The Overlap Breakdown: Maresca's Chelsea Revolution And What's Going On With INEOS?

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0:34That's why results-driven companies are using Upwork to keep work moving. Go to Upwork.com today and start hiring proven freelance talent fast. No bulky overhead. No rigid long-term contracts. Just the right expert right when you need them. Work smarter and faster with Upwork. Go to Upwork.com now and find your freelance expert. That's U-P-W-O-R-K.com. Post a job for free and get started today. A mochi moment from Sadie, who writes. I'm not crying. You're crying. This is what I said during my first appointment with my physician at Mochi, because I didn't have to convince him I needed a GLP-1. He understood, and I felt supported, not judged.

1:16I came for the weight loss and stayed for the empathy. Thanks, Sadie. I'm Myra Ameth, founder of Mochi Health. To find your Mochi moment, visit joinmochi.com. Sadie is a Mochi member compensated for her story. Hello everybody, welcome back to the Overlap Breakdown podcast. As always, I'm joined by my co-host Umair, who's a professional football tactical analyst and scout. And if you wonder what's on the board next to me, this is the outcome of the review of the Tottenham-Chelsea game, which is out on the channel on Monday. But we're going to get straight into the overall topical Premier League talk, and we are going to start with this game because it was the biggest talking point of the weekend.

1:57So even though he have done the tactics and the review of it, I want to speak a little bit more in-depth about it. I think Chelsea have been the team that surprised everyone, not just in terms of the way they play in football. Because I think Mureska had a style, but we've always spoken about him being a bit more versatile and adaptable. But I think for me, the thing that's blown me away so much is kind of how he handles himself around the players. and he seems to have the assertiveness, the tactics, but he's so young in his head. But you get the sense that he's a lot older, a lot more mature, cool, calm customer.

2:35And what have you been impressed by the most with Moresca? Because I think for me, he's just been wicked, really, really good. You know what, I thought Moresca's Leicester was a bit more rigid. And I was worried that that would have been the case with Chelsea. I think the biggest compliment I can give Mareska is the way that I see football, the way that I think good coaches, good managers, good analysts work is by maximising people or team strengths and minimising the weaknesses by getting people in optimal situations, whether that's on the pitch or in the training ground or around teammates, etc.

3:17And what Mareska's done is got this really global, holistic picture of where individuals individuals are best suited. And then, you know, of course, at the beginning, in the transfer window, I assume it was because of the high-ups, but he had to make big decisions, or at least be the face of big decisions that he didn't necessarily make. And at that time, he received some criticism. I didn't love the way that he handled some of the senior players, Chilwell, Sterling, etc. Yeah, exactly. But I think that might have been something beyond him. The fact that that's a non-issue at the moment, he's got a young core group of players.

3:50he's not the oldest most experienced manager in terms of having accolades under his belt that drive home that respect but one he speaks really well two he's got a good understanding of what the club should be three he's getting the players motivated and using them in a way that they want to play Sancho off the left again playing with separation Cucurella playing in that back three but with the freedom to come inside so you take all of that on board and yeah he's I think he's set up to do really well for a long time I think this kind of team suits him as well I think how assertive he's been in terms of the squad when he came in he was doing the press conferences and he was talking about the size of the squad he had the way he handled that whole circus that was Chelsea at the time and how much criticism not only he received because he was the brunt of it or the face of it the club the manager but in terms of how he's reacted to that played football got the players so well gelled together and I think the way he's handled Nani Madaweke for me has probably been the thing that I've been quite like wow that just shows how test of a good manager he is and I think it was because he has good games Nani Madaweke and then he's never shy to be like oh he's had a good game but he always backs up with the next line is always but he can do better he should do better he's not training as good as he can be but it doesn't sound harsh it doesn't sound rude but I think I just think he's got the make-up of a really good coach and you've seen him now go head-to-head with a few good coaches.

