So, we are starting to see how Ange wants us to play.
Whilst we have time to reflect a bit before the big game vs Liverpool (which will be far tougher than Arsenal imo - they are much more set-up to punish any lapses that occur because of pressing) how do people compare how we are playing and looking at this stage of his us under Pochettino at the same stage?
What i find really interesting is how calm Ange is when we concede or score goals.
Poch's version of press has less protection than Ange's version. Here is my view
- Ange's system sits very high (way higher than Poch's system consistently)
- However Ange's system compresses the center of the park, you have the two CB's with Pivot (Bissouma) and two FBs tucked in in front of them, plus 3 attackers and 2 wingers in front, effectively in possession we do 2-3-5
- And our recovery pace is in both the CB (VDV) & FB's
What that translates to
- If we lose the ball, it's almost impossible to counter through the middle (very crowded), so opponent has to go wide (longer route)
- As compared to Poch a lot of counters came strait through the middle and you saw a lot of 1:1 or 2:2 against our CB's and Poch's recovery pace in defense was via Walker/Rose
There is a lot more to it with Ange, e.g.
- We don't hold lines as cleanly as other teams, players go to spaces
- We also bunch up in areas (overloads and triangles)
Having watch it work in practice, I'm far less concerned that the system will really lead us to be being badly exposed regularly (as was suggested and some pundits still think), there will be chances purely based on the amount of players upfield vs. a flaw in system