Player ratings vs cardiff

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Cruise Control (Hail Eriksen the Omnipotent)

The Selection

Rose for Davies was the only change from the last game. This meant the same midfield three of Eriksen and Sissoko pivoting off a centrally located Winks. I was bit surprised after the rather fatigued effort against Wolves that there weren’t a couple more changes today. KWP for Trippier would seem to be the glaringly obvious rotation, and I personally would have liked to see Skipp given a start, maybe put in that central role with Winks shuffled to one of the “8” roles, preferably Sissoko’s as he’s got to be due a rest, and last game was looking very ragged.


The Structure

Poch went with the 41212 (4312) again with Alli sitting behind Son and Kane and the afore mentioned CM3.

I want to flag something up that has been impressing me more and more of late. Certain aspects of our in-game tactical fluidity have always been prevalent – FB’s as de facto wide attackers, the DM dropping in between the CB’s, Eriksen’s hybrid 8/10 remit, Kane dropping back into the ACM, A CB (Vertonghen usually, but latterly Foyth) stepping out into the midfield to name but a few basic ones. Some more successful/impressive than others. Some pretty routine in modern football. But since we switched to this CM3 format I’m noticing our fluidity is hitting different levels.

I’ve mentioned before about how much I like this CM3 (1+2) format (I still dream of a full on 433 though) and what I’m noticing more and more is how flexible and fluid this midfield has allowed us to become, and not just laterally, but also vertically. A game like this, in which we dominated the ball so completely from start to finish (again, another benefit and feature of this structure IMO is we are again dominating the ball more comprehensively in games, as Poch likes us to do) made this fluidity so much more demonstrable. Eriksen is the key component, positional intelligence has always been a forte of his (I remember remarking how even as a kid when we first signed him he had the positional awareness of a 40yo - that ability to find pockets of space) but under Poch he’s gone up several notches and where once that special dexterity existed in the ACM/10 zone, it’s now existing all over the pitch. And he’s not alone, although Sissoko did have a more right biased map, he did pop up on the left at times, Winks drifted right and left, Alli droped backwards, left and right, Kane and Son likewise. It’s not just the intelligent movement of Eriksen that is impressive, it’s the intelligence – an intelligent coaching of Poch – that sees all the players react and interact with each other’s movement. It’s Rinus Michels stuff. Total football, and when we are doing it well, it is so hard to play against.

The below maps show where our front six players received the ball, and is very illuminating. How does a team play against this level of interchange-ability?

Z5rEhOI.png




The key to it, as it was in it’s inception (Michels Ajax) and in various other incarnations (Such as Guardiola’s Barca) is that structure, in our case a 1+2 1+2 variation of the 433 of Michels and Guardiola's Barca - (it's so much more than a basic 4312 diamond) It creates a grid structure that covers the pitch zonally (as you can see from the maps above with Son and Kane splitting to form that 433 type grid), allowing pieces of the grid to flow into and out of zones, and as long as all the pieces move cohesively to compensate, it rarely leaves - in play - zones empty as some other formats - like the 4231 - do - leaving the FB’s exposed often. The lateral 8’s move outwards when necessary to cover or protect the FB’s. The CM/6 shuffles left and right. The ACM goes back to cover the 8 that goes forward, the forwards split wide and allow the ACM to go false 9, etc etc.


The Game

Cardiff were probably the weakest team in terms of both individual ability and tactical complexity that we’ve faced. But, and this is an important but, this was still one of our most impressive displays of the season for me. Not just about only beating what’s in front of you. We showed a ruthless composure tonight. When we got one, two and three goals up we didn’t shell or shrink as we were doing a couple of months ago. With this format we did the smart thing, precisely what we had to do. Death by possession. The best defence in football isn’t always attack, it’s starvation. They cannot hurt you when you have the ball, and at 3-0 up we didn’t need to turn the game into a lottery, take stupid chances for the sake of adding more goals. I loved this performance, after a barbaric schedule and a horrible set back a few days ago, this was the perfect antidote, the complete performance. 72% possession, 90% completion, three goals, could have been 5 or 6 with better finishing, and they barely got in our half. As bad as they were, they are capable of a bit of a hurrah when they get a bit of momentum, but we allowed them no scent of momentum.

