Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[TPdYID]

This is spot on.

Werner and Johnson is midtable quality and we rely on them for goals currently.

Sadly, Richarlisson and Kulusevski is not much better, if at all.

Even Son is in declining form. You could say that's expected from someone his age that relies on pace more than technique, and it won't be any better next season.

Need a major overhaul in the forwards area if we're going to do anything

Pessimistic, much?

Prior to the Newcastle game, most on here thought BJ’s ceiling for “potential” was infinite.

Fast forward a week, and now suddenly he’s shit…

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

Pessimistic, much?

Prior to the Newcastle game, most on here thought BJ’s ceiling for “potential” was infinite.

Fast forward a week, and now suddenly he’s shit…

Are you new here?

 

[Now it's Spursonal]

This current positional setup is defensive suicide when up against teams who sit deep and look to play long to pacy wingers i.e. the vast majority of midtable teams in this league.

If Ange has decided to stick this system, no matter the opposition, then that is akin to cutting off one's nose to spite one's face and we should have serious questions about whether he's the right man for the job.

Fortunately though, I don't believe that he's a stubborn idiot and in fact I believe that he is 100% aware that we need to change and even beyond that has actually already identified how to do that.

Our very strong links to players such as Simakan and Kossounou made very little sense to me originally as they seemed like very expensive signings for who would only be backup CB's.
However, I now fully believe/hope that their signings are linked to Ange now knowing that at times we need more help at the back and could play a Simakan at RCB and then could leave three at the back in possession. Having a super pacy CB either side of Romero would erase a tonne of the issues we currently face in defensive transitions.

This theory is also further aided by the constant strong links of a significant transfer for Gallagher, as this positional setup requires two 6's and two 10's with the 10's being box to box and strong box crashers, both things that Gallagher excels at.

And the final and most obvious piece of evidence for this is our strong links to the likes of Baena, Gudmundsson, Gibbs-White, Eze etc.

We've all been wondering, "Why are we targeting all these 10's that can play on the wing, rather than an out and out winger specialist?". Well I believe the answer to that is that the player is likely to be asked to play as a 10 just as often as they are as a winger.

We're playing a team not setup to counter us? We play our usual 433

We're playing a team sitting deep? We play 3 at the back with two 10's and no wingers.

All of our major transfer targets make complete sense when you take all this into consideration.

1. A pacy CB/FB that can cover equally well as a backup CB or FB in our usual 433, but also as a starting wide CB in the 3-2-4-1.

2. A 6 that can usurp Bissouma as the DM in our usual 433, but also could partner a second DM in the 3-2-4-1 pivot.

3. A player that can both play as a 10 or on the wing in our usual 433, but can also play as one of two 10's in the 3-2-4-1.




This is good video analysis of the setup, and below is a good write up about the setup.

What is the pragmatic side of the Socceroo’s attacking 3-2-4-1 formation?

Ange Postecoglou is characterised as a gung-ho attacking coach, but does he have a defensive side?

timpalmerfootball.com

I'm going to go balls on the line and say that we'll see this 3241 lineup at some stage this season.

 

[thebenjamin]

Can't believe fucking WW3 is starting and it's only the second worst thing that's happened today

 

[NEVILLEB]

Let’s move Romero to DM

 

[ultimateloner]

So you'd accept a big defeat in the NLD for the sake of the players learning the system for another 90 minutes?

Genuinely asking as I can't quite grasp what you're saying.

I’m indifferent whether it’s a small or big defeat. I want ange to put out whatever team and play however he wants that he believes would give the best result. Whether it’s arsenal doesn’t make me feel any different. It happens to be against a strong team so I want to see who can perform in adversity.

In terms of performances I judge at most frequent on a monthly basis. In terms of result I judge our league position at most frequent on a quarterly basis, against where I believe we should be at the start of the season (so for me that would be 8th: I never thought we had chance for Europe with Kane gone).
Therefore given my low expectations ange is on track to beating all of those let alone the entertainment he brings.

 

[rossdapep]

No chance Johnson gets In over Bowen or Gordon.

Bowen is in a West Ham team that play to his strengths and I disagree about Gordon as Johnson had a rough start for several reasons.

But how do you know Johnson wouldn't fair better in their systems?

 

[nuttynoah]

Let’s move Romero to DM

How about telling him to stop his Billy Big Bollocks Lord Belboroughesque come and get the ball if you think you're hard enough plod to the half way line, only to end up with a sideways pass to VDV who then passes it back.
It just gives the other team plenty of time to regroup, markup and get 11 players behind the ball, by then there's no space and we end up passing sideways until the inevitable bad pass or a player tries to run through 5 players. There's no space for our front 3. There are other issues but our slow build up and Romero's plod are up there, completely counterproductive.

 

[rossdapep]

Can't believe fucking WW3 is starting and it's only the second worst thing that's happened today

If Arsenal are going to win the title WW3 couldn't come at a better time tbf

 

[Now it's Spursonal]

How about telling him to stop his Billy Big Bollocks Lord Belboroughesque come and get the ball if you think you're hard enough plod to the half way line, only to end up with a sideways pass to VDV who then passes it back.
It just gives the other team plenty of time to regroup, markup and get 11 players behind the ball, by then there's no space and we end up passing sideways until the inevitable bad pass or a player tries to run through 5 players. There's no space for our front 3. There are other issues but our slow build up and Romero's plod are up there, completely counterproductive.

