braineclipse
Steve Sedgley
I agree fully that there has been plenty of positives from him so far. And that he should be given time.This approach from Aurier probably won us the game against Dortmund. In that game we were pretty timid and sat behind the ball for long periods of the first half, turning over possession on the rare occasions we did win it back. In the 2nd half Aurier was very aggressive in leaving his position to put pressure higher up the pitch, mainly on their LB, to prevent them building higher up the pitch. This was a risky strategy but because we were organised behind him it resulted in Dortmund often surrendering possession cheaply as our DMs and CBs were on the front foot and anticipating the forward passes that came from Dortmund's LB. As a result we had a number of counter-attacks based on winning the ball higher and also had a higher % of possession. I was at the ground with a very good view high up so you could see it was a clear tactic. His boldness actively encouraged our other players to play higher up the pitch.
Aurier has adopted a similar approach in the games since with mixed results. It could be because we've got more of the ball so when we turn it over we aren't in such a structured position as we were against Dortmund.
I think Poch will use it as a tactic - he is playing as a wing back and not a full back after all so he has every right to push higher up the pitch. His recoveries need to be better and he needs to make the right choices of when to press and when to sit (as you have said).
It could well take 6-9 months of playing Poch's system before we see consistent displays from him.
I've seen plenty of positives so far though.
Yesterday though we were 1-0 up and wide open down the right. He needs to learn to adjust within our system to game conditions. Pochettino rightly got him off the pitch, but really it was just a coincidence that we hadn't been punished already.
Trippier helped us control that side and was directly involved in us getting the goals that secured the win for us. I'm primarily reacting to the idea that Aurier is currently doing better than Trippier.