What would you do?

[El Guepardo]

In mind of the most recent fixture, for now..today’s loss against Saudi Sportswashing Machine...what would you change? Which players would you switch? Hopefully this can be a continuing thread but in future reacting to better results and performances. I’ve just seen a lot written about where we are going wrong, so how about how we get things right?

 

[Legohamster]

Jan and Christian back in the side

Davies back in as soon as he’s fit

Dier to anchor the midfield

Tell Kane to stay forward and stop dropping deep.

Try and get Lo Celso in the side as well

 

[Baleforce]

I’d like to put Verts back in, but I don’t know what he’s done to be on the naughty step.

I’d like to start Eriksen, but I don’t know his state of mind.

I’d like to sit down the rest of them and watch the highlights of two seasons ago where our average score was 5-0 to remind them how good they actually are.

Particularly Kane, I want him shooting on sight again.

I’d bring the press back and take Winks off the leash, hopefully be able to get Alli back and play him behind Kane.

 

[Rorschach]

Nipple electrodes.

 

[Raziel]

Trying for a non-reactive answer

- Play your best players until they are not here, i.e. get Jan and Eriksen on pitch, right now, I would put Jan out wide.
- Build a transition strategy, sometime we try to be too fancy, the role of Jan, Toby, Sissoko, N'dombele, whoever is playing deep should be for at least parts of the game, get it to the front as quickly as possible, even if you lose possession doing so.
- Tempo, tempo, tempo, play forward and fast, up the tempo of the game, use early subs.
- as @Legohamster said, keep Kane up

But the real answer is Poch has to do a few things

- Motivate the players and clear the distractions (unsettled players, etc. is an excuse, we had this bobble with the stadium, Poch is giving the players an excuse by giving it voice)
- Get the basics right, all good being tactically cute until someone can drive a bus between your two CB's
= Find our style again, we have deteriorated into a nice possession side with little threat or control, are we a pressing side, what is our attacking play? (since our FB's no longer are that Rose/Walker partnership)

 

[AdamB]

Vertonghen in for Sanchez
Eriksen back in for Lamela
Ndombele alongisde Winks in CM; if still injured, then Dier comes in and Winks play a bit further forward

Looking forward to the next 1-2 transfer windows, we desperately need to sort out the full-back positions. We rely on them to get behind teams out wide. Rose seems to have lost a yard of pace or abilty to take his man on successfully - perhaps Sessegnon will be the solution. FOyth coul dbe a good defensive RB, but I prefer him at CB and he doesnt have the pace/dynamism to be much of an attacking threat

 

[Raziel]

Vertonghen in for Sanchez
Eriksen back in for Lamela
Ndombele alongisde Winks in CM; if still injured, then Dier comes in and Winks play a bit further forward

Honestly mate if Winks plays next week-end I won't know what to say ..

I'd rather play Dier, and leave Lamela up

 

[Legohamster]

Also

Make sides fear us.

I get you can’t with Liverpool/City

But start creative players in midfield, not winks and Sissoko that are out of form.

Lo Celso starts today and I think we create more.

Even if we can only get 45/50 minutes out of him atm

 

[Bullet]

1. Remove players with v poor touch/skill

2. Go for it. Less rigidity. Less fear. Each player should have confidence to go for it and drive/ pass goalward.
Nearly all Prem players are flipping brilliant when they go for it

 

[AdamB]

Honestly mate if Winks plays next week-end I won't know what to say ..

I'd rather play Dier, and leave Lamela up

I wouldnt have Lamela close to the starting 11! I like Winks but we need the partnership to be right. I'd start with Ndombele longer-term and work out who is the best partner for him. Personally I dont get all the flak which Winks has been getting for the first 3 games. There's been a good number of players playing equally poorly

 

[fernadez]

All of the above, also a realisation needs to be made that we're not good enough to play the slow possession smother teams to death game.

Go back to what you know works for this team in this league and run with it. When it stops working then adapt.


And u I never want to see Kane playing behind anyone ever again, there was one pint in the second half where he played a ball and then started trying to overlap out at right wing while Lucas was in the box.

 

[Raziel]

I wouldnt have Lamela close to the starting 11! I like Winks but we need the partnership to be right. I'd start with Ndombele longer-term and work out who is the best partner for him. Personally I dont get all the flak which Winks has been getting for the first 3 games. There's been a good number of players playing equally poorly

Let me explain the issue with Winks

- When Lamela, Eriksen, Son, Lucas, Dele don't play well, they can still pop up with a goal/assist, they still occupy defenders, opposition players

Winks does nothing other than be tidy and slow down the game (which benefits the opposition greatly), he isn't moving forward, passing early, shielding the back, nothing .. literally any academy player could be on the pitch doing little triangle passes and have the same effect. We are carrying him .. and he doesn't have enough upside to his game to justify that.

 

[Cochise]

Address the midfield. We started every move from the back with both CBs and CM's (Winks and Sissoko) being marked by their one striker. That left us with Kane sitting isolated at the top, Moura and Son comfortably marked on the flanks and Lamela floating about doing a whole lot of nothing.