5:23They played well in the start against Manchester City at the start of the season. I think everyone was impressed with them in that first game, but doing what they've done now, they accumulated midweek, the highest XG of an away team in Premier League history since Opta began recording XG in 2008. So I know the model's changed and everything, but that is huge. and to do what he's doing the rotation of the team especially midweek they played Tosin and De Sasse at the back it's funny because it feels like they got two teams doesn't it? no it does and it's really funny and they certainly get promoted from the B team whenever I speak to Chelsea fans they're always like oh he's doing really well on the B team he should go in the A team instead of like it's like in Serie A when you have like a reserve team and a first team it's like oh they need promoting from that team but I think the conference league has almost helped them with that the conference team is like it's often enough and it still feels important but you can play like you don't need to play all of your best players in there and it's just like if you perform really well in the B team you get a chance in the first like the Joe Felix I would say really getting there so no I think he's the way he's rotating the squad the way he's put his foot down the assertiveness but also the way he's galvanised a young core of players even since the first week I think me and you have been really high praise so moving on to Tottenham Ange Posikoglu's side has kept just one clean sheet in the past 22 Premier League home games a run which started with a 4-1 loss against Chelsea last November we've already covered this on Monday and we thought that it was one of Angie's weaker games in terms of what went on throughout the game but I think the centre half decision to start Romero van der Verne and then both being subbed off with injuries in the game was one of them where it was like wow nothing's going your way the thing is with a team like that in a situation like that it mirrors the city a little bit in the sense that we'll probably get onto it but Manchester City we didn't play Grealish and we didn't play Doku even though with both of them in the side it looked like that was a good solution to the problems that we've been having now with the fixtures coming in as often as they are how do you mitigate that because look if you play them and you win your game cool that's fine but by playing them every three days and they get injured you're potentially setting yourself up to have two months three months without a good run of form so with Ange he's under pressure did you see the clip where it was he went up to the fans and they were all booing him yeah the Bournemouth the Bournemouth game was really tough to watch the Bournemouth game and Iriel was a brilliant coach so we're not taking anything away from him the best friends are completely opposite it's funny how different they are in terms especially obsession but I think it's really it's really touchy right now in the Spurs fan base because I think fans are looking at the transfer window in the summer I loved the transfer window I thought I was young, exciting.

8:13But then when we come into the season, I was like... Oh, you realise the floor is a little bit, isn't it? Yeah, it's like they've not actually improved us. When the first team come out and I was like, they've not added anyone in there. It felt like Kulzevski was a new player because he was playing central. But then after the few weeks gone by, I was looking at the team and I was like, even when Odeberg is now not playing and Bergwijn and Grey aren't ready, and it's like they've not really improved this team at all. I've read the thing before where it says, if a top team is going to sign players or build or rebuild, you're trying to look for players who can come in and displace the starters and then your starters almost become your bench players.

8:51Obviously, that's not a hard and fast rule by any stretch of the imagination, but it feels like Spurs could have done with that more to take them to that next stage rather than raising the floor for two or three years' time. That's what it is. Especially when you've got a manager who plays such high-octane football and it's like, all it takes is two months of bad results and that process is over kind of thing. Well, yeah, and with how physical the league is, with how often the fixtures do come in, you need players who are first-team quality to rotate with the ones that are playing right now because that midfield two or three, the amount of games that they are playing themselves, I mean, they're going to be struggling in a few weeks for sure.

9:29Yeah, no, it's going to be a really rough... It sounds like you're saying this every week, but it's going to be really rough for Spurs. I really hope we can get through to the summer. I think Daniel Levy has got a massive job on his hands in terms of the way he's going to recruit moving forward. I think he has to learn. He has to learn from the window he's just had that the manager... I've seen this a lot in the press. I'm not sure how true it is, but it does seem like Postacoglu isn't really putting his foot down too much with the signings and demanding stuff, which can be seen as a good thing when you look at how Antonio Conte handled it.

10:00Very, very different, stuff like that. You kind of need results to force a hand a little bit. And it's like you can't go up to the board. But you can't get results if you don't have to pay, isn't it? It's just like a never-ending cycle for Postacoglu, So I'm really worried that moving forward, I think they've just entered a really tough run of fixtures as well, Tottenham. So, yeah, really not looking good, especially with the injuries. But we're going to move on into Manchester United 2, non-Gumphorish 3.

10:30Well, not that, just the past week of Manchester United. It's interesting. No, yeah. What performance did you think was better?

10:43I thought the Forest game wasn't bad. I thought the Forest game was decent. But I just look at this team and I just go, the individuals making mistakes, the mental, the lapses in concentration, some of the emotional showing of the team. Manchester United have had this thing for a decade now, where I think because they've never really been a stable club post-2013, The heightened emotions, this is why we always played so good on the break, is because you can just spring so fast. And I think Ruben Amarim's coming in, and the first thing he's gone is we need to slow down, everything's so fast-paced.

