07-24-2019, 03:09 AM
Can't expect much out of this line up to be honest. Strinic as a CB, Borini as LCM, Maldini as ACM, Castillejo as SS....
The problem with contrasting formations is that whichever team manages to impose themselves onto the game will end up dominating the game. This is what's happening here. Bayern is able to hold possession better so they utilize their wings (our weakness areas due to the diamond midfield). If in turn we managed to impose ourselves on the game then we could have utilized the middle of the field where we outnumber Bayern and make their own wings defend our fullback. Unfortunately for us, we are incapable of doing that in this game.
As for the players in this first half:
Donnarumma - despite Bayern having most of the possession and doing most of the attacking, he really didn't have much to do
Calabria - Forced to go 1v1 with Coman constantly which is very tough, but he held his own. I thought he did great considering he is exposed 1v1 in every possession
Gabbia - Not bad to be honest. There is definitely potential. Better then Strinic for sure
Strinic - Disaster on the ball and disaster defending. The fact that he hasn't played in a year shows. The fact that he's not a CB also shows. Terrible first half for him
Theo - The best player going forward with a few runs. I'm excited by this guy to be honest. When he gets going forward he is very hard to stop. It's a shame about the twisted ankle. Hopefully he's not out for long. Transforms our left side in comparison to Rodriguez/Laxalt
Biglia - Biglia is Biglia. No pressure, he'll play a safe pass that goes nowhere. Put him under pressure and he'll either play back to the CB/GK or lose the ball. No wonder we are looking for a player in his position
Borini - Possibly the worst player this half. And that's hard to do considering some of the players that are playing tonight....BUT he somehow managed it. He lost the ball every time he touched it. Not capable of exchanging passes quickly. When he does try that, the pass goes astray. When he doesn't, he just takes too many touches and leads nowhere anyway. No, he's not a LCM, obviously. But the mistakes today are more "football player" type then "LCM" type.
Calhanoglu - Nothing much to be honest. Looked clumsy on several occasions. Looks like he's carrying rocks in his shoes at times. Slow and sloppy.
Maldini - Started the game terribly. Bunch of bad touches and nervous moments. It's expected though. First time playing. I am sure he is a nervous wreck. Got better as the game went on actually, but didn't see too much of the ball. He's a good player, you can see that. I'm just not sure he's ready for this level yet. He is very young and I a loan move is probably the best solution for him
Castillejo - He is there. On the field. But that's about it.
Piatek - See comment above for Castillejo. No service or anything in the box though. So can't blame him. Apart from 1 Calabria cross (which actually the runs from everyone, including Piatek should have been better), nothing much
Was really looking forward to seeing more first team players, but clearly that's not happening. The midfield was a failure in this game...so no wonder we are looking for midfielders. Would have been nice to have Bennacer for this one.
The problem with contrasting formations is that whichever team manages to impose themselves onto the game will end up dominating the game. This is what's happening here. Bayern is able to hold possession better so they utilize their wings (our weakness areas due to the diamond midfield). If in turn we managed to impose ourselves on the game then we could have utilized the middle of the field where we outnumber Bayern and make their own wings defend our fullback. Unfortunately for us, we are incapable of doing that in this game.
As for the players in this first half:
Donnarumma - despite Bayern having most of the possession and doing most of the attacking, he really didn't have much to do
Calabria - Forced to go 1v1 with Coman constantly which is very tough, but he held his own. I thought he did great considering he is exposed 1v1 in every possession
Gabbia - Not bad to be honest. There is definitely potential. Better then Strinic for sure
Strinic - Disaster on the ball and disaster defending. The fact that he hasn't played in a year shows. The fact that he's not a CB also shows. Terrible first half for him
Theo - The best player going forward with a few runs. I'm excited by this guy to be honest. When he gets going forward he is very hard to stop. It's a shame about the twisted ankle. Hopefully he's not out for long. Transforms our left side in comparison to Rodriguez/Laxalt
Biglia - Biglia is Biglia. No pressure, he'll play a safe pass that goes nowhere. Put him under pressure and he'll either play back to the CB/GK or lose the ball. No wonder we are looking for a player in his position
Borini - Possibly the worst player this half. And that's hard to do considering some of the players that are playing tonight....BUT he somehow managed it. He lost the ball every time he touched it. Not capable of exchanging passes quickly. When he does try that, the pass goes astray. When he doesn't, he just takes too many touches and leads nowhere anyway. No, he's not a LCM, obviously. But the mistakes today are more "football player" type then "LCM" type.
Calhanoglu - Nothing much to be honest. Looked clumsy on several occasions. Looks like he's carrying rocks in his shoes at times. Slow and sloppy.
Maldini - Started the game terribly. Bunch of bad touches and nervous moments. It's expected though. First time playing. I am sure he is a nervous wreck. Got better as the game went on actually, but didn't see too much of the ball. He's a good player, you can see that. I'm just not sure he's ready for this level yet. He is very young and I a loan move is probably the best solution for him
Castillejo - He is there. On the field. But that's about it.
Piatek - See comment above for Castillejo. No service or anything in the box though. So can't blame him. Apart from 1 Calabria cross (which actually the runs from everyone, including Piatek should have been better), nothing much
Was really looking forward to seeing more first team players, but clearly that's not happening. The midfield was a failure in this game...so no wonder we are looking for midfielders. Would have been nice to have Bennacer for this one.