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Christian Stellini - Acting Head Coach for a small part of the season

Hmmm not sure about that. GK and CB are our main two problems, and if we spent all our money on just two players this summer, a competent GK and commanding, physical CB would be my wish

3 Problems

- GK, Lloris distribution and the fact that he seems to add to the general backline panic makes him a priority upgrade
- CB, Dier, all I have to say
- CM, we need a creative player in midfield, regardless of how/who we want to move forward with
 
Yep, just a bad call combined with one of those days when for 20 minutes everything Saudi Sportswashing Machine hit went into the corners.

- Smarter move would have been to lose one of the 3 up front for the extra man in midfield
- Could have played Sanchex, Tanganga or shared the 90 between Lenglet & Davies, I actually thought when I saw the lineup he might have put PEH in back 3.

Truly brick game, having done the stupid brick we did, a fair result would have been something more like 4-2 (I think they got lucky with their goals, Kane should have had one more and Danjuma had a full goal to aim at), xG actually shows the game somewhat that way 1.99 v 1.02

I'm not sure their goals hit the corners. Even the long distance one was quite a distance in from the post and Lloris watched it. The 4th squirmed under him.

Others were also culpable in goals but I dont think Saudi Sportswashing Machine actually played that well or scored wonder goals. We just made mistake after mistake and our organisation/formation were shambolic. I was optimistic seeing 3 CMs, but Skipp played nearer Kane than the CMs as he seemed to be asked to sit on Guimaraes. Utterly stupid
 
How about a 4-3-3 with

new keeper who can actually see and use his eyes and feet

Spence Romero New CB Destiny or another left back a we have a few

Bissouma, Bentacur and new creative mid (Scott from Bristol would be good and we’re being linked with the lad from Portugal)

fit Kulu, Kane and son
With Richarlison and Danjuma as minimal starting cover options (I’ve assumed we can do a deal for Danjuma with Lo Celso going the other way)

we would need Bissouma to remember how to play but we have players and we have options

what we don’t have is a capable LCB or any fit full backs and we also have a woeful keeper
Spence and Udogie are as much full backs as Porro and Sessegnon. We have two full backs; Davies and Royal (maybe 3 if we are generous and count Reggie as a full back) , and 4 wing backs in Porro, Spence, Udogie and Pericic. It's probably possible that Spence can be coached into a decent full back.

We lack numbers and options in midfield to play 3 there. The ones we have are too similar. We need a couple of creative CM's like Bernardo Silva/De breune, and players like that are few and far between.

No matter who comes in as a new manager, it's going to be a long and difficult rebuild, again, and it's more than likely that the manager gets fired before the rebuild is more than half way, and then it's back to square one again.
 
3 Problems

- GK, Lloris distribution and the fact that he seems to add to the general backline panic makes him a priority upgrade
- CB, Dier, all I have to say
- CM, we need a creative player in midfield, regardless of how/who we want to move forward with

Agree. My point was just if we could only afford 2. We've scored enough this season but conceded 51 I believe - that's awful considering we've still got 6 to play

If we could only afford two and played Skipp - Bentancur- Bisouma or similar as a midfield trio with PEH and Sarr as cover, it would be better than not signing a GK or CB
 
I'm not sure their goals hit the corners. Even the long distance one was quite a distance in from the post and Lloris watched it. The 4th squirmed under him.

Others were also culpable in goals but I dont think Saudi Sportswashing Machine actually played that well or scored wonder goals. We just made mistake after mistake and our organisation/formation were shambolic. I was optimistic seeing 3 CMs, but Skipp played nearer Kane than the CMs as he seemed to be asked to sit on Guimaraes. Utterly stupid

To clarify, I'm not saying wonder goals but given their level of players (not being a dingdong), to hit your first 6 shots on target and have 5 end up in the back of the net is "one of those days" and yes, us giving space and Lloris needing to do better contributed
 
3 Problems

- GK, Lloris distribution and the fact that he seems to add to the general backline panic makes him a priority upgrade
- CB, Dier, all I have to say
- CM, we need a creative player in midfield, regardless of how/who we want to move forward with
Creativity isn't a major prob, we've scored the 4th most goals in the league and that's while carrying Son for most of the season.
Our big problem is conceding, even Everton haven't conceded as many as we have. Our priority has to be sorting that out and it starts with a top goalkeeper and then a CB.
 
Goals against

Bournemouth - 63
Leeds - 62
Forrest - 59
Southampton / Leics - 56
Spurs - 51

Goals for:

City - 78
Arse - 77
Liverpool - 59
Spurs - 58

Tells a story!
 
Creativity isn't a major prob, we've scored the 4th most goals in the league and that's while carrying Son for most of the season.
Our big problem is conceding, even Everton haven't conceded as many as we have. Our priority has to be sorting that out and it starts with a top goalkeeper and then a CB.
That’s how I think
We’re scoring goals even when playing really badly
And that’s with 7 defensive minded players
 
Creativity isn't a major prob, we've scored the 4th most goals in the league and that's while carrying Son for most of the season.
Our big problem is conceding, even Everton haven't conceded as many as we have. Our priority has to be sorting that out and it starts with a top goalkeeper and then a CB.

It's linked. We concede and we score because we defend deep and counter attack. To not concede and score we need to play much higher up the pitch and with the ball. But that is something we need to coach.

We also need more ballplayers in the team - Davies in place of Perisic, both Kane and Kulu in the middle etc.
 