11:24But because they're so trained in this idea that they need to go first, fast, always, so transition-heavy, it's like when the ball's turned over and the game becomes just a little bit frantic for like five minutes. They double-triple down into that, don't they? It's like if an opposition has two shots against you, they might not even be high quality shots but if it's deflected gone for a corner the away fans start cheering the squad panics so quickly and it's like as soon as that as soon as that happens it's like the inevitable is coming we're going to concede one we're going to chase the game we're going to concede another chasing the game and then someone's going to get booked for kicking out and it's just like like I said it after the Forest game I think you can talk about your technical your tactical and all that stuff but I just think some of the emotions and the mindsets when playing for a club of this size is scary bad because I'm just watching players make these stupid stupid I'm watching players dribble across the top of the box and take a shot from 40 yards out when we've just recycled the ball for about 5 minutes looking to find little holes in the shape and it's like what are we doing?

12:27It just makes no sense and if that wasn't enough the director of football has just left after 5 months I know what did you make of that? I've been really I've been really quiet on it because Ineos have hit a couple red flags early on Yeah and Because everyone was really excited by their appointment Yeah Well I was And the names that they kind of went for Yeah appeared to be you know on abroad for example Man City Dan Ashworth Newcastle and they've all been parts of big projects I don't know whether or not Dan Ashworth's influence is probably a little bit overstated in the sense that Yeah perhaps he was working for establishments that did good work rather than being he was a background man maybe he did good work but maybe he wasn't the sole proprietor of that good work people are seeing Ratcliffe kind of leaving quite individually on things and making decisions himself as well so I don't know it's just like I think when a new ownership of at least the football inside of the club comes in and they make all the cuttings that they have done in terms of the costs.

13:39And they back that up with some very, very speculative decisions in the summer, in the window, the Ten Hag stuff, letting him stay but then sacking him after X amount of games, giving him players that, again, didn't really make sense in terms of addressing the overall picture of the squad. It was just really confusing for me. And I'm in a situation now with Ineos where it's, I think, for me to believe in them and trust them they have to get the next big one right they have to handle the next situation right because what I've seen as a United fan is since they've come in we've won an FA Cup but it was the worst Premier League season in the history of the club they then kept the manager which is completely fine I had no like I wasn't yes or no with it but it was the worst season in Manchester United's Premier League history we had to be realistic they didn't extend him they just did the option Yeah And they took some time As well Yeah and they took some time Weeks and weeks After looking for loads Of new managers And now I'm sat here In a position where I'm like Well you already weren't Confident in him We're going into a season You spent 200 million On plays that kind of Suit him a little bit Yeah More than you'd expect Probably Yeah and it's like Now we're four months in And it's They've sacked him They brought a new manager in I think Amron brings them Some goodwill back though Because I do think He's a good appointment Yeah it's always going to be a circus Manchester United at the moment so I'm just not even but Chris Wood obviously scored in this game shout out Chris Wood he's now the top goal scorer for two Premier League clubs only Alan Shearer is the other player in Premier League history to have done this or to have maintained it so Burnley and Forrest he's now the top goal scorer for both them clubs there was a start I think was it last season the amount of non-penalty goals that he got for his minutes played like I was talking about it at the time when Tony was sort of rumoured to be moving clubs and things and everyone would say oh look Tony's a brilliant player he's a£50 million player £60 million player I think Chris Wood was like equal or on more non-penalty goals in like half the minutes and no one ever talks about Chris Wood as that kind of it's sort of in the same mould as you know Ivan Tony or the likes of those mid-table Premier League players who get towered as moving up Mitra for example but I think Chris Wood fits into that as like Premier League players really high quality the way he attacks the line I think his movement really impressive so yeah I think he really deserves his roles more than more than people really let on because the Forest performance performances this season rather in playing as kind of pragmatic as they have been doing it's not an easy job and by the way he's benching Awanigi who's such a good player Analanga yeah I've got a stat here that says the most valuable goal scorer is in the Premier League this season so it's the amount of goals they've scored and the amount of points that them goals have won.

