@lorddulaarsenal wrote:
I don't subscribe to that. There's a danger you end up with a Fellaini.
It's all about adding and energetic disciplined player with good passing range for us
Dunno about you, but I don't want us turn into another Barca (every set piece conceded is like a penalty).
More and more games at the top level are decided by set pieces. We saw how important they were to Germany's world cup win after Low finally decided to take them seriously.
Bayern raped Barca on set pieces on their way to CL glory 2 years ago, went on to employ Guardiola (a football purists who neglects things like set pieces) and we saw what Madrid did to them on set pieces last season.
We are unlikely to have the best squad in England any time soon, let alone Europe. If we really want to be a force again we should try to have a tactical edge over our opponents, things that they don't work on (take seriously) should be our strengths etc That's the only way we can truly compete IMO. Simply putting out 11 good footballers won't cut it any more IMO. We have to have the right mixture of pace, height, strengths, tactical know-how etc
Take a look at Atletico last season, their positioning off the ball was by far the best in Europe and almost every corner or a free kick in their favour was a nightmare for their opponents, they kept changing the routine time and time again and they scored unbelievable amount of crucial goals from set pieces (including the goal that won them the league). They didn't have the best squad in Spain but they were the best in the league and were seconds away from being crowned the best in Europe, all mostly down to their work off the ball. They and Dortmund before them, should be the blueprint.
