Dom

I can’t look past picking Arsenal to lift the trophy again at the end of the upcoming Premier League season. 3 things they require to almost confirm the title is a ‘star’ signing, this means someone who can take a game by the scruff of the neck and carry their team to victory (Vini Jr). Man City had this under Pep with De Bruyne and Haaland, Klopp had this with Salah and Mane. They also need a backup to Saliba at RCB as the quality in squad depth isn’t as strong as it could be despite how well Mosquera finished last season. Finally, IF they are to keep Rice in the left 8 (I personally don’t think they will) but if they do then there are better DM’s out there than Zubimendi. Then if they have the luxury for 1 more signing it should be to sell Ben White and replace him with someone better to again continue to improve the quality in squad depth. ———————————- In regards to their opponents I just can’t see a certified challenger that will accumulate 85+ points, Man City have had gigantic off pitch developments this summer with Rodri, Bernardo and most importantly Pep all leaving. All 3 are practically irreplaceable. Not only that. but tactically they’re not as good as they were under Pep with the press against Milan being bypassed many times. Of course this could be down to it being early days in the Maresca era, but we can only go off what we’ve seen in pre season. Liverpool who I did an entire thread on don’t look prepared for this season whatsoever, a complete lack of signings to address the physicality problems which have gotten greater and greater season after season, they have a real lack of squad depth too. Combine that with how vulnerable they currently are in transition and I can’t see them challenging for the title at this moment in time. Manchester United have superb quality in the final 3rd and have improved out of possession throughout their pre season period in comparison to what we saw last season, in my opinion they are currently the closest team I see to challenging Arsenal. However they’re by no means perfect, they could also do with an elite touchline winger who excels at holding the width, the individual quality of their defence could also be improved. Chelsea I haven’t seen much of but going off what I’ve seen from accounts I trust on here, he seems to have started pretty positively. However even without watching them I notice they absolutely need to sell players. Far too many players on their books. Tottenham have been super impressive under Roberto De Zerbi and I personally think they’ll finish inside the top 4, clear identity and foundations already, 4-2-4 in deep build up looking to use the double pivot to utilise bounce passes to find their spare man. Wide triangles on both sides. Many tactical qualities combined with a what’s been a very successful transfer window, no doubt a positive culture too based off De Zerbi’s standards and personality. I think there’s a chance they could compete for the title, I just think it might be a little too soon. Overall Arsenal look the most equipped for the upcoming season, the other usual competitors have undergone many changes which might take time before we see success. 🔴

Embarrassment how United have gone about this Carrick situation, absolutely embarrassing. Rotten football club.

I’m not sure if Pochettino is the man to return United to the glory days, however there are certainly worse options out there. His USA team were fluid within a rigid structure and played with intensity both in and out of possession. They had one of the most aggressive well setup counter presses of the whole tournament, now imagine how that’ll get the fans going at Old Trafford. He got the best out of Pulisic, got the best out of Palmer at Chelsea, got the best out of Alli at Spurs. He clearly knows how to maximise the system to get the best out of his squad’s best player no matter where he’s at. This is encouraging for Fernandes, Mbeumo and Cunha. His time at Chelsea was often quite chaotic, the system would change too regularly. I remember he put on some incredibly impressive tactical displays during the 23/24 pre season giving me immense hope for Chelsea that season, then changed to a less optimal system for the actual league season. It’s certainly a hard one to predict as to how it will end. I see positives as well as negatives. Looking at other available managers right now I don’t see which is a significantly better option. Emery won’t leave Villa, Farioli won’t leave Porto, others such as Pep and Slot are unrealistic. Nagelsmann put on some really disappointing tactical displays at the World Cup with Germany being so overly static in possession and lacking 1v1 threat in wide areas. Deschamps has apparently already said no, Southgate…just simply no. Eddie Howe is an option but I do wonder if he has the charisma to turn things round at a club which is probably the most toxic it’s ever been even for their standards. Then it’s the likes of Thomas Frank, Thiago Motta and Roberto Martinez all of which will just simply not get the job. I hope Pochettino happens, if he displays the tactical performances we saw for the USA, then I see bundles of success occurring at Old Trafford. If he displays the tactical performances we saw for the majority of his time at Chelsea, then I don’t see him being there by the middle of next season.

Today I have been working on setting up an analysis newsletter as I have received 3 DM’s from separate people advising me to start one, all the details will be posted in the coming days. I’m very excited to launch this, thank you to my followers as this wouldn’t be possible without you. 🙏

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Poch had USA playing some top football, give the quoted tweet below a read that I wrote during the World Cup.

Right decision to let Carrick go in my opinion, Pochettino had USA playing some of the best football tactically of the whole tournament. Very aggressive, front footed and attacking. I wouldn’t mind that from a United perspective.

Elversberg analysis thread below. 👇 🇩🇪

Mazraoui was tasked with man marking Manzambi, being positionally aggressive and following him wherever he goes as seen in screenshot 1 below, however they'll naturally be moments where the RB doesn't want to be on the edge of the oppositions box. Villa tried exploiting this through having Manzambi invert and roam to drag Mazraoui out of position, this left space for Maatsen to use his pace and attack. United tried to counter this through having Bruno drop into that position situationally when United were in their mid block, however in transitional moments he couldn't do it leaving United vulnerable on that side. Manzambi was top again yesterday, being a big Bundesliga fan I watched him a lot at Freiburg last season and he's even come on leaps and bounds since then. His back to goal play is already better than him time in Germany, along with his technical execution of his final 3rd actions. If he didn't pick up an injury early in the season he'd be in the conversation for signing of the summer I firmly believe.

One thing I've noticed with recent Chelsea matches is how many players they have involved with the build up, at times we see as many as 6 players involved with passing in the first phase of settled possession, this takes bodes away from Chelsea's frontline making it easier for Sunderland to defend as not only do they have an overload on their defensive line, but the entirety of the game is played IN FRONT of them.

Mazraoui is touch tight to Manzambi with very tight man marking when Villa have settled possession, Manzambi often roams inside as 1. He naturally wants touches of the ball, and 2. It leaves space for Maatsen to attack and receive into space. United try and mark the vacated space through Fernandes dropping in on the left to mark the space, this makes sense as when it comes to ball carrying in transition you don’t really want Fernandes due to his lack of elite pace, however his passing range is elite meaning he can receive and play the primary pass to begin the transition with a long pass to Cunha, Mbeumo or Amad. From Villa goal kicks United press zonally, Maatsen moves high and Pau Torres pulls into a LB position, this increases the distance Mbeumo has to cover to get pressure on the ball. An issue on United’s right side from Villa goal kicks which has been evident is Dalot starting too deep, the clipped pass from Suzuki to Harwood Bellis is always on.

Looks like a lot of connection issues for Chelsea, everything they’re doing in possession is outside of the Sunderland press, clearly a bit of fear in their play as it looks like certain individuals don’t want the ball for any period of time longer than what’s absolutely necessary. In the final 3rd there aren’t many rotations happening within the front 6, we see runs in behind but no rotations between players making it harder for Sunderland to mark. Important team talk for Alonso here, Sunderland grab that 2nd goal early on in the 2nd half and this game could easily run away from them with the superb atmosphere.

How is that possibly not a foul by O’Nien on Palmer 😂😂😂😂😂

Spurs didn't utilise this enough, Fernandes was often always free early on in the game.