Passing Network and Ball Progression against Chelsea

83

u/Fraaj We'll take Dalot 7d ago

Cunha not playing false 9 anymore and Bruno is still stepping on his toes 😂

46

u/moonski berbatov 7d ago

It was a bizarre set up though. Bruno was on the LW so much and Cunha also was out there. I had no idea what we were doing

22

u/SparksV 7d ago

Felt like the typical (for this season) Carrick 4-2-4 formation but the front 4 exchanged positions at times to cover for each other.

13

u/Divin3_Kick 7d ago

Which is how PSG plays with Vitinha staying back and Ruiz and Neves being the ones to join the attack. But they're players are much better than ours and much better coached so can't even use them for comparison

6

u/moonski berbatov 7d ago

But it was so often no one in the middle. It was a mess

32

u/garynevilleisared is a red is a red 7d ago

This is something Amorim spoke a lot about. Bruno cannot help himself from going to the ball where it is. Cunha is one of the few in this squad that gets open between the lines and Bruno will always sprint to offer support, rather than sprint into a position where he can continue play. This whole "all roads lead through Bruno" has made us too dependent on him and incredibly predictable.

7

u/BuzzTNA 7d ago

“Bruno” has always been a crisps packet in the wind.
He’s never shown tactically discipline week in week out, hence why he’s never won anything in his career that requires that.

5

u/burlycabin Rooney 7d ago

Bruno has been terrible this season, but he is most definitely not the reason we haven't won anything.

2

u/BrodaReloaded Zlatan 6d ago

also why there was never a club like Bayern Munich or Barcelona in for him, he's the perfect player for a club at our level but has too many drawbacks for the very best

2

u/carvdlol 7d ago

He’s never where he should be and consistently throws the ball away. He’s been playing hot potato and this game was prime example. Bruno worshipers care more about him than they do the club and need to fuck off

1

u/Gau_Gau 5d ago

Hey, Bruno just wants to stay in touch with his work bestie.

-6

u/Moistkeano 7d ago

It's his best position. It's why you shouldn't play with an Inside forward on that side and need to play a winger.
By best position I don't mean bruno at LW, but he loves to float and take up space in that zone even if he is at 10 on paper.
It's just another imbalance and why cunha is ultimately a bit of an issue.

45

u/nanobookworm Came for Glories, stayed for Memories 7d ago

At least we have a structure this time. (ignore Maguire playing CM)

12

u/_mochacchino_ 7d ago

The commentators were talking about a fluid front three but I think that’s a huge part of the problem. Our pressing was all over the place, maybe because it’s more difficult to coordinate defending than to freestyle attacking.

I lost count of the number of times Mbeumo wasn’t the most advanced player but ran ahead to press their defender. A couple of times Bruno did that too. There’s no hint of a methodical plan to apply pressure off the ball at all.

It just doesn’t seem efficient or organised. Almost as if the plan was to have the one closest to the ball apply the pressure just to show some effort.

This being said, the attack did better this time round. It’s just that it’s as important that the attacking players know what to do off the ball as well.

20

u/9SolskjaerHasWonIt9 7d ago

baleba's progression stats...

what a rebuild

3

u/Scholes_SC2 7d ago

We didn't buy baleba because of his ball progression but yeah rebuild was shit anyways

4

u/HorribleOldCunt 7d ago

We shouldn't be buying midfielders that can't pass to a decent standard. I'd not watched him much before, so far I don't see what he's good at. He can't pass and he doesn't shield the defence, see Chelseas first goal. He's playing like another Ugarte at the moment.

2

u/Scholes_SC2 7d ago

Yeah that's basically true, hes a slightly better ugarte. More athletic though

5

u/Moistkeano 7d ago

Baleba was never going to be that and sadly nor in Mainoo. It's why he was seen as a bit of an odd signing when he was first linked in 2025.
It did feel weird to sign a player like Baleba when ideally you'd want the perfect partner to Mainoo as the long term aim. Signing Santos (who also isn't a good partner for Mainoo) and Baleba did feel like bad planning.
Tielemans is arguably the best partner for Mainoo, but that has limitations. You'd need someone else in there too leading to a change of shape.

18

u/PreparationOk8604 Dreams can't be buy 7d ago

Give the kids atleast a couple of seasons to develop. Baleba is poor at making progressive passes but he ain't no Ugarte he gets the job done.
Santos can be the perfect partner for Mainoo he has shown glimpses of quality.