Could be wrong, but I imagine he's trying to bait the press in these scenarios.

Does look awful when the opposition don't bite though..

 

[Sp3akerboxxx]

I was listening to LWOS and Lee McQueen said there we were averaging 7-8 shots on target per game last season and we're not coming close to that this season.

Not sure how true that is

 

[TEESSIDE1]

What I find incredibly frustrating is early season and occasionally over the last few weeks, Ange has stated how he likes his wide forwards to get in behind the full back, put in a low cross and try and get on the end of it. This has actually worked whether it be Son, Richarlison, Werner, Johnson scoring or the opposition scoring an own goal. However, with the almost walking pace that we now play it’s become increasingly difficult for Werner and Johnson to get into space to create these chances. Without this approach we’ve resorted to trying to walk the ball in the net which has pretty much resulted in next to no efforts on goal or on target and for the goals to dry up.

I know we hated Conte ball and I’m not for one minute suggesting we camp everyone in our own half but unlike under Conte, we now have 4 players in Maddison, Werner, Son and Johnson who would be pretty effective on the counter attack.

We should under no circumstances have the best defence we’ve had for several years and concede goals for fun. A decent set of midfielders but have tactics that expose their weaknesses. A set of forwards who would flourish on the counter but as per the midfield, we set up in a way that also exposes their shortcomings.

At the mo, Ange reminds me of Southgate - not getting the best out of his squad due to his stubbornness and refusal to change his tactics. We’re not playing in a Mickey Mouse Japanese League or the comical Scottish Premier League, we’re in the EPL where pretty much 18 of the 20 teams are capable of turning you over if you’re not on top of your game.

 

[nferno]

 

[cliff jones]

The NLD is important, if we get smashed like we did today in our own yard it's embarrassing, and it causes even more angst among fans about Ange and how the team is performing.

I don't see us playing as badly as we did today but I am concerned now with the level of performances we've seen.

I'd rather lose 1-0 sitting deep and counter attacking then losing by 4 or 5 playing kamikaze football we've seen today. At least losing 1-0 would show we have some defensive capabilities vs just sitting on the half way line and letting their attackers have the freedom to run at Vicario

At 1-0 you're still in the game too. At 3 and 4 you're playing to not be embarrassed any further. GD could also be really important in the scheme of things for 4th.

I don't believe playing an uncompromising system so that the players are learning and we take a few batterings is exactly the greatest either.

Agree with all that, except this reference to kamikaze football.

For their first goal, we have three back v two- Udog loses the 50-50, Romero switches off and VDV clearly forgot Isak has no left foot. We can all see Porro creates the chaos for the second, with VDV repeating his misjudgment with Gordon.

This clearly decisive two mins proceeded an even game, with the rest of the game unremarkable.

BUT… clearly what we can do is defend corners, and show some fight. Their midfield trio fought like hell, won all the battles. None of our first or second shifts came close to matching that.

We lose one nil or whatever and there’s none of this more serious reaction, but it’s here because of the fundamental flaws visible.

The Arse’s early corners will be unnecessarily decisive unless he gets his shit together

 

[Styopa]

I was listening to LWOS and Lee McQueen said there we were averaging 7-8 shots on target per game last season and we're not coming close to that this season.

Not sure how true that is

According to the Premier League website, we have made 181 shots on target in 32 matches = 5.65 per match compared to 199 in 38 matches last season = 5.23 per match.

 

[spurs9]

I was listening to LWOS and Lee McQueen said there we were averaging 7-8 shots on target per game last season and we're not coming close to that this season.

Not sure how true that is

Mate LWOS chat so much shit you might as well ignore anything they say.

Last season we averaged 5.2 shots on target per game. This season it's 5.7.

We are averaging 2.7 big chances per game v 2.1 but are missing 1.5 big chances v 1.1 last season and have 5.3 shots off target v 4.6.

In Summary, we are missing Kane.

 

[allatsea]

Laughable perhaps but I don't think Newcastle were better than us just they took their chances and we didn't. Players like Maddison are playing themselves out of the team. He shouldn't be starting every game he isn't playing well enough.

Wiener is hopeless in front of goal but can run quite fast with the ball if it is given to him in open spaces.

We desperately need a proper striker. Sonny works hard but he isn't an out and out striker and his passing is generally poor.

Very sad result and we are now left hoping Arsenal do us a favour on Sunday against Villa. What a mess.

 

[rabbikeane]

Mate LWOS chat so much shit you might as well ignore anything they say.

Last season we averaged 5.2 shots on target per game. This season it's 5.7.

We are averaging 2.7 big chances per game v 2.1 but are missing 1.5 big chances v 1.1 last season and have 5.3 shots off target v 4.6.

In Summary, we are missing Kane.

We're also scoring more this season, 2.03 per game compared to 1.84 previous season.

 

[Mr Pink]

No chance Johnson gets In over Bowen or Gordon.

You might be rethinking that this time next season.

 

[spurs-r-us]

Conte asked for time and patience a week before his last game for us - but hey - why give a proven winner at this level time and patience - nah - let's get rid.

Probably because he refused to re-sign. Have you forgotten how loud the Antonio chants were until just before he left.