Sissoko looks clueless during possession phases and resorts to just passing the ball straight back to whoever gave it to him 9 times out of 10, whilst Winks makes neat sideways passes. Neither of them succeeded in any regularity to draw out their midfield line. We needed to narrow the midfield so we could get the ball out to Son and Moura easily, but instead our midfielders gave them an easy game and allowed them to keep their shape.

On the defensive side, neither look to have the awareness to cover the middle of the pitch. I would like to see Dier brought back into the fold at the expense of one of those two (ideally Sissoko).

 

[Mikey10]

Let me explain the issue with Winks

- When Lamela, Eriksen, Son, Lucas, Dele don't play well, they can still pop up with a goal/assist, they still occupy defenders, opposition players

Winks does nothing other than be tidy and slow down the game (which benefits the opposition greatly), he isn't moving forward, passing early, shielding the back, nothing .. literally any academy player could be on the pitch doing little triangle passes and have the same effect. We are carrying him .. and he doesn't have enough upside to his game to justify that.

Sadly, I am coming to the same conclusion.

 

[AdamB]

Address the midfield. We started every move from the back with both CBs and CM's (Winks and Sissoko) being marked by their one striker. That left us with Kane sitting isolated at the top, Moura and Son comfortably marked on the flanks and Lamela floating about doing a whole lot of nothing.

Sissoko looks clueless during possession phases and resorts to just passing the ball straight back to whoever gave it to him 9 times out of 10, whilst Winks makes neat sideways passes. Neither of them succeeded in any regularity to draw out their midfield line. We needed to narrow the midfield so we could get the ball out to Son and Moura easily, but instead our midfielders gave them an easy game and allowed them to keep their shape.

On the defensive side, neither look to have the awareness to cover the middle of the pitch. I would like to see Dier bought back into the fold at the expense of one of those two (ideally Sissoko).

Put Eriksen in the 'no 10' position where he should have played today and I think you'd see a very different midfield performance as the deepest sitting CM would natrually have a player to look for. Winks has had outstanding games for us - think back to Real away when he was our only CM and ran the game for us. He isn't sudenly a bad player...perhaps its form? Perhaps its that the other around him dont complement him?

I like Dier but as always players reputations improve when they're not playing!

Once settled in, Ndombele is presumably first choice CM and then I think we just need to work out who best complements his game.

 

[Raziel]

Address the midfield. We started every move from the back with both CBs and CM's (Winks and Sissoko) being marked by their one striker. That left us with Kane sitting isolated at the top, Moura and Son comfortably marked on the flanks and Lamela floating about doing a whole lot of nothing.

Sissoko looks clueless during possession phases and resorts to just passing the ball straight back to whoever gave it to him 9 times out of 10, whilst Winks makes neat sideways passes. Neither of them succeeded in any regularity to draw out their midfield line. We needed to narrow the midfield so we could get the ball out to Son and Moura easily, but instead our midfielders gave them an easy game and allowed them to keep their shape.

On the defensive side, neither look to have the awareness to cover the middle of the pitch. I would like to see Dier bought back into the fold at the expense of one of those two (ideally Sissoko).

The problem is I think we are trying to be "too good" in midfield, look at Pool, it isn't necessary, they lost Coutinho and got better .. why? because the midfield does nothing but get rid of the fudging ball as quickly as possible to the front 3.

Part of the issue this season is

- Winks plays safe and sideways
- KWP plays safe and sideways
- Someone is generally tasked in midfield to protect KWP
- Sissoko unless he has a space to run into will pick the short pass (often sideways)
- Both Jan (not playing) and Toby have stopped the big diagonal passes (so one less option to get the ball forward early)

= Add it up, 3-4 players not being defensive but not being offensive either, chain reaction, front is not seeing enough of the ball, no consistent form of attack (that will allow people to make runs, pull defenders, stay up top and occupy the opposition)

I really don't give a fudge if you play Sissoko, Dier, Winks, whoever but the orders need to be, get the fudging ball forward.

 

[Cochise]

But that's my point, there has to be some sort of structure and movement in order to manipulate the opponent into opening those channels for the ball forward.

 

[SylDave]

Let me explain the issue with Winks

- When Lamela, Eriksen, Son, Lucas, Dele don't play well, they can still pop up with a goal/assist, they still occupy defenders, opposition players

Winks does nothing other than be tidy and slow down the game (which benefits the opposition greatly), he isn't moving forward, passing early, shielding the back, nothing .. literally any academy player could be on the pitch doing little triangle passes and have the same effect. We are carrying him .. and he doesn't have enough upside to his game to justify that.

If Winks wasn’t one of our own he would be getting panned, hypothetically if the window was still open and we were being strongly linked with signing Winks for £40-60m say what would the honest reaction be?

 

[AdamB]

But that's my point, there has to be some sort of structure and movement in order to manipulate the opponent into opening those channels for the ball forward.

You also need your most creative player to unblock tight defences...

 

[AdamB]

If Winks wasn’t one of our own he would be getting panned, hypothetically if the window was still open and we were being strongly linked with signing Winks for £40-60m say what would the honest reaction be?

I would trust Poch's judgement if he thought that signing him was the best to develop the team