16:34So Chris Wood has scored 10 goals which have won Forrest 12 points which is tied with Harlan who's also won 12 points. And he's basically the only guy. And we'll get on to you don't worry. The only guy who's scoring. But yeah I think securing 12 points pretty much not on your own but you're putting the ball on the back of the net. As a primary kind of attacker. 12 points for Forrest. If you took 12 points off Forrest I don't even know where they'd be but they're not anywhere near the top. and I think to do what he's doing right now at the age he's doing it at with the confidence he's doing do you know when you listen to him talk he just like does not care but he talks like he belongs in that top of the goals he's like he does it he has done it all his career there's a reason why the top goal scorer for two different clubs but it's like but he has the aura of someone he has quite a number of goals he's like fair enough you are yeah he's like I can't even dispute that fair enough so yeah we've just done a little bit of research so Nottingham Forest if you minus the 12 points that Chris would have scored would be 17th in the league which yeah I mean you could certainly put other strikers in there who don't get about maybe 3 or 4 goals and you're still sort of bottom yeah to put it into context the players below him Haaland 12 points Mohamed Salah 11 points Visser 8 points and Bermot 8 points so the Brentford duo have got 16 points between them and do you know what we'll move on to we'll move on to Brentford So Brentford After their win over Newcastle Have now won more home points Than any other side In the Premier League This season with 22 22 points after These amount of games Is their most obviously In their league history And it's their first win Against Newcastle In Premier League history Which is crazy in itself But On the flip side of that They are 19th In the away table I think they're parallel So they're better Than Liverpool at Anfield And they're about as bad as Southampton in their away form this season.

18:32Yeah, and I think, as we just mentioned there before, Visser and Mbwemo have won Brentford 16 points. Yeah. And I don't know what the phrase is called, but they've left Ivan Toni behind and got better. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it just feels like they can do no wrong. Ewing theory. Ewing theory. Yeah. And it's, yeah, you see these videos of Thomas Frank on social media galvanising the players after the game. yeah just top coach top team I just I don't understand the away from I might really have to do a deep dive do you know the home thing it's like you would understand it if they were like a forest massive following big stadium but it's not they just feel at home maybe they get travel sick yeah a bit shy away so they've got a minus nine goal difference with one point away from home Southampton are the only team worse than that.

19:28But to give you an idea, Southampton have got a minus 11 with one point. Brentford have got a minus 9 with one point. So they're virtually the same away from home. Yeah, it's Liverpool and Southampton if you're going home and away. But Brentford are clear at the top. Eight games played, plus 12 goal difference, 22 points. Liverpool and Arsenal are below and with a game in hand. But even if they both win the game in hand, they still don't eclipse Brentford's form at home. The market's uncertain. Revenue's tied and hiring on hold. That's why results-driven companies are using Upwork to keep work moving.

19:59Go to Upwork.com today and start hiring proven freelance talent fast. No bulky overhead. No rigid long-term contracts. Just the right expert right when you need them. Work smarter and faster with Upwork. Go to Upwork.com now and find your freelance expert. That's U-P-W-O-R-K.com. Post a job for free and get started today. A mochi moment from Mark, who writes. I just want to thank you for making GLP-1s affordable. What would have been over$1 ,000 a month is just$99 a month with Mochi. Money shouldn't be a barrier to healthy weight. Three months in, and I have smaller jeans and a bigger wallet. You're the best.

20:41Thanks, Mark. I'm Myra Amid, founder of Mochi Health. To find your Mochi moment, visit joinmochi.com. Mark is a Mochi member compensated for his story.

20:56Hi, it's Gary Neville here. Join me and the team every week on Stick to Football. Semi-final Villa Park, sent off for a stamp on Gareth Southgate. Yeah, and he deserved it. You've never cooked a chicken? No, I've never cooked anything. Oh my God! I think there are a few teams that we play against that weren't clean. We thought it at the time. So I've changed it over to X Factor. I've hit the remote, so he's come back in these few weeks. Three most overrated things in life. Parties. Smiling. And fireworks. Stick to football every week, wherever you get your podcasts. I feel like everyone got a lot off the chest there.

21:35So we're going to move on into the Arsenal game, which is a very interesting one-all draw. I mean, Arsenal in general, I think, at the moment. Yeah, very... Tetchy. I mean, we were actually lyrical about them in the tactics piece just gone, about probably a week ago now. and we focused in on that right hand side the rotations between that side and it was very sort of Timber's involvement was very important to those movements where he attacked inside but he also allowed Saka to move inside or the guy to pick the ball deeper and then often one of Jorginho or Havertz did move to that flank, become a plus one and it was very right side heavy the left side is showing problems in terms of one, a chemistry between the players and then two just generally finding solutions for that.

