Great article Matt. I do however hope we don't just go down the direct option like your Evertons and Brentfords. We may struggle to outplay Man City and Arsenal, but let's be honest, that's not who we are really competing with. Ultimately, staying in the league is the priority and our style of play has been very good at getting results against teams lower down the table. Trying to imitate the direct sides (and probably doing a worse job) feels like a recipe for disaster. SCR will make life harder, but we have been able to find good, technical players within our price range like Oscar Bobb and Kevin, who are on lower salaries than your established players who we relied on in the early PL years under Marco. Of course, if Silva leaves - and Chelsea for me are the only realistic option - the question is whether we can find another manager who can replicate what Marco is doing, which feels unlikely.
Good points Sammy. The thing I would say is that I hope it is possible to play more direct football that is not boring and negative (i.e., lots of throws into the box). We will see. I agree that Bobb is awesome but I worry that we can just seem to afford the technical midfielders we need to play like Man City.
Excellent article that explains a lot. I've felt for a good while that if we are to ever have a real chance of winning a cup for example we will not do it with Silva at the helm for the reasons you've shown. We need a team built on more power and resilience. It worries me that the Khans have already gone far down the road of trying to support Silva with bringing in players like Bobb and Smith Rowe. No coincidence that these players were bought from City and Arsenal as they were not up to playing the City and Arsenal way. Why would they be any better with us with less quality around them? We need a team set up more like an Everton. A team that the bigger clubs find a pain in the bum to play. Silva did a lot for us but I think he's taken us as far as he can.
Good to see the stats back up my "feel" for how we play. Too often playing "out from the back" in what seems to be a high risk manner. Too often losing the ball and handing the "faster action" team a chance. The pass back to the keeper is tedious and seems negative. And no we can't play like Man City. They have the resources to play slow and intricate and press and play faster when the opportunity arises.
Great article Matt. I do however hope we don't just go down the direct option like your Evertons and Brentfords. We may struggle to outplay Man City and Arsenal, but let's be honest, that's not who we are really competing with. Ultimately, staying in the league is the priority and our style of play has been very good at getting results against teams lower down the table. Trying to imitate the direct sides (and probably doing a worse job) feels like a recipe for disaster. SCR will make life harder, but we have been able to find good, technical players within our price range like Oscar Bobb and Kevin, who are on lower salaries than your established players who we relied on in the early PL years under Marco. Of course, if Silva leaves - and Chelsea for me are the only realistic option - the question is whether we can find another manager who can replicate what Marco is doing, which feels unlikely.
Good points Sammy. The thing I would say is that I hope it is possible to play more direct football that is not boring and negative (i.e., lots of throws into the box). We will see. I agree that Bobb is awesome but I worry that we can just seem to afford the technical midfielders we need to play like Man City.
‘I don’t want to go to Chelsea’ was a bigger hit!😂
Excellent article that explains a lot. I've felt for a good while that if we are to ever have a real chance of winning a cup for example we will not do it with Silva at the helm for the reasons you've shown. We need a team built on more power and resilience. It worries me that the Khans have already gone far down the road of trying to support Silva with bringing in players like Bobb and Smith Rowe. No coincidence that these players were bought from City and Arsenal as they were not up to playing the City and Arsenal way. Why would they be any better with us with less quality around them? We need a team set up more like an Everton. A team that the bigger clubs find a pain in the bum to play. Silva did a lot for us but I think he's taken us as far as he can.
Very good analysis.
We do have the ability to stretch other teams with overloads on the wing. But we are tiki taki without the players.
I dont think this will work under SCR.
So time for a change.
Good to see the stats back up my "feel" for how we play. Too often playing "out from the back" in what seems to be a high risk manner. Too often losing the ball and handing the "faster action" team a chance. The pass back to the keeper is tedious and seems negative. And no we can't play like Man City. They have the resources to play slow and intricate and press and play faster when the opportunity arises.