anant
Correctly predicted Italy to win Euro 2020
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2015
- Messages
- 8,264
Sorry I didn't realize that someone else quoted those numbers since you replied to this point I thought that was you.
My point was a good manager identifies players that fit his profile and does spend money(in some cases huge sums of money) and makes it a successful transfer and that translates to titles. Whereas poor managers who don't really have a vision try to buy and accomodate big names hoping they pull something out of the bag to compensate for a lack of coaching. Case in point, is Maguire really that much of an upgrade over Smalling? But look how VVD, Laporte have transformed (in city's case made it much better) the defences of Liverpool and City.
Honestly, Maguire vs Smalling is arguably the worst example you could have put forth if you're bashing Ole. It's pretty evident that Ole likes us to play out from the back (fun fact: our average goal kick length is 34 yards- least in PL, only 32.1% of our goalkicks were>40 yards - least in PL). Now, close your eyes and imagine Smalling playing the role of ball playing defender. The reason why our counter attacks have been great is because we are able to invite their players towards us, and by successfully passing the ball between defence and midfield till we find space behind their defences.
As far as defending ability is concerned, we were among the 11th worst defence last year, had conceded 54 goals. This year, we've conceded 36 and are the 3rd best defence. It's not just because of AWB, that's for certain