Nicolò Zaniolo

[Nerine]

I love this “struggle to break down a low block” narrative.

Most teams in the PL struggle to break down a low block. Hence opposition teams use it because it’s effective.

No one player is going to be able to nullify an oppositions tactic.

You don’t see L’Pool or City absolutely smashing teams that set up with a low block. They keep plugging away and maybe nick a goal. Perhaps I just don’t understand football, but it’s clear to me that we have a system that is designed to draw teams out to create some space. It’s why we play out from the back and counter brutally when possible.

This whole “we need a lock picker” just seems conflated to me. I’m not sure it’s accurate. Under Conte we don’t tend to press as high up the pitch because we don’t want to condense the oppositions defensive lines because they typically are difficult to play through. So our system and patterns of play are designed to nullify that, rather than needing a specific profile of player.

 

[spursfan77]

I love this “struggle to break down a low block” narrative.

Most teams in the PL struggle to break down a low block. Hence opposition teams use it because it’s effective.

No one player is going to be able to nullify an oppositions tactic.

You don’t see L’Pool or City absolutely smashing teams that set up with a low block. They keep plugging away and maybe nick a goal. Perhaps I just don’t understand football, but it’s clear to me that we have a system that is designed to draw teams out to create some space. It’s why we play out from the back and counter brutally when possible.

This whole “we need a lock picker” just seems conflated to me. I’m not sure it’s accurate. Under Conte we don’t tend to press as high up the pitch because we don’t want to condense the oppositions defensive lines because they typically are difficult to play through. So our system and patterns of play are designed to nullify that, rather than needing a specific profile of player.

Im not sure which teams we struggled to break down either off the top of my head. I think people are getting confused with playing badly and not working hard enough to create chances with teams that park the bus with two lines of five and are really hard to get through for most teams.

 

[KILLA_SIN]

Im not sure which teams we struggled to break down either off the top of my head. I think people are getting confused with playing badly and not working hard enough to create chances with teams that park the bus with two lines of five and are really hard to get through for most teams.

You only have to look at Citys results last season to see they had the same issues beating teams and they are the most creative side in the league

 

[daryl hannah]

Maddison - 20 goal involvements across the season.

 

[neogenisis]

Maddison - 20 goal involvements across the season.

Can I have the lottery numbers too please.

 

[Pebble Dash]

Take Liverpool as an example. None of their midfield possess any of this “lock picking” ability. The two players with most assists are TAA and Robertson.
We’ll be relying on our wing backs to do similar this season.

We’re nowhere near Liverpool in any way shape or form. They dominant sides, have a water tight defence and both create chances and score goals for fun. The teams we often struggle against, the likes of Liverpool, City and Chelsea blow away.

With the exception of Perisic our other wing backs aren’t a scratch on Robertson or TAA.

 

[oobaties]

We’re nowhere near Liverpool in any way shape or form. They dominant sides, have a water tight defence and both create chances and score goals for fun. The teams we often struggle against, the likes of Liverpool, City and Chelsea blow away.

With the exception of Perisic our other wing backs aren’t a scratch on Robertson or TAA.

You’ve just reinforced my point. Liverpool “as a team” dominante teams, not by relying on a single attacking midfielder.

Of course we’re not like Liverpool (yet), but we’re getting there, and I’m optimistic that with conte and a few more key signings, we’ll get there.

 

[dtxspurs]

Take Liverpool as an example. None of their midfield possess any of this “lock picking” ability. The two players with most assists are TAA and Robertson.
We’ll be relying on our wing backs to do similar this season.

Thiago is certainly has that ability

 

[ralphs bald spot]

You only have to look at Citys results last season to see they had the same issues beating teams and they are the most creative side in the league

as they won the league and pulled sides apart I wouldn't mind struggling like that

 

[ButchCassidy]

Thiago is certainly has that ability

I mean he used to, last season he had 4 assists same as Bentancur.

