Control Issue Part Deux Douze
My post match on Wednesday focused very much on how we steadily relinquished control of the game against Inter. And it would be easy to say this game just elongated that deterioration of control, but in truth, it's much worse than that, and has been going on a whole lot longer hasn't it. I've now lost count of how many games this season we've lost "control" of at various stages, from the very first game away at Newcastle, it has been a prevalent issue in just about every game we've played, league and Champions League. In the league, we've rode it, because mostly we have played teams with inferior components, players or managers, but in the Champions League and against our higher calibre piers in the Premier League, where we no longer enjoy this clear component advantage we have not always been able to tip the luck our way, and today was yet another one of those occasions. This was probably the worst of them though, as unlike some of those other games, this one we rarely managed to get a foothold of any kind for any meaningful phase.
Of the four closest rivals we have played, we have now lost to three of them. Two of them at home. And three very different tactical approaches from the opposition teams.
I highlighted on Wednesday how we gradually just lost control of the ball, ending up getting out-passed by a team who'd come with the intention of merely containing, our midfield contribution dwindling into ever decreasing circles. And this has been a theme of our whole season. We nearly pissed away a three goal lead at Wolves, pissed away leads in two of our CL games, and this failure to control will be to blame if we end up not performing a miracle in Barcelona.
I provided the stats from the Inter game that backed up what I saw. And it's in the passing and possession stats that again the story of the game is told, not in defensive stats which are actually very even (but that in itself tells a story - a team having half as much ball and twice as much pressure should probably be outnumbering the defensive stats) - similar tackles, similar interceptions, clearances, aerial duels - Today's were even more damning than Wednesdays, I'll start with the simple ones; They made nearly double the passes we did, in both halves of the game. They also completed a higher percentage. So they made double and still passed more accurately. This suggests not only were they outplaying us with the ball, but without too. The top seven most prolific passers in this game were all Woolwich players. The eighth being Eriksen with 31/39. What does that mean ? What that translated to was them having way more possession, and creating way more chances. They made 94 successful passes in our third, we made 38 in theirs. They made 13 in our penalty box, we made 2 in theirs. Yes fucking 2.
The Chelsea game is the only game we've really controlled from start to finish. But it was an apparition, an outlier, a tactical tour de force in what has otherwise resembled a season of tactical Whacky Races with our midfield starring Anthill Mob, Dick Dastardly & Mutley, Penelope Pitstop, Professor Pat Pending, The Slag brothers and the Gruesome Twosome on different occasions.
I know the defenders and goalkeeper will all receive criticism today, with varying degrees of justification, but to me, this really isn't about them, this issue started festering a year or more ago, with the steady degradation of our midfield and is now approaching a gangrenous state. Amputation is the only cure.
Dembele has been disintegrating steadily since we bought him and his reached critical, then we lost Wanyama, who was probably the second best busy cunt in the league after Kante in 16/17, and his role has proved even harder to replace than Dembele's. We all know Dier can do a job, but it's an incredibly limited one and that is evident all too often. The bandaid that is Sissoko has done what bandaids do, lasted a game or two, gone limp and is starting to peel off. He's never been a CM really, he lacks the technique, composure and wit. Winks is too frequently ignored, as has been the option of drafting in a genuine busy fucker like Skipp from the academy.
The result is that an ever changing midfield, made up of compromises. No rhythm, no stability and no control. And until Poch addresses this gaping wound, we will continue to have control issues. We need a proper midfield structure. We need a foundation and engine room that drives us, not coughs and splutters every time it's driven hard. We need a midfield that can exert and recover control. Not one that specialises in relinquish only. A defensive midfielder, who is dynamic but who can also play at least bit of football and doesn't crumble at the first sign of pressure. And we need a proper 6/8 hybrid to either partner him in a CM2 or play in the CM3.
I've seen a lot of apoplectic blood letting in the last couple of hours, with Poch's selections copping a lot of the post match vitriol, but realistically he only made one change from Chelsea, Vertonghen for Alderweireld. Baring in mind the (slightly over generous) praise of Foyth lately, and his performance against Chelsea, and the quality of Vertonghen, hardly seems like a controversial change to me.
