goon My whole point is that if we had a properly functioning midfield, we wouldn't need Zinchenko in there to give balance and act as an extra man. It always leaves the option to use him at left back for home games against 'easier' opposition where we will likely overwhelmingly dominate position, but to set the whole team up to be reliant on him just creates multiple points of failure and isn't ideal.
For the system to work, which it largely has this season until recently, you need
Zinchenko to be on form
Partey to be on form to cover
Gabriel to be on form and fit to cover
So three key players who have to be fit and on form for the whole team to work, otherwise it goes to shit. Do we think Kiwior could cover as well as Gabriel? Would we be confident in anyone else but a fit and form Partey in midfield if Zinchenko was off form? It's madness to me that a weakness has been exposed and the general view is that he breaks the lines so it's worth persisting with.
We're going to be massively exposed next season. Zinchenko is already a point of weakness and teams know to target him, and it's not just recently. He's been defensively suspect all season but we've got away with it because the team was generally functioning much better. We'll now be expecting a Tierney replacement to come in and understudy a hugely unusual role under a manager who has shown trust issues in his squad and an inability to make tactical tweaks to suit the players on the pitch. Not to mention we'll have more games against higher quality opposition in the Champions League, meaning both more minutes for someone not accustomed to the role or relationships around him, and also (hopefully) better quality opposition who will be able to better target Zinchenko.