 

[oobaties]

Thiago is certainly has that ability

 

[ralphs bald spot]

People are centring on the the so called low block that isn't the problem the problem is the similarity and lack of penetration we have in midfield. It would make the squad much better balanced if we had at least another midfield option who offered a goal and creative threat - its ok saying patterns of play that's fine and that the wing backs are a creative influence but does anyone fancy our right side it looks weak to me unless Spence hits the ground running. The left is better with Perisic but Sessegnon needs to improve

Giving us options in midfield of a player who can probably tuck in and pull central and one who can offer a goal threat can't be a bad thing

 

[KILLA_SIN]

as they won the league and pulled sides apart I wouldn't mind struggling like that

Yeah they pulled some apart and grinded out results against others, we drew one less game than them and lost 11 to their 3, 2 of them were to us. Suggesting our problem was losing games. Im not saying were close to them but we should be able to bridge that 24 pt gap. IS one AM getting us 24 pts I doubt it, need to be harder to beat thats got to be worth 10 pts

 

[doctor stefan Freud]

I love this “struggle to break down a low block” narrative.

Most teams in the PL struggle to break down a low block. Hence opposition teams use it because it’s effective.

No one player is going to be able to nullify an oppositions tactic.

You don’t see L’Pool or City absolutely smashing teams that set up with a low block. They keep plugging away and maybe nick a goal. Perhaps I just don’t understand football, but it’s clear to me that we have a system that is designed to draw teams out to create some space. It’s why we play out from the back and counter brutally when possible.

This whole “we need a lock picker” just seems conflated to me. I’m not sure it’s accurate. Under Conte we don’t tend to press as high up the pitch because we don’t want to condense the oppositions defensive lines because they typically are difficult to play through. So our system and patterns of play are designed to nullify that, rather than needing a specific profile of player.

This is a great post and I agree with most of it. But, to breakthrough a low, congested block you have to take the game to your opponents. You have to overwhelm them. Liverpool do this through the flanks by overloading them with aggressive fullbacks and quick, dribblers with an eye for goal. City do a slightly less intense version of this but compensate with central playmakers who thread balls into the final third.

Our proclivity to draw our opponents to us works great against aggressive sides, hence those convincing performances against City and Liverpool. But we’ve struggled many times against low block sides because we were predictably weak on the right flank in terms of RWB distribution, which many average PL sides can manage. Shut down our left flank, force us out to the right and clear the inevitable poor cross from the RWB. Spence might alleviate this but we don’t know how effective he’ll be at this level yet. Liverpool’s system has obviously been refined over the years with two fullbacks who’ve grown significantly into that role.

I feel we’d be better served with a Paqueta style attacking midfielder, rather than something like Zaniolo. I think we’re too light on quality distributors in central midfield; if Bentancur gets injured or needs rotating, our ball control could drop significantly. We were awful at using the ball effectively and aggressively before he arrived in January and we don’t really have anyone else with his exact skill set

 

[KILLA_SIN]

This is a great post and I agree with most of it. But, to breakthrough a low, congested block you have to take the game to your opponents. You have to overwhelm them. Liverpool do this through the flanks by overloading them with aggressive fullbacks and quick, dribblers with an eye for goal. City do a slightly less intense version of this but compensate with central playmakers who thread balls into the final third.

Our proclivity to draw our opponents to us works great against aggressive sides, hence those convincing performances against City and Liverpool. But we’ve struggled many times against low block sides because we were predictably weak on the right flank in terms of RWB distribution, which many average PL sides can manage. Shut down our left flank, force us out to the right and clear the inevitable poor cross from the RWB. Spence might alleviate this but we don’t know how effective he’ll be at this level yet. Liverpool’s system has obviously been refined over the years with two fullbacks who’ve grown significantly into that role.

I feel we’d be better served with a Paqueta style attacking midfielder, rather than something like Zaniolo. I think we’re too light on quality distributors in central midfield; if Bentancur gets injured or needs rotating, our ball control could drop significantly. We were awful at using the ball effectively and aggressively before he arrived in January and we don’t really have anyone else with his exact skill set

But they also play a lot more higher percentage possession football which we don't. We need to bring more of that back

 

[hutchiniho]

I love this “struggle to break down a low block” narrative.

Most teams in the PL struggle to break down a low block. Hence opposition teams use it because it’s effective.

No one player is going to be able to nullify an oppositions tactic.

You don’t see L’Pool or City absolutely smashing teams that set up with a low block. They keep plugging away and maybe nick a goal. Perhaps I just don’t understand football, but it’s clear to me that we have a system that is designed to draw teams out to create some space. It’s why we play out from the back and counter brutally when possible.

This whole “we need a lock picker” just seems conflated to me. I’m not sure it’s accurate. Under Conte we don’t tend to press as high up the pitch because we don’t want to condense the oppositions defensive lines because they typically are difficult to play through. So our system and patterns of play are designed to nullify that, rather than needing a specific profile of player.