22:24I think a lot of people are blaming Martinelli, but I think it's probably harsh to blame Martinelli alone. For this one, yeah. Yeah, obviously when Calafiore does come in, that side looks quite strong. You have Declan Rice often playing on that side and I don't think he's as inclined to be a scorer or contribute to the attack like Odegaard does. Yeah. And in the game that we just saw, Timber played on that left side. I assume, obviously, you've got the injuries. Zinchenko probably not preferred on that side but I do think by moving Timbot onto that side you've got three right footed players so you lack angles in terms of recreation I have got a stat here Arsenal haven't kept a clean sheet in any of their last six Premier League away games their joint longest run without one during Mikel Arteta's time which is quite scary because they've gone from being this I'm not going to say they aren't defensively solid still because Fulham had virtually I think they had three touches in Arsenal's box the entire game and the finish from Jimenez is ridiculous I know I said I love these finishes where it's like right side right foot he's not even like he's so high on the box like I don't know how he's got it in and like yeah just them finishes where they take it from Rashford used to it all the time yeah same side into the far poles yeah and it's just like I don't know how they squeeze it angle wise yeah so but also Arsenal have now scored 20 goals from set pieces excluding penalties in the Premier League in 2024 it's their joint most in a calendar year in the competition they also scored 20 in 2009 so obviously everyone's saying the old Arsenal the old Arsenal would be terrified of this team but yeah they're tied with 2009 which is the Wenger team so what do you make of that as in because I think it would be foolish to say that Arsenal are fine in open play transgression no I don't think they are what I've said and I said this a couple years ago actually but I said the way that Arsenal as a team and their game model has trended is in reducing variance.

24:24My point is essentially that by having really strong players who win duels across the pitch and by having a team that holds the ball for 70 % of the game, in theory, you're going to have one or two breaks where you score. And especially if you maximise the fine margins in terms of set pieces, you don't need to be brilliant in terms of unpicking a defence because by having so much of the ball, by giving virtually nothing up in your own box and by having really strong set pieces and shots from around the area, you're going to ideally, in theory, force the issue at least once in 90 minutes. Yeah, for sure.

25:03And it's focused on not losing rather than being very good at breaking down a team. Because you lose some of that balance. For example, Manchester City, let's say we've got a lot of players who are good at picking the opposition's defence apart from number 10 areas when you do play some of those players perhaps you're more susceptible to giving big chances away so it's a system that's focused on reducing variance reducing chance but we're probably seeing the negative parts of that now when some of your attacking chances don't fall fall your way basically don't you think? I think that's probably the most risk averse I've seen a title challenger in the past few years in the Premier League I think I don't really have a complaint about it because I understand that I think this is one of the highest quality average Premier Leagues we've ever seen, I think the average Premier League team, I was looking the other day and I was looking at my team and I was going I'm watching Fulham and like Bournemouth and Brentford and Brighton and they're just better than us, like they're just better than us and I know it's outcome bias and like recency bias in terms of how bad we are but we've been this bad for about a year, so like, yeah I think just the standard so I understand why he's being more risk averse and why he's as you said there in theory I think it makes sense yeah no yeah it makes sense and I think at the moment over 38 game season especially yeah I think at the moment Arsenal have got some absolutely unbelievable players like they've got Saliba they've got Erdegaard they've got Saka um a very special player I think we've said this so many times I think Arsenal are just missing that firepower attacker Saka is absolutely brilliant everyone knows this but he cannot keep doing this there has to be another player in the forward line who can just create something out of nothing I thought when it was Zinchenko, Xhaka and Martinelli even though individually there's not that wow player Zinchenko is really good at arriving in those areas and also build up like his technical security was top in those areas.

27:14Great at finding players in those small spaces. Xhaka could always pop in with a goal and also have the legs to drop back in. Yeah. And I really liked him higher up. It was almost like that Gundogan kind of role. And then you had Martinelli who I feel like he had a bit more sort of brightness and spark. He was gaming to the crash in the box. Yeah. So I don't think, so I do agree you need some more just star quality. That left eight position, I know Decker Rice is good in there. Yeah. And he's a brilliant footballer. but I think you need a player who can create something and I'm not saying get rid of the dueling nature of that player but have a player who can create something and especially sort of move out to that left flank and bring Martinelli inside a little bit because I think, yeah, I thought Shaq had done that quite well.