Goals against

Bournemouth - 63
Leeds - 62
Forrest - 59
Southampton / Leics - 56
Spurs - 51

Goals for:

City - 78
Arse - 77
Liverpool - 59
Spurs - 58

Tells a story!

Yes, but it isn't a simple story

- The goal for is easy enough -> Kane, Son, Deki, Richi, Danjuma plus Bentancur & PEH who can contribute the odd goal. Kane & Son who have over the course of their career consistently outperformed their xG
- The goals against is hard -> so easy to go Dier/Sanchez/whoever is just brick (which may be true), but Everton's defenders are better? or Wolves, West Ham, Palace, Fulham? all of them

The system is a big part of the problem
- Overrun in midfield constantly
- Front line that doesn't defend high despite have 3
- WBs that are neither a huge threat going forward or good defenders
- Predictable (this one I think is our biggest flaw)

The players make a difference, e.g. start that game yesterday with 3 at the back with either Davies/Lenglet, Royal as WB and Bentancur in the middle and you might even have won it, certainly wouldn't have conceded 4, far less 6.
 
Spence and Udogie are as much full backs as Porro and Sessegnon. We have two full backs; Davies and Royal (maybe 3 if we are generous and count Reggie as a full back) , and 4 wing backs in Porro, Spence, Udogie and Pericic. It's probably possible that Spence can be coached into a decent full back.

We lack numbers and options in midfield to play 3 there. The ones we have are too similar. We need a couple of creative CM's like Bernardo Silva/De breune, and players like that are few and far between.

No matter who comes in as a new manager, it's going to be a long and difficult rebuild, again, and it's more than likely that the manager gets fired before the rebuild is more than half way, and then it's back to square one again.
Spence and Udogie have pace and the physicality that pooro and Perisic don’t
It’s why I think they can play full back
 
It's linked. We concede and we score because we defend deep and counter attack. To not concede and score we need to play much higher up the pitch and with the ball. But that is something we need to coach.

We also need more ballplayers in the team - Davies in place of Perisic, both Kane and Kulu in the middle etc.
Around 15-20% of the goals can be contributed to Lloris, he should've stopped 3 yesterday alone. Add on top of that the basic individual mistakes by defenders and their inability (along with Lloris) to make basic passes and it results in easy chances being coughed up too regularly. That's not down to the system. They will make the same mistakes in a possession based system while trying to play out from the back. They need to be upgraded first.
 
Around 15-20% of the goals can be contributed to Lloris, he should've stopped 3 yesterday alone. Add on top of that the basic individual mistakes by defenders and their inability (along with Lloris) to make basic passes and it results in easy chances being coughed up too regularly. That's not down to the system. They will make the same mistakes in a possession based system while trying to play out from the back. They need to be upgraded first.

But if a keeper lets in say 1/6 shots. If we attack and restrict a team to 3 chances, he keeps a clean sheet every other games. If we defend deep and they have 12 chances, he concedes 2 every match
 
Spence and Udogie have pace and the physicality that pooro and Perisic don’t
It’s why I think they can play full back

I am quite optimistic Spence and Udogie could become a new Walker and Rose in a 4-2-3-1. We've got the midfielders for the 2 too in Bentancur, Skipp and Bissouma (and in time hopefully Sarr).
 
But Sanchez and Tanganga can’t play left side

While they'd prefer the right, they're pro footballers. Between them, Dier and Romero, they should be able to perform to a reasonable level on the left. We managed to shore it up when Sanchez came on (albeit I accept the game was gone at that point and Saudi Sportswashing Machine probably eased off a bit).
 
But if a keeper lets in say 1/6 shots. If we attack and restrict a team to 3 chances, he keeps a clean sheet every other games. If we defend deep and they have 12 chances, he concedes 2 every match
If we attack we are more open at the back and will cough up easier chances. It's not as simple as we won't cough up as many chances. If it were then everyone would play attacking football.
Look at the amount of 1 on 1 chances that Liverpool give, the only reason that they haven't conceded more is Allison is probably the best keeper in the world in those situations.
 
If we attack we are more open at the back and will cough up easier chances. It's not as simple as we won't cough up as many chances. If it were then everyone would play attacking football.
Look at the amount of 1 on 1 chances that Liverpool give, the only reason that they haven't conceded more is Allison is probably the best keeper in the world in those situations.

They got away with it because of the combination of Allison and prime VVD. The minute VVD has faded, so has their team. That and a midfield with more legs, and a front line that used to press high (Mane)
 
They got away with it because of the combination of Allison and prime VVD. The minute VVD has faded, so has their team. That and a midfield with more legs, and a front line that used to press high (Mane)
Yes, they got away with it because of the quality of their keeper and still are to a degree. Their press is gone so that's why they are having issues at the other end. We don't have a keeper near the level of Allison and are defenders aren't good enough or quick enough (only Sanchez has the pace).
 
Yes, they got away with it because of the quality of their keeper and still are to a degree. Their press is gone so that's why they are having issues at the other end. We don't have a keeper near the level of Allison and are defenders aren't good enough or quick enough (only Sanchez has the pace).

No disagreement mate, I don't like our system at all and the fact that these systems "only" work when you have elite players is a massive issue.

It's like Pep's, can only work in a club where the spend is not only good enough to have those elite players, but have a bench capable of covering as well.

I'd much rather something more flexible tactically, where the system can work with squad players while still allowing for individual players (Kane, Son, Bentancur, Romero) to influence the game.
 
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