Great observation.
My only counter, it would be beneficial to have as many different skill sets as possible for when something isn’t working to help get over the line.
probably the only gap we do have in our squad atm (Kane aside) is that player that can cleverly move the ball in tight spaces between/behind the lines.
As you say this might not be essential to our predominant style of play but that having a player that has that skill set can only make us better.
(Not necessarily saying this is JM)

 

[LondonOllie]

As much a I’d like (we all like) a creative midfield player, personally, I’d rather we focus this window on a RWB and a quality central defender. Unfortunately, as we have been told, nobody that will improve us seems to be available. But, thinking back to when we had Toby and Jan, I just usually felt like even if we didn’t win every game, they’d almost always stop us giving up stupid goals. They reduced my anxiety and I’m sure that of the teams too.

 

[longdistancespursfan]

I love this “struggle to break down a low block” narrative.

Most teams in the PL struggle to break down a low block. Hence opposition teams use it because it’s effective.

No one player is going to be able to nullify an oppositions tactic.

You don’t see L’Pool or City absolutely smashing teams that set up with a low block. They keep plugging away and maybe nick a goal. Perhaps I just don’t understand football, but it’s clear to me that we have a system that is designed to draw teams out to create some space. It’s why we play out from the back and counter brutally when possible.

This whole “we need a lock picker” just seems conflated to me. I’m not sure it’s accurate. Under Conte we don’t tend to press as high up the pitch because we don’t want to condense the oppositions defensive lines because they typically are difficult to play through. So our system and patterns of play are designed to nullify that, rather than needing a specific profile of player.

Good post

i would like us to have that option of a lockpicker if possible but i dont think its essential, where i think we sometimes struggle a bit more is we sometimes have too many players who arent good on the ball, so if we have emerson, sanchez playing against a low block we basically have a couple of less attacking players, from the bits we have seen of Lenglet he can pull out a good pass, make a run forward like yesterday and put in a good cross so hopefully we will have more attacking ability with more players comfortable on the ball, especially if were also better at RWB

 

[H-SF]

I love this “struggle to break down a low block” narrative.

Most teams in the PL struggle to break down a low block. Hence opposition teams use it because it’s effective.

No one player is going to be able to nullify an oppositions tactic.

You don’t see L’Pool or City absolutely smashing teams that set up with a low block. They keep plugging away and maybe nick a goal. Perhaps I just don’t understand football, but it’s clear to me that we have a system that is designed to draw teams out to create some space. It’s why we play out from the back and counter brutally when possible.

This whole “we need a lock picker” just seems conflated to me. I’m not sure it’s accurate. Under Conte we don’t tend to press as high up the pitch because we don’t want to condense the oppositions defensive lines because they typically are difficult to play through. So our system and patterns of play are designed to nullify that, rather than needing a specific profile of player.

You are right we try to create artificial transitions/ counter attacks by press baiting (basically passing the ball around at the back). And we obviously get joy through more conventional counter attacks. But this only works against teams that press us. We have enough pieces that fit our counter attacking style (Zaniolo woild be another) and we need more that aid us against settled defences which sit in. Roma yesterday was a perfect example, a team that doesn’t press and exposed our poor technical level by forcing us to break down their block. We need someone like Maddison who has a decisive final ball and raises the technical level massively in our side.

 

[mil1lion]

Take Liverpool as an example. None of their midfield possess any of this “lock picking” ability. The two players with most assists are TAA and Robertson.
We’ll be relying on our wing backs to do similar this season.

This is the key difference for me especially down our left. Lenglet was incredibly encouraging as well. I like how he would overlap if the wingback came inside. We will get more crosses into the box on that side. With that in mind I wonder who is best to attack those crosses out of our attacking targets. Having Doherty at right wing back for those times will help, possibly Spence as well for their height. I'm not sure what Zaniolo is like in the air because he certainly would add height on the right side too so could give us another threat.

I think Liverpool is a good example of the type of team we're building under Conte. We're going to work on getting more balls into the box than trying to pick a delicate pass. Not that we wont do the latter too. Perisic, Lenglet and Richarlison are all going to add a new dimension to these games. People just need to be patient to give them time to settle because our form when Kulusevski and Bentancur was poor for about a month when they arrived and then totally changed.