Some describe football as a short blanket: if you cover your head you leave your feet cold, and viceversa. They mean that there is not such thing as equilibrium. You either attack and leave gaps at the back or you defend and find it difficult to score. Getting the best (or some) of both worlds is the trick to success. At present the team looks pretty solid at the back, but in attack we find it extremely hard to score. Against Real we played this formation:
Bonano
Puyol, Reiziger, De Boer, Cocu
Xavi, Gabri
Mendieta, Riquelme, Motta
Kluivert
With this system the most advanced player should score loads of goals. Three attacking minded midfielders should supply balls to him from almost every area of the pitch. Unfortunately Kluivert is not a goal poacher and never will be. So some goalscoring should be provided by the 5 midfielders that VG puts behind Patrick:
Mendieta used to be a good goalscoring midfielder, but in his current form you can't expect much from him. Motta does quiet a bit of shooting but normally out of target. Riquelme is a "number ten" of the passsing first school. He can get some goals from outside the box in free quicks and shots, but he isn't that good at dribbling "forward" to gain the space to shoot. None of the three players (even PK is average) are good at getting behind the defense making runs. Our two defensive midfielders are not much of an attacking threat either: Xavi prefering to deliver the pass, and Gabri is too much concerned with covering gaps at the back. So, yes, we control the tempo of games because of our 5 midfielders and the passing style VG instills in the team, but then we find it very difficult to create chances, not to mention putting them away. Overmars can be a natural replacement to Motta on the left flank without changing the system: he can penetrate more on his side and also he can get telling passes from midfielders thank to his speed and movement off the ball. In defense he can't do Motta's work, but you got to give in something. To substitute Mendieta I can not think of an ideal option at the moment: Rochemback is a wild player who works hard but does little useful with the ball. Saviola could be used instead, but he is not a winger, and also he can't cover the space Mendieta can. So that would make for a double edge situation that VG doesn't seem fond of. My guess is that Overmars will occuppy the left flank once he is fully fit (if ever) and the rest will remain unchanged, apart from , perhaps, switching Saviola and Riquelme in and out.
Bonano
Puyol, Reiziger, De Boer, Cocu
Xavi, Gabri
Mendieta, Riquelme, Motta
Kluivert
With this system the most advanced player should score loads of goals. Three attacking minded midfielders should supply balls to him from almost every area of the pitch. Unfortunately Kluivert is not a goal poacher and never will be. So some goalscoring should be provided by the 5 midfielders that VG puts behind Patrick:
Mendieta used to be a good goalscoring midfielder, but in his current form you can't expect much from him. Motta does quiet a bit of shooting but normally out of target. Riquelme is a "number ten" of the passsing first school. He can get some goals from outside the box in free quicks and shots, but he isn't that good at dribbling "forward" to gain the space to shoot. None of the three players (even PK is average) are good at getting behind the defense making runs. Our two defensive midfielders are not much of an attacking threat either: Xavi prefering to deliver the pass, and Gabri is too much concerned with covering gaps at the back. So, yes, we control the tempo of games because of our 5 midfielders and the passing style VG instills in the team, but then we find it very difficult to create chances, not to mention putting them away. Overmars can be a natural replacement to Motta on the left flank without changing the system: he can penetrate more on his side and also he can get telling passes from midfielders thank to his speed and movement off the ball. In defense he can't do Motta's work, but you got to give in something. To substitute Mendieta I can not think of an ideal option at the moment: Rochemback is a wild player who works hard but does little useful with the ball. Saviola could be used instead, but he is not a winger, and also he can't cover the space Mendieta can. So that would make for a double edge situation that VG doesn't seem fond of. My guess is that Overmars will occuppy the left flank once he is fully fit (if ever) and the rest will remain unchanged, apart from , perhaps, switching Saviola and Riquelme in and out.
