[CL] Porto 2-1 Juventus [February 17th, 2021] (11 Viewers)
- Thread starter Hust
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I had a look at the highlights again
What is absolutely clear is that this guy just fucking jogs around while Rabiot runs like a headless chicken. So many times where they are both either attached at the hip on top of each other or Rabiot is getting in advanced position and Benta is jogging around. Just far too casual. No positional awareness.
First image look they are all on top of each other, that's more on Rabiot and Benta as Mckennie has that free role
I know the mids can't get pushed to the wings but this is just an example of how our mids are all over the place, how are we expected to move the ball centrally or play it to the forwards to lay off when we have no spine.
Benta was jogging before this and wouldve made it in front of the porto player if he acrually ran. Instead he is left behind
This one Bentancur, once again being lazy, doesn't push up and occupy that space between the porto players. If he does that he creates space for others by occupying at least one of their center mids
Lazy lazy lazy and 0 positional awareness. Also he constantly has his back to goal. Rabiot has 0 awareness and positional skill, his only ability is to break at pace other than that nothing. The two of them offer no presence in the midfield and leave us with a midfield that is disconnected from the the defense and the attack.
What is absolutely clear is that this guy just fucking jogs around while Rabiot runs like a headless chicken. So many times where they are both either attached at the hip on top of each other or Rabiot is getting in advanced position and Benta is jogging around. Just far too casual. No positional awareness.
First image look they are all on top of each other, that's more on Rabiot and Benta as Mckennie has that free role
I know the mids can't get pushed to the wings but this is just an example of how our mids are all over the place, how are we expected to move the ball centrally or play it to the forwards to lay off when we have no spine.
Benta was jogging before this and wouldve made it in front of the porto player if he acrually ran. Instead he is left behind
This one Bentancur, once again being lazy, doesn't push up and occupy that space between the porto players. If he does that he creates space for others by occupying at least one of their center mids
Lazy lazy lazy and 0 positional awareness. Also he constantly has his back to goal. Rabiot has 0 awareness and positional skill, his only ability is to break at pace other than that nothing. The two of them offer no presence in the midfield and leave us with a midfield that is disconnected from the the defense and the attack.
I think a lot of that is on Pirlo, he asks CMs to move between the lines which leaves the defense exposed as fuck. I think it'd massively help if he played a classic 433, players would know their roles better and how to behave and when. You're responsible for some ground and you operate in there. If the tactics change due to trained/wanted schemas, then it's predictable - the players know what is going on, what changes and why. These are the basics. Pirlo instead, gives them a lot of freedom to move around and that leaves the midfield shapeless.
I mean, why not play this vs Porto?
Chiesa - CR7 - Kulu
Rabiot - Bentancur - McKennie
AS - De Ligt - Demiral - Danilo
Szczęsny
This is a very basic setup but you can alternate this in many ways: Chiesa and Kulu can play inwards like above or you swap them on the wings and then they go down the line. You can ask Rabiot/McKennie to join Ronaldo in the middle (only one at a time pls) to create some numeric advantage in the box. If Bentancur is too shaky as the game goes on, you can put him as B2B and move Rabiot to DM. There are countless options here, just ask Allegri...Rabiot - Bentancur - McKennie
AS - De Ligt - Demiral - Danilo
Szczęsny
I still struggle with Pirlo's way of thinking because he seems to be oriented towards 442 but his holding mids too often are caught too high up the pitch, so what are they holding then? Bentancur understood very well the DM position under Sarri and now suddenly he can't do it? IMO it's just a clear lack of preparation and clarity of the game. You can ask Kroos or Modric to improvise and they will do it well but not our mids, most of them are solid soldiers who are supposed to do simple things in a simple way.
BTW. I really think that Pirlo didn't prepare the team for Porto's high pressing (he didn't expect it most likely, rookie mistake again?). It looks like there was no assumption that they could do it and the players were shocked when it turned out it's not going according to the plan from the very first minute. Weak heads quickly dropped and from there it was a huge struggle.
A common theme this season is players standing in top of each other. In the Porto game alone there were 3 or 4 instances where our players ran into each other.
They don't seem to know their role and where they should be running. Which could be a reason why we aren't stretching teams and why there are gaps all over the place.
