Probably one of the best 20 midfield players in Europe, yet reviled by much of our fan base.
Without the tender ministrations of Shawcross, who knows what he might have become? :-(
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Probably one of the best 20 midfield players in Europe, yet reviled by much of our fan base.
Without the tender ministrations of Shawcross, who knows what he might have become? :-(
Therein lies the issue and quite often the crux of the Canadian argument.
Last night he was playing in a system where he had two others generally operating in a midfield role and he was free to charge with utter abandon into the opposition area which is largely his game.
Stick him in a midfield duo, where perhaps for argument sake let’s say both have decided to abandon the concept of defending, then there is issues when he again charges with utter abandon into the opposition area and is found to be too far ahead of the ball when play breaks down.
There has been a recent marked improvement in discipline in this sense from the Swiss pass master, and for sure when Elneny plays he offers a platform to allow others to steam on.
When he is allowed that role, that freedom, he is peerless in the Premier League. Students of the game such as I and the German have known this for years.
Plus, speedy forwards and Golovin aside, the Russians were utter fúcking toilet.
Indeed, the first half, or first 20-30 minutes were quite the “fúck me this could end up 4-4” type of thing.
Thankfully we got a (rather fortuitous imho) penalty to calm the fúck down after they equalised and should really then have gone ahead.
Like it was a penalty but you can’t help but think that MO was falling over anyway before the tackle. You know the way when you have had 7-8 pints and you hit a stumble, it is almost slow motion and you do what you can to stop it, but you are going to go over.
I dont think it is the fans' expectations so much as the manager's 'system'. Ramsey is clearly not suited to sitting in midfield and moving the ball around, or staying in position. Yet he is often given a role in the side where this is going to be expected of him. Or he is shoved on to the right.
Credit to Xhaka for actuallydropping deep last night and wanting the ball. Often the most noticeable thing in our possession is how static everyone is ahead of the backfour. Our possession frequently crosses the backfour once or twice and then drops back to the keeper because nobody is showing for the ball orcreating space ahead of them. Last night Xhaka was dropping back and sitting at an angle, offering a pass or creating space. Not rocket science, but it takes a midfielder who has the confidence to actually take the ball in that area.
Defensively we are still dog**** :(
Although MO was stumbling , I think he was clearly fouled as he neared the byline
A bit like putting something half dead out of its misery
Top class sides like Atletico won’t give our attackers the same space, time and freedom like they enjoyed last night imo
Lacazette’s 2nd go summed it up...got the ball with no defenders near him...they didn’t even attempt to close him down. Lacazette has all the time in the world to pick his spot and load his shot up.
Yet this is some sort of great goal and the player deserves a 10/10 for his performance :shrug:
I believe this has been one of our many issues for some time that helps explain our PL and CL failures / capitulations.
I’ll give the players 10s when they beat Atletico 3nil in the final...not against a dog sh*t defence.