Tom12345

Why were they even checking for offside??? It was not a pass?

Look deeper and it’s because of Ndidi. Ndidi is next to Kristiansen and Ndidi never presents himself in a good position for the pass - he just points to his teammates to pass back to someone else. So Kristiansen is left without much option but to just hit it forward randomly.

It is only 26 mins, but I am already looking forward to half time. We have no control whatsoever. We look lost. Can’t wait for Skipp to come on for Ndidi. Get Ricardo on too for Kristiansen (with Justin moving across).

His unsuitability to the modern day DM role has been well documented and analysed. You cannot have someone with very little ball skills playing that crucial position. It is not just that he goes missing and we miss a player there. He breaks down our play or attempt to get out of our half. This is why we struggle to hold on to the ball and beat the press. See tactics related threads. Also, ask @StriderHiryu If he keeps getting selected to play there, that is the Manager’s fault. The fact that Cooper also has Ward and Ricardo on the bench does not currently inspire confidence (for different reasons) in what Cooper sees.

Can’t even keep the ball for a sec.

I like Albrighton. Underrated. It is a pity we just let him go. Given the long ball is back, he would be good to have as an option too. There is no doubt we had a lot more quality in our squad before relegation. Once again: We lost Maddison, Barnes, Tielemans, Soyuncu, Nacho etc over 2 summer. None of our new signings is near the same level as them - although I reserve my judgement on Skipp. But I think we still have a decent squad. Ayew is a good mid table squad player. Tells you how good we were on paper before!

Not as exciting as some of our the big signings before relegation, but this one is solid and economical. Not bad to have Ayew as an option.

I can’t do clips like others. Just watch his positioning. One example last game was when he was dragged out to the left of the box by a forward, got turned (by which time rather than being in the center he was wide to the left of goal) and allowed their forward a clear shot on goal. This happens a few times most games - too many times for a CB. Also remember him losing the ball near half way last season and didn’t really bother to run back. He has flair and big hair to support that view. He can dribble a bit and can play, but as a defender he needs to have a cooler head. But he has the basics to be a good defender which is why it is somewhat frustrating. There is still time for him to develop and I hope he does. It is probably just concentration but it is also ego. It may just need a kick on his backside by sitting out for a while when Coady is back. There is no need to slag off Evans. Ultimately, he is still a top CB two years later at a club at a much higher level than us as much as we hate to say it (Man U). Evans is just another class and his strength is his vision and reading of the play. He covers well for his partner. Someone said he makes his partner looks better. But he is indeed getting old and too expensive for us to keep so it is true I need to move on from him too.

Too many defensive lapses and his positioning is generally suspect. Just not a very good defender. Evans was 10x better and this is why he is back at Man U even though we let him go for free. When Coady is back, he should start.

This guy is really not very good. Coady should start when he is back from injury.

A priority is to fix the Ndidi DM position and have someone other than Ndidi or Hamza who can actually link up play between our CBs and midfield. One of the most important fixes we need. If this is what Cooper has seen and prioritised, my respect for Cooper will instantly double.

You are right in that we should keep some of Enzo’s elements of play. I don’t think we really did much of that, yet, except playing Ndidi further up the pitch in the second half to press (partially - he would then drop back deep when simply defending). I agree we should not be 100% focused on passing out from the back, but I didn’t see enough of this against Spurs. We should use Enzo’s idea of trying to always have more numbers in the area of the pitch with the ball so we can more easily pass, but then also be ready to go for the strategic long balls (whether to pick a player or just because we need to just release pressure at the right time to settle). After the good spell we had in the second half, we resorted to just hoofing it up aimlessly in the final 15 mins when we should have tried to keep the ball more. A key to all of this is to NOT play Ndidi in the traditional DM role; per my post above (as you also separately mentioned in your posts).

