Tactics Under Maresca

[Kierzz]

Playing KDH on the right sided No8 when yunus came on didn't work as KDH so one footed (left). He couldn't take the ball to the byline and cut back which is a key move for us in the half space.

 

Also we seemed to try and play Justin as a second inverted full back in the second half to provide an extra midfielder. But that didn't work as he really can't play that role as we know.

 

Ricardo is going to be a massive miss in Ndidi's absence 

Edited 2 March by Kierzz
Typo

[lcfcsnow]

38 minutes ago, ithuriel said:

Honestly believe he does not know what else to try if plan A is not working, sit n hope.

We tried plan B today, unfortunately it was to invert two full backs instead of one

[shen]

You just cannot please all fans. If one half wants entertaining football, the other wants results. If one wants a dogmatic manager giving a clear identity, the other wants a pragmatic one that adapts style according to opposition/personnel. If one player is poor, the manager is blamed for not playing the alternative (as if he should have a magic 8 ball and know the future). I could go on.

 

The call for Albrighton was entirely silent for the first six months. McAteer was our top scorer and then no one doubts Maresca. We've literally had shouts for all four strikers to be starting during the first 30 games too.

 

The fickleness and lack of tactical understanding of fans is quite frustrating. 

 

No-one should be exempt from criticism and Enzo will get it wrong a few times, like today, but when people start comparing him with Rodgers (I imagine due to recency bias) I just shake my head.

 

Rodgers was a clueless chump for the best part of 2 years and Maresca has done a very admirable job over the course of the season to turn the tide 180 degrees. 

 

But with Maresca it feels he gets plenty of criticism when winning as well as losing. Almost as if his work so far has been taken for granted...

[Paninistickers]

The refusal to be pragmatic is helluva gamble I've never been comfortable with from the earliest part of the season. 

 

I like his style and understand what he's trying to do. 

 

But a routine pragmatic system of over/under lapping full backs and a second striker would've ripped this division alive. However, the ,Enzo way' is far better to next season when teams go toe to toe with us - as seen v Leeds, Bournemouth and Ipswich 

[CosbehFox]

Going off sulking down the tunnel post match isn’t endearing 

[splinterdream]

Perhaps it would have been better to have just brought Albrighton and Souttar on and pushed souttar up when in possession as a target. I wish Enzo wouldn't be so stubborn 

[StonyFox]

Persisting with an inverted full back moving into the centre of the field when they have parked the bus and crowded that area is inexcusable. It was obviously not working and our wingers were isolated. Why not try a conventional full back for 15 minutes to stretch them more and give them something else to think about. I understand the principle of the inverted full back to give an overload in the middle, but when a team sits so deep and fills the centre of the pitch with players you don't get the overload. There was so much space in our right back area in the second half, it was crying for someone to move out there to stretch their midfield and offer an overlap for Fatawu. 

[Hammo]

‘He only knows one way ‘ is fast becoming a valid criticism. Is he a man for a crisis? Or another shirker like Rodgers? Time will tell. But there is not much of it left this season now.

 

He has to find a way to adapt - and quickly - because teams that play all out defence and just wait for our predictable passing game to yield a mistake are lapping it up and starting to make his team look like clueless, complacent fools

 

Rodgers got sussed out and couldn’t or wouldn’t adapt.. The fear is that Maresca is going the same way.

 

Yeah, I’m angry. This was a bad bad defeat.

[Nod.E]

26 minutes ago, shen said:

You just cannot please all fans. If one half wants entertaining football, the other wants results. If one wants a dogmatic manager giving a clear identity, the other wants a pragmatic one that adapts style according to opposition/personnel. If one player is poor, the manager is blamed for not playing the alternative (as if he should have a magic 8 ball and know the future). I could go on.

 

The call for Albrighton was entirely silent for the first six months. McAteer was our top scorer and then no one doubts Maresca. We've literally had shouts for all four strikers to be starting during the first 30 games too.

 

The fickleness and lack of tactical understanding of fans is quite frustrating. 

 

No-one should be exempt from criticism and Enzo will get it wrong a few times, like today, but when people start comparing him with Rodgers (I imagine due to recency bias) I just shake my head.

 

Rodgers was a clueless chump for the best part of 2 years and Maresca has done a very admirable job over the course of the season to turn the tide 180 degrees. 

