Fist half was a bit of a mixed bag, second half we comprehensively outplayed them. It's bizarre to think that Ten Hag's now had two pre seasons and a ton of money and Postacoglou's had one summer, lost big daddy Kane, has a hotch potch squad with some less than stellar parts and is already coaching a better brand of football with better structure.
Maureen
got some shit for what he said above, and it was a bit harsh considering what Ange is working with and the short time he's been here, but it wasn't completely wrong either. For all our very good midfield play, and some very good situations that midfield play produced, we didn't turn many of those situations into clear quality chances, and until we upgrade that front three, I think we will struggle with this aspect. Our domination and virtue of now playing much more in the opponents third and box, will give us chances and goals - but until we add more forward quality that actually fits the system, we won't be totally serious. If we do, it could get very good.
The first 30 minutes we also struggled to play through their press, and largely this is also a front three problem, all three of Son, Kulusevski and Richarlison aren't great with their back to goal with a many up their arse, nor is Porro, who got himself pressed into trouble a couple of times. As a result we struggled to make triangles and shapes to make those first one or two balls out count.
Worth noting we've come out of that game with a 2.54 v 2.45 XG, and until the 80th minute they were ahead 0.20, another day, for all our possession and territorial domination, we could have been on the wrong end of the big moments, our goals were both a bit messy, and they missed some big chances - one was a great save by Vicario from Rashford.
Obviously we are trying to press much better, higher, and compared to the last few years we definitely are, this is helped by a) actually having a midfield b) midfielders with the right qualities to facilitate that c) the inverted FB's bolstering the midfield. It's very early in Ange's tenure so hopefully it will improve, but again,
Maureen
's point about the pressing wasn't totally wrong. It's nowhere near great yet, first half it was very sloppy, second half, better. Early days and again some of these players really don't individually press very well, it's way too easy to play through the front three, and until we upgrade those elements we will be compromised.
The good news is we finally have a multi functional midfield. There was a moment first half when Bissouma received the ball on the edge of our box, with three Utd players coming into to press, he just kept cool, turned and left all three of them moving the wrong way. This wasn't just a technical thing, this was a brain thing, by just thinking differently, faster but more composed, composed enough to trust his technique under pressure than people like Hojbjerg.
I still think there's scope to get in a proper 6 and move Bissouma to 8 some days, he's so good at dribbling or passing through lines, might be nice to see him play without that responsibility for protecting the CB's too.
Early days, but fuck me it's nice to look forward to football again.
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