MistaT scoring at a statistically unsustainable rate is what wins you a league title. I don't have a problem with the set piece thing, it's a great coaching strategy to break deadlocks in difficult games, and is an excellent way to convert losses and draws. I applaud Mikel and Nicolas for their innovation on that front.
But it seems we doubled down rather than balancing it, and that is almost always mistake imo. The best Mourinho teams, despite being known for their negativity, always had a devastating counter attack to pair with their set pieces and defensive solidity. Likewise, Man City can break the deadlock with a set piece or unleash a flurry of intricate patterns to score from a possession-dominant position. Liverpool have a transition game as well as a possession style that seems a bit of an anomaly because they are basically a Klopp+Slot hybrid team at the moment, and they rely very heavily on Salah and Van Dijk. I think they're riding their luck a bit.
Our possession game is only decent, from an attacking perspective, and our set pieces and defense, as well as our defensive possession game, are superlative. Our counter attack is trash.
We may need to up our counter attack to at least "very good" and adjust our possession game to prioritize finishing off our decent moves. For the former you need pace and license to push forward more quickly in the right moments, as well as better finishers. For the other, you really just need better finishers, and probably more players who can beat their man. Our possession game is too oriented toward fashioning opportunities for mediocre finishers, which slows everything down such that the kind of chance they need is hard to come by.
However, I wouldn't mind if we kept the controlball blueprint and focused on making our counter attack superlative. We could then break teams with set pieces and counters, and strangle them to death with controlball. We have the high, mid, and low block press down, we just can't do enough consistently once we get the ball in a broken game state. That means a tall, rangey forward with a deadly finish, and an explosive winger with pace to burn.
Basically, Nico Williams and Alexander Isak.
Upping our possession game's conversion into goals means a midfield rethink, for me, and a finisher who is more present in the box. A more attacking, dribbly and shooty left 8, a metronome with legs like Zubimendi, and someone like Gyökeres or an Aguero regen might do the trick, along with a short-socked winger.
