Nort sure if you ever listen to our pod, but we've been talking about this for two-plus seasons, since a few months before the last World Cup. In fact, we've gone as far as to suggest that elite careers will end up being 7-10 years maximum and that clubs will have to hold squads/rosters closer to NFL size. We've further posited that modern football is no longer an 11 + subs game, it is more like a 19 - 24 man game, where rotation and player time loads will have to be measured per week and adjusted accordingly. This probably isn't going to happen for several years, but we are at the beginning of it right now. One player in our recent past who saw it/felt it coming and adjusted accordingly was Kane. He got in personal nutritionists and trainers, plus adapted his style of play to preserve a longer career. Had he continued to play as he did during, say, 2017, I believe he would be winding doiwn right now.
I think when it comes to Ange and systems, the narrative is just too easily fed and watered. We do attack in waves and phases, just as we do sit off sometimes. We have seen Romero control the pace of games often by slowing things down at the back and deliberating over the pass instead of simply pinging it in or around a player. I think what people in this instance really want to say is that we should play a deeper game, more mid-to-low block, and counter attack - a la Conte era. The problem with that is you actually put your defence under much more pressure over the course of 95 minutes, and your 'dynamic movement' stresses shift to the attacking players. It is why I don't think we'll ever see more than a mid-block under Ange.
For me, the philosphy behind Ange's football is actually much more about control than it is chaos. I think people think we're chaotic because in a system like the one he tends to like deploying, there are some high-level chances given up as a consequence of risk and reward. But when working efficiently, the idea is that because we have the ball and are driving the play, we are controling the situation. I think one of the biggest problems we've had this season has come in chance conversions. IF we'd converted even a quarter of the chances we should've, I believe we'd have been in a few more games like Soton where we could sit off for 45 mins. If our injuries had not been so severe, I think in the closer games, we'd have been able to switch and maintain levels of pressure and retention without errors.
Most of the errors I've seen have been just that, mistakes. Not necessarily system-based. The fatigue you mention is a huge factor, especially the mental side of that. And if you look at our big injuries, the majority are full internationals whose calendars have been stuffed with enormous amounts of extra travel; that Sonny has gone down for 3 months is actually remarkable.
The reason I am not in the pragmatist camp is that the philosophy with which we play is the best way to control matches, and with a still-building squad such as ours, the levels of youth who are learning it are going to be so good with it in the months and years to come. What we are in the middle of right now is an absurd collision of bad luck versus overload versus circumstantial injuries because of the workload on a currently small squad. I am personally prepared to take the pain right now in order for the fulfillnment of the journey to be achieved, especially when I see performances like the one on Sunday from what was essentially a scratch side. As for changing style to possibly mitigate injuries, I personally think the potential and unproven benefits are too inconclusive versus the retrograde step such an action would be. I think we need to re-evaluate our recovery and fitness staff and programs to complement what we do better, but ultimately, the loads on these players will continue as long as football continues to flog them at every opportunity. Here's a suggestion to help fitness improve; abolish the Nations League. Here's another; introduce a mid-winter break. And another; reduce close season travel. And one more; have FIFA abolish that horrendous 'champions' tournament they've cooked up for this summer. Of course most of these are simply not possible because there is too much money in the game.
I think our approach is wholly sustainable if we can be patient. Football will catch up with itself, squads will be bigger, first 11s will increasingly be a thing of the past...perhaps by the time Lucas Bergvall is the 27 year old skipper of a title-winning Tottenham!
Always great to discuss these things with you my friend...
