Okay, but even if it's a quality problem, surely the staff should know this and try to plan around it. Instead we just went toe to toe with them in their own backyard. Almost pulled it off in the first half when they were sleeping, then they upped a few gears and blew us away. Maybe it would've been prudent to field a back 5? We looked so exposed today, even in the first half. City players left alone in or around the box.
There is no cover for that type of gulf in class in the modern game. You can't win a game without a midfield and that's what we've been asking our team to do for years. There are many reasons we don't have one...partially on managers, on the board and on the whole Pogba situation, but at the end of the day, in terms of options, we only have 4 and have had only those 4 as viable midfield options for the past 4 seasons.
1. Fred can press, but he can't recieve the ball from the defence in possession nor does he have the intelligence to block off the counter defensively, which means we can't sustain attacks with him as our deepest midfielder. He also lacks the strength and balance to win duels in midfield, which means in reality, he's just actually running around aimlessly in midfield.
2. Mctominay has strength and aggression which means he can win ball in duels if he is in the area. The problem is he doesn't have the awareness to know where to be and therefore never provides a cover or screen for our team. He lacks intelligence like Fred on dealing with those countering situations, meaning we can't sustain attacks with him as our deepest midfielder at any point. He fouls way too much because he actually lacks the composure to win the ball. He can't pass and is scared of being in position to pass, so therefore he hides from the ball, making him inexistent in our build up.
Note: 2 of these players make it impossible for our defence to move the ball forward. This either means Bruno has to drop deep or we play off the flanks and depend on AWB/Dalot and Shaw/Telles to move us up the pitch ( only Shaw can do this on form)
Matic: He can pass the ball and cut off potential counter situations. He can also win his duels and provide support to the defence as a consistently available passing option. However, he is aging. He cannot play too many games and when gassed will also struggle to win these duels. In addition, he cannot cover the ground that would be needed on a consistent basis. In a big game that is more open, he will be really stretched due to his lack of pace and stamina due to his age. Can only play smaller games once a week. In additon, due to his potential partners having almost zero defensive awareness, he can get really exposed in games where dual midfield coverage is needed.
Pogba: Great attacking player who can dribble, pass, shoot, hold off opposition players and play key and creative passes to unlock defences. He has off the ball positioning and can be a good passing option, but has a heavy first touch and is not always the most aware of threats coming towards him. Is particularly slow at releasing the ball and in the pacy environment of the Premier League, this is dangerous. He is also not always willing to play so deep, even breaking tactical instructions to get forward, which leads to easy and penetrable gaps. Defensively, he has zero awareness of how to cover space, he cannot position to narrow or close the space for an opposition counter, this means like Fred and Mctominay, with him as the deepest midfielder, despite having more of the ball, attacks cannot be sustained for long periods. In addition, he is heavily injury prone and his agent and speculations about him have led to a heavy cloud over the team.
These are our midfielders, none of whom can consistently play as the deepest midfielder, with three of whom can't even do it on a partial basis.
I just am baffled. I love how some still think we should have....stuck with Ole? This season is rotting peoples minds I swear.