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Mathys Tel

They would be a good combination if they didnt play on the same side. France U21s manage it by having Tel left and Odobert ACM

Tel played up top on the last game
Odobert out on the right.

Odobert can play left, right or central, Tel left and up top (don't know if he has played on the right or central behind a striker)
 
There's a difference between can play and should play though. The issue will always be that to accommodate both, one will not be in their optimum position

Here's the problem. You can play a 4-2-3-1 where the 3 hold their left, central and right positions and you get so far with it. Then you can enhance the system and get 2 of the 3 interchanging like we did with Dele and Eriksen. Optimally, you interchange all 3 with players building that understanding when to overload together and when to drop into each other's spaces. Poch got us most of the way there but figured out early that Son's football brain wasn't anywhere near where Eriksen's and Dele's was. He therefore played 2 Sonny's strengths as well.

If we do go down the 4-2-3-1 path with Frank, I'm really hoping he can get all these guys operating laterally and interchanging. That includes youngsters like Moore and Donley who seem to have the smarts.
 
If Frank is the master tactician and developer of players that he's made out to be, there will be certain situations and formations where we can definitely get both of them on the pitch. And others where we can't, but it's a squad game.
 
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If Frank is the mater tactician and developer of players that he's made out to be, there will be certain situations and formations where we can definitely get both of them on the pitch. And others where we can't, but it's a squad game.

France u21s seem to get both of them on the pitch no problem.
 
There's a difference between can play and should play though. The issue will always be that to accommodate both, one will not be in their optimum position
Just so happened Odobert scored two goals one of the EL knockout games from the right, and away at West Ham but of course he can't play there....
 
Tel played mostly in an underperforming team in the league. I wouldn’t be judging his output in those games as a fair judge of the player he actually is, and to compare him to Werner is stark raving mad. Tel’s touch, decisiveness, and simply overall quality with which he plays is obvious. For £30m it’s a no brainer.
Will suit a different style much better imo. More of the old fashioned Son role than the wide winger role I think suits him way better. Would be more concerned about signing him had Ange stayed.

If Frank ever wants to play two up front that probably makes a striker role significantly easier for him to fit into than a lone striker role.
 
"Stockpiling" top young talents seems to be very much what we want to do.

Can get to a point where that's too much as well, but don't think we're there yet.

I guess if we shift Gil and Solomon then I sort of agree.

It hurt us badly losing Odobert and Richi (and Moore) in the first half of last season. With what was unfolding with Werner, we just couldn't change it up in the second halves of games. Towards the end we could share 90 mins between Solanke, Son, Richi, Johnson, Odobert and Tel and it all felt loads better.

That is baselined against 4-3-3 though in Ange's system. If we shift to a Frank 4-2-3-1 then you'll have Deki, Madds, Moore, Donley, Devine etc throwing their hats into the same space as most of the above.
 
I guess if we shift Gil and Solomon then I sort of agree.

It hurt us badly losing Odobert and Richi (and Moore) in the first half of last season. With what was unfolding with Werner, we just couldn't change it up in the second halves of games. Towards the end we could share 90 mins between Solanke, Son, Richi, Johnson, Odobert and Tel and it all felt loads better.

That is baselined against 4-3-3 though in Ange's system. If we shift to a Frank 4-2-3-1 then you'll have Deki, Madds, Moore, Donley, Devine etc throwing their hats into the same space as most of the above.
Yeah, if we're keeping all those players it will be a negative stockpiling. I'm assuming we won't. And it remains to be seen when Son leaves.

The difference between 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 isn't that great in terms of number of players for those roles. Apart from when Ange played Maddison and Deki in midfield in a three, which Frank probably wouldn't do anyway.
 
There's a difference between can play and should play though. The issue will always be that to accommodate both, one will not be in their optimum position
perhaps TF will find their optimum positions for the best team effect - he's done that several times at Brentford already
 
perhaps TF will find their optimum positions for the best team effect - he's done that several times at Brentford already
Exactly, that is TF's main attribute. He will assess who can run the channels, who can hold it up, who can dribble, who tends to do XYZ and then actually define a system that makes use of those styles.

I'm watching France U21 vs Poland U21. The French are impressive, even resting Tel and Odobert. Luckily a lot still play for lesser French teams, so can be snapped up for £20m rather than £40m, one would think.
They are doing something right in France. Might as well stockpile a couple more.
 
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