I’m not Iwobi’s biggest advocate. I was hesitant to move him to a central role. I was more interested in having him come off the bench. But you make some excellent points and I’m getting on board with this idea. I like wingers that are more vertical players, and Iwobi doesn’t fit that mold. But Kevin or Sess mostly do and it would be great to get them more minutes. I really liked you’re analysis and I will now be excited if we we see this happen in a game.
That’s a great comment to receive, thanks Greg! Agreed with Sess and Kevin, I think we need to find ways to keep Sess in the team because he’s been brilliant, and I want to see more of Kevin because he’s exciting!
First off, I will absolutely pay top dollar for a red MFFA hat! Like, seriously, Sammy or Elizabeth or whomever does the merch, make this happen!
Second, two questions on your point about his final 3rd touches. One, while it's easy to imagine and assume that this touch map looks a bit different than the average Lukic one...does it? And, two, why do you think literally all of these attacking touches were on the right half of the pitch and none on the left? Not questioning the point at all, as I rather liked seeing him play in the 8 too, just want to continue the discussion.
With regards to comparisons to Lukic, looking at touch maps from previous games where we’ve played 3 midfielders, his touches do just tend to be slightly deeper, and interestingly, slightly wider. He also collects the ball more in our own third (which isn’t a bad thing at all, just different).
In terms of his touches all being on the right, that was just the touch map for the last 30 minutes when he played on the right hand side of the midfield three. So I think ESR occupied those exact same spaces on the left, and potentially Iwobi tried to not over-clutter the left hand side, by sticking to that channel on the right
You and I (and many others I imagine) have supported the argument presented in your piece for months. We’re not in training, so we don’t know why Marco is reticent to employ it. Surely he must now with the injury issues, no? Is he just not seeing the forest for all of the trees?
It’ll be interesting to see. He’s a very stubborn man, seemingly getting more stubborn, and I think he likes and trusts having Alex out on the left. So he’s really reticent to change that. But also, he clearly wants something from his deeper midfielders that he doesn’t think Alex can contribute, presumably in a defensive sense. He’s become a lot more cautious over the past couple of years
Excellent analysis! Drive and creativity can be sorely missing midfield. Love Iwobi as, on a good day, he can slice through and get us into the attack zone. His final touch, though, can be wayward. Also, he’s a decent guy off field!
I’m not Iwobi’s biggest advocate. I was hesitant to move him to a central role. I was more interested in having him come off the bench. But you make some excellent points and I’m getting on board with this idea. I like wingers that are more vertical players, and Iwobi doesn’t fit that mold. But Kevin or Sess mostly do and it would be great to get them more minutes. I really liked you’re analysis and I will now be excited if we we see this happen in a game.
That’s a great comment to receive, thanks Greg! Agreed with Sess and Kevin, I think we need to find ways to keep Sess in the team because he’s been brilliant, and I want to see more of Kevin because he’s exciting!
Great article, Dan!
First off, I will absolutely pay top dollar for a red MFFA hat! Like, seriously, Sammy or Elizabeth or whomever does the merch, make this happen!
Second, two questions on your point about his final 3rd touches. One, while it's easy to imagine and assume that this touch map looks a bit different than the average Lukic one...does it? And, two, why do you think literally all of these attacking touches were on the right half of the pitch and none on the left? Not questioning the point at all, as I rather liked seeing him play in the 8 too, just want to continue the discussion.
Hahahaha, I’m glad someone liked the hat idea!
With regards to comparisons to Lukic, looking at touch maps from previous games where we’ve played 3 midfielders, his touches do just tend to be slightly deeper, and interestingly, slightly wider. He also collects the ball more in our own third (which isn’t a bad thing at all, just different).
In terms of his touches all being on the right, that was just the touch map for the last 30 minutes when he played on the right hand side of the midfield three. So I think ESR occupied those exact same spaces on the left, and potentially Iwobi tried to not over-clutter the left hand side, by sticking to that channel on the right
You and I (and many others I imagine) have supported the argument presented in your piece for months. We’re not in training, so we don’t know why Marco is reticent to employ it. Surely he must now with the injury issues, no? Is he just not seeing the forest for all of the trees?
It’ll be interesting to see. He’s a very stubborn man, seemingly getting more stubborn, and I think he likes and trusts having Alex out on the left. So he’s really reticent to change that. But also, he clearly wants something from his deeper midfielders that he doesn’t think Alex can contribute, presumably in a defensive sense. He’s become a lot more cautious over the past couple of years
Spot On Dan, enjoyed that.be good to see it happen. 🙏
Thanks Karen!
Excellent analysis! Drive and creativity can be sorely missing midfield. Love Iwobi as, on a good day, he can slice through and get us into the attack zone. His final touch, though, can be wayward. Also, he’s a decent guy off field!
Thanks Tony!!
I think Iwobi is overrated and does absolutely zero defending of any use. If he's the answer then we will never move forward.
He does loads of defending in combination with his full back.