more likely it is that he won't be here at the end of the season.
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This is why I'm scared for Ten Hag. He's too principled and won't compromise his style even though it's suicidal to play this way with the players we have.
 
De Gea isn't suited for a high line because he doesn't sweep, doesn't control his box and retreats to his line when he's facing 1-on-1s. Maguire isn't suited for a high line because he's too slow on the turn and most attackers can do him for pace. Lindelof isn't suited for a high line because he tends to lose his one-on-one physical battles. Early days but Martínez seems to be struggling with those physical battles as well. Varane should theoretically be alright, but he's a way off his best, and Bailly is just too unreliable. Dalot, Telles and Shaw are all suspect defensively. AWB has other defensive strengths to make up for his lack positional sense but lacks composure on the ball. Of all those players, only Maguire, Martínez and maybe Lindelof and Shaw at a push are any good on the ball.

Going into the season I think our best option all round if we wanted to play a passing game with a high line was AWB, Maguire, Varane and Shaw in front of Henderson with Martínez in either as either a 3rd centreback or as a holding midfielder. feck knows what we do now Henderson is at Forest.
 
We saw this under ragnick and it is most of the same team with slow mo Maguire in defense and de gea getting nose bleeds when he has to come out of the 6 yard box
 
DWelbz19 said:
So why does the manager persist with it? Square peg round hole. The best managers accommodate their systems to what they have. ten Hag isn’t going to get a new XI so he needs to do that.
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Because they will only get better. This is the worst it will be, but as they get deep into training for many weeks, with some strong signings, we would look better.

I hope
 
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