They have very few players I would personally put infront of ours in a "Best of first 11"
Im not talking about having players of outright quality though, more the style and composition of their squad. The quality is quite evenly spread throughout it. They have a system of play and when one player drops out (for whatever reason) another can replace him without massive cost on the team shape or performance.
We dont have that. When Lennon gets injured we have to reshape the entire midfield/attack and suddenly go from being a finely tuned sprinter to a fat bloke running for a bus with two left shoes on
If we could get some decent quality behind the 'thin' areas of the squad we would still be ahead of them IMHO. That we havent, that we have a top class first 11 and then "talented players" rather than "appropriate players" behind it is the issue IMO.
This summer I would like us to settle on a system of play. 442/451/433/whatever. Settle on the shape to play and then build the squad accordingly so that when the inevitable happens we have consistency in style and performance.
This is not to say we need 22 top 4 players. This is to say we need players able to operate in a specific way within the team to suit the bigger picture. Having times when the sum can be greater than the parts kind of thing.
Im not talking about having players of outright quality though, more the style and composition of their squad. The quality is quite evenly spread throughout it. They have a system of play and when one player drops out (for whatever reason) another can replace him without massive cost on the team shape or performance.
We dont have that. When Lennon gets injured we have to reshape the entire midfield/attack and suddenly go from being a finely tuned sprinter to a fat bloke running for a bus with two left shoes on
If we could get some decent quality behind the 'thin' areas of the squad we would still be ahead of them IMHO. That we havent, that we have a top class first 11 and then "talented players" rather than "appropriate players" behind it is the issue IMO.
This summer I would like us to settle on a system of play. 442/451/433/whatever. Settle on the shape to play and then build the squad accordingly so that when the inevitable happens we have consistency in style and performance.
This is not to say we need 22 top 4 players. This is to say we need players able to operate in a specific way within the team to suit the bigger picture. Having times when the sum can be greater than the parts kind of thing.