The goals were nice, Kane probably should have done better initially from a lovely ball from Trippier that arrowed straight to him, but in the end got a bit lucky, the second was a piece of individual - almost nonchalant - magic from Eriksen, the third a nice move that was polished off by Son.

But the goals were almost a side attraction to what was happening everywhere else for me. Total control. This was total football.

The Individuals

Lloris - Nothing to do but what he did was fine.

Trippier - Set up the first with a good ball. OK after that, nothing spectacular or disastrous. Might have done better when Hoilet got a header in, but might have been climbed on?

Sanchez - Rarely tested, decent enough.

Alderweireld - As Sanchez.

Rose - It’s really about time he stopped oppo’s putting crosses in so easily, and as ever, his composure in attacking areas could be better, but was energetic and contributed to our game play.

Sissoko - the odd clumsy moment, but did chip in on the build up to Son’s goal and was generally good tonight.

Winks - Once again, we are seeing the benefit of having a footballing 6 out there. Completed a staggering 95/96 passes. In terms of the central hub remit, was flawless tonight.

Eriksen - Like an omnipotent conductor. He popped up everywhere, and the thing is, it’s not just quantity or mileage, it’s the quality to. Outstanding footballer. MOTM

Alli - He worked hard enough, but it was another one of those slightly frustrating games for him. Did put a nice ball through for Kane towards the end.

Son - Lively, deadly, pretty good game. Shame we’re losing him just as he’s the hottest he’s ever been.

Kane - His hold up play has gone up an unprecedented notch this last 3 months. Got a shiner, but when he’s providing the type of fulcrum stuff he’s now provided consistently, he’s bringing much more to the team. Good game.
 
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Starvation of the ball was Liverpool's hallmark back in their 80s heyday, get in front and then you just didn't get a kick. They had the benefit of being able to pass back to the keeper too (and they exploited it) which modern teams don't. Very impressive tonight, just a bit of a shame we didn't bang in a couple more.
 
As good a game of 'keep-ball' as you could wish to see, where Wolves applied pressure Cardiff, with a manger who must challenging for the title 'most useless ever' obviously learnt nothing from Saturday's game and just sat back letting us keep possession ...

Winks 95/96 passes completed
Sissoko 80/88
Eriksen 68/78

Sanchez 134/141
Toby 117/123

With that much dominance in possession, and with a front four running the Cardiff parked-bus all over the place, the result was never really in doubt.

This game shows just what a good job Santo and Wolves did, sure they could have been 2/3 down at halftime but they had a plan and stuck with it ... Cardiff had no feckin' clue, if they don't go down it can only be because there are three even more clueless idiots managing EPL sides than Warnock ... is that even possible?
 
Cruise Control (Hail Eriksen the Omnipotent)

The Selection

Rose for Davies was the only change from the last game. This meant the same midfield three of Eriksen and Sissoko pivoting off a centrally located Winks. I was bit surprised after the rather fatigued effort against Wolves that there weren’t a couple more changes today. KWP for Trippier would seem to be the glaringly obvious rotation, and I personally would have liked to see Skipp given a start, maybe put in that central role with Winks shuffled to one of the “8” roles, preferably Sissoko’s as he’s got to be due a rest, and last game was looking very ragged.


The Structure

Poch went with the 41212 (4312) again with Alli sitting behind Son and Kane and the afore mentioned CM3.

I want to flag something up that has been impressing me more and more of late. Certain aspects of our in-game tactical fluidity have always been prevalent – FB’s as de facto wide attackers, the DM dropping in between the CB’s, Eriksen’s hybrid 8/10 remit, Kane dropping back into the ACM, A CB (Vertonghen usually, but latterly Foyth) stepping out into the midfield to name but a few basic ones. Some more successful/impressive than others. Some pretty routine in modern football. But since we switched to this CM3 format I’m noticing our fluidity is hitting different levels.

