Luka Modrić (4 Viewers)

[Ahmed]

He played as pure CM for Croatia in 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 and he did great. Bilic is even using him as a deep lying playmaker and imo he played his best matches there (Pirlo position). In Dinamo he was a playmaker and he had a free role in their 4-2-3-1. Redknapp is playing him as an attacking midfielder and he does very well even there.
He's very versatile.

yep, good point Al...

 

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[Badass J Elkann]

My point exactly Not cup-tied, world class player, why not make try to sign him?

because he wants to play for spurs, hardly blame him, big price tag, wants to prove a point still.

and he's only non-cup tied to an extent if we signed another uefa cup tied player we can only pick one, or so i understand

 

[Ahmed]

true but i have been encouraged by ranieri's approach when facing english teams more so than crapello to say the least.

we haven't played any English teams yet...pre-season doesn't really count

 

[Bjerknes]

true but i have been encouraged by ranieri's approach when facing english teams more so than crapello to say the least.

I don't see any difference between the two "styles" of play.

 

[Red]

I don't see any difference between the two "styles" of play.

The styles are similar, but we have Sissoko in CM, rather then Vieira, which gives us some pace and makes it less likely that we will be overrun in the way that happened at Anfield and Highbury.

 

[Fred]

He played as pure CM for Croatia in 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 and he did great. Bilic is even using him as a deep lying playmaker and imo he played his best matches there (Pirlo position). In Dinamo he was a playmaker and he had a free role in their 4-2-3-1. Redknapp is playing him as an attacking midfielder and he does very well even there.
He's very versatile.

Yes i'm aware he played that role for Croatia, but Rosicky played that role for Czech Republic as well, still he failed miserably and was obviously lightweight when Arsene played him as CM.

 

[Badass J Elkann]

The styles are similar, but we have Sissoko in CM, rather then Vieira, which gives us some pace and makes it less likely that we will be overrun in the way that happened at Anfield and Highbury.

we compress the midfield better than we did under capello, having the high line is partly why

 

[Bjerknes]

The styles are similar, but we have Sissoko in CM, rather then Vieira, which gives us some pace and makes it less likely that we will be overrun in the way that happened at Anfield and Highbury.

But didn't we also have Emerson out there for Arsenal?

The whole problem is not solved with adding more defensive midfielders. We need to keep the ball against English sides. Sissoko cannot pass like Vieira and Emerson.

It's like we have a big fire, and the only way we know how to put it out is with gasoline. Just doesn't work.

 

[alex'10]

Everyone agrees though that signing Modric would be a plus, he would bring another dimension to the team. Modric would be far more useful than say Tiago.

 

[Red]

we compress the midfield better than we did under capello, having the high line is partly why

True.

But didn't we also have Emerson out there for Arsenal?

The whole problem is not solved with adding more defensive midfielders. We need to keep the ball against English sides. Sissoko cannot pass like Vieira and Emerson.

It's like we have a big fire, and the only way we know how to put it out is with gasoline. Just doesn't work.

I think the problem when playing the English was that we couldn't cope with their pace, but I think we are better prepared to take them on now.

Time will tell if this is the case, though.

 

[Badass J Elkann]

but at least this midfield is not half as static as capello's midfield that is the main difference

emerson fairly immobile unlike any of our midfields
vieira - couldn't cover the ground momo does

 

[Alen]

The styles are similar, but we have Sissoko in CM, rather then Vieira, which gives us some pace and makes it less likely that we will be overrun in the way that happened at Anfield and Highbury.

Emerson also. He wasn't as slow as he is today, but he was still way too slow for the English teams.

Against Liverpool (in Liverpool) we played with Emerson-Blasi in midfield while in Turin we had only Emerson as DMC with Olivera as his partner. Benitez played with 5 midfielders on both matches and we had either too slow DMs, or lack of DMs.

Against Arsenal Emerson-Vieira (in the first leg) and Emerson-Giannichedda in the second leg was way too slow.

With Sissoko and Marchisio there is no way to be overrun the way we were in 2005 and 2006.

 

[Badass J Elkann]

shocking to say the only 2 mids capello had who could run were appiah and giannchedda

 

[Bjerknes]

Emerson and Vieira were slow, yes, but they made up for it with positioning. Plus they could keep the ball better.

 

[Red]

Emerson also. He wasn't as slow as he is today, but he was still way too slow for the English teams.

Against Liverpool (in Liverpool) we played with Emerson-Blasi in midfield while in Turin we had only Emerson as DMC with Olivera as his partner. Benitez played with 5 midfielders on both matches and we had either too slow DMs, or lack of DMs.

Against Arsenal Emerson-Vieira (in the first leg) and Emerson-Giannichedda in the second leg was way too slow.

With Sissoko and Marchisio there is no way to be overrun the way we were in 2005 and 2006.

That was my point.

I was picking on Vieira because Sissoko is more mobile than he was. If we play Zanetti with Sissoko, he is not much more mobile than Emerson was.

 

[Bjerknes]

Then we had Blasi who could run. He was pressured into giving the ball away at Anfield.

This is like giving a Somali family more rice but taking away their water. They need both.

 

[Red]

Then we had Blasi who could run. He was pressured into giving the ball away at Anfield.

This is like giving a Somali family more rice but taking away their water. They need both.

Do you not feel a Sissoko-Zanetti or a Sissoko-Tiago midfield pair would offer a good balance between mobility and technical ability?

 

[Badass J Elkann]

Do you not feel a Sissoko-Zanetti or a Sissoko-Tiago midfield pair would offer a good balance between mobility and technical ability?

tiago - momo yes

the other no, for some reason 1 or the other doesnt function when it has been tried out

 

[Alen]

Then we had Blasi who could run. He was pressured into giving the ball away at Anfield.

I still think that Sissoko-Zanetti partnership (when playing against the english teams) beats all the combinations we had in 2005 and 2006 and is more balanced than what we had back then.

 

[Alen]

the other no, for some reason 1 or the other doesnt function when it has been tried out

I think you're wrong.
At the very beginning it seemed like these two don't function well together. But in the last 7-8 rounds of last season Sissoko-Zanetti partnership was phenomenal. Two of our best matches last season (Lazio 5:2 and Atalanta 4:0) have shown to us how great can this partnership be.
Momo was winning all the balls while Zanetti was doing both ball winning and assisting goals.