A common theme this season is players standing in top of each other. In the Porto game alone there were 3 or 4 instances where our players ran into each other.
They don't seem to know their role and where they should be running. Which could be a reason why we aren't stretching teams and why there are gaps all over the place.
Pirlo knew what Porto he was facing, though he underestimated their high press, otherwise he was spot on.
These were his words.
Pirlo pre match Porto:
"This will be a very difficult match," the coach said.
"They defend very well and have kept four or five clean sheets in the Champions League.
"They're a compact team, in the style of Atletico Madrid.
"They're very good at closing down spaces. So, we need to be patient and not force things because they're good at counter attacking.
"Porto are different to us and they play differently in their league and in the Champions League.
"They remind me a lot of the Atletico Madrid teams of Simeone."
And he summed it up post match:
Pirlo “We had prepared well for this game, it was not the attitude we wanted, but conceding a goal in the opening minute when we handed it to them on a silver platter made everything more difficult.”
I've watched Porto in a few of their bigger league games this season and Pirlo is right they do play the opposite in CL, but then who would blame them. The fact Pirlo knew Porto will sit back and he couldn't prepare plan A or B in terms of attack shows his lack of experience and yes to an extent lack of preparation.
Moreover it's the mental preparation he never thought about, you could put your money Conceicao did. Conceicao actually didn't give away the high pressing in his pre-match conference, instead spoke about balance, so in a way his team did everything right and we did everything wrong. To Pirlos anguish he has a squad with a number of lackadaisical players. Pirlo knows this of course but I feel he doesn't know how to manage it.
after our win against ferencvaros Pirlo said the following:
"I am someone who talks a lot with the players, then they go on the pitch and the choices are theirs.
"But it is important that these choices are right: we need to be less selfish and close games earlier."
If he talks a lot it means his trying behind the scenes, but the players are not heeding. Let's see how it goes, I haven't fully ran out of faith on Pirlo I just wish he stops inviting pressure and maybe with a bit of a stable lineup and lack of injuries his limited strengths might just do enough to help us progress.
These were his words.
Pirlo pre match Porto:
"This will be a very difficult match," the coach said.
"They defend very well and have kept four or five clean sheets in the Champions League.
"They're a compact team, in the style of Atletico Madrid.
"They're very good at closing down spaces. So, we need to be patient and not force things because they're good at counter attacking.
"Porto are different to us and they play differently in their league and in the Champions League.
"They remind me a lot of the Atletico Madrid teams of Simeone."
And he summed it up post match:
Pirlo “We had prepared well for this game, it was not the attitude we wanted, but conceding a goal in the opening minute when we handed it to them on a silver platter made everything more difficult.”
I've watched Porto in a few of their bigger league games this season and Pirlo is right they do play the opposite in CL, but then who would blame them. The fact Pirlo knew Porto will sit back and he couldn't prepare plan A or B in terms of attack shows his lack of experience and yes to an extent lack of preparation.
Moreover it's the mental preparation he never thought about, you could put your money Conceicao did. Conceicao actually didn't give away the high pressing in his pre-match conference, instead spoke about balance, so in a way his team did everything right and we did everything wrong. To Pirlos anguish he has a squad with a number of lackadaisical players. Pirlo knows this of course but I feel he doesn't know how to manage it.
after our win against ferencvaros Pirlo said the following:
"I am someone who talks a lot with the players, then they go on the pitch and the choices are theirs.
"But it is important that these choices are right: we need to be less selfish and close games earlier."
If he talks a lot it means his trying behind the scenes, but the players are not heeding. Let's see how it goes, I haven't fully ran out of faith on Pirlo I just wish he stops inviting pressure and maybe with a bit of a stable lineup and lack of injuries his limited strengths might just do enough to help us progress.
Funny, during the game I was thinking sight for sore eyes, a good ref for a change (maybe could've given us one less yellow and them one more but nothing to complain about), then right at the end...
Would've been daylight robbery if Porto didn't get a W from this game, but technically, it's what it is, a PK.
Btw, are you Portuguese and have a fav Portuguese team?
Would've been daylight robbery if Porto didn't get a W from this game, but technically, it's what it is, a PK.
Btw, are you Portuguese and have a fav Portuguese team?
Done.