- Aug 13, 2008
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But on another day Bayern could have come out on top just as Barca did a few weeks back.
No they couldn't
No they couldn't
I think it's fallible to draw too many conclusions from a cup game against the most expensively assembled attack in football.
The current Barca beat Real a couple of weeks ago playing a very similar style to Bayern (ie. aren't the sparkling slick Barca of a couple of years back but still played the Barca way and had shitloads of ball 68%) no-one was saying how Real were tactical geniuses that night or that the Barca style was moribund.
My argument re Pep is that he is successful. he keeps winning titles. It's a bit premature to be writing his method off just yet.
I think the problem is more one of tedium. People tire of watching it, it becomes monotonous watching one team dominate the ball so completely, in such a risk averse way.
Sure, Roben isn't Messi, Kroos isn't Iniesta etc etc. And Heynckes Bayern were second in Europe only to Barca in terms of how much ball they had in games, but there was just a tad more risk and speed in transition.
But on another day Bayern could have come out on top just as Barca did a few weeks back.
I didn't expect Bayern to turn up and play Real off the park BC, more so i expected Bayern to play better than they did, that was really disappointing, your right when you say people tire of that style of possession football, i wouldn't ever write it off though, or Pep as that would be foolish, i don't think he will be overly happy with what he saw and i fully expect him to tweek how they are playing, it looks very detached at the moment but i fully expect him to knit it all together next season.
Do you not think when a side devotes so much energy and does it well, they can often make the team on the ball look a bit stunted ? League title (possible double) and CL semi not too shabby ?
Some in Germany reckon the problem could have been winning the title so early, they reckon they mentally went off the boil a little.
Yes, if you close down and work hard off the ball then possession football can look stunted, to me it looks like a mish mash of styles at present and i can't see Pep being happy with a lack of cutting edge, remains to be seen whether he goes full tika taka next season or refines this new style of play.
You could be right that winning the league early led to a mental lapse.
Seasons results are very good for a first season.
Out of interest, what level of manager do you think could have secured the league for Bayern this season with that squad, Martinez? AvB? Rodgers? Pochettino? to throw out some of our current or passed fancies.
watching bayern against madrid was just lke watching spurs under avb at home. 4231, painfully slow and indirect, high line and inverted wingers condensing the field even further and leaving themselves susceptible to the break. i'm glad madrid embarrassed them. ancelotti seems to be able to transition his side between possession and counter-attacking pretty seamlessly, maybe pep will adapt in time but for now he seems to be set in his ways.
Really? LB certainly but who would you replace Walker with?Fullbacks are so important these days, especially in possession-centric teams as they get all the space, and there really aren't many of great quality, the vast majority are far too wasteful with the ball at their feet. It's part of the reason that Everton have looked so good in my opinion, that they have Baines and Coleman. Some of it is also tactical, getting them to understand when to get forward and where to be etc. Witnessed by 'Pool getting something out of that Flanagan kid at left back for most of the season.
I'd gladly replace both of ours if we could get some quality in these positions, even if it meant spunking most of our transfer budget.
Really? LB certainly but who would you replace Walker with?
Really? LB certainly but who would you replace Walker with?
He is only 23 and I have seen enough to suggested that he could be a top RB with the right coaching.Walker is as bad as Rose when it comes to fucking up good opportunities when he has time and space. They are just less eye catching and memorable than Rose's 'smash it as hard as I possibly can and watch Row Z duck for cover' technique. Walker will have space, dither on the ball and then eventually put in a cross that gets blocked.
As for possible replacements, I don't watch enough football outside the PL recently to offer solutions, and as I said good fullbacks are very difficult to find I admit, but I'd gladly sacrifice some of the athletic ability that Walker provides for more technical nous.
He is only 23 and I have seen enough to suggested that he could be a top RB with the right coaching.
Go on.A right back with a brain ?
watching bayern against madrid was just lke watching spurs under avb at home. 4231, painfully slow and indirect, high line and inverted wingers condensing the field even further and leaving themselves susceptible to the break. i'm glad madrid embarrassed them. ancelotti seems to be able to transition his side between possession and counter-attacking pretty seamlessly, maybe pep will adapt in time but for now he seems to be set in his ways.
It will be very interesting to see what Pochettino does to redress the 433 v 4231. Last season, neither AVB nor Sherwood managed to figure out this simple mathematic equation very well.
I would love to see Pochettino surprise everyone and switch to an orthodox 433, I think it could be a very different game. If we did I don't actually think their midfield would be better, certainly not by much. If not, like you, I have my fears, especially as Liverpool's collective pressing looked so much better for so much longer of their game against (quality) ManC than ours did against (very shit) QPR.
Can you expand on this? Why do you think it's important to match up 433 against stronger sides, but not the reverse ie 433 doesn't need to match up 4231? Also don't you think that the formation gives a rudimentary idea of the principles, but that, for example, a Poch style 4231 will be different in personnel and application than say a TS style one? In other words, what specifically worries you about the way Poch might try to tackle Rogers' Liverpool?
Perhaps we should take this to the TA thread…
Guessing...but he's probably worried that they'll press us better collectively and probably out number us in midfield.
Of course it did, but it's pretty obvious why. Man City had a lot more of the ball against Liverpool than QPR did against us didn't they? How would Liverpool's pressing against a team that had over 50% of the ball not look better than us 'pressing' a team that had less than 40%? Fairly simple. You think Liverpool's collective pressing was better, whatever that means, yet it allowed City to carve them open at will when they decided they wanted to.
Dier? Havent seen enough of him yet myself hence the question (for those that have)A right back with a brain ?