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Rodrigo Bentancur

metalgear said:
what i mean is that paulinha and bentancur can leave significant gaps around the middle that can make it difficult to have any systematic play through the middle. they both have the license (and ability) to roam and they cover large grounds and sometimes may struggle to get back to once the ball is turned over by the opposition.

i would like to emphasise that it is a minor point right now, just a question of priority and of course every tactic has its pros and cons. just highlighting to say that eventually someone will figure this out in start the counter through the middle (where of course they have to deal with our excellent CBs - which is why this works for now)

also, while I don't want to make excuses for xavi but knowing that there is a disciplined DM behind him will make his job easier for sure.
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For me our problems playing through the middle isn't really related to what you point out.

Assuming I'm reading you correctly they move around quite a bit when the opponents have possession, defending in deeper areas, wider areas, sometimes pushing higher up (when we press high). That I agree with.

For those turnover moments when we win the ball there isn't much systematic play at first. Whoever is on or near the ball should take responsibility regardless of who it is.

For our more systematic play I think they've been a bit overly cautious in their positioning and on the ball. Little to no risk. Thought it was better against Everton and will be interesting to see what that looks like in the coming weeks.
 
braineclipse said:
For me our problems playing through the middle isn't really related to what you point out.

Assuming I'm reading you correctly they move around quite a bit when the opponents have possession, defending in deeper areas, wider areas, sometimes pushing higher up (when we press high). That I agree with.

For those turnover moments when we win the ball there isn't much systematic play at first. Whoever is on or near the ball should take responsibility regardless of who it is.

For our more systematic play I think they've been a bit overly cautious in their positioning and on the ball. Little to no risk. Thought it was better against Everton and will be interesting to see what that looks like in the coming weeks.
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yeah agree

one weakness of paulinha is his ability after winning the ball. he likes to offload it to the nearest player but I would like to see him try to play someone in first time... i.e. he should be getting more assists and key passes
 
Joe Hart on MotD seemed to think that Lolo was lucky that VAR didn’t take a closer look at this challenge…

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Sounds like he’s properly crocked again…

Team news from Thomas 📋

"Lucas Bergvall is being assessed today. We will know more later today with him. "

"Same with Rodrigo Bentancur. Rodri has a hamstring injury - looks like a bigger one, unfortunately. We don’t know the time frame. That we will know later.
 
Good thing the manager hasn't completely frozen Bissouma out (n.b. not saying he deserves to be kept given his transgressions, however until he is no longer our player we need to keep these players engaged. Last season, I'd say that having kept him onside despite transgressions was a huge factor in us winning the Europa League)...
 
I don’t see what Bentancur does. He doesn’t provide protection to the back four, he doesn’t dominate the midfield, he doesn’t create. What exactly is his role? Other than being the only professional footballer who still wears black boots.
 
Jurgen the German said:
I don’t see what Bentancur does. He doesn’t provide protection to the back four, he doesn’t dominate the midfield, he doesn’t create. What exactly is his role? Other than being the only professional footballer who still wears black boots.
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Tackles, stays in position, covers for others (mostly full backs when they go forward). Then on the ball passes it safely sideways and backwards while avoiding making off the ball forward runs as that's what he's been instructed to.
 
Jurgen the German said:
I don’t see what Bentancur does. He doesn’t provide protection to the back four, he doesn’t dominate the midfield, he doesn’t create. What exactly is his role? Other than being the only professional footballer who still wears black boots.
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He does provide protection for the back 4, he is positionally pretty good and I often see him covering for a full back or filling in between the centre backs if they have to fan out wide. He tends to always make himself available to receive a pass (whish is the opposite of Palhinha) this makes it easier for our team to progress the ball when we're being pressed. Bentancur actually wins quite a bit of the ball (not as much as Palhinha but still his fair share) However, he is much more effective on the ball than Palhinha, both in making himself available to be passed to and also in his use of the ball. He is actually quite good at progressing the ball via dribbling and progressive passing if and when he is allowed to play that way.
 
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