I said before the game that I'd like to have seen the more metronomic Winks instead of the battering ram that is Sissoko. But Poch does like his units, and Sissoko's just had his only two really decent games in two years - he was on a hatrick, so I get why Poch went with him. But this was definitely a game too far this week - truth be told Inter was - and he was atrocious today, as was Dier - they were (cliche klaxon) like a pair of turtles in windsock.
I don't think Poch made huge selection or tactical errors, but I think he made small ones that could have made a big difference. Why go with the same 4312/442 diamond against a totally different tactical set up than Chelsea? Woolwich play a 343 and for me a 433 with Winks in CM/R would have given us more midfield control and ability to play through a press (with Eriksen and Winks either side of Dier). And would've occupied their three CB's, preventing them from playing through our press so easily and meaning we could press them better and prevent them building rhythm. We could have then had the option of both Sissoko and Moura on the bench to come on and run at tired legs later on.
It always puzzles me that whenever a team comes at us early like this it seems to catch us by surprise (see Woolwich/ Juve/ Liverpool away last year as recent examples).
I read a lot of "they wanted it more" but that's just a football cliche. The truth is, they were just tactically superior, as we were last week against Chelsea, they did to us what we did to Chelsea, they had our number, came out and pressed us, and players like Dier and Sissoko cannot play under pressure, they panic, hide and point, therefore we couldn't play out from the back, therefore we continually turned over possession. And in game Emry re-jigged to continually maintain a tactical edge. Poch took forever to re-jigg and then didn't re-re-jig when Emery did.
Poch took until the hour mark to change anything tactically, dropping Dier back into a CB3, but then Emry switched to a kind of 4312/433 and that's when they scored their 3rd and fourth.
Yes, fatigue will have not helped, we've had three big games in 8 days. But they've had three games too. And we did rest 4 of our outfield 10. The bottom line is, we just got outplayed, out tactic'd and out fought today. They were better in every department.
Individual
Lloris - I'm not sure whether he could have done better for any of the goals, bit like Chelsea's keeper last week, a couple looked a bit soft but maybe he was wrong footed.
Aurier - I lost count of the times Woolwich got behind him first half. Not all his fault, we were getting mauled, but I just know what certain factions would be saying if that was Trippier. Not good today but not helped by the team ahead of him.
Foyth - Mistake that lead to a goal, but was otherwise reasonably OK in what was a tough examination.
Vertonghen - Stupid hand ball, but again I didn't think he was terrible on what was a day made hard by a shambolic team performance, then was a bit unlucky when he wins the ball but his momentum carries him into Lacazette.
Davies - Meh.
Sissoko - There was a moment in that second half when the ball drops to him out of the air and for one of the few times in the game he's actually in a little bit of space, he controls it perfectly on his chest and then, having weighed up the merits of maybe passing to a team mate, setting us on a path of transitional righteousness, thinks nah, and proceeds to launch it 60 yards to their keeper, via the moon. "It's who a am Gayle" (Carlito Brigante voice needed). Out of his depth today.
Dier - As we see so often, when the press is on, he's off. Then he was moved back to defence second half and had a very flimsy hand in two of their goals, why he's so timid with the Lacazette shot I have no idea, and then he's poorly positioned and sells himself horribly for the fourth. Not good.
Eriksen - He's not going to grab the midfield by the balls, and with no platform for him to guild, he was pretty ineffective.
Son - Had a couple of "moments" but was a very peripheral figure otherwise, and when we are struggling as a team, he's not exactly a "roll your sleeves up and muck in type".
Alli - Followed up one of his best Spurs performances last weekend with one of his worse today. Touched the ball 39 times, made ten passes. Part of the problem was Poch sticking him that no mans land of congestion at the tip of his diamond.
Kane - Rarely seen to good effect in this set up, and with them having a spare CB for much of the first 60-70 minutes, and us having no possession, he was up against it today. Not great, but no service and outnumbered.
