4 hours ago, Gonoir Beniashile said:

So why play him at 10 against a defensive block?

Because our managers rubbish. Ive though all along that he shouldnt play that position against a team that will sit back and allow us possession, but should be one of the first names on the sheet against the better teams as he excels against them.

12 minutes ago, dkw said:

Because our managers rubbish. Ive though all along that he shouldnt play that position against a team that will sit back and allow us possession, but should be one of the first names on the sheet against the better teams as he excels against them.

Exactly. My heart sank when I saw he was starting along with Enzo and Caicedo against Sheff Utd. Can't understand why it's not obvious to Poch to play an attacker in those games. So frustrating.

On 11/04/2024 at 14:03, Gonoir Beniashile said:

So why play him at 10 against a defensive block?

Because Connor is our best presser by far. No pressing up top, teams will go through our midfield like butter 

2 hours ago, Bob stark said:

Because Connor is our best presser by far. No pressing up top, teams will go through our midfield like butter 

True but what a telling indictment of a world cup winner and the most expensive player in the EPL.  Clearly whoever behind the scenes has been constructing the team from scouting reports and "data" has failed to recognize that when we play football there are other blokes on the pitch than just ours.

Still can't get over how much these two cost and how on the whole, they have been bang average most of the season.

Folk can blame Poch, for the way they are coached and the way we set up etc, but I'm sorry, if you're a good footballer, that would show - whoever the coach is, and these two have both been a massive disappointment.

 

Yes they have not been up to standards but i really think the injuries to Lavia and Ogkwuchu really messed up everything. Cant really rotate or try different formations or tactics in the midfield. The good news is they are still playing well when they play for their country.

Lesly barely played when fit anyway. 

7 hours ago, Nibs said:

 

Folk can blame Poch, for the way they are coached and the way we set up etc, but I'm sorry, if you're a good footballer, that would show - whoever the coach is, and these two have both been a massive disappointment.

I mean the greatest footballer to ever walk this earth looked bang average under the exact same manager.

Enzo having his op, Lesley back in team training, will we see him alongside Moises so Conor stays in the 10?

8 hours ago, Nibs said:

Still can't get over how much these two cost and how on the whole, they have been bang average most of the season.

Folk can blame Poch, for the way they are coached and the way we set up etc, but I'm sorry, if you're a good footballer, that would show - whoever the coach is, and these two have both been a massive disappointment.

 

Caicedo is very good but you probably want to pair enzo with a physical monster. 

Or just do the trendy thing aka play back 3.

 

22 minutes ago, Argo said:

I mean the greatest footballer to ever walk this earth looked bang average under the exact same manager.

We had Kante playing as a lone DM and was so poor 90% of the fanbase wanted him sold. 

9 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Enzo having his op, Lesley back in team training, will we see him alongside Moises so Conor stays in the 10?

Most likely Caicedo + Connor in the middle. I reckon that duo is more balanced than the Caicedo + Enzo pairing 

1 hour ago, ducavis said:

Most likely Caicedo + Connor in the middle. I reckon that duo is more balanced than the Caicedo + Enzo pairing 

We've looked ok in previous games with Caicedo/Conor in the middle. Also been ok with Enzo/Conor. It is usually where we try to squeeze all 3 into mid that we look less impressive in that area. Not sure if we played many, if any games with just Enzo/Caicedo?

Spent almost 300M on 3 MFs, yet with half a dozen games to go in the season we still haven't figured out the best combination. Blame injury or bad luck, it's just pure incompetency from recruiting and  team management

25 minutes ago, icecoolguy22 said:

Spent almost 300M on 3 MFs, yet with half a dozen games to go in the season we still haven't figured out the best combination. Blame injury or bad luck, it's just pure incompetency from recruiting and  team management

Not defending Poch, but it’s hard to figure out the best combination of the three when one’s been out nearly the entire season.

On 12/04/2024 at 10:06, Bob stark said:

Because Connor is our best presser by far. No pressing up top, teams will go through our midfield like butter 

By not playing our best presser up top doesn't mean we would have no pressing up top. Other players can press too, maybe not as well as Conor, but they can press well enough whilst also adding creativity and goal threat.

19 hours ago, Gordon Bennett said:

By not playing our best presser up top doesn't mean we would have no pressing up top. Other players can press too, maybe not as well as Conor, but they can press well enough whilst also adding creativity and goal threat.

You are absolutely right. 

The key here is well enough. 

I’m going to go there, but 100% better side without the Enzo and Caicedo pairing, 

15 minutes ago, SimonH said:

I’m going to go there, but 100% better side without the Enzo and Caicedo pairing, 

It's not that controversial tbh, most people would agree. 

The pairing has been good in some of the big games we've played this season, but it's fallen apart for most games. 

We'll have to try and find a way to get Enzo and Caicedo to play well together in the midfield, I think they're both good players with a lot of potential, I'm not writing them off just yet. 

Caicedo is definitely better without Enzo 

 

22 minutes ago, Andy2461 said:

Caicedo is definitely better without Enzo 

 

Gallagher is doing more legwork and Palmer can move more centrally without overlapping anyone at times when Enzo isn't there.

Are there anyone who wouldn't have wanted the Caicedo-Gallagher-Cucurella midfield hybrid to continue even if Enzo was fit a the moment? It may have taken an injury to get there but Pochettino seem to have stumbled onto something that seems to be genuinely promising. The mentioned trio is a very coherent, very forward minded trio of pressing machines who's almost singlehandedly have given supporters some genuine belief that we may turn this around and do some serious work next season.

Enzo may of course force his way into the side again eventually but for me there can be no doubt that Caicedo-Gallagher with Cucurella inverting needs to be the formula we built on for next season as well.

 

2 hours ago, Andy2461 said:

Caicedo is definitely better without Enzo 

 

Caicedo is better when he isn’t isolated as he has been all season. 
 

Cucurella unlocked Caicedo. Not Gallagher. It was Enzo’s injury that likely forced Cucurella to play inverted to help the midfield. 

Edited May 5, 20242 yr by Sconnie Blue

Not to discount how good Gallagher has been, but I think a big chunk of how much better Caicedo has been is Cucurella's change to an inverted left back. It'll be interesting to see how Enzo does with a bit more freedom.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Caicedo has been a much better defender when playing on the right-hand side of midfield. He is much more defensively effective when he is able to use his dominant foot to tackle and press.