We all see things differently and as a result we become involved in social media rucks which become so tedious when some are in need of anger management.
But that should never stop any of us from saying it as we see it so here goes and I’m very aware that, like any of us, I may be proved 1,000 per cent wrong before next May arrives!
Thus far I believe there are some identifiable problems within our squad:
1/ Declan Rice’s position in front of an obviously a dodgy back four, with a change introduced after one game, is becoming busier and busier.
The lad is covering so much ground and involved in so many tackles that he could easily – pray God it doesn’t happen – become injured at some stage.
I’m not sure we’ve seen him back to his best this season but what I do know is that his workload is becoming more and more intense and with Carlos Sanchez as the other defensive midfielder we have cause to worry.
Hurry back Mark Noble which will help but I remain convinced a second defensive midfielder should have been signed this summer.
There may be some sort of answer by using Zaba as a defensive midfielder in emergencies but it’s an area I believe which should have been addressed.
2/ The midfield generally has extremely talented players in Anderson, Lanzini and potentially Fornals; Snodgrass continues to impress and Yarmolenko looks to be on his way back.
But there is a lack of pace and at times a lot of ‘fannying’ about as we attempt to break teams down nearer their box until – as we saw on Saturday – Lanzini gets on the ball.
It’s something which needs work.
3/ Sorry to repeat what’s become the hardy annual but how we failed to sign a decent left back is beyond me and a new four year deal for Arthur Masuaku does – to put it politely – seem excessive.
Aaron Cresswell has been off the pace for so long I was surprised he was still around this season to be honest given I understand there was some interest from Villa.
Arthur – when on his offensive game is a handful – but few would trust him in an out and out defensive role and the four year deal was a huge surprise.
The only half solution I can see here maybe to slot Ben Johnson in at left back but essentially he remains unproven and would playing out of position. Right now it looks a possibility but it’s a precarious one.
Despite the worries I think we will be fine this season because there are clearly goals in the team, but for me that defensive midfield and left back remained pretty exposed positions is a real ongoing worry.
4/ Like all of us I love Fabianski but I don’t enjoy the way he always fires long balls upfield. It continued on Saturday even though there was no target man – just a 5ft 8in Chicharito.
Maybe a little more distribution in order to progress play maybe a good idea because those big clearances inevitably come back at us within seconds!
Fabianski’s long clearances were forced on him by the Brighton attackers staying up when he was on the ball. A way round this needs to be found.
It’s regular though Richard – wasn’t just Saturday
Spot on Hugh. You didn’t mention Fredericks though. I don’t think he is a good enough defender & although he has pace to spare, his decision making & delivery when attacking is usually poor. I would personally put Johnson at RB & persevere with him like we did with Rice.
The 64 million dollar question though is regarding the blind faith that Pellegrini has in his system. We need a plan B, C & D tactically because we are so open & easy to open up.
Totally agree with all your points Hugh. Just like to also mention our throw ins. We seem really slow to react to them and make ourselves available, and invariably throw the ball to the opposition. We need to get up to speed
What has changed from last season same slow to start, defensively frail, lack of clear cut chances for goal, injuries mounting . Infection
Hugh, good article,I agree with the previous poster in that Fredericks is not a PL RB. We do not have the time to wait for players like Fredericks and Wilshere to become PL players because they never will. We need to start young Johnson at RB and play Zaba on occasions to give him a break. We need to stick with Arthur at left back. We need to either go 3 at the back which will allow two up top or put in a player with legs in midfield. I personally would play Fornals in with Rice as he has loads of energy. He is 100% not a winger or wide player. I love your point in relation to Rice he will get injured if he continue to ask him to do two players jobs in midfield. What a mess we will be in then. I wanted us to sign another player with pace but unfortunately we did not see this and as a result we have now a lack of pace in our forward positions. To resolve this we can again go 3-5-2 and play Anderson up top with Haller and Lanzini in behind two strikers or play Anderson in the 10 and Lanzini in midfield with Rice with Haller/Hernandez/Antonio/Ajetti up top which we can afford to do with 3 centre halfs. I also believe we need to stick with Balbuena and not Ogbonno and I also think that Reid, Balbuena and Diop in a back 3 would take some beating. I think Pelle is a good manager and I just hope he realises that for him to have the best season possible he needs to be brave to make these changes.
