Great article. Lol I'd love to see Eriksen sprinting through the midfield like that. Reminded me more of iniesta than anyone, ball was so close to his feet and seemed to see things really early. Can't believe he's so young.
Can’t wait to see MacAllister and Wirtz playing together - so much creative thrust. But I do hope Grav is ready to cover a lot of ground for the team behind them.
Something to remember we do not have to accommodate Trent slipping inside like last year. That changes the whole shape of the team - hope Slot has a plan ready to make it all work!
Great article Josh! I will just leave you with one thought though - Both Eriksen & Mount did their best work in an inside left position with the license to drift towards central areas, and a marauding full back behind them hugging the touchline.
Wirtz is a joy to watch but if he is the 10, I do worry about the defensive side of our midfield. Szobo and his iron man legs saved us last year. Perhaps we will see a box midfield next season or a change in shape.
There’s just that ability to turn and skate round players, effortless nutmegs, that having more time than the players pressing him.. and then the weight of pass and awareness..
I fully expected us to go big for a striker.. someone who can drop deep and link but with pace in behind who can stretch the back 4 to create space
Once Wirtz signed to play the 10 and playmake from 10 it seemed even more inevitable that a true 9 would be signed to make the most of the 10.
Excitingly, we have also seen glimpses of Wirtz looking for Salah all the time, looking to provide that route to Salah through the centre which makes up for losing the Trent => Salah link
Yep, he'd shine out wide, he'd shine anywhere on the pitch, but we've paid £100m for him because of that very rare ability to be able to play in confined spaces, with his head up. Central.
But playing him up top wastes him.
As you noted a few weeks ago, this player is a combination of high talent + high involvement.
I don't want to see Wirtz coming off the field with 30 involvements, having spent the game up top waiting for the ball to come to him, watching us playing it round the centre backs 23/24 style.
I want him as the fourth man, either in a Cold War spy film set in Central Europe, or behind a front three for Liverpool, but with freedom to roam a bit (probably not as far as Central Europe). I want 60 involvements, 70, 80. Whatever. I don't have a specific number in mind. It's the principle of the thing. The more you get top players involved, the more good outcomes you're going to get.
He sees stuff very early (a Dalglish-like trait) so he has the ability to take a pass and already know where he's moving it on to, and to whom. It's like players like this have got a radar, sort of bat-like senses. People can produce all the tables of statistics that they like, I'd rather look at a player (though stats can be revealing as a secondary element).
I actually watched a training session the other day. I must have been bored. Flo's a wee bit taller than I'd thought, and quite a bit rangier, and quicker, such that I actually thought I was seeing Bradley bursting forward a couple of times during what looked like a 12 v 10 maybe (one of those training games where two players swap to whichever side is in possession), and then I realised it was Flo. Which is a good thing. He's more of an athlete than I was thinking.
Of course what he does need is the right '9' to pick out. Someone who can operate in a packed box, find space, make the right run at the right time. Someone who can finish with his first touch. So Isak then.
Could Flo even get a tune out of Darwin? Possibly he could, though I'd prefer a safer bet.
Great article. Lol I'd love to see Eriksen sprinting through the midfield like that. Reminded me more of iniesta than anyone, ball was so close to his feet and seemed to see things really early. Can't believe he's so young.
Can’t wait to see MacAllister and Wirtz playing together - so much creative thrust. But I do hope Grav is ready to cover a lot of ground for the team behind them.
Something to remember we do not have to accommodate Trent slipping inside like last year. That changes the whole shape of the team - hope Slot has a plan ready to make it all work!
Great article Josh! I will just leave you with one thought though - Both Eriksen & Mount did their best work in an inside left position with the license to drift towards central areas, and a marauding full back behind them hugging the touchline.
Wirtz is a joy to watch but if he is the 10, I do worry about the defensive side of our midfield. Szobo and his iron man legs saved us last year. Perhaps we will see a box midfield next season or a change in shape.
Wirtz has crazy pressing stats - think he was the highest for ball
Regains in the Bundesliga.
Pretty sure the reason they were willing to pay so much is he ticks all the boxes.
Interesting to see what happens with Dom though… I think we could see him all across the midfield and even at RB..
Agree. Dom turns into a bit of a Milner.
For sure… Wirtz has been bought to be 10.
Never in doubt.
There’s just that ability to turn and skate round players, effortless nutmegs, that having more time than the players pressing him.. and then the weight of pass and awareness..
I fully expected us to go big for a striker.. someone who can drop deep and link but with pace in behind who can stretch the back 4 to create space
Once Wirtz signed to play the 10 and playmake from 10 it seemed even more inevitable that a true 9 would be signed to make the most of the 10.
Excitingly, we have also seen glimpses of Wirtz looking for Salah all the time, looking to provide that route to Salah through the centre which makes up for losing the Trent => Salah link
He’s got the touch. The spacial awareness. The intuition. ... a bit like yourself Josh
Yep, he'd shine out wide, he'd shine anywhere on the pitch, but we've paid £100m for him because of that very rare ability to be able to play in confined spaces, with his head up. Central.
But playing him up top wastes him.
As you noted a few weeks ago, this player is a combination of high talent + high involvement.
I don't want to see Wirtz coming off the field with 30 involvements, having spent the game up top waiting for the ball to come to him, watching us playing it round the centre backs 23/24 style.
I want him as the fourth man, either in a Cold War spy film set in Central Europe, or behind a front three for Liverpool, but with freedom to roam a bit (probably not as far as Central Europe). I want 60 involvements, 70, 80. Whatever. I don't have a specific number in mind. It's the principle of the thing. The more you get top players involved, the more good outcomes you're going to get.
He sees stuff very early (a Dalglish-like trait) so he has the ability to take a pass and already know where he's moving it on to, and to whom. It's like players like this have got a radar, sort of bat-like senses. People can produce all the tables of statistics that they like, I'd rather look at a player (though stats can be revealing as a secondary element).
I actually watched a training session the other day. I must have been bored. Flo's a wee bit taller than I'd thought, and quite a bit rangier, and quicker, such that I actually thought I was seeing Bradley bursting forward a couple of times during what looked like a 12 v 10 maybe (one of those training games where two players swap to whichever side is in possession), and then I realised it was Flo. Which is a good thing. He's more of an athlete than I was thinking.
Of course what he does need is the right '9' to pick out. Someone who can operate in a packed box, find space, make the right run at the right time. Someone who can finish with his first touch. So Isak then.
Could Flo even get a tune out of Darwin? Possibly he could, though I'd prefer a safer bet.
If he doesn’t play centrally behind 3 forwards, he will be wasted.
"23/24 style" should read 24/25 style.
Tricky things, years that cross over two years. They're like tricky little wingers.