 

But with Maresca it feels he gets plenty of criticism when winning as well as losing. Almost as if his work so far has been taken for granted...

Said in another thread, the irony is that the gammons who have been waiting for this drop in form so they can pile in on Enzo, are finally able to now that we appear to be lumping the ball aimlessly into the box.

 

Are those same people now willing to accept that perhaps we were onto something before?

 

I reckon the issue is that our midfield has been decimated. But also, some players who we do have deputies for need dropping.

Edited 2 March by Nod.E

[Muzzy_no7]

It pains me to say it but I’m glad more and more are now finally opening their eyes to what I was saying in November. 
 

The lack of variety to our attack totally nullifies us. His complete reluctance to allow even 1 full back to overlap isn’t tactical brilliance, it’s stupidity. 
 

Fatawu and Mavididi aren’t consistently talented enough to continue to dominate in their 1v1 duels in order for us to break the line. More often than not they are both doubled up on and oppositions can afford to do that because we only ‘attack’ with 5 players. 
 

Im getting really sick of his arrogance and lack of willing to change games with tactical switches and multiple substitutions.

 

He has to turn this around, not just for us but for his career.

 

At one point it looked like his next career move after us would be a Napoli, Sevilla or similar…carry this on and he will be managing Sampdoria after Top sacks him for arguably the biggest championship flop ever. 

[Tuna]

Those Guillem 'trust the process' tweets are going to really grate if we bottle this thing aren't they

Edited 2 March by Tuna

[Guest Chocolate Teapot]

Just now, Tuna said:

Those Guillem 'trust the process' tweets are going to really grate if we bottle this thing

Buy a ticket to the dinner with him- be very very funny if we mess this up 🤣

[lcfcell]

Definitely one of the least enjoyable seasons I’ve had watching us from an entertaining pov. Rough. 

[RearsbyFox]

Maresca's tactics worked a treat until other teams cracked our code and realised it's a slow possession based approach which revolved around us getting the first goal soaking up pressure and hopefully getting a second on the counter. 

[KFS]

If he doesn’t change anything, our home games are what will keep us down. The blueprint is to sit 11 behind the ball and make us go sideways. 
 

I will say though, the 8s could pass quicker and at a more acute angle compared to what they do. No issue with the 5/6 passing around at the back, but the 8s and wingers have to sharpen up. 

[Nod.E]

9 minutes ago, KFS said:

If he doesn’t change anything, our home games are what will keep us down. The blueprint is to sit 11 behind the ball and make us go sideways. 
 

I will say though, the 8s could pass quicker and at a more acute angle compared to what they do. No issue with the 5/6 passing around at the back, but the 8s and wingers have to sharpen up. 

As much as I think Enzo has got a few things wrong (Nelson, KDH on right, selection of strikers/wingers), this is the biggest problem.

 

The system has treated us well, but it does rely on players in central areas being able to find a pass. It also relies on everyone on the pitch being capable of sharp, accurate passing to move the opposition about. QPR forced us wide, which meant Mavididi (won't pass), Fatawu (high shot or looping cross), and Justin (spooned out of play) saw an awful lot of the ball. 

 

As far as the system is concerned, it's small tweaks. We have to knock this floaty ball on the head. Personnel wise, I'm surprised Maresca hasn't swapped a few players out to better suit his idea of the game. Obviously as far as 8s are concerned, we don't have that depth 

Edited 2 March by Nod.E

[cityfanlee23]

25 minutes ago, Muzzy_no7 said:

It pains me to say it but I’m glad more and more are now finally opening their eyes to what I was saying in November. 
 

The lack of variety to our attack totally nullifies us. His complete reluctance to allow even 1 full back to overlap isn’t tactical brilliance, it’s stupidity. 
 

Fatawu and Mavididi aren’t consistently talented enough to continue to dominate in their 1v1 duels in order for us to break the line. More often than not they are both doubled up on and oppositions can afford to do that because we only ‘attack’ with 5 players. 
 

Im getting really sick of his arrogance and lack of willing to change games with tactical switches and multiple substitutions.

 

He has to turn this around, not just for us but for his career.

 

At one point it looked like his next career move after us would be a Napoli, Sevilla or similar…carry this on and he will be managing Sampdoria after Top sacks him for arguably the biggest championship flop ever. 