My post match on Wednesday focused very much on how we steadily relinquished control of the game against Inter. And it would be easy to say this game just elongated that deterioration of control, but in truth, it's much worse than that, and has been going on a whole lot longer hasn't it. I've now lost count of how many games this season we've lost "control" of at various stages, from the very first game away at Newcastle, it has been a prevalent issue in just about every game we've played, league and Champions League. In the league, we've rode it, because mostly we have played teams with inferior components, players or managers, but in the Champions League and against our higher calibre piers in the Premier League, where we no longer enjoy this clear component advantage we have not always been able to tip the luck our way, and today was yet another one of those occasions. This was probably the worst of them though, as unlike some of those other games, this one we rarely managed to get a foothold of any kind for any meaningful phase.
Of the four closest rivals we have played, we have now lost to three of them. Two of them at home. And three very different tactical approaches from the opposition teams.
I highlighted on Wednesday how we gradually just lost control of the ball, ending up getting out-passed by a team who'd come with the intention of merely containing, our midfield contribution dwindling into ever decreasing circles. And this has been a theme of our whole season. We nearly pissed away a three goal lead at Wolves, pissed away leads in two of our CL games, and this failure to control will be to blame if we end up not performing a miracle in Barcelona.
I provided the stats from the Inter game that backed up what I saw. And it's in the passing and possession stats that again the story of the game is told, not in defensive stats which are actually very even (but that in itself tells a story - a team having half as much ball and twice as much pressure should probably be outnumbering the defensive stats) - similar tackles, similar interceptions, clearances, aerial duels - Today's were even more damning than Wednesdays, I'll start with the simple ones; They made nearly double the passes we did, in both halves of the game. They also completed a higher percentage. So they made double and still passed more accurately. This suggests not only were they outplaying us with the ball, but without too. The top seven most prolific passers in this game were all Woolwich players. The eighth being Eriksen with 31/39. What does that mean ? What that translated to was them having way more possession, and creating way more chances. They made 94 successful passes in our third, we made 38 in theirs. They made 13 in our penalty box, we made 2 in theirs. Yes fucking 2.
The Chelsea game is the only game we've really controlled from start to finish. But it was an apparition, an outlier, a tactical tour de force in what has otherwise resembled a season of tactical Whacky Races with our midfield starring Anthill Mob, Dick Dastardly & Mutley, Penelope Pitstop, Professor Pat Pending, The Slag brothers and the Gruesome Twosome on different occasions.
I know the defenders and goalkeeper will all receive criticism today, with varying degrees of justification, but to me, this really isn't about them, this issue started festering a year or more ago, with the steady degradation of our midfield and is now approaching a gangrenous state. Amputation is the only cure.
Dembele has been disintegrating steadily since we bought him and his reached critical, then we lost Wanyama, who was probably the second best busy cunt in the league after Kante in 16/17, and his role has proved even harder to replace than Dembele's. We all know Dier can do a job, but it's an incredibly limited one and that is evident all too often. The bandaid that is Sissoko has done what bandaids do, lasted a game or two, gone limp and is starting to peel off. He's never been a CM really, he lacks the technique, composure and wit. Winks is too frequently ignored, as has been the option of drafting in a genuine busy fucker like Skipp from the academy.
The result is that an ever changing midfield, made up of compromises. No rhythm, no stability and no control. And until Poch addresses this gaping wound, we will continue to have control issues. We need a proper midfield structure. We need a foundation and engine room that drives us, not coughs and splutters every time it's driven hard. We need a midfield that can exert and recover control. Not one that specialises in relinquish only. A defensive midfielder, who is dynamic but who can also play at least bit of football and doesn't crumble at the first sign of pressure. And we need a proper 6/8 hybrid to either partner him in a CM2 or play in the CM3.
I've seen a lot of apoplectic blood letting in the last couple of hours, with Poch's selections copping a lot of the post match vitriol, but realistically he only made one change from Chelsea, Vertonghen for Alderweireld. Baring in mind the (slightly over generous) praise of Foyth lately, and his performance against Chelsea, and the quality of Vertonghen, hardly seems like a controversial change to me.