At present Wiltshire does not have the legs to play deep beside Rice. He looked fine pre season but is simply getting by passed at the pace of the premiership. Noble’s return cannot come soon enough. I’d give serious thought to retaining Coventry and having him on the bench when Noble tires.
I also think Johnson must be integrated in to the side in his best position RB rather than in the left. Masuaku at LB is not an inspiration but the only option at present. If he could settle on quicker distribution and doing the simple things he would greatly improve.
Like Hugh I remain the optimist
COYI
I agree with your observations and concerns, after watching/streaming the game on Saturday, in Arabic until half time, I didn’t see many positives. Arthur daydreaming for 90 mins, out of position, missed tackles, short passing ok but anything else he was plain awful. Fornals and Wilshere off pace, Antonio changed things and in my opinion should of started as our striker. I do not really see much wrong at right back and as you have said before perhaps try Ben Johnson out of position at left back. What we need is stability at the back the Diop/Balbuena combination will come good again, Fredericks and a LB and Rice captain when Nobes isn’t fit. We are only 2 games in and we have a lucky point not cause for celebration I know but we will improve. COYI
Agree with all of your assessment Johnham.
I agree with Richard, Fabianski was forced to kick long on Saturday because there’s no faith in our team to play out. Ogbonna and Diop definitely didn’t want the ball and nobody else dropped back to make numbers to break their press. I agree that Fabianski’s distribution is probably the one area that has held him back from being an elite level keeper.
I don’t like the new rule about playing the ball inside the box because I only think it benefits the teams at the top who have good enough footballers in defence to be comfortable playing out. Opposition teams now park three on the edge of the box to capitalise on a mistake and only sides like Man City will benefit. What I see happening is a lot more teams being forced to kick long which makes the game less interesting to watch.
Nemanja Radoja is available on a free, surely got to be worth a 12 – 18 month contract as an option to fill in for Rice or play alongside him, has the look of Claude Makelele, is physical, keeps it simple and breaks up attacks. It was reported he spent most of last season not playing so perhaps there are some external reasons why he hasn’t been signed, for sure it would take him a while to get up to pace also.
Thanks Hugh for an interesting post. I have commented on here previously a) that I felt what we really needed was a defensive midfielder with energy and a fierce tackle b) while I agree with Dom, Jonham and otehrs that 3 at the back might be a good idea, I dont believe that Pelle will do that
I feel that both of these issues make our fullbacks more vulnerable and if either solution was adopted we would appear less vulnerable and hopefully keep the ball more
Good article Hugh.Personally I was not happy with this new transfer deadline.It should have been left in line with the rest of Europe.Feels like Brexit came early.Pelle said he was happy with his squad and had 2 players in each position.Bet he would snap your hand off to get that extra month now he has seen the team performance in our first 2 games.
I watched Chelsea/Leicester. Fuchs at LB for Leicester looked twice as good as either of our two. He only played two games apparently last season. Maybe he wouldn’t have come to us anyway but I guess nobody tried asking as Pellegrini seems to rate Arthur. If he does it is perhaps no surprise we had one of the worst defences last season with no evidence -yet- of an improvement.
Like quite a few others I believe this squad would be ideally suited to 3-5-2. If Pelle refuses to even try it (why he won’t is beyond me) then we have to try alternative defenders. If Fredericks is not considered good enough, we must give Johnson an extended run. The same with Cresswell. Masuaku is definitely not the answer. Why don’t we ever sign full backs that can tackle? Speaking of which, having watched Cardoso, admittedly only on You Tube, he seems to be aggressive and sure in the tackle. He often pops up on the left of defence and looks quite comfortable there. Alternatively, would he be worth a try beside Rice? I don’t profess to know the answers but we must try to find them quickly so we have the majority of the season in a settled and adequate system. We cannot just poodle along, swapping the same failed players in and out every few games.
Agree with most of that Hugh. Rice has 2 bookings already as signs that he is getting over run, he took one for the team on Saturday. I do think you have a love in with Snodgrass though. He was pretty awful with the rest of the team in the first half and is to slow out wide.He was better in the middle as he was last season.
I’ve been thinking too that Zab could do a role in the middle, he has a good footballing brain and his lack of pace won’t be that exposed as it would at right back.
Johnson is playing at right back for the u23’s at the moment must be a reason why.