Agree with this. The fact we kept them to 2 goals or less in 2 games with the injuries we had and literally no real striker, Kiwior in the back (he performed magnificently given how huge the game was) speaks volume.
Sweden have been awful, I saw 2 of their games which were both WC qualifiers against Kosovo and in both games they were in a 3-4-1-2 sort of system, both games they controlled possession but didn't really do anything with it. When they defend they get a lot of numbers back and its so unorganised. Meanwhile Isak and Gyokeres had enough chances from headers to score at least one and were lucky that Kosovo didn't score 3. At times they looked like Man United playing in yellow and blue. Very hard watch. Isak as bad at international level as he is at club level at the moment. Watching the highlights for Sweden v Switzerland, didn't realise that was the match where Bergvall had an open net and stood on the ball from a perfect ball from Isak. In other team news, good to see Martinelli on the scoresheet for Brazil.
(Now I'm about to expose myself as a complete novice when it comes to tactics but...) Watched Ippercut's post and...was dumbstruck. The only coach I know that can play in a similar fashion is Gasperini (and he plays 3-4-2-1) and...how do you play Isak AND Gyokeres?! They're both #9s; start one, bring the other off the bench for fresh legs.
My guess and its only a guess, the people, press, whatever "demands" both play because both had great seasons last year. Its possibly more a short sighted strategy is you play your best players, even if they don't belong on the pitch at the same time. England did that years ago in the midfield when they were loaded with Lampard, Scholes, Gerrard, and a few others played a midfield of the best of the best instead of what was strategic
Spain manager would want to send Arteta a gift, it appears he has unlocked the "score whenever the ******** you want" perk in Merino and he keeps banging them in for Spain. Well Jon Dahl Tomasson has been sacked after being a disaster at Sweden, but the online scuttlebutt is Graham Potter is taking over. Post game in the tunnel Anthony Elanga was overheard saying "the ********ing system must be gone". Apparently he only revealed the starting line up to the team 2 hours before kick off V Kosovo, where as normally its revealed at lunchtime to the players. Also saw that Svensson, who plays LWB for Dortmund was told 2 hours before the game he would be CM despite never having played that position during training. The only thing that saves Sweden is that due to winning their Nations League group they are automatically in the WC playoffs. At times their system in games was 3-5-2 in attack then 5-3-2 in defence with the wrong players in the wrong positions, but from what I am seeing from the online fanbase they should have sacked him a long time ago. He is the first manager to get the sack from the Swedish national team.
Merino is great for the national team. One of the best teams in the world. Another man of the match performance. He hasn't been able to get a starting position but he gets moments where he shines. Not sure what Arteta had in mind buying him. What his original plans were for him. I'd love to know.
I was going to say this as well. The more direct example was england at euro 2016 where Roy shoe-horned up to four 9s into the team at once because he felt he had to select all of Rooney, Sturridge, Kane, Vardy, Rashford
I forgot half my post There was an article recently I was trying to find where they showed the "optimum" formation to have those 3 play together, but it meant changing into a 3-4-1-2 which they wouldn't have done but it would have let the team have Scholes (or Hargreaves) with Lampard besides them and Gerrard having a free role ahead of them. No way would they have done that, a 4-3-3 was more likely and I would be shocked if there wasn't games where they tried it and it didn't instantly succeed so they went back to a 4-4-2 and had Gerrard on the wing.
It's baffling to me when you see how good the scholes+carrick midfield was for Utd that they didn't try to get that. Carrick was that mythical 6 who was excellent defensively and a great passer that every team lusts after, yet he barely played for England.
They couldn't have gone 4-4-2 diamond, or perhaps they did on a number of occasions and it didn't prove fruitful?
Adam Clery's got a video on why playing Elliot Anderson and dropping the likes of Bellingham has made England a much better team. Which led me to look up Elliot Anderson's numbers. If Newcastle don't have a buyback for him, Liverpool and City are going to try to sign him sooner rather than later.
This is the video showing Anderson in the 6 role and illustrates why Rice isn't so good at it but the two of them is awesome. I think particularly in internationals, you need a resilient and straightforward system you can implement due to limited time with the team. In this setup, Tuchel can leverage Anderson's natural skill set and positioning sense and doesn't have to figure out a complicated system for all the big names
I don’t actively follow England, so I didn’t realize it’s been a couple of years since the much ballyhooed Adam Wharton even got a look. Apparently Anderson will keep him out of the team, at least for this cycle.
Which is funny because every time I see articles about who England will take to the next World Cup they all have Wharton, who has been excellent for Palace this year, and yet in all the recent matches Anderson is starting and Henderson comes on later in games. Right now Wharton is a better player than Henderson but I assume Tuchel values his experience and leadership. Either way that England squad is going to be an interesting one for the World Cup. Tuchel is going to upset a few players because there will be some currently in form players left out. I think Bellingham gets in, but I think even if Grealish is in great form by seasons end he misses out. Foden might scrape in. Feels like its going to be an Arsenal heavy squad because Saka, Rice, Madueke and MLS will all make it.
I am assuming its Henderson keeping Wharton out though as he is the logical replacement, its just weird because Henderson hasn't really looked good since he left Pool. Hopefully Wharton stays healthy because if he continues his current form, or improves as a player as Palace continue their strong form, then he has to be in the squad.
Funny that Forest kept Ange thru the int'l break just so they can fire him after this loss to Chelsea, Marinakis is a clown. Edit: That didn't take long, he's out, confirmed by Forest.
20 minutes after the match? savage . . . but completely expected. Who in their right mind would want to take this job?
Anyone, I’d think. Take the job, get sacked by Easter, collect your payout, and no one will view you any differently because everyone knows the owner is a lunatic.