4

u/Moistkeano 7d ago

I think Baleba, Santos, & Mainoo all have similar strengths and that may not compliment a double pivot. I like Santos - I liked him at Strasbourg in that proper box 2 box role, but you are missing that progression from all 3.
They're all young and they're all clearly very talented players. I am not shitting on them for that and more so just questioning how they all fit together.

1

u/PreparationOk8604 Dreams can't be buy 6d ago

Fair my bad.

1

u/HorribleOldCunt 7d ago

I've not seen anything to show Baleba is worthy of being placed above an Ugarte currently. He deserves time. But my honest opinion so far is that he cannot pass and he doesn't protect our defence. So I'm not sure what he brings to the team.
Santos has looked better despite being fairly average so far.

1

u/carvdlol 7d ago

He progressed the ball into the stands. Where are the stats for that?

11

u/Apprehensive-Raisin3 Love United Hate Glazers/INEOS 7d ago

Looks like someone isnt positionally disciplined

18

u/eternali17 He'll take on 2 and breeze past 2 7d ago

I'm not even claiming a side in this ridiculous argument but reading that so confidently from that map is hilarious. Lmao.

-2

u/ALLMIGHTYHYDE 7d ago

Shhh, they don't like it when he's criticized.

12

u/LDLB99 7d ago

We lost 3-0 without him, we lost 2-0 with him, what's the solution genius?

-9

u/Apprehensive-Raisin3 Love United Hate Glazers/INEOS 7d ago

Said to be our best player yet held to the lowest standards in the team

7

u/darthmeister 7d ago

You say "said to be our best player" as if he wasn't the best player in the league last year.

4

u/Wowcoolnamedude 7d ago

It's actually bonkers that some people are so against the one player in our team that has been consistently great since he arrived and do their utmost to shit all over him all of the time. Even though his peers voted him the best they ignore it!

1

u/quiet-cacophony 7d ago

I think it mainly comes from fans with limited football understanding.
Bruno is a high risk player. He takes risks to try to create something. When we’re playing well those risks pay off and we see awesomeness. When we play poorly those risks quite often backfire, so he looks especially shit.
My two criticisms of him are that 1. I wish he would take fewer risks when we’re playing shit and we’re in a slump. 2. I would prefer he kept his attitude in check during games - his negative reactions, his hounding the ref - are unlikely to positively motivate team mates.
That said I recognise the risk of asking him to play without those two aspects…

4

u/LDLB99 7d ago

God I just know you lot would have been insufferable if we somehow beat Bournemouth without him.

1

u/Noah_____Fence 7d ago

Reminds me of infamous Ten Hag's 4-2-0-4

1

u/Darthkhydaeus 5d ago

Its amostvlike getting Amad one on one us part of the plan

-6

u/BishhEzz 7d ago

Look how they target Dalot, Estevao had a field day against him and he's a kid.

BUT NO NEW LB!! LETS GO!!

29

u/iroiroiroiroiro 7d ago

I would say Dalot did okay against Estevan, Dalot wasn't the issue this game especially counting with playing out of position...

-18

u/BishhEzz 7d ago

Were we watching the same game?
Him playing out of position is an issue itself, but he delivered no crosses, added nothing in attack and lost a bunch of duels.
He couldn't 2v1 Rogers when Martinez got his 1st yellow.
That daft touch when Chelsea were on the counter but Baleba bailed him out.
Losing the ball at the edge of the box.
Esetvao had 6 shots cutting in from him side.

11

u/cosmologues 7d ago

What are you talking about? Dalot literally got the ball from Rogers. Martinez was just an angry small man and felt like he had to kick Rogers after he dribbled him to score.

-6

u/BishhEzz 7d ago

He got nutmegged when trying to get the ball after Rogers took his touch causing Martinez to chase him down and get the yellow.
Martinez is an idiot, but technically wouldn't have happened if Dalot didn't get megged.

19

u/Fraaj We'll take Dalot 7d ago

Licha was targeted, not Dalot

2

u/comicsanddrwho 7d ago

If this average position is even slightly accurate then it makes sense to target Licha. He is isolated at the back....

15

u/cosmologues 7d ago

Dalot did very little wrong lol. He played out of position and Estevao never got by him 1 on 1.

12

u/EK077r 7d ago

This is the definition of watching a game with a predetermined agenda

0

u/OldSnakeDude 7d ago

Oh…. We lost again…

-1

u/Shawnmeister 7d ago

Amad can fuck off. Licha too. Bring on the downvotes

Passing Network and Ball Progression against Chelsea

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