I don’t think we can be relying on Berge to be a midfield enforcer. If you look at how he played with Norway, that wasn’t his role. He’s not fast enough or defensively inclined enough to be the one who stops the other team from breaking away. I see how he is a skilled player and a great safety valve for holding the ball and playing out of the back, but I don’t think he is the right player for our team. He either needs replacing or the system needs tweaking to allow for him to play in a role that better suits him.
I think the key for his survival in this team is to be paired with someone like Shea Charles. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s replaced by him rather than complemented with
Fact 1 - the scoreline flattered us, we should be viewing that as a 4-1 loss.
Fact 2 - if we continue to play that way, we WILL get relegated, it's unsustainable.
Fact 3 - Every other team will also 'get better as the season goes on', so we can't keep trotting that line out.
The game went pretty much as I predicted (on this site and others): Bobb and Kevin being slightly better Traores; Palacios not being able to cut it in a actual PL intensity match; Garcia huffing amd puffing to not much real affect, regardless of goal. As good as King was, he still made several poor decisions in key moments. I think the main problem was playing slow, immobile Berge and Iwobi along with lightweight Palacios. Might get away with that against Ipswich or Hull, but it was a massivley naive risk against a team like Chelsea. They were all badly exposed and couldn't cover for each other, so it resulted in an exponentially greater weakness in the foundation of the team. I would start Sess in place of Palacios and Charles in place of Iwobi. That should give Berge and the CBs a bit more effective cover without losing much in attack. And the defence needs to get a bit closer, of course.
I agree on most , but way too harsh on Awobi imo. He completed the most passes in the match at a 90 percent clip. Also second most touches and 10 defensive contributions.
I felt that if Berge would have shown up to the match it could have had a different outcome.
Alex may not have had much affect in the final third, but he was smooth and great in possession in our half and in getting the ball out of our half.
Nice take. Agree on almost everything. Very different football than last season and promising attacking style. We need to address the defensive bit and Berge was really out of his depths at a crucial position when facing transitions in our new setup. Thought Shea brought more gravitas and could be a solution. Palacios had a lot of intensity and intent but was out of steam after 10 min in the second half. Still think he did a great job with his one-touch and forward style of play. Bobb should indeed be quicker in decision making, better than last year but not matching the money spent yet. Looking forward for Wimbledon on Thursday to make up my mind on Arbeloa’s plan.
Great stuff Dan, I agreed with the sentiment of all of it if not the details. I thought Leno was at fault for the second, wtf he was doing out there when there were two defenders as well I have no idea and getting nutmegged for the 3rd was not a great look. Berge looked like a Rolls Royce for Norway and a 2CV last night, but I think he and Cuenca were so messed up by the first goal it took some of their confidence in each other away. I had the same frustrations as you with Kevin, I was thinking he was just what we needed and then his running into cul de sacs, time and again were sapping me of the will to live. With AA we have two of our big money spends in Kevin and ESR who I am not sure get much game time, if you add Anderson we have 100million quid of players warming the bench. Bobb should have scored late in second half when we were all over them, but he will not pull the fucking trigger! Maybe its a Norwegian thing?
Thanks Jim! Very fair points. One of my big takeaways from last night was actually how on earth ESR and Andersen get into this team, because they’re really not suited to this system from what I can see.
Maybe the Norwegians are just too selfless as a nation for the glory of goal scoring, and Haaland is just an outlier 😂
I think your evaluation of Palacios is a bit harsh but otherwise I think these evaluations hit the mark. My main thought after yesterday was with a proper RCB in the XI (which I’m not sure Andersen will be) so Bassey can slide back into position, this squad looks like it can win a lot of games (a shame Cuenca played so out of character defensively).
García looked fantastic. And King, what else can I say that wasn’t in the article. Very exciting. Also whatever Belgium unlocked in Castagne I sure hope is here to stay. Could he improve his defense? Sure. But if he is going to consistently contribute this much in the attack each week I’ll gladly take that trade off.
For me, last night showed this should be an entertaining season at worst and possibly a highly successful campaign too.
Thanks Brian! I’m shocked we haven’t already sorted that RCB issue because I completely agree, I can’t see how Joachim Andersen can work under Arbeloa. Fingers crossed we do something in the next week
Arbeloa likes to play a 4-2-3-1. He pushes the full-backs forward, which leaves two in the centre and two at the back to deal with counters. We saw how much Chelsea enjoyed slicing through the middle and getting around that back two. Arbeloa clearly wants Robinson and Castagne getting higher up the channels, and while that helped create the King and Gonzalo goals, on the counter it left Fulham exposed at the back.
They would be better off in a 5-2-3 formation. The wing-backs still get forward, but there's a fixed three at the back (as Chelsea had). And an attacking three up front. This might sort out Fulham's defensive issues, and it would allow the wing-backs to support the back three, the midfield and the front three as they transition up and down the field.
In midfield, Berge and Charles could then be effective together, with Charles given the freedom to push forward and track back to support both Berge and the defensive line, preventing opposition strikers from coming through the middle. Berge simply doesn't seem to have the legs to cover big gaps, and the player needs to work to his strengths in order to get the best out of him. I thought he looked great in the Stuttgart game.
