I forced myself to watch the match again today and it was as bad as expected, but another problem became very clear. Bellingham and Reyna are both attacking midfielders. Yes Bellingham is good at pressing and likes to put a foot in, but he doesn't play as a normal midfielder. His best attribute is making runs into the box and his energy. Reyna has good qualities, but he doesn't come back and help control the midfield either. So we end up effectively playing just Dahoud in the middle, Reus has to come back deep to help and Reyna and Bellingham stay up the pitch as 10s. This is not going to cut it. Things changed for the better when Brandt came on and not only added creativity, but went deep to get the ball and spread it. I believe from now on we need to decide who our most attacking midfielder is going to be: Reyna, Bellingham or even neither. However, we need to face reality neither are central midfielders who do their best work there.
I think we need Brandt in there too. I would be tempted to play Can and Dahoud as the deeper two with Brandt ahead. Reus drifting in from the left. However, we are still left with the problem of width. The passing map showed we directed a lot of passes to Passlack, because he is the spare man. Still I think this is the best way for us to gain solid control of the midfield.
well then we should have sold bellingham and as he and reyna are too similar and got a winger with all this spare money we have and also secured a RB...I would assume that Bellingham is the more valued of the pair right?
Yes we should have done this, but Zorc is very bad at squad building. Reyna for me is also the better player and has more potential so would rather keep him, despite Bellingham being worth more. We could have sold Bellingham for 50 million and comfortably bought a winger and a RB. I think Friday we are going to learn a lot more about Rose plans.
Selling either doesn't make sense. Their values will most likely increase. They both seem like smart players. Smart + raw talent = better guarantee of realizing their potential. What you say about their skills is true, @eaglespark. But it doesn't mean we should only keep one. They are still very different. Jude is good at pressing and is very athletic. That is a good attribute for teams that want to press high. Even if he is the "destroyer" type, he can still sit in front of a creative type like Dahoud either in a diamond, or maybe even in a 4-3-3. But where I think Rose should try him is at the 6, if we decide to go 4-3-3. He wouldn't be the Busquets type, or the Dahoud type. He would be the Fernandinho type.. pure attack breaker. He is still young enough to discover that he's better in a new position. For Reyna, I agree that further up the field fits him better. I think right now he's just filling in for Brandt (Dahoud may take that position too later if Can or Witsel hit top form.) Reyna can rotate with Reus OR he should be tried at second striker IMO. He has great chemistry with Haaland, so that's a good start.
We don't have the money or luxury to keep both, because we need to strengthen other areas. We are lacking money and need to sell well to address other keg areas. I agree with Reyna completely. However. I disagree with Bellingham. Jude is NOT the "Destroyer" type. Jude is actually the Dele Ali, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrrard type. He is simply an attacking midfielder, who makes great runs into the box, presses from the front and can pick a pass. Fernandinho is very good on the ball, with a great touch and reads the game excellently. Bellingham is not that sort of player. It's actually the mistake people commonly make with Kante. Kante is not a 6, Kante is a box to box midfielder who needs license go defend and attack. Bellingham has to be the most attacking player in a 3 man midfield or even play off the striker. This is precisely the point I am making. Both Bellingham and Reyna are very different players, but they play in the same positions all be it in different ways and both these positions are attacking.
They play the same position currently. But I think it's mainly due to Brandt missing. It will stay that way if Brandt does not play better than Reyna of course. Jude does make those fun runs into the box, but he is not good at distributing so far. The reason I'm suggesting he tries the #6 is that he's so good at dispossessing opposition players. He could either develop his distribution/passing and also finishing and stay at his current position up front, or he could develop his defensive positioning and play #6. I think he can still go either way.
He could go either way and I think he would be better trying to be a 6, but he has no discipline or desire to at the moment and certainly won't change his game for us. We are just a stepping stone nothing more. He also is not that good as dispossessing opposition players and very bad at taking the ball under pressure. He usually wins the ball when we are pressing high. I thought to try Jude to play 6 a while ago, but after watching him just like we all have I don't think he has it in him to be a top 6. He could develop at best into a Dele Ali type player (when Ali was good). If he completely shocks me he could even become a Gerrard, but don't see him being a Xabi Alonso. I expect Brandt is going to start on Friday.
Watched the game again this morning and the point really stands. Bellingham and Reyna are attacking midfielders. They are good in the final 3rd. They don't contribute enough in midfield and they leave Dahoud alone. Reus has to come back deep to cover for them.
I think given the personnel, the best 11 I can think of is, Kobel Pongliosky(Can) - Hummels (Coullibaly/Collins) - Akanji (Zagadou) Hazard (Meunier) ----------------------------------------Guierrero (Schultz) Passlack, Wolf Bellingham (Witsel) - Dahoud (Brandt) Reus (Reyna) Haaland (Moukoko) - Malen (Knauff) where the top three can be interchanged into spearhead instead of a 2 uptop, so Moukoko/Knauff - Halaand - Reus/Malen. I think the Pongliosky guy will surprise us all, and Moukoko is in for quite the season given Malen is still finding his feet, and Sancho having left. I'm glad the club did not buy a winger, as it gives him and Knauff a clear path into the first team, and Hazard can be utilised as RWB is just perfect because it gives you the width the diamond does not. I've never been a big fan for the 3 at the back, but given personnel, it would b my choice. Sure beats a diamond with no width ...
Watching Reus play for the German team is just so different. He can stay up top and use his energy for pressing and attacking. Goretzka actually does his job and comes back deep to help with the build up play ad well as getting into the box. Sadly at the moment he is on a completely different level from our midfielders. The other cause for concern is that Reus is going to be a lot more tired this season, since he will be playing international football