Quincy Abeyie wrote:
But wouldn't a good example of this be a case where actually only 1 player had a bad game and it turned into a house of cards?
That would be the best example, yes. That said it doesn't have to be a 'bad' game but simply a situation where the opposition are able to exploit a weakness in an individual player. The tactic can still work on the ball but it collapses off the ball because the opposition are able to win a 1v1 battle that then forces the other players to react and leave space to be exploited.
For example we know Cedric has been doing well since we changed the midfield and allowed him to go forward when we are in possession. Against Zaha he was losing the individual battles which forced the other defenders to react, and we saw both Gabriel and White getting caught out. Similarly with Tavares he looked unfamiliar with what he was meant to be doing in terms of positioning which meant there were 2 weaknesses to exploit by Palace even before any injuries.
On another note we have the example of MC struggling against elite level clubs in UCL, and it may not be that they are having an off day as to the opposition being able to win and exploit 1v1 battles as can happen to any tactic. That said I think positional play is more fragile because it relies upon maintaining the shape/positioning in relation to the ball, same as AW's style relied upon the connection/s between players.
