Best combination of AMs

[theShiznit]

He doesn’t, he slows down and rolls the ball with his instep whilst trying to give the defender ‘the eyes’ ... meanwhile another defender recovers to tackle him from behind.

Compare Lamelas goals and assists with Eriksen/Son/Dele and you’ll see he’s by far the least effective in the last third.

He does that when there are no good options pass wise. If there is a through ball or early first time pass on Lamela is the best we have to spot and execute it.

The roll over drag thing is buying time for others to move off the ball

 

[spids]

He does that when there are no good options pass wise. If there is a through ball or early first time pass on Lamela is the best we have to spot and execute it.

The roll over drag thing is buying time for others to move off the ball

So why then are his assist and goal stats so poor in comparison to the other AMs? Eriksen is the best through ball / first time passer we have. His assists for Dele alone are incredible! And Dele’s through balls for Kane and Son have also been a recurring theme leading to goals this season!

 

[EQP]

He doesn’t, he slows down and rolls the ball with his instep whilst trying to give the defender ‘the eyes’ ... meanwhile another defender recovers to tackle him from behind.

Compare Lamelas goals and assists with Eriksen/Son/Dele and you’ll see he’s by far the least effective in the last third.

Nah.

 

[Khilari]

I’d say

? — Eriksen — Son

.........Kane........

The ? would probably be Dele but depending on opposition could be Moura or Lamela.

However I’m reality I suspect Son is the more likely to lose his place to Lamela or Moura and Dele likely to start most games.

 

[OPModric]

Seriously lamela over dele?

Yes. Dele is maybe the most overrated player we ever had. Its a big mystery why Poch treats him as undroppable.

 

[EQP]

So why then are his assist and goal stats so poor in comparison to the other AMs? Eriksen is the best through ball / first time passer we have. His assists for Dele alone are incredible! And Dele’s through balls for Kane and Son have also been a recurring theme leading to goals this season!

First off.

1. Eriksen takes all the set pieces, which ties into his overall assist count.
2. Eriksen is allowed the freedom to roam wide and centrally vs Lamela who is usually tasked with covering the RW and leading the press.
3. In the 15/16 season where all three of Eriksen, Lamela and Dele featured for 30+ games in the league and Lamela was fully fit, the stats are as follows

Eriksen
GOALS - 6
ASSISTS - 15

Dele
GOALS - 10
ASSISTS- 9

Lamela
GOALS - 5
ASSISTS - 9

Lamela has been injured for more than 9 months, so I realize how easy it can to forget how important he is to how we play. His pressing and passing have been vital for us.

Exhibit A of him running at a defense and playing a very vital through ball.

 

[walworthyid]

It really does depend on the opposition as all bring something slightly different. Lamela moves the ball the quickest and can inject the most pace into our attacks. But moura and son bring a greater goal threat and can beat players. Eriksen has the best balance but can be a little timid in the tackle. Dele is unique and can just make something happen out of nothing.

The great thing is that we now have a variety of options to change games. Long gone are the days when we had nkodou as the only attacking player on the bench!

 

[TEESSIDE1]

I know others have said we can play a DM and then include both Moura and Son. I’d be tempted to do this more often than not as even with say Alli, Eriksen and Son behind Kane I always feel we’re still a little lopsided (reliant on Son’s pace) and at risk of being tactically limited if Alli/Eriksen are not firing on all cylinders and/or if Son is marked out of the game. In addition to this playing the 3 aforementioned players is also reliant on which full backs we play and whether or not they turn up.

Barring say games against the other top 6 teams I’d follow City’s lead and have Dier/Wanyama/Dembele sitting deep with Eriksen and Alli in close proximity, allowing Moura and Son to run riot either side of Kane.

 

[Cornpattbuck]

All depends who we're playing. Bloody excited to have the options.

 

[Derp]

I think Eriksen starts most games. He is the only one who consistently operates deeper, more number 8 duties than the rest of our AMs. It allows us to play with two CMs/DMs that have more defensive/bullying duties. Our current center midfielders are more towards winning the midfield battle and keeping possession, than actual playmaking.

Our four other AMs operate more in the last third of the pitch and while Dele definitely are in front of the others i could definitely see them all interchange dependent on their form and opponent.

But i think that what most fans want is Poch to use four of them against non-top teams. 4-3-3 with Dier or Wanyama behind in the DM role would be perfect in those games against teams that park the bus. Especially now when Winks is rusty and Dembele needs rest.

Poch has played Sissoko a lot and i think we can all agree that it’s worth trying something else against smaller sides.

 

[poc]

Yes. Dele is maybe the most overrated player we ever had. Its a big mystery why Poch treats him as undroppable.

Wow

 

[DanielCHillier]

I'd say Eriksen, Dele and Moura. Each brings something different to the team, it's close between Son and Moura, but from the little we've seen so far it seem that Moura has a passing ability that Son lacks.

 

[Sophos151]

So why then are his assist and goal stats so poor in comparison to the other AMs? Eriksen is the best through ball / first time passer we have. His assists for Dele alone are incredible! And Dele’s through balls for Kane and Son have also been a recurring theme leading to goals this season!

Last time Lamela played a full season was 2015/16, when he averaged 0.34 assists/90 and 0.19 goals/90.

This season, Eriksen has 0.27a/90 and 0.27g/90 - less assists than Lamela, but more goals; roughly the same number of goal contributions per 90.

