Europa v Champs

[Lister]

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.

 

[sammyspurs]

They have a settled style of play I agree, but still think we have a better squad.

We go into catastrophe when Lennon is out, but not because our squad is too weak to handle it, but because AVB (and Redknapp before him) refuse to try a simple replacement.

Instead of playing:

...................................Lloris

Naughton.............Dawson.....Vert............BAE

Walker/Holtby.....Parker....Dembele.......Bale

..........................Siggy

...................................Ade

(imo, thats still better than anything arse can put out)





We play:

..................................Lloris

Walker..........Dawson.....Gallas.............Vert

Bale..............Parker....Dembele.......Siggy

..............................Dempsey

...................................Ade


Lennon out basically means we lose Bale and Ade too, Dempsey dissapears, and Siggy is too weak to play that wide. Plus the CBs get weakened, and we play Jan in a role he isnt comfortable.

Thats mis-managment, not a weak squad.

 

[Lister]

I disagree, but each to their own.

I dont think Walker is suited to the role at all and firmly believe we need adequate back up.

Of course you are right though in that it completely fucks us in several areas.

 

[sammyspurs]

I dont think Walker is suited to the role at all and firmly believe we need adequate back up.

We certainly do need back up for sure, but Ive never seen him play RW, and honestly cant see it as any worse than messing up 4 other positions.