madras

I'm not so sure. Seems like the way we (both teams) currently set up, lead to these sort of results. Both teams gamble on their identity and its hard to change. At our place our press won and we could've had more than 4. Yesterday we could have been 2 or 3 up in 10mins and in the end Couldnt argue with being well beaten by "only 2". Things evolve and the best managers do that. It'll be interesting to see how Eddie's pans out. One thing's for certain, it won't be overnight, it'll be piece by piece.

I'm not sure it was a similar system. Yes it was a 433 but the system of cutting off the passing channel wasn't there and I'm guessing that's down to that middle 3 not being drilled in it. Possibly concentrating on the rotation.

The plan may be to change the way we play. Thinking of the players we bought it seems more likely they were bought to evolve the way we play rather than fit into how we played last season.

I think I've said before that I think we'd evolve in style this season. I don't think Tonali was signed to play in a 3, I don't think Barnes and Gordon were signed to be either/or, Eddie's insistence about Gordon's ability through the middle, the two young full backs who like to attack. All points to a change in system to me but it won't be overnight, it'll be drip fed in when players get up to speed, when the group get used to each other and can read each other better. Edit....oh and also why a striker was on the list of needs on that board in the documentary

I think he's getting caught in wanting to play it cos he thinks in our sort of team, with those players he should, but doesn't have the confidence to do it. Hence wants to play it short to Trippier, doesn't have the confidence, decides late and panics the clearance. Just get him to make his mind up and fully commit to one or the other

We missed Longstaff as much. If not more so.

There's a future vision and there's what's best for now. They may not be thebsame thing.

He likes to bed people in and I don't think he'd have played Tonali so early and so much had Longstaff been fit. It's interesting when Gordon signed how many times Eddie said he could playbthrough the middle. Wouldn't surprise if Barnes-Gordon-Miggy (?) behind Isak and in front of Bruno and Tonali isn't the short to medium term plan.

I agree with that. We were great at closing off passing channels which kept so much pressure off the DM area.

Did we concede more due to teams adapting to us or because we opened up to go after games ?

We played without a DM all last season and conceded the joint fewest goals in the division.

That may well have been part of the thinking. I just don't think they bought him to play with either him or Bruno on the right in a 3.

Possibly not yet but I think that's the longer term plan.

I think we have. I don't believe Tonali was signed to play in a middle 3 and I don't believe Gordon and Barnes were signed to be either/or.

Right now I'd play him off Wilson, almost as a 10, 2 from Gordon, Barnes, Miggy, Murphy wide and Bruno and Tonali as the fabled double pivot.

He's AI, he has no real life.

I'm not even sure he was "the" deepest lying. Seemed like they tried to rotate it and none of them got it right and for what it's worth him being the deepest lying worked for a season and a half.

Both very good at stopping teams passing through as well.

All true but I'm not just talking about today.

Last season we were great at blocking the channels. That was with longstaff and Willock/Joelinton though. Brighton don't seem to have changed a great deal, we were today. It may go back to last season when we couldn't beat teams around Spring and we gave a little away to get a little, the defending wasn't as tight in order to push more forward, we had to change and it got us what we needed. The next step in change is proving difficult.

I don't even know what the tactics are. Joe seems to stay leftish while Bruno and Tonali attempt to dovetail and its not working. Joe seems very out of sorts doesn't help so none of that middle 3 seem to be firing and none of them get forward.

He gets far too isolated the way we are set up.

What you said about Tonali could be word for word Bruno as well.

Or we've changed pattern even within the 433 to try and be more possession based, with new personnel and its not working. That's not to say it won't, but at the minute it's not.

Worked last season.