I said before the game that I'd like to have seen the more metronomic Winks instead of the battering ram that is Sissoko. But Poch does like his units, and Sissoko's just had his only two really decent games in two years - he was on a hatrick, so I get why Poch went with him. But this was definitely a game too far this week - truth be told Inter was - and he was atrocious today, as was Dier - they were (cliche klaxon) like a pair of turtles in windsock.
I don't think Poch made huge selection or tactical errors, but I think he made small ones that could have made a big difference. Why go with the same 4312/442 diamond against a totally different tactical set up than Chelsea? Woolwich play a 343 and for me a 433 with Winks in CM/R would have given us more midfield control and ability to play through a press (with Eriksen and Winks either side of Dier). And would've occupied their three CB's, preventing them from playing through our press so easily and meaning we could press them better and prevent them building rhythm. We could have then had the option of both Sissoko and Moura on the bench to come on and run at tired legs later on.
It always puzzles me that whenever a team comes at us early like this it seems to catch us by surprise (see Woolwich/ Juve/ Liverpool away last year as recent examples).
I read a lot of "they wanted it more" but that's just a football cliche. The truth is, they were just tactically superior, as we were last week against Chelsea, they did to us what we did to Chelsea, they had our number, came out and pressed us, and players like Dier and Sissoko cannot play under pressure, they panic, hide and point, therefore we couldn't play out from the back, therefore we continually turned over possession. And in game Emry re-jigged to continually maintain a tactical edge. Poch took forever to re-jigg and then didn't re-re-jig when Emery did.
Poch took until the hour mark to change anything tactically, dropping Dier back into a CB3, but then Emry switched to a kind of 4312/433 and that's when they scored their 3rd and fourth.
Yes, fatigue will have not helped, we've had three big games in 8 days. But they've had three games too. And we did rest 4 of our outfield 10. The bottom line is, we just got outplayed, out tactic'd and out fought today. They were better in every department.
Individual
Lloris - I'm not sure whether he could have done better for any of the goals, bit like Chelsea's keeper last week, a couple looked a bit soft but maybe he was wrong footed.
Aurier - I lost count of the times Woolwich got behind him first half. Not all his fault, we were getting mauled, but I just know what certain factions would be saying if that was Trippier. Not good today but not helped by the team ahead of him.
Foyth - Mistake that lead to a goal, but was otherwise reasonably OK in what was a tough examination.
Vertonghen - Stupid hand ball, but again I didn't think he was terrible on what was a day made hard by a shambolic team performance, then was a bit unlucky when he wins the ball but his momentum carries him into Lacazette.
Davies - Meh.
Sissoko - There was a moment in that second half when the ball drops to him out of the air and for one of the few times in the game he's actually in a little bit of space, he controls it perfectly on his chest and then, having weighed up the merits of maybe passing to a team mate, setting us on a path of transitional righteousness, thinks nah, and proceeds to launch it 60 yards to their keeper, via the moon. "It's who a am Gayle" (Carlito Brigante voice needed). Out of his depth today.
Dier - As we see so often, when the press is on, he's off. Then he was moved back to defence second half and had a very flimsy hand in two of their goals, why he's so timid with the Lacazette shot I have no idea, and then he's poorly positioned and sells himself horribly for the fourth. Not good.
Eriksen - He's not going to grab the midfield by the balls, and with no platform for him to guild, he was pretty ineffective.
Son - Had a couple of "moments" but was a very peripheral figure otherwise, and when we are struggling as a team, he's not exactly a "roll your sleeves up and muck in type".
Alli - Followed up one of his best Spurs performances last weekend with one of his worse today. Touched the ball 39 times, made ten passes. Part of the problem was Poch sticking him that no mans land of congestion at the tip of his diamond.
Kane - Rarely seen to good effect in this set up, and with them having a spare CB for much of the first 60-70 minutes, and us having no possession, he was up against it today. Not great, but no service and outnumbered.
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