27:58I will say this, I don't like Declan Rice's in it. I think it's not borderline useless. I think it's massively, massively disrespectful to what he's actually good at. I know why they do it I know to have a Jorginho at the base Is a lot better in terms of circulating the ball And receiving the ball back to goal And knowing what to do in them situations And he's pushing Decan Rice on yes Because he can win duels high Theoretically you think he could crash the box well Theoretically you also think he could aerials All of that But I think you just lose so much of the team's dynamics When you're doing all this I think if you had Even a Mourinho I know he's just come in but it's like even if you just had someone like that who can get a goal consistently you know what I mean I'm not talking about I think like I know it doesn't make sense obviously now he's gone anyway but like sort of like a peak Smith row for example yeah do you know what I mean like a yeah like someone who can offer just a little bit of different dynamics a different goal getting quality I think the ability to rotate to the flanks is important because you've got Odegaard who can do it on this side Timber as well when Calafiore is in there and obviously he's been injured so that's another sort of negative to that side's configuration but you do have that ability for someone to attack those half spaces but also rotate out to the flank and it's harder for teams to match up on that but yeah a left footed player they need some left side angles the left eight is going to be such a hard player to identify moving forward for Arsenal because in theory from what we've seen a Mikel Arteta team use there it's like they need to be strong fast like a second pivot player who can also score goals consistently consistently or create goals consistently and that is like he's made such a hard profile to find though and like even if you wanted to say how they're doing right now they'd have to be like above 6 foot 2 so it's like how do you find that anywhere in Europe and he's like he puts Kai Havertz there but he looks absolutely toothless in that position Kai Havertz looks better in the name but yeah you lose some of that sort of box dominance don't you I think it's worrying I don't think it's worrying for Arsenal but I just think they are I think Long run They'll be fine Yeah Because even if you're They're not losing games I said that They're the hardest team To beat in the league That's what I've said But They're drawing games They're drawing games In I think Chelsea Are losing more than them Liverpool are losing More than them But obviously They're winning more Because they play In a more risky fashion And perhaps that risk Over a longer period of time Will cause those teams To fall off a little bit And Arsenal can Be in with the chance but I think yeah I think there's just like a psychological aspect you don't want it to become a point where it's like you're drawing too much and you're getting hard on yourself and you're not for sure right we're going to move on to the last game and we're only going to touch on this briefly because yeah sorry mate painful Crystal Palace 2 Manchester City 2 I think I draw from the stats I've got in front of me they had the same shots as you yeah which is pretty scary I found out there No, you can't doubt the deal.

31:06But it's 1.34 expected goals to 1.45, despite you having 69 % of the ball. You had the same shots. Yeah, just really worrying for you, isn't it? I think expectations for the season have to be a little bit... So much more reserved. Yeah, like Guardiola's mentioned it himself, because I think the quote was, this is a season to suffer, something like that. and one I thought the red card was harsh I thought the red card was really really harsh in fact I think Rico probably got kicked out a bit I know I think Rico was like didn't kick up anywhere near as much of a fuss as I would have I think it's crazy how you can't VAR second yellows that send someone off I don't understand I know why because you can't bar a yellow all that but for that one it's so obviously not a second yellow card the thing is like our game was still flawed like irrespective of that yeah of course I think we're certainly improving since the bad run of form but a lot of our team decisions sorry since the bad run of form I mean it's still in it yeah literally the whole season the one we got we got a draw I mean our you know fortunes are turning sorry so yeah like I think in theory we've got ideas in terms of how we can play but They're all dependent on personnel.

