Coombs wrote:
Anzac wrote:
So a flat/inverted midfield 3 with Partey behind 2 more advanced creative types?
I'd describe the 4231 as inverted, but yes get Partey between 2 attacking CMs who can pull apart the low block and allow our wingers to push higher and hold width longer.
The De Bruyne, David Silva and Fernandinho midfield. I thought Guardiola was mad when he first started playing it, and it's easy to take for granted now, but it was a masterstroke. And a new approach to winning football matches in this league.
By lord, you better be good everywhere else in the team if you're going to go for it like that though. Must haves are: flying unrelenting fullbacks, centrebacks that can dominate one-v-one, devastating wide men and a lethal striker. City always lacked one or two, and it cost them against the best. Imagine, for example, van Dijk and Robertson in for Mendy and Stones in that team of 2 or 3 years ago. Guardiola was always trying to make up for the limitations of those key missing pieces. The weird way he used Kyle Walker as a narrow fullback-cum-CM/DM, is a good example. If he had Kompany and van Dijk, Walker would have been doing what he was good at and City would have been even more devastating.
Liverpool's approach is fairly similar, but does differ pretty fundamentally in terms of midfield balance. Firmino dropping deeper and acting as one of the creators, creating combinations in the spaces that De Bruyne and Silva operated for City; in turn, allowing a more athletic, hardworking but less talented player to slot into the midfield 3; and then that extra defensive presence enabling the fullbacks to get very high and Mané and Salah to play very narrow, essentially as a 2 up front.
In both cases, everything finely balanced, tweaked to enable the team to fly as close to the sun as is possible.
And that's why I'm not against someone like Bissouma because it is about balancing the team with the players you have available and can realistically sign. And that boy has quality and is good at what he does. Think of Jordan Henderson. Would you choose him in an ideal world if your goal is great football? No. And that's why City's approach was probably more beautiul than was/is Liverpool's - they got a little nearer the sun. But the Scousers still played some amazing football with Henderson right at the heart of the team, because they maximised the effectiveness of their two best players: Mané and Salah. And balanced the team with the help of some extraordinary defensive players in van Dijk and Fabinho. I actually think Klopp overall had the better quality players when you look at the respective best XIs.
In my opinion, and to continue the City/Liverpool comparison, we currently have:
A flying unrelenting fullback in Tierney. Common to both teams.
Gabriel, a monster centreback with the speed and intelligence to dominate in the one-v-one.
Partey, whom, can be Fabinho, Fernandinho or Wijnaldum in midfield, so good is he.
A creative midfielder that could grow into a player good enough to grace the best teams in Smith Rowe.
In Saka, a devastating wide man that has it in him to become as productive as the other wide forwards mentioned.
Aubameyang, as the other wide man, and his numbers from out there are hard to argue with (recent dry spell excepted).
Those are the pieces, the players that matter. Squads matter, of course, and are ultimately what win you league titles, but who exactly the players are doesn't matter because their quality is replaceable, and it's just a question as to whether they are fit for purpose or not.
Now it's a question of how we build on those 6 players, plus maybe Martinelli. How do we balance the team? Where do we have to compromise on quality, or rather talent, in order to function more effectively as a team? Where does the money we have go and in what order of priority? Which, if any, of the fringe young players is going to be good enough for more than a squad role?
It's not the best starting point because the age spread is quite large, from teens just starting out to veterans with the clock ticking, but in terms of quality, we're doing more than alright. It's up to Arteta and Edu in the next couple of windows to add what is needed to build on that.
