Cleverley being Cleverley. Hide himself away from the ball. Points towards other players when his teammate tried to play him. Offer nothing during defense. Afraid of taking chances.

Fletcher was almost playing as the lone midfield LEL

Everyone on the pitch yesterday was afraid to take chances. In the end, it was a 19 years old who got the balls to muster a shot outside penalty box.

The captain was the worst of the lot. Couldn't beat a defender, first touch like an amateur, no defense splitting passing ability. He offered almost nothing.

With british based players who have almost zero tactical knowledge, it will be a very painful transition. This type of play style needs the players to be aware of space all the time.

LvG is asking the players, especially midfielders to perform the task like example below.


Any of u guys who play football, try doing it. It looks simple enough but i can tell u it's freaking hard. By the time the ball arrive at ur feet u'll be completely confused and revert back to what u know and make a hasty decision.

Considering those risky passes made by Evan in the MK Don match, we are trying to do Pep's style here. Defenders need to be very comfortable with the ball and make decision fast.

This analysis by Gary Neville on Barca shows some very similar backline shape in the earlier game against Burnley


This post has been edited by pundex: Aug 31 2014, 05:18 AM