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Mar 3 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Watching Dušan Tadić makes me think a lot about Bruno Fernandes. Tadić is elite at every facet of #10 play, but he *CRUCIALLY* stays in position. He lets the rest of the team build play before finding him in the final third whereas Bruno Fernandes roams wherever he wants.
The output is sensational from both, but I know who's a better player, and it's not Bruno Fernandes. However, what I would say is Bruno's current role lacks direction. Rangnick isn't a strict positional play coach and Bruno was superb under Ole. I'd love to see him under ten Hag.
If he doesn't stay high positionally, he will have big problems, and ten Hag might even move him on should he gets the job, and rightly so. Contributing to build-up on occasion is okay because football is a fluid game, but the system is the be all and end all for elite coaches.
It's one of those things that I yearn to see. Will Bruno fail to adapt to a positional play system because his ego makes him impatient because he's not getting enough touches of the ball or will he become even better because he does adapt & learns to stay high?

Hire ETH @ManUtd.

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More from @EBL2017

EBL Profile picture
Mar 3
The biggest risk ten Hag's Ajax take is with line-breaking passes from CB's or the pivot player in situations like this. If the pass isn't successful, there's only 1 player in midfield and at least 2 are needed to maintain compactness. It's why elite on-ball qualities are needed.
He puts such an emphasis on technical quality at CB that his starting duo are Lisandro Martinez (5'7) and Jurrien Timber (5'8). Daley Blind has also played there a lot too who's only 5'9. If ten Hag does get the United job, the club will have to target elite ball playing CB's.
Obviously common sense would prevail in the Premier League and ten Hag wouldn't opt for such small centre backs, but the point stands. His system requires elite technical levels at centre back and in the pivot, much like Arsenal, City's, and Barca's system require.
Read 10 tweets
EBL Profile picture
Mar 2
With the Manchester United job up for grabs, there's only one direction the club should look in, & that's towards sunny Amsterdam!

Erik ten Hag is an *ELITE* coach who's 4-3-3 showcases elements of Guardiola's on-ball style & Klopp's off-ball style. Scary good.

COLLOSAL-THREAD.
ten Hag's Ajax set up in a 4-3-3 with the two #8's between the lines in the half spaces & the fullbacks pushed on high & wide with the wingers stretching the play on either flank. However, they're not rigid. It is a fluid system BUT rigidity of positioning is key.

Let me explain
ten Hag's team are rigid in the sense that the occupation of each lane on the pitch between the lines is constantly covered. The players can interchange at will within those zones, but each zone must be occupied. There are many examples we can use to demonstrate this.
Read 31 tweets
EBL Profile picture
Mar 1
These managers give their team the best possible chance of winning every week, they have a translatable style, are elite in the market and tactically, understand balance.. whatever.

Arteta has shown mental resilience, the ability to rebuild, and deal with pressure, so him.
However, the comparison is nonsensical because Xavi hasn't even had the opportunity to do that in his career. Arteta at Arsenal is like Pep at Arsenal except reality. They're on a similar level quality-wise, but Arteta is undergoing a challenge harder than Pep has ever had.
So, what I'm saying is, based on the evidence at hand, the likelihood is Pep would also rebuild Arsenal in a similarly successful manner, and so would Xavi (although they are far more unknowns surrounding him - defensive block, settled press, dealing with pressure, etc).
Read 4 tweets
EBL Profile picture
Feb 27
Barca's upturn in form is no coincidence. They're very close to being an elite team already. In fact, with their best XI, they already are - top 5 in the world. They have an elite structure, balance in terms of natural runners in behind vs technical quality, and 1v1 threats.
Xavi has achieved this with one transfer window - just ONE, and the players he's signed aren't even ideal in terms of quality (Adama). They're just perfect profiles for HIS elite system which provide balanced to an already elite technical team in the first and second phase.
Barca fans created nonsensical problems over the last few years centering around how legends of their club aren't good enough anymore (J. Alba, Busquets, Pique, etc). It was disrespectful and in fact clueless. These guys are still *TOP* class. They just needed balance (runners).
Read 4 tweets
EBL Profile picture
Feb 25
Liverpool-Chelsea is a phenomenal match-up of two elite heavyweight titans. There is little to separate the teams each time they play, and I expect the same to be the case in Sunday's final at Wembley. Below, in this in-depth thread, I discuss the match-up in detail.

THREAD!
On paper, Liverpool's press matches up perfectly with Chelsea's 3-4-3. As such, when pressing high, Liverpool can get success, control, and create within these moments. However, Chelsea's technical quality is elite and their players are in close proximity positionally for passes.
As such, there will be mixed moments here. Liverpool can create via pressing, and Chelsea can create via playing through Liverpool's pressing and directly exploiting them in transition or in settled play against their high line like the last fixture between the two sides.
Read 19 tweets
EBL Profile picture
Feb 24
It's much easier for a manager who's entering a new club in the middle of a rebuild to enter into a squad without finished stars and players like that (i.e. Arteta with Özil). Klopp's transition to Liverpool was seamless because he had no personalities to contend with.
United's new manager is heading down a similar path. It'll be beneficial for whoever comes in if Pogba leaves because he's the epitome of a big personality who's not good enough. Similar can be said for Ronaldo at this stage in his career. The lower the profiles the better.
Klopp had a clean slate at Liverpool. He was the leader of the pack with no personality issues to contend with. Arteta inherited Arsenal with personality issues so has had to deal with extra noise making his rebuild even harder in terms of building a harmonious squad.
Read 5 tweets

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