Claudius wrote:
The problem with trying to push high up with Xhaka will be this. When you lose the ball, you need to press to get it back to maintain the shape. He doesn’t have the pressing athleticism. And then if the ball beats the press, he doesn’t have the recovery pace. You’re better with Bissouma even if you lose the distribution
IMO this was the failure of AW's philosophy of playing the highline with the CBs on half way and everyone else high up in the opposition half and 5 players stationary in a line across zone 14.
If you are going to play a high line in Defence you MUST press from the front, and ESPECIALLY if you lack pace in cover defence and rely on your WFs to cover the FBs. It's one thing to lack pace but being able to read the play to recover a long clearance downtown to avoid your press, and something else entirely when an interception and 1 pass can bypass 5-7 outfield players (in the final 3rd), to then be able to run the defence on the half way line with no one getting back to provide cover and relying upon the defenders facing the play to regain possession.
In an ideal scenario we'd have pace across the backline and not just the FBs. Likewise Partey does provide better options on and off the ball in midfield, and more so in the deeper role if Xhaka went forward when we were looking to control the play in the Final 3rd. Whereas Partey could drive forward either on the ball during the transition through the middle 3rd, and/or in support on the counter.
