Lee565
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- Mar 6, 2019
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What else can you expect when for the last 6 odd years we have had two pragmatic managers that were dependent on individual quality
We're fine, average technical ability of the squad (at worst). There are some very good players (Matic, Sancho are excellent, Greenwood, Shaw, van de Beek very good, rest is OK, then there are Fred and McTominay below average.I struggle to get my head around players not being able to pass 5m-15m between themselves, completely irrespective of formation and system played. The amount of unforced errors made in basic passing chains and the reluctance to pass forward and between the lines - do you think that's a confidence issue, or legitimate technical one?
What's your take on the technical level of us as a first team and as a squad?
Matic is definitely excellent. He just dwells on the ball a bit too much these days and doesn't have the physical tools to bail him out any more - His touch is class though.Average TBH.
If we're just talking about Technique (Control and passing) without anything else I'd say. This is also in relation to the positions they play.
De Gea - Average
AWB - Poor
Maguire - Average / Good
Lindelof - Average / Good
Varane - Good
Bailly - Average / Good
Dalot - Good
Shaw - Excellent
Telles - Good
Mctom - Poor
Fred - Poor
Matic - Average
DVB - Average
Fernandes - Poor / Excellent - So hit and miss
Pogba - World Class but doesn't play
Sancho - Excellent
Rashford - Average
Ronaldo - World Class
Greenwood - Good
I've flown through these and out the first assessment that came to my mind. Once again, It highlights a big issue in CM for lack of on the ball quality.
Yeah, we went from a team that wants the ball under LVG to a team that doesn’t want the ball under Mourinho and Ole. Now Ralf wants us to play with control but the players are very rusty and aren’t yet on the same wave length as each other. They all panic on the ball when they are the ones who have to build up an attack.Our issue is the habit of being careless in possession. It is ingrained. LVG tried to eradicate it and our fans detested him for it.
Truer words haven't been spoken today.Been our central problem for a long time.
I know some don't believe the problems are down to the players just because it's been going on for years. With different players.
But it's because we keep using players who haven't got the required technical ability. Over and over.
Players who are not technical can't play a fast passing game, so when athletico stepped up the pace our players got found out.I thought the difference was physical rather than technical. They swarmed us and played faster than we did. Reminded me of when Bilbao gave us a dicking under Fergie.
I also think the lack of technique causes that. Poor first and second touch, not sorting out feet quick enough, not opening up the body. It certainly contributes to us getting in these as you correctly say ridiculously tight spaces.It's lacking but I think it's exaggerated by two factors.
1) Our CMs, bar an in-form Pogba, are poor on the ball. Therefore, there's too much onus and pressure on players in positions where generally you're not expected to be world-class on the ball. Most teams have a player you can give the ball to under pressure, we have to actively avoid our CMs, which is a farcical situation to be in.
2) We condense our play into ridiculously tight spaces because nobody is running the other way to stretch the game. If even one player does that, it buys players in midfield areas an extra half second to receive the ball and turn.
Pogba is not good on the ball, that's why he's so bad when pressured.It's lacking but I think it's exaggerated by two factors.
1) Our CMs, bar an in-form Pogba, are poor on the ball. Therefore, there's too much onus and pressure on players in positions where generally you're not expected to be world-class on the ball. Most teams have a player you can give the ball to under pressure, we have to actively avoid our CMs, which is a farcical situation to be in.
2) We condense our play into ridiculously tight spaces because nobody is running the other way to stretch the game. If even one player does that, it buys players in midfield areas an extra half second to receive the ball and turn.
A bit of both. Alt M is excellent on pressing, you only need to look at Pogba, Bruno and CR during 1st half. They hardly had more than 5s on the ball before a leg stepping in. Rashford and Sancho seemed to be able to handle this rough pressing better, these 3 simply scared of the opposition.I thought the difference was physical rather than technical. They swarmed us and played faster than we did. Reminded me of when Bilbao gave us a dicking under Fergie.
You are massively overrating the technical ability of our players, even our best technical players have technical weaknesses.The technical level of this team is fine. Of course, it could be better. However, I think if you got any of our players knocking the ball about in the park they'd look godly.
The issue with this team is how quickly its ar$e falls out. The likes of Pogba and Bruno, who are very good technical players, were treating the ball like it was on fire for much of yesterday's game. They couldn't control it without 10 touches, they couldn't decide what they wanted to do with it, then when they figured out what they might want to do they couldn't execute it.
Lets keep it real. Our team got stage fright. They looked up at the lights in the Wanda and they froze. Same as in the Europa League final last summer. Same as in so many other big, high pressure games. I just remember how we fell to bits when we got to top of the table last season. This squad simply can't hack pressure.
But the test of techinal ability is doing it at pace under pressure.The technical level of this team is fine. Of course, it could be better. However, I think if you got any of our players knocking the ball about in the park they'd look godly.
The issue with this team is how quickly its ar$e falls out. The likes of Pogba and Bruno, who are very good technical players, were treating the ball like it was on fire for much of yesterday's game. They couldn't control it without 10 touches, they couldn't decide what they wanted to do with it, then when they figured out what they might want to do they couldn't execute it.
Lets keep it real. Our team got stage fright. They looked up at the lights in the Wanda and they froze. Same as in the Europa League final last summer. Same as in so many other big, high pressure games. I just remember how we fell to bits when we got to top of the table last season. This squad simply can't hack pressure.