I’ve mentioned before about how much I like this CM3 (1+2) format (I still dream of a full on 433 though) and what I’m noticing more and more is how flexible and fluid this midfield has allowed us to become, and not just laterally, but also vertically. A game like this, in which we dominated the ball so completely from start to finish (again, another benefit and feature of this structure IMO is we are again dominating the ball more comprehensively in games, as Poch likes us to do) made this fluidity so much more demonstrable. Eriksen is the key component, positional intelligence has always been a forte of his (I remember remarking how even as a kid when we first signed him he had the positional awareness of a 40yo - that ability to find pockets of space) but under Poch he’s gone up several notches and where once that special dexterity existed in the ACM/10 zone, it’s now existing all over the pitch. And he’s not alone, although Sissoko did have a more right biased map, he did pop up on the left at times, Winks drifted right and left, Alli droped backwards, left and right, Kane and Son likewise. It’s not just the intelligent movement of Eriksen that is impressive, it’s the intelligence – an intelligent coaching of Poch – that sees all the players react and interact with each other’s movement. It’s Rinus Michels stuff. Total football, and when we are doing it well, it is so hard to play against.

The below maps show where our front six players received the ball, and is very illuminating. How does a team play against this level of interchange-ability?

Z5rEhOI.png




The key to it, as it was in it’s inception (Michels Ajax) and in various other incarnations (Such as Guardiola’s Barca) is that structure, in our case a 1+2 1+2 variation of the 433 of Michels and Guardiola's Barca - (it's so much more than a basic 4312 diamond) It creates a grid structure that covers the pitch zonally (as you can see from the maps above with Son and Kane splitting to form that 433 type grid), allowing pieces of the grid to flow into and out of zones, and as long as all the pieces move cohesively to compensate, it rarely leaves - in play - zones empty as some other formats - like the 4231 - do - leaving the FB’s exposed often. The lateral 8’s move outwards when necessary to cover or protect the FB’s. The CM/6 shuffles left and right. The ACM goes back to cover the 8 that goes forward, the forwards split wide and allow the ACM to go false 9, etc etc.


The Game

Cardiff were probably the weakest team in terms of both individual ability and tactical complexity that we’ve faced. But, and this is an important but, this was still one of our most impressive displays of the season for me. Not just about only beating what’s in front of you. We showed a ruthless composure tonight. When we got one, two and three goals up we didn’t shell or shrink as we were doing a couple of months ago. With this format we did the smart thing, precisely what we had to do. Death by possession. The best defence in football isn’t always attack, it’s starvation. They cannot hurt you when you have the ball, and at 3-0 up we didn’t need to turn the game into a lottery, take stupid chances for the sake of adding more goals. I loved this performance, after a barbaric schedule and a horrible set back a few days ago, this was the perfect antidote, the complete performance. 72% possession, 90% completion, three goals, could have been 5 or 6 with better finishing, and they barely got in our half. As bad as they were, they are capable of a bit of a hurrah when they get a bit of momentum, but we allowed them no scent of momentum.

The goals were nice, Kane probably should have done better initially from a lovely ball from Trippier that arrowed straight to him, but in the end got a bit lucky, the second was a piece of individual - almost nonchalant - magic from Eriksen, the third a nice move that was polished off by Son.

But the goals were almost a side attraction to what was happening everywhere else for me. Total control. This was total football.

The Individuals

Lloris - Nothing to do but what he did was fine.

Trippier - Set up the first with a good ball. OK after that, nothing spectacular or disastrous. Might have done better when Hoilet got a header in, but might have been climbed on?

Sanchez - Rarely tested, decent enough.

Alderweireld - As Sanchez.

Rose - It’s really about time he stopped oppo’s putting crosses in so easily, and as ever, his composure in attacking areas could be better, but was energetic and contributed to our game play.

Sissoko - the odd clumsy moment, but did chip in on the build up to Son’s goal and was generally good tonight.

