Roberto Martinez discussion

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The young players he has brought through has been the most pleasing thing about how he has shaped our football.

Remember he said that his aim was to bring through 1 player a season from the youth setup. 2 years on and he is making good on that and then some, and with the youngsters on the fringe of the 1st team we are on the up and up.
 
Just re-watched the game, I'd had more than a few on Monday!
One thing that stood out is I think the manager played an absolute blinder.

When West Brom changed to just one up front he knew exactly what to do.
People have said McCarthy was playing right back after the switch and that's true, but only when the ball was in our half.
When we were in their half McCarthy was tucked in, in a midfield 3 with Gibson and Barry.

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When you check the advanced position of Galloway on the left, pretty much level with Del it means we were playing something like a 2-3-4-1 when we were attacking.
This gave us all sorts of interesting passing options and meant we could still find pockets of space against a bank of 4 and a bank of 5.
You can go 2 at the back because Berahino is now the only player ahead of the play and you'd trust Jags and Mori to take care of him.




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Look how central McCarthy is here trying to find space between their defence and midfield.
As attacking as Coleman can be you'd never see him in this sort of space meaning McCarthy was no right back, at least when we had the ball.

There's a cool bit of play that started about 81:15 on the game clock.
The ball breaks to one of their players on the centre-left about 30 yards out in their half and McCarthy is in his midfield position.
Normally with a right back behind him McCarthy would pressure the ball as he's the nearest player.
It turns out he can't though and has to drop back to go with a WBA runner.
This gives their player on the ball about 25 yards of space to advance in to until Gibson could get across to cover McCarthy's midfield position.
It's interesting because you get to witness the change from our attacking formation (McCarthy in midfield) to our defensive formation (McCarthy at right back) in real time.

None of this feels like some in-game reaction to me, it feels like preparation.
Within 2 minutes of them taking Rondon off and going 4-5-1 our subs were warming up.
Within 3 minutes they were on the field.
Then within less than 15 minutes of that we'd scored 2 against a packed defence.
Roberto was a man with a plan here I think, and it worked ... perfectly.

Take a bow Bob.
 
I agree that it's very interesting. I'm not quite as convinced that it's a plan though.

Seems possible that McCarthy has just naturally gravitated to his familiar position, being so used to playing a specific role that he's momentarily switched off and run on instinct. As you say Coleman would usually be just as advanced but he would instinctively stay wide rather than drifting in. You would expect as many players as possible to be getting forward when a goal behind in the last 15 minutes.

Also the fact that you say a player was left in 25 yards of space as a direct result of this new formation leaves me praying that it wasn't deliberate as a better side would surely have taken advantage of such a situation.

Obviously i haven't rewatched the game so if this was happening constantly you are probably correct and I apologise for wasting your time! As an isolated incident though, i'm not sure it's evidence of a tactical masterstroke.

This is not to denigrate from Martinez's performance by the way, as the subs etc obviously worked whatever formation he was wanting to play.
 

Think his 'in game' tactics have been pretty much spot on this season so far.
Weather its its been forced by injury or chasing the game its worked well.

Not a pop at Moyes like but cant remember him turning a game round in such an emphatic manner too many times.
 
My one bugbear about RM is the downplaying of injury severity. I notice reports today saying he believes Stones and Coleman are very close and will be given every opportunity to get fit for the derby. Weren't we at that stage on Monday?
 
davek said:
My one bugbear about RM is the downplaying of injury severity. I notice reports today saying he believes Stones and Coleman are very close and will be given every opportunity to get fit for the derby. Weren't we at that stage on Monday?
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I think it's partly a game of bluff leading up to the derby.
 

davek said:
My one bugbear about RM is the downplaying of injury severity. I notice reports today saying he believes Stones and Coleman are very close and will be given every opportunity to get fit for the derby. Weren't we at that stage on Monday?
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with keeping the opposition guessing dave.
 
Lanolin said:
I agree that it's very interesting. I'm not quite as convinced that it's a plan though.

Seems possible that McCarthy has just naturally gravitated to his familiar position, being so used to playing a specific role that he's momentarily switched off and run on instinct. As you say Coleman would usually be just as advanced but he would instinctively stay wide rather than drifting in. You would expect as many players as possible to be getting forward when a goal behind in the last 15 minutes.

Also the fact that you say a player was left in 25 yards of space as a direct result of this new formation leaves me praying that it wasn't deliberate as a better side would surely have taken advantage of such a situation.

Obviously i haven't rewatched the game so if this was happening constantly you are probably correct and I apologise for wasting your time! As an isolated incident though, i'm not sure it's evidence of a tactical masterstroke.

This is not to denigrate from Martinez's performance by the way, as the subs etc obviously worked whatever formation he was wanting to play.
Click to expand...
Disagree here. McCarthy was the closest player to Martinez in the 2nd half as he was playing right back/right centre midfield. If he starts drifting out in the middle (his own position) then the manager would have a go and tell them to get back, or our captain would have.

Definitely a game plan, allowed Deulofeu to get the crosses in also. Notice both goals from his crosses, no one around him. Just 1v1 or 2v1. Whenever Browning overlapped in the first half it seemed congested for him and it was awkward imo. Second half, no right back to leave him space = the two crosses for the goals.

Well in Everton
 
As I said, not disagreeing as such. I was making the point that him being infield on 1-2 occasions would not necessarily be indicative of a deliberate gameplan.

Roberto would also be unlikely to stop him from going once or twice,
 
davek said:
My one bugbear about RM is the downplaying of injury severity. I notice reports today saying he believes Stones and Coleman are very close and will be given every opportunity to get fit for the derby. Weren't we at that stage on Monday?
Click to expand...

I'm used to his talk about injuries and along with his mildly annoying way of finding gold when we've plainly been poor, just file it under management bull and pretty much ignore it.

If he says someone's close it generally means they're not. Very close means they have a chance but don't bet on it.
 

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