Sandro Tonali

[Amir_9]

The quality is clearly there, give it time.

[Thumbheed]

My initial thoughts on him so far is he's very good on the ball and I'm excited to see how we can best utilise that but he's not as impactful as others off it, and we're perhaps suffering as a result of that.

 

Early days yet and certainly encouraged by some of the things I've seen from him but not 100% convinced just yet that he's the right fit us at the moment. 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Thumbheed

[Joelinton7]

1 hour ago, Shearergol said:

 

It's Hall I'm underwhelmed with. Seen nothing of him so far for us to convince me he's gonna be any good. Livramento doesn't look much better either. Hound them all out, the wankers.

Not gonna’ judge players that have either not played a minute for us or for only a very short time. FWIW I’m itching for both Hall and Livramento to be given their chances. I’m judging Tonali here but in truth our whole MF has been off it. Maybe an Eddie thing?

[KaKa]

2 hours ago, McCormick said:

Can’t wait to see him, Willock and Bruno in the same team (with Joelinton playing at left-wing and Gordon on the right). Think that’s our most balanced midfield on paper.

 

 

 

 

One change I would make for the meantime, in the Joelinton, Tonali and Bruno trio ... is I would have Tonali at LCM and Joelinton at RCM.

 

I think Tonali would do a better job of mimicking some of what Willock provided in overlapping the left winger that cuts in, and would just better link up with Gordon on that side with Burn staying back.

 

On the right side I think Joelinton would offer the defensive support to allow Trippier to get further forward like he did last season when Longstaff was there. Almiron and Longstaff's defensive chops on the right freed up Trippier to be a creator.

[Kimbo]

1 hour ago, Joelinton7 said:

Underwhelmed by this guy

I’m underwhelmed by most of the team so far this season, including players that were excellent last year. Tonali isn’t our problem, the whole team has a problem that needs working on in training.

[The College Dropout]

2 hours ago, Ikon said:

I’m not. Not until I see him settled and in a functional setup. Not sure what we are trying tactically. 

Aye. I'm unsure what he's meant to do, he looks unsure. It's hard to judge.

 

He's lazier off the ball than I hoped for though.

[The College Dropout]

13 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

One change I would make for the meantime, in the Joelinton, Tonali and Bruno trio ... is I would have Tonali at LCM and Joelinton at RCM.

 

I think Tonali would do a better job of mimicking some of what Willock provided in overlapping the left winger that cuts in, and would just better link up with Gordon on that side with Burn staying back.

 

On the right side I think Joelinton would offer the defensive support to allow Trippier to get further forward like he did last season when Longstaff was there. Almiron and Longstaff's defensive chops on the right freed up Trippier to be a creator.

Tonali played LCM yesterday and didn't link with anyone.

 

Neither Joelinton nor Tonali know how to cover for Bruno. Joelinton is still learning the CM role positionally and Sandro doesn't know what to do positionally yet.

 

For now it's Longstaff + Bruno +1 IMO.

 

 

 

Teams are targeting the space behind Trippier when he attacks. When he attacks the RCM is usually in support even if deeper. Trippier mostly sat last night, but Leao & Hernandez broke off him and Murphy to create the Giroud chance. Those 2 combined again for the Leao chance and the one off the line. Here Trippier had pushed forward and Murphy sat but Murphy didn't know what to do defensively and Hernandez played a good ball into Leao. The only true answer to combat that is to have a CB who is great in almost fullback like positions - like a prime VVD or even a Martinez... or a Tomori. That AC Milan left handside is elite mind and Trippier did brilliantly overall. But the reason he's deeper is largely because teams are targeting that space.

[KaKa]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

Tonali played LCM yesterday and didn't link with anyone.

 

Neither Joelinton nor Tonali know how to cover for Bruno. Joelinton is still learning the CM role positionally and Sandro doesn't know what to do positionally yet.

 

For now it's Longstaff + Bruno +1 IMO.

 

 

 

Teams are targeting the space behind Trippier when he attacks. When he attacks the RCM is usually in support even if deeper. Trippier mostly sat last night, but Leao & Hernandez broke off him and Murphy to create the Giroud chance. Those 2 combined again for the Leao chance and the one off the line. Here Trippier had pushed forward and Murphy sat but Murphy didn't know what to do defensively and Hernandez played a good ball into Leao. The only true answer to combat that is to have a CB who is great in almost fullback like positions - like a prime VVD or even a Martinez... or a Tomori. That AC Milan left handside is elite mind and Trippier did brilliantly overall. But the reason he's deeper is largely because teams are targeting that space.

 

Yeah, so it's probably going to take him playing LCM with Gordon for more than 60 mins in one game to build a relationship there.

 

The other stuff regarding the right side I just don't agree with. Joelinton is well capable of providing more defensive support to Trippier in combination with Almiron.

[McCormick]

Longstaff is more intelligent off the ball and more aware of which spaces to cover than Joelinton is though. The latter isn’t the most positionally aware (defensively) and mostly relies on his physicality. For me, Joelinton’s best position is on the left wing; he can just run up and down the line without having to really think about where to be.

[The College Dropout]

21 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

Yeah, so it's probably going to take him playing LCM with Gordon for more than 60 mins in one game to build a relationship there.