Winks - Once again, we are seeing the benefit of having a footballing 6 out there. Completed a staggering 95/96 passes. In terms of the central hub remit, was flawless tonight.

Eriksen - Like an omnipotent conductor. He popped up everywhere, and the thing is, it’s not just quantity or mileage, it’s the quality to. Outstanding footballer. MOTM

Alli - He worked hard enough, but it was another one of those slightly frustrating games for him. Did put a nice ball through for Kane towards the end.

Son - Lively, deadly, pretty good game. Shame we’re losing him just as he’s the hottest he’s ever been.

Kane - His hold up play has gone up an unprecedented notch this last 3 months. Got a shiner, but when he’s providing the type of fulcrum stuff he’s now provided consistently, he’s bringing much more to the team. Good game.

Good appraisal . I am not a Sissoko devotee but credit where credit is due , he was excellent.

As for Winks I think he is continuing to improve again after looking more like a Scott Parker clone running in circles last season. Always available, keeps things ticking over . Allows Eriksen to do damage further forward and Sissoko to make his runs. The biggest compliment I can pay him is that he is reminding me of Steve Perryman at his best. Doing the simple, sensible things and doing them well.

I thought Dele was possibly our worst player. Nothing he did came off and was the only one of our players who looked like losing possession consistently. He seems to perform best against the big teams.
 
After Wolves for the first 10 mins I was not happy with Cardiff's possession and expected us to be playing the ball around without penetration at that stage. The ball seemed to be in our half most of the time and we scored with our first 3 shots I believe. The early goal was fortuitous but it was not until the 2nd goal that I felt we gained control. After that there was no problem. I am just surprised in the game thread and here there is no mention of this.
 
Cruise Control (Hail Eriksen the Omnipotent)
For fucks sake can you stick to your own fucking thread so I don't have to see this long winded self indulgent shite?
I actually enjoy the banter of ego free people and as you don't have the sense to realise how little your input is appreciated, could you keep to your own self congratulatory thread.
 
Cruise Control (Hail Eriksen the Omnipotent)

The Selection

Rose for Davies was the only change from the last game. This meant the same midfield three of Eriksen and Sissoko pivoting off a centrally located Winks. I was bit surprised after the rather fatigued effort against Wolves that there weren’t a couple more changes today. KWP for Trippier would seem to be the glaringly obvious rotation, and I personally would have liked to see Skipp given a start, maybe put in that central role with Winks shuffled to one of the “8” roles, preferably Sissoko’s as he’s got to be due a rest, and last game was looking very ragged.


The Structure

Poch went with the 41212 (4312) again with Alli sitting behind Son and Kane and the afore mentioned CM3.

I want to flag something up that has been impressing me more and more of late. Certain aspects of our in-game tactical fluidity have always been prevalent – FB’s as de facto wide attackers, the DM dropping in between the CB’s, Eriksen’s hybrid 8/10 remit, Kane dropping back into the ACM, A CB (Vertonghen usually, but latterly Foyth) stepping out into the midfield to name but a few basic ones. Some more successful/impressive than others. Some pretty routine in modern football. But since we switched to this CM3 format I’m noticing our fluidity is hitting different levels.

I’ve mentioned before about how much I like this CM3 (1+2) format (I still dream of a full on 433 though) and what I’m noticing more and more is how flexible and fluid this midfield has allowed us to become, and not just laterally, but also vertically. A game like this, in which we dominated the ball so completely from start to finish (again, another benefit and feature of this structure IMO is we are again dominating the ball more comprehensively in games, as Poch likes us to do) made this fluidity so much more demonstrable. Eriksen is the key component, positional intelligence has always been a forte of his (I remember remarking how even as a kid when we first signed him he had the positional awareness of a 40yo - that ability to find pockets of space) but under Poch he’s gone up several notches and where once that special dexterity existed in the ACM/10 zone, it’s now existing all over the pitch. And he’s not alone, although Sissoko did have a more right biased map, he did pop up on the left at times, Winks drifted right and left, Alli droped backwards, left and right, Kane and Son likewise. It’s not just the intelligent movement of Eriksen that is impressive, it’s the intelligence – an intelligent coaching of Poch – that sees all the players react and interact with each other’s movement. It’s Rinus Michels stuff. Total football, and when we are doing it well, it is so hard to play against.

