Thomas Frank - Head Coach

[Mrs Vert]

Wirtz must be rubbing his hands together as we are the team that keep giving gifts out and Christmas is just around the corner.

Ive Put Ekitike in for fantasy......think we know how this goes.
What has Eze done since our game??

 

[Pandy]

I listened to The Extra Inch today and heard them comparing stats between Bentancur, Phalinha and other central midfielders - basically describing Bentancur as "coward" as he always chooses the safe option, he basically never progresses the ball either by foot or by pass. Same with Phalinha, but he's meant to be a destroyer, of course, and does that job well. It's baffling that we have started so many games with those two on the pitch together (or with Bentancur in particular).

I think we need to get a midfielder able to pass and progress the ball, as well as withstand pressure, in for Bentancur - should be a main priority in Jan, if we can get one in.

Bentancur isn't the main problem, it's the system, he has no options because we are set up so conservatively when we have the ball.

 

[Welshspur60]

But there is no risk in any of our passing, it's all safe. We're never going to progress that way. While our midfield isn't world class it's also not that bad that it can't play forward. It's also about getting a system embedded into the team. Even if it's not going to work 100% with the players we have now, at least the whole team won't have to learn a new system when we get the type of midfielder that Frank wants in order to be more brave.

Without Madders and Kulusevski our midfield is woeful at the moment.. Only Bergvall and Simons can break foreward and beat a man to create space, but the latter is still a work in progress while Simons is coming to terms with the speed and time you have in the PL.
Id try and get Scott McTominay. He was criminally underated at Manure.

 

[Welshspur60]

Without Madders and Kulusevski our midfield is woeful at the moment.. Only Bergvall and Simons can break foreward and beat a man to create space, but the latter is still a work in progress while Simons is coming to terms with the speed and time you have in the PL.
Id try and get Scott McTominay. He was criminally underated at Manure.

Sorry Bergvall= former

 

[Bullet]

Bentancur isn't the main problem, it's the system, he has no options because we are set up so conservatively when we have the ball.

Bentancur will only make a pass if it is 99% certain to reach its target. Thus he nearly always plays a VERY safe, short pass backwards.
Bentancur hides, he deliberately cowers in the shadow of the opposition pressing, rather than trying to be the spare man.

He didn't used to be like this.

Spurs are like a boxer that never jabs, never throws a punch, never looks dangerous. So after a few minutes the opponent realises he can just pummel us until we break, as we will never throw a punch back.

 

[El Dante]

I find it frustrating, following on from what’s just been said, that we press at the start of the match and then quickly completely abandon it. I want us to be pressing relentlessly, give opponent no time to breathe whilst in possession. I appreciate that we may need to lower it at times but that’s when we should be more deliberate in possession to give a breather.

We need to play with differing tempos in possession and be able to switch it up quickly when required. Few would complain about passing sideways and backwards if at other times we passed and progressed quickly with intent. It’s just that we rarely see the latter.

 

[braineclipse]

I wouldn't say we never play the ball forward, but from what I've been seeing recently, to a first approximation, a forward pass equals a turnover, which is why I think he has tended to be so cautious in his approach. What's a bit worrying is that, if anything, that appears to have got worse as time's gone on, rather than better.

That caution is then also leading to turnovers imo. Players being more concerned about being in the right position if we lose the ball than being in a position to receive it and go forward. To me the caution came first.

We then end up going long quite a bit. But we don't have a great holdup player like Frank had for a good while at least at Brentford in Toney. And while we do have Kudus on the right who imo is exceptional receiving under pressure and progressing the ball on his own we don't have a similar player on the left.

If rumours are to be believed and we're after Semenyo that seems to be the "fix" Frank is aiming at. Having the ability to progress the ball through individual quality down both flanks.