 

The other stuff regarding the right side I just don't agree with. Joelinton is well capable of providing more defensive support to Trippier in combination with Almiron.

Joelinton is good offensively and defensively at LCM. Why move him? He won't be as dangerous going forward from the right.

 

While he's out. Sure Tonali at LCM. He's trying to run into advanced positions for progression but it's not working, nobody is finding him. We can keep at that but I think we'd be better off trying to pass it forward. Ideally with Hall at LB who can push into midfield and link with Tonali and the winger.

[Paullow]

Just watching some of the YouTuber videos and the chant is hilarious if done in a big group because nobody seems to know if 'eats spaghetti' or 'drinks Moretti' comes first, so it comes across one big mess 

[The College Dropout]

3 minutes ago, McCormick said:

Longstaff is more intelligent off the ball and more aware of which spaces to cover than Joelinton is though. The latter isn’t the most positionally aware (defensively) and mostly relies on his physicality. For me, Joelinton’s best position is on the left wing; he can just run up and down the line without having to really think about where to be.

You know ball.

[KaKa]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

Joelinton is good offensively and defensively at LCM. Why move him? He won't be as dangerous going forward from the right.

 

While he's out. Sure Tonali at LCM. He's trying to run into advanced positions for progression but it's not working, nobody is finding him. We can keep at that but I think we'd be better off trying to pass it forward. Ideally with Hall at LB who can push into midfield and link with Tonali and the winger.

 

I explained why in my first post.

 

Tonali's current defensive lapses wouldn't be as costly on the left with Burn at left back and sitting deeper. Gordon's defensive work is also good. Tonali can then focus more on his attacking contributions.

 

On the right I think we need Joelinton's defensive ability there for now to get more out of Trippier.

[KaKa]

8 minutes ago, McCormick said:

Longstaff is more intelligent off the ball and more aware of which spaces to cover than Joelinton is though. The latter isn’t the most positionally aware (defensively) and mostly relies on his physicality. For me, Joelinton’s best position is on the left wing; he can just run up and down the line without having to really think about where to be.

 

I wanted Joelinton at left wing this season and a DM brought in, but that ship has sailed. We have Gordon and Barnes for that left wing spot now.

 

I would trust Joelinton to make the adjustment with instructions of exactly what he needs to do there (RCM) and bring more to that side than Longstaff currently does.

 

Just my opinion though.

[Big Geordie]

Young lad coming to a new country and style of football - it will take him a wee bit of time to adapt. He will be fine.

[TBG]

Wonder if the language barrier could see us recalling Hendrick. 

[timeEd32]

1 hour ago, The College Dropout said:

Aye. I'm unsure what he's meant to do, he looks unsure. It's hard to judge.

 

He's lazier off the ball than I hoped for though.

 

There were at least two moments last night where you could apply the 'lazy' tag if you want to be harsh. But I hesitate to call it laziness -- I think it's very likely he's in his own head and the combination of a new system and a new language are getting in the way of his play. 

[The College Dropout]

3 minutes ago, timeEd32 said:

 

There were at least two moments last night where you could apply the 'lazy' tag if you want to be harsh. But I hesitate to call it laziness -- I think it's very likely he's in his own head and the combination of a new system and a new language are getting in the way of his play. 

He gets back. But it's a jog, you know? Sometimes Willock is a bit of a jogger too tbf. Longstaff, Bruno & Joe run back like the other team stole something from them.

[timeEd32]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

He gets back. But it's a jog, you know? Sometimes Willock is a bit of a jogger too tbf. Longstaff, Bruno & Joe run back like the other team stole something from them.

 

I saw it. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. If that's just how he is then it's inexcusable to be honest. They had multiple chances last night that you could tie to his positioning and jogging.

[Dan Gleebals]

15 minutes ago, TBG said:

Wonder if the language barrier could see us recalling Hendrick. 

Just spat out my cuppa tea

[Shadow Puppets]

19 hours ago, Myleftboot said:

I thought some bloke from Italy had joined the coaching team.

Nope, Eddie refuted that at the time.

[WinstonFC]

He needs to be played as a 6 or an 8 for a continuous run of games. This interchanging just isnt working. We look lost in midfield. Trippiers deliveries into the box have dropped off massively due to the disconnect. 

[OverThere]

Looks to me as if both he and Bruno are 6's. Do we have to switch to 4-2-3-1?

[timeEd32]

12 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

He gets back. But it's a jog, you know? Sometimes Willock is a bit of a jogger too tbf. Longstaff, Bruno & Joe run back like the other team stole something from them.

 

One other thought on this -- we like to use him as a second option on free kicks like the goal we scored against Villa. Depending on the location this also puts him as one of the last men back. That's how one of their breaks started last night and Longstaff must have made up 20-30 yards on him to intervene in the end. He can't be one of the last men back and jogging like it's someone else's job there.

[The College Dropout]

4 minutes ago, WinstonFC said:

He needs to be played as a 6 or an 8 for a continuous run of games. This interchanging just isnt working. We look lost in midfield. Trippiers deliveries into the box have dropped off massively due to the disconnect. 

TBF he's not interchanging. Sometimes Bruno goes forward and Tonali is doing whatever it is Tonali is doing..