There’s definitely been an arrogance from a large section of fans that if you aren’t fully sold on the tactics or even dislike them, then you’re just too stupid to understand them. 
Our league position is great and we’ve had a big turnaround in fortunes, but there seems to be this consensus (on here atleast) that we are only top because of Enzos system, and that we couldn’t be top with any other. 
 

I like Enzo and I’m accepting his system is here to stay until the day he goes, so I’ve found more enjoyment in it, but I just wish he would be a bit more pragmatic, too many occasions this year we would have imo absolutely rolled teams over if we had adopted a different way of playing. (And no, I don’t mean route one before anyone assumes) 

Edited 2 March by cityfanlee23

[bluefox1]

Ok,a lot of players have had shockers over the last few weeks but ezo has to take most of the flak.

He trains them everyday,

He picks the team,

He sets the formation that they have to play,

He keeps playing people that are out of form but never subs them.

He only wants to play one way and thats his way.

To me if he cannot turn it around,we will become the biggest laughing stock.

Leeds,ipswich,southampton and those in the play offs have players that fight for their manager and club.

Our players dont show that.

[cruzFOX]

Enzo’s body language looked down today in the post match interview. Looks like the pressure is getting to him despite what he says. He also did not repeat the usual “we will lose some games, it is normal” schpeel.

even for him it’s getting old.

 

Next game is so massive now. 
If we lose that we are at a new low on so many levels. Cmon foxes wake the F up!

[Fox92]

1 minute ago, cruzFOX said:

Enzo’s body language looked down today in the post match interview. Looks like the pressure is getting to him despite what he says. He also did not repeat the usual “we will lose some games, it is normal” schpeel.

even for him it’s getting old.

 

Next game is so massive now. 
If we lose that we are at a new low on so many levels. Cmon foxes wake the F up!

He did say “it is what it is” again though. Cheers for that.

[Matt]

27 minutes ago, lcfcell said:

Definitely one of the least enjoyable seasons I’ve had watching us from an entertaining pov. Rough. 

Where have you been for the last 7 years?! Seriously.

 

[shen]

17 minutes ago, cityfanlee23 said:

There’s definitely been an arrogance from a large section of fans that if you aren’t fully sold on the tactics or even dislike them, then you’re just too stupid to understand them. 
Our league position is great and we’ve had a big turnaround in fortunes, but there seems to be this consensus (on here atleast) that we are only top because of Enzos system, and that we couldn’t be top with any other. 
 

I like Enzo and I’m accepting his system is here to stay until the day he goes, so I’ve found more enjoyment in it, but I just wish he would be a bit more pragmatic, too many occasions this year we would have imo absolutely rolled teams over if we had adopted a different way of playing. (And no, I don’t mean route one before anyone assumes) 

Obbiously not. There are new signings too, but getting a tune out of Vestergaard, KDH, Hamza and reinventing Ricardo is in very large part due to the tactical disposition of Enzo.

 

Instilling new belief in the squad and keeping them modest at the same time shows good squad management. He's been making big calls as well with squad selections which have by and large been very good.

 

Fewer injuries to key players (I would not have expected Ricardo, Justin, KDH, Winks or even Fatawu, Mavididi, Vestergaard to have as few injuries as they have) have also been a factor in sustaining our form while we've had the depth to try out different players e.g. up front and even give youth a chance.

 

It's a bit bizarre though to use "what if" arguments as it really downplays the benefits we've seen from this style over the first half season. Had we stuck with Dean Smith, do you think we would've had the same success?

 

[lcfcell]

16 minutes ago, Matt said:

Where have you been for the last 7 years?! Seriously.

 

I was only stating MY opinion, I’m sure it’s different for others. Don’t find the football interesting, we’re playing garbage sides, atmospheres are crap. Just haven’t found it an enjoyable season at all. 

[dannythefox]

We’re crying out for 3-5-2. 

[Matt]

1 minute ago, lcfcell said:

I was only stating MY opinion, I’m sure it’s different for others. Don’t find the football interesting, we’re playing garbage sides, atmospheres are crap. Just haven’t found it an enjoyable season at all. 

Fair enough, Enzo isn't exempt from criticism, far from it, but i've been trying to rip my eye balls out for much of the last 7 years previous.

 

What I will say is "playing garbage sides" isn't on Maresca and "crap atmospheres" is on us, the fans.