I don’t think we can be relying on Berge to be a midfield enforcer. If you look at how he played with Norway, that wasn’t his role. He’s not fast enough or defensively inclined enough to be the one who stops the other team from breaking away. I see how he is a skilled player and a great safety valve for holding the ball and playing out of the back, but I don’t think he is the right player for our team. He either needs replacing or the system needs tweaking to allow for him to play in a role that better suits him.
I think the key for his survival in this team is to be paired with someone like Shea Charles. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s replaced by him rather than complemented with
Fact 1 - the scoreline flattered us, we should be viewing that as a 4-1 loss.
Fact 2 - if we continue to play that way, we WILL get relegated, it's unsustainable.
Fact 3 - Every other team will also 'get better as the season goes on', so we can't keep trotting that line out.
The game went pretty much as I predicted (on this site and others): Bobb and Kevin being slightly better Traores; Palacios not being able to cut it in a actual PL intensity match; Garcia huffing amd puffing to not much real affect, regardless of goal. As good as King was, he still made several poor decisions in key moments. I think the main problem was playing slow, immobile Berge and Iwobi along with lightweight Palacios. Might get away with that against Ipswich or Hull, but it was a massivley naive risk against a team like Chelsea. They were all badly exposed and couldn't cover for each other, so it resulted in an exponentially greater weakness in the foundation of the team. I would start Sess in place of Palacios and Charles in place of Iwobi. That should give Berge and the CBs a bit more effective cover without losing much in attack. And the defence needs to get a bit closer, of course.
Patience my friend!
Think we will look more solid with 3 CBs with FBs when under pressure and 3 CMs that will help as this will be an exciting season.
I agree on most , but way too harsh on Awobi imo. He completed the most passes in the match at a 90 percent clip. Also second most touches and 10 defensive contributions.
I felt that if Berge would have shown up to the match it could have had a different outcome.
Alex may not have had much affect in the final third, but he was smooth and great in possession in our half and in getting the ball out of our half.
That’s fair enough! I think Iwobi might have been the most polarising player actually, so I totally hear your perspective on it
Nice take. Agree on almost everything. Very different football than last season and promising attacking style. We need to address the defensive bit and Berge was really out of his depths at a crucial position when facing transitions in our new setup. Thought Shea brought more gravitas and could be a solution. Palacios had a lot of intensity and intent but was out of steam after 10 min in the second half. Still think he did a great job with his one-touch and forward style of play. Bobb should indeed be quicker in decision making, better than last year but not matching the money spent yet. Looking forward for Wimbledon on Thursday to make up my mind on Arbeloa’s plan.
Great stuff Dan, I agreed with the sentiment of all of it if not the details. I thought Leno was at fault for the second, wtf he was doing out there when there were two defenders as well I have no idea and getting nutmegged for the 3rd was not a great look. Berge looked like a Rolls Royce for Norway and a 2CV last night, but I think he and Cuenca were so messed up by the first goal it took some of their confidence in each other away. I had the same frustrations as you with Kevin, I was thinking he was just what we needed and then his running into cul de sacs, time and again were sapping me of the will to live. With AA we have two of our big money spends in Kevin and ESR who I am not sure get much game time, if you add Anderson we have 100million quid of players warming the bench. Bobb should have scored late in second half when we were all over them, but he will not pull the fucking trigger! Maybe its a Norwegian thing?
Thanks Jim! Very fair points. One of my big takeaways from last night was actually how on earth ESR and Andersen get into this team, because they’re really not suited to this system from what I can see.
Maybe the Norwegians are just too selfless as a nation for the glory of goal scoring, and Haaland is just an outlier 😂
I think your evaluation of Palacios is a bit harsh but otherwise I think these evaluations hit the mark. My main thought after yesterday was with a proper RCB in the XI (which I’m not sure Andersen will be) so Bassey can slide back into position, this squad looks like it can win a lot of games (a shame Cuenca played so out of character defensively).
García looked fantastic. And King, what else can I say that wasn’t in the article. Very exciting. Also whatever Belgium unlocked in Castagne I sure hope is here to stay. Could he improve his defense? Sure. But if he is going to consistently contribute this much in the attack each week I’ll gladly take that trade off.
For me, last night showed this should be an entertaining season at worst and possibly a highly successful campaign too.
Thanks Brian! I’m shocked we haven’t already sorted that RCB issue because I completely agree, I can’t see how Joachim Andersen can work under Arbeloa. Fingers crossed we do something in the next week
Arbeloa likes to play a 4-2-3-1. He pushes the full-backs forward, which leaves two in the centre and two at the back to deal with counters. We saw how much Chelsea enjoyed slicing through the middle and getting around that back two. Arbeloa clearly wants Robinson and Castagne getting higher up the channels, and while that helped create the King and Gonzalo goals, on the counter it left Fulham exposed at the back.
They would be better off in a 5-2-3 formation. The wing-backs still get forward, but there's a fixed three at the back (as Chelsea had). And an attacking three up front. This might sort out Fulham's defensive issues, and it would allow the wing-backs to support the back three, the midfield and the front three as they transition up and down the field.
In midfield, Berge and Charles could then be effective together, with Charles given the freedom to push forward and track back to support both Berge and the defensive line, preventing opposition strikers from coming through the middle. Berge simply doesn't seem to have the legs to cover big gaps, and the player needs to work to his strengths in order to get the best out of him. I thought he looked great in the Stuttgart game.