The below maps show where our front six players received the ball, and is very illuminating. How does a team play against this level of interchange-ability?

Z5rEhOI.png




The key to it, as it was in it’s inception (Michels Ajax) and in various other incarnations (Such as Guardiola’s Barca) is that structure, in our case a 1+2 1+2 variation of the 433 of Michels and Guardiola's Barca - (it's so much more than a basic 4312 diamond) It creates a grid structure that covers the pitch zonally (as you can see from the maps above with Son and Kane splitting to form that 433 type grid), allowing pieces of the grid to flow into and out of zones, and as long as all the pieces move cohesively to compensate, it rarely leaves - in play - zones empty as some other formats - like the 4231 - do - leaving the FB’s exposed often. The lateral 8’s move outwards when necessary to cover or protect the FB’s. The CM/6 shuffles left and right. The ACM goes back to cover the 8 that goes forward, the forwards split wide and allow the ACM to go false 9, etc etc.


The Game

Cardiff were probably the weakest team in terms of both individual ability and tactical complexity that we’ve faced. But, and this is an important but, this was still one of our most impressive displays of the season for me. Not just about only beating what’s in front of you. We showed a ruthless composure tonight. When we got one, two and three goals up we didn’t shell or shrink as we were doing a couple of months ago. With this format we did the smart thing, precisely what we had to do. Death by possession. The best defence in football isn’t always attack, it’s starvation. They cannot hurt you when you have the ball, and at 3-0 up we didn’t need to turn the game into a lottery, take stupid chances for the sake of adding more goals. I loved this performance, after a barbaric schedule and a horrible set back a few days ago, this was the perfect antidote, the complete performance. 72% possession, 90% completion, three goals, could have been 5 or 6 with better finishing, and they barely got in our half. As bad as they were, they are capable of a bit of a hurrah when they get a bit of momentum, but we allowed them no scent of momentum.

The goals were nice, Kane probably should have done better initially from a lovely ball from Trippier that arrowed straight to him, but in the end got a bit lucky, the second was a piece of individual - almost nonchalant - magic from Eriksen, the third a nice move that was polished off by Son.

But the goals were almost a side attraction to what was happening everywhere else for me. Total control. This was total football.

The Individuals

Lloris - Nothing to do but what he did was fine.

Trippier - Set up the first with a good ball. OK after that, nothing spectacular or disastrous. Might have done better when Hoilet got a header in, but might have been climbed on?

Sanchez - Rarely tested, decent enough.

Alderweireld - As Sanchez.

Rose - It’s really about time he stopped oppo’s putting crosses in so easily, and as ever, his composure in attacking areas could be better, but was energetic and contributed to our game play.

Sissoko - the odd clumsy moment, but did chip in on the build up to Son’s goal and was generally good tonight.

Winks - Once again, we are seeing the benefit of having a footballing 6 out there. Completed a staggering 95/96 passes. In terms of the central hub remit, was flawless tonight.

Eriksen - Like an omnipotent conductor. He popped up everywhere, and the thing is, it’s not just quantity or mileage, it’s the quality to. Outstanding footballer. MOTM

Alli - He worked hard enough, but it was another one of those slightly frustrating games for him. Did put a nice ball through for Kane towards the end.

Son - Lively, deadly, pretty good game. Shame we’re losing him just as he’s the hottest he’s ever been.

Kane - His hold up play has gone up an unprecedented notch this last 3 months. Got a shiner, but when he’s providing the type of fulcrum stuff he’s now provided consistently, he’s bringing much more to the team. Good game.


Who could disagree with that?

Oh hang on.....

:wansum::ap:
 
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