Rex wrote:
Tactics, I don't know if you saw the game last night, but Real Madrid's midfield was open enough to drive a bus through it all night. That's what a James and Isco midfield ahead of Kroos gets you.
Juve, on the other hand, had Marchisio, Vidal and Pogba holding Pirlo's hand defensively all night, and they were very solid throughout.
I saw it differently, Juve were outclassed in the 1st half but Real failed to make their dominance count (should have been atleast 2-0 before half time IMO and they got lucky Modric wasn't playing).
I think last night again highlighted that the most important quality for the deepest midfielder to have is passing ability. In the 1st half Kroos was pinging long passes left, right and centre and Real could get the ball into the right areas (from where they could get dangerous), Pirlo on the other hand misplaced almost every attempted (long) forward pass and Juve really struggled going forward. Bonucci and Chiellini made things worse by aimlessly hoofing every single pass they received. Pirlo got much better into the game in the 2nd half and their attacking game got unsurprisingly better.
It actually reminded me of our game against Swansea the other day when they let our CBs and Coquelin free knowing they were not going to hurt them and it helped them gain numerical advantage over our ball players (therefore relatively easy to defend). Ozil had to constantly drop very deep to get on the ball, which was exactly what Swansea wanted because the deeper Ozil played, the less likely he'll hurt them. It was only after we got Ramsey in midfield that we started advancing play much better.
I think there is this general perception among fans that the deepest midfielder has to be a defensive God, but it's not a coincidence that more and more managers are going for ball players.
Atletico are seen as probably the best defensive team in Europe but they only have 1 DM in their squad (Suarez) and he's mainly a sub. We saw them line up recently with a midfield of Koke-Tiago in what I'd say was their biggest home game of the season - CL quarter final home match vs Madrid.
I remember when Liverpool switched Gerrard to the holding role last season, I predicted it was for the better. They got much better in getting the ball forward into areas where the likes of Sturridge or Suarez could get dangerous. Suarez, Sterling, Sturridge etc don't rely on service per se (they can create their own chances), but they rely on the midfielders getting the ball into certain areas of the pitch and at the right moment from where they can create something or have a shot etc
Footballing teams generally play through the holding midfielder, therfore, it's very detrimental to your game going forward if you let your least talented player on the ball have it the most IMO. It is for this reason that I'm a big fan of having ball playing CMs at the base of midfield.