This is exactly the issue we had which I was pointing out for 4 seasons or so before we got relegated. Rodgers’ insistence on playing him for old times’ sake (and similarly Ward as his favourite in our relegation season) was a key reason why we choked, then couldn’t really get going and finally relegated. Superficially, we saw and complained that our attacking play was poor/one dimensional and we could not get out of our own half - the almost sole reason is because Ndidi was played in the DM role (whether by himself or as part of two DMs). If the link between our CBs and central midfield is either missing or plays for the opposition, it is no wonder we could not get out of our half. If you remember, our CBs often had to send the ball only to the side (ie. to our left mid or right mid) because they had no option. We complained that our tactics was too one dimensional. But as I kept saying all those years, it is because we had Ndidi (no offense to him; not his fault for getting picked to play in that role where he is just not good enough for since 2020). For a long while, Ndidi knows it and he just goes missing (ie. he was hiding behind players so he didn’t need to get the ball). If you also remember, Rodgers had to compensate by bringing Tielemans or Maddison down to pick up the ball. But what a handicap we created for ourselves. This is why even with otherwise a top class midfield with Tielemans, Maddison, Barnes etc, we still managed to struggle for creativity 😖. And then we had Ward. When we won the league, people often say Kante was like having an extra player on the pitch. When Ndidi is in the DM role, it is like we have one less player. Worst, he becomes a liability as we lose the ball or breaks down play. My only hope if we are to have a good season is that Cooper only uses Ndidi in the way that he was used in the second half against Spurs - further up the pitch to try to win the ball in the final third. Like Maresca. He does have some good attacking sense in the final third.

A few observations: - we are back to playing hoof and press football, just like a newly promoted side. I would prefer that we try to retain the ball a bit and not hoof it up aimlessly. We are not that bad and the Maresca training should have helped. Not suggesting we always try to play out from the back either. In the last 15 mins, we could only defend because we just hoofed it up aimlessly. What a pity as we have some good dribblers and passers in the team and we had some momentum at the time - Ndidi being pushed to press up front in the second half was the game changer. The less he spends at the bottom of the midfield the better for reasons previously mentioned - Vardy still has it in his pressing game. Wish he scored that golden chance though - Justin had an excellent game - Great debut by B (I am not going to try to spell his name) - Mav and Ricardo need to start ahead of Reid and Kristiansen - early days but we are playing route one football again. I think we can be more sophisticated than that having played possession based football for the past 5 years

Should have got Reid off earlier.

Reid still on the pitch? Not sure he has done much today. Where is Ricardo?

Can we get Mav on for Reid?

He would have scored in his younger days.

Vardy had a lot of the far side to aim at! But he shot at the keeper!

How did Vardy miss??

Winks did t see Vardy

I like that Ndidi has gone up the pitch to press this second half.

We have nothing on the left because we have Ndidi there and Kristiansen is not great either. When are people going to see that Ndidi is a total liability. He disappears when we are in possession or worst he loses the ball as often as he can. He is like a black hole there. I write the season off if he continues to play in DM.

He has been a poor player for the past 4/5 seasons, except he was decent as an attacking midfielder in the Championship. There is a reason why no one came in for him even as a free transfer and he signed an extension. Brendan’s insistence on playing him (and Ward) was a key reason why we did not finish in the CL spots and later got relegated. This guy cannot dribble, cannot pass and cannot control the ball. He got found out a long time ago. The only place where his mistakes and lack of qualities in those areas can be compensated is as an attacking midfielder like last season where it does not matter as much he loses the ball there while admittedly he does have some good attacking senses. If he plays in DM, he is a total liability. This is nothing new. See all my posts from seasons ago. Cooper playing him in DM is worrying and a bad reflection on Cooper. Maresca at least saw this.

Ndidi only has a chance of playing in the PL with any sort of usefulness if he plays further up near the top like last season. Back in DM, he is useless as he was the season before we got relegated. Can’t dribble, gets bullied off the ball, can’t pass. Just a liability.