32:34Doku, Grealish, both of them didn't play, even though they were really impressive. Grealish in central midfield, Doku on the wing midweek, but they'd just come back from injury. I think Pep said, well, the players who came back, played the game, went straight to the massage table, been recovering, and I'm not going to put them back in straight away the week after. So look, if Grealish did play in there, if Doku played on that flank, I think it would be a lot better. Nunes, for his good quality on the flank when he first came into the team this season slows things down a little bit especially against Palace good ball for the cross sorry good cross for the ball good cross for the goal sorry so yeah no no I think his final ball only him and De Bruyne kind of have that in their locker this season for City but yeah it's very personnel based you've got Akanji who isn't fit Ake who was brilliant again not fully fit who else is out Rodri's out Kovacic is out so Gunn1's playing every game Grealish not fully fit Doku not fully fit Foden out as well so injuries are basically taking the toll I think and perhaps in retrospect we should have rebuilt a bit more in the summer but you can't predict these things every injury increases the amount of minutes another player has to play and then it's a domino effect isn't it got a stat here that says in the Premier League since September 22nd you are second for big chances conceded but the three teams around you are Southampton Leicester Ipswich which is so poor so you've conceded 37 in that time Ipswich have conceded three less than you okay so that's a start yeah you're not that bad but you've joined with Leicester and Southampton have got six more than you so I think it's everything we've just said is just kind of compiled into one I think poorish squad building in the summer whether or not that's because of financial reasons we don't know, like PSR, stuff like that obviously the squad got a little bit older in the summer wasn't freshened up enough the injuries have caused a massive domino effect throughout the entire team I think Pep is trying to stay with the same shape and structures and principles so the team don't lose the rhythm of what they're trying to do but he's also being assertively and aggressive in his approach game on game and I think it's very it's not worrying because I think even you've got to the point now where it's like you're not expecting much yeah it's like this is how the past like four seasons have been for me you get with ten games and you're like go again next year lads so believe me I know how you feel but I just want to see like an interesting solution because Guardiola's always come up with a nice solution and he's had more plays at his disposal than he's had this season obviously when Grealish came in like I was really impressed to see him in that midfield and him perform really nicely in that midfield when Foden's back in the team there's certainly solutions I think Foden has good physicality good legs I think Grealish does the same thing Nunes on that flank's an option I think Kyle Walker's at a point where he's surplus to what we need and he's playing because there's injuries it's just getting worse every week though it's really sad he's just playing himself further deeper into the bad form I think he's playing the best of his ability And the only position he can play Is in that right of a three But that's such a Dangerous position to be in If there's not that cover in midfield And he's losing his legs himself As we've seen over the last few weeks So look It's tough in general I think with everyone fit There's solutions to put a Put a winning run up I think every solution that we've come up with I always in the back of my mind and go but that's why he's not doing it and that's completely like fine do you know what I mean like the only thing I'm thinking now which is like it sounds foolish but like can you put Nunes in at right back if Kyle Walker's not playing in there yeah get him to go inside yeah or just have him overlap yeah completely because I think even we said I mentioned to you the Akanji thing about going inside and he tried it against Liverpool but then he watched the Liverpool game and was like nah yeah to be fair Liverpool were really impressive at Preston yeah maybe you can get away with it against another team but the game before the Palace one, Kanji playing right back looked good, Ake and Diaz in centre back looked good, Guardiola as the left back, I think that as a back four is probably the best we've got.

37:11You got at the moment. I mean we don't even have it at the moment but in theory. Or John Stones but his injury forms again hit and miss. I don't think there's much we can do besides wait for the players to come back except maybe try Nunes on that flag yeah just to get back it yeah maybe try forwarding as one of the second midfielders rather than in the forward four at least you've got an easy game next week oh yeah the only other team who's worse at you at the moment I always look at our table and I think we've played so badly and you're just not dropping because no one else is picking up points yeah why are we still there and then I'm thinking like god how bad was United being to be do you know when Spurs are going to Bournemouth right they were still in bad obviously they're in very bad form now but if they would have won the game against Bournemouth and they were like four for fifth and I was like how?

37:59how? and even if you look at us now and you look at the table you go we're not out of this yet we've lost so many games and it's like that's what I mean everyone's just beating everyone and the Premier League's at a standard where it's like just a quick point I think like so I saw I can't remember who it was now but someone mentioned almost every team is trying to build out from the back super deep everyone's trying to go man for man high pressure everyone's trying to use their individual superiority to get the best of those 1v1 jewels they're all playing on these set pieces it's almost in the same way that how the Bundesliga transformed while Guardiola was there it's gone in the same way where like how the Bundesliga and its tactics generally were implemented that's how the Premier League has kind of gone and I think the only thing that differentiates those when the game models are so similar only two things differentiate or three things if I say one injuries two fine margins so throwing routines or set pieces and three player quality I know you were going to say the player quality one because aside from those three things if everyone's playing in a similar style there's no difference but it's like even when we went away to Ipswich Ruben Amarim's first game and it's like I've watched Ipswich like a couple times this season even they're trying to do like the good things right yeah like you know the things that everyone tries to get down it's like we're going to go 3-2-5 we're going to go man for man we're going to press high it's just individual everyone's got the same.