Dele has 0.28a/90 and 0.20g/90 - less assists than Lamela, and about the same amount of goals; and a worse goal contribution per 90.

 

[spids]

First off.

1. Eriksen takes all the set pieces, which ties into his overall assist count.
2. Eriksen is allowed the freedom to roam wide and centrally vs Lamela who is usually tasked with covering the RW and leading the press.
3. In the 15/16 season where all three of Eriksen, Lamela and Dele featured for 30+ games in the league and Lamela was fully fit, the stats are as follows

Eriksen
GOALS - 6
ASSISTS - 15

Dele
GOALS - 10
ASSISTS- 9

Lamela
GOALS - 5
ASSISTS - 9

Lamela has been injured for more than 9 months, so I realize how easy it can to forget how important he is to how we play. His pressing and passing have been vital for us.

Exhibit A of him running at a defense and playing a very vital through ball.

So Eriksen 21, Dele 19, Lamela 14? Kinda proves my point.

Re: the video clip. That’s him at his best. Shame there haven’t been many like that in the two years since (I know he missed a year through injury). Eriksen by comparison has a very long showreel of amazing assists in the interim.

Don’t get me wrong, I rate Lamela and am always happy to see him either start or come on. He has a phenomenal will to win and workrate, and is probably our best ‘vertical line’ passer to feet. I just feel he has less end product than Dele, Eriksen or Son in the last third, and this is reflected in the goals and assists statistics.

Against Juve next week I’d rather start with Lamela for example (over Son), as he offers more in the middle third of the pitch, particularly winning the ball back quickly and then possession.

 

[walworthyid]

So Eriksen 21, Dele 19, Lamela 14? Kinda proves my point.

Re: the video clip. That’s him at his best. Shame there haven’t been many like that in the two years since (I know he missed a year through injury). Eriksen by comparison has a very long showreel of amazing assists in the interim.

Don’t get me wrong, I rate Lamela and am always happy to see him either start or come on. He has a phenomenal will to win and workrate, and is probably our best ‘vertical line’ passer to feet. I just feel he has less end product than Dele, Eriksen or Son in the last third, and this is reflected in the goals and assists statistics.

Against Juve next week I’d rather start with Lamela for example (over Son), as he offers more in the middle third of the pitch, particularly winning the ball back quickly and then possession.

You make good points. I think the main thing with Lamela is that we still don't quite play the way that he wants to. We are a lot better than we were when he first arrived in that we now ping the ball about in the last third with purpose and good movement, but we still lack a bit of incision in general. Lamela would suit a team like barca/city where there is a lot of quick incisive passing. We are getting there.

Lamela is a highly technical player, by far the most technical player in our squad. Yes he makes errors, but he is always trying to make things happen through quick and intelligent use of the ball.

He is also an absolute beast of a competitor, again, possibly as much as anybody in our squad. He pushes people, bumps them, gets in faces, he seems to love the physical side of the game. He is a very important member of our squad.

I am a big fan.

 

[IfiHadTheWings]

Eriksen is an absolutely nailed on starter for me and is in my opinion the best of the lot but i am excited by our attacking options some real high quality options. Fantastic position to be in.

COYS

 

[spids]

We are very lucky to have five top quality AMs, and I can’t help but feel we’ll let Llorente go and not replace him to give the AMs more minutes (as Son and Dele can play further up). Also I expect to see Eriksen and Dele start deeper alongside a DM in some games.

But isn’t it fantastic now that we could have an injury and/or a loss of form in what were our ‘untouchables’ (Dele and Eriksen) and still have Son/Moura/Lamela on the pitch!

 

[spids]

You make good points. I think the main thing with Lamela is that we still don't quite play the way that he wants to. We are a lot better than we were when he first arrived in that we now ping the ball about in the last third with purpose and good movement, but we still lack a bit of incision in general. Lamela would suit a team like barca/city where there is a lot of quick incisive passing. We are getting there.

Lamela is a highly technical player, by far the most technical player in our squad. Yes he makes errors, but he is always trying to make things happen through quick and intelligent use of the ball.

He is also an absolute beast of a competitor, again, possibly as much as anybody in our squad. He pushes people, bumps them, gets in faces, he seems to love the physical side of the game. He is a very important member of our squad.

I am a big fan.

I agree with that. I am also a big fan, especially of his mindset and the ‘edge’ he brings to the team. I don’t want people to think I don’t rate him as I do. We’re very lucky!

 

[spids]

Last time Lamela played a full season was 2015/16, when he averaged 0.34 assists/90 and 0.19 goals/90.

This season, Eriksen has 0.27a/90 and 0.27g/90 - less assists than Lamela, but more goals; roughly the same number of goal contributions per 90.

Dele has 0.28a/90 and 0.20g/90 - less assists than Lamela, and about the same amount of goals; and a worse goal contribution per 90.

Your numbers don’t correlate to the post below yours that lists the actual goals and assists, and where Lamela was significantly lower than the other two you listed and not higher as you suggest. That coupled with the fact that whilst Lamela was out injured Dele and Eriksen (and Son) significantly upped their goal/assist outputs in 2016/17 suggest to me that they are more effective in the last third than Lamela is.

 

[spids]

Eriksen is an absolutely nailed on starter for me and is in my opinion the best of the lot but i am excited by our attacking options some real high quality options. Fantastic position to be in.

COYS

totally agree. And when he does not play we miss him a lot more than anyone else bar Kane.