39:25Yeah, the only, sorry, probably the only other thing I mentioned is, in that fine margins thing, I would include like, just getting the better of individual players' tendencies. So like, if Kukurela jumps and you're playing Chelsea, have someone running behind there. Or if a certain... Like the minimal in-game stuff, do you know what I mean? Like the little, just going up to a player and going, you get, you do that, you do this. I think that's a really good point. I think, I think you're spot on, honestly. Because when Ruben Amirim come in, I mentioned this, it's like, we talk about suboptimal structures in and out of possession and stuff like that weird pressing shapes and all that but in some of the games we've already seen Ribbon Amarim try to go to more of a 4-4-2 just by having players reference points a little bit all over the place just to make a 4-4-2 and it's like even though we're playing 3-4-3 on paper and everyone makes it a 3-back we're 3-2-5 on attack we're 4-4-2 out of possession which is literally every single other club in the Premier League right now and we're going man for man so everyone's doing the same thing and this is why If you've got a coach who can...

40:24Well, I think every Premier League coach, even Championship League 1, League 2, can coach good structures in and out of possession. But it's just what you're saying there, which is about the variances. Yeah, and putting your... In mentioning player quality, I'd say platforming that player quality. So, for example, if I've got De Bruyne, I don't want to put him in the double pivot like you've done for Belgium. Yeah, profiling. Yeah, I'll put him in the right half space. I'll get him overlapping, I'll get him playing with the left-right winger. That's why Horeska's been so good, hasn't it? Exactly.

40:52Because he's come in and he knows exactly where every player's going to go. He's got the player quality, no injuries, individual tweaks, and then also profile level well. And I think even that takes like 10 games until managers lock it down. Do you know what I mean? Like, Rivenham is still chopping, changing in his shape, but you know eventually he's going to fall on something and he's going to have a profile for each position and they don't budge. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, but I think with United, they're lacking some of that individual quality. Yeah, so... No, no, it's a really good point.

41:21I think Bundesliga fad is the Premier League. Yeah, and not in the way where I know City wouldn't leave for years in a row kind of thing, but I think I'm talking about it more from a global trend in the tactics kind of thing. Well, it's even in the pyramid. Yeah. If you think about it, it's even in the pyramid like championship teams are doing the exact same thing. I would say innovation comes from like second division, third division, fourth division. Bundesliga 2, Serie B, Serie C. I don't know too much about football in terms of League 1, League 2. Yeah. So I don't know if that's happening in those divisions.

41:52Well, everyone in League 1, it's not everyone, but most of the teams who have gone up from League 2 and League 1 when I was there always, always played a 3. So either a 3 or a 5. So on paper, because I've always spoken about this, if you play a 3 or a 5, it is so much easier to go to your in-possession, out-possession shape because your running rarely is only down to your wing-backs. So if you've got young, energetic wing-backs who can go last line and then transition back to a 3 and a 5. Theoretically, you can set up with a 3-5-2 and then a 2-3-5 so easily. Yeah, like it takes about a couple of games.

42:29Yeah, just a couple of games for your full-backs to run up and down. And then the defensive shapes are not as difficult to break down, I assume. The problem, obviously, with the 5-2-3 shape is your wing-backs are the ones who are supporting the counter-attacks. So then you lose a bit of that. If your midfielders are, they get there quicker, but your wingers find it or sorry your wingbacks find it harder to get there and the thing as well is because like the physical flooring of them leagues are lower it's like when your players do go to the when they do transition it's like there are moments of just complete rest in the games so you can account for if I make a 50 yard sprint that player's going to be unaccessible for a minute but everyone on the pitch is that same level do you know what I mean so yeah it's just various but I think yeah it's getting to a point where everyone's doing the same thing and it is just the minimalistic tweaks in games from managers and that is why when Ruben Amarim has come in and I looked at the structures and stuff I was like how is he as a person let me see his personality how likeable is he how well does he communicate and I feel like when you look at throughout English football the company went from English to German league and he looks to have done the same right beautiful chat thank you very much yes boss as always if you did like Please do like, comment and subscribe and we'll be back next week for more Premier League reviews.

43:53Thank you very much.

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