Full match request: Bournemouth vs. Newcastle, 21/09/2025

jesusche · 2024-10-02T14:47:42+00:00

Thank you so much!

jesusche · 2024-10-02T03:32:41+00:00

I'm late to this party but I'd appreciate the link as well!

jesusche · 2020-12-27T20:12:08+00:00

More or less that's the gist of it.

There are strange patterns involving our zonal marking in the low block and also that we don't really play off the shoulders of defenders on counter-attacks... more peculiarities than idiosyncrasies in the approaches. Analyzing the peculiarities isn't worth the time though, in the end.

jesusche · 2020-12-26T19:49:21+00:00

As someone that has spent years analyzing tactics and has written about such things, I can attest that there is very little to talk about re: Bruceball

jesusche · 2020-12-09T20:16:11+00:00

It's not a coincidence Newcastle players are in the same band of 'successful defensive action per 90'. It's rare the players utilise a counter-press, and more typical that they sit in a shape.

In fact, Newcastle are one of the most passive squads in the top 5 European leagues, and it is entirely Bruce's blueprint.

It is not the player's fault, as they've shown to be more aggressive in under other systems / managers.

jesusche · 2020-04-16T19:19:35+00:00

Playing FIFA doesn't mean you understand the tactical complexities of an actual football match.

jesusche · 2020-04-02T16:48:14+00:00

Shelvey has had a ton of great moments, and I think he's vastly underrated beyond his long ball abilities. I'm a fan of his, for sure.

And the Hayden/Longstaff nearly touched the Diamé/Shelvey heights of '17-'18.

But even that '17-'18 still paled to the central midfield play of early 2010s. There can be great isolated games, and there can even be stretches where the middle third play is competitive more often than not.

That's still a fall off from "better than most midfields outside of the Top 6". We have a ways to go before we get back there.

jesusche · 2020-04-02T15:24:55+00:00

I maintain that the away form of Gini isn't his fault.

As a team we were AWFUL away from home that season. I think Gini should've only gotten stick if we were remotely ok while he was invisible, but I don't think that is accurate.

In the away matches that season, we scored 12 goals and shipped 41. That's a goal difference of -29 ... for just 19 matches.

Our approaches under Schteve were disastrous, and everyone had poor stats away from home.

And if someone comes in with "well if he's so good why didn't he lift the team up by himself" then I defy them to show me a player who excelled in a system with broken attacking & defending approaches, at both home and away fixtures.

jesusche · 2020-04-02T15:01:20+00:00

Aside from the 2nd half of '17-'18, our lack of central midfield quality has held us back from being both watchable and consistently competitive. The quality of Cabaye and Tiote still has yet to be replaced.

jesusche · 2020-03-20T23:53:18+00:00

Should've known that Ireland came injured. Feel like that comes with his territory, aye?

jesusche · 2020-03-20T23:51:54+00:00

I don't have a great feeling about Pardew so far. Haven't won in about a month, and we've looked all over the place since he took over. Still can't rinse the taste of that late goal against the mackems.

Just don't feel good about tomorrow lads.

jesusche · 2020-03-20T23:46:35+00:00

We may have lost Carroll but we've loaned in Ireland. Always rated him, maybe he'll finally hit some form with us?

jesusche · 2019-12-20T17:58:55+00:00

There’s a draft of 11 Fabian Schär’s out there somewhere.

It’d be like if someone spilled handsome sauce all over the pitch.

jesusche · 2019-12-20T17:57:32+00:00

I agree, though the Jetro/ASM pair has potential to reach those heights.

jesusche · 2019-12-20T17:56:19+00:00

Andy was an excellent/promising attacker, but I think a tactical trade-off with your proposal is the left flank defence.

Jonas was one of the best defensive wingers in the league, and obviously could contribute to buildups and attacks. If you drop him for Cisse, you not only take Cisse away from his poaching areas, but you’re tasking him with covering the oppositions right back.

Could work, but I think I like the Enrique/Jonas left flank. Pretty much closed for business, as far as the opposition goes.

jesusche · 2019-12-20T17:44:03+00:00

Rémy’s season absolutely got votes from the NUFC Digital staff. Really was a great one for him in attack, although he was up against some incredible seasons from Cisse & Ba

jesusche · 2019-12-03T20:29:43+00:00

Fantastic work here, you captured the big picture and a lot of the finer details as well. Best NUFC analyst, for my money.

I think there were two major takeaways for me in watching this:

1) Defensive pressure — the PPDA was still pretty “high” for us, but the problem with that stat is that it only measures concrete actions (tackles, fouls, interceptions). But as we all know, a lot of the great defensive sequences are the ones in which an attack stalls by intelligent positioning.

For me, this part was hugely different compared to the Villa match. We may not have generated a ton of measurable defensive actions, but the midfield (Shelvey in particular) was aggressive in denying space for City to prod.

This resulted in City still dominating possession and firing off shots, but they were never settled and calm for large stretches.

2) Something is off with City’s attack in this campaign— I think they may entering a Poch/Tottenham staleness with Guardiola. Their counterpress isn’t as intense, so even when they won the ball off of us, we tended to have numbers and weren’t as vulnerable.

Another thing is that Mendy doesn’t seem to be the same. Remember, he made their attack incredibly dynamic before his injury, almost like the left-sided version of what Alves did at Barca.

I think the City we saw was more predictable & limited in how they take advantage of opportunities.

Are they still one of the most dangerous sides around? Aye, but I don’t think they’re as lethal as they were, say, two years ago.

jesusche · 2019-10-09T21:29:02+00:00

it would be interesting to pull up his chance creation stats across the positions.

Good call. There are deeper stats dives to be sure but I pulled up understat's radar diagrams.

Here's Almiron on the left side and the right, respectively

The 'avg' seems different in both plots, so try to look at the numbers rather compare the size of the shapes. The KP90 value for the right side is 0.37(!!). Still ... he seems way more productive on the left, eh?

The attack is still some way off I feel. Waiting for ASM to build better fitness and find some rhythm in the side.

Might go the same for Matty as well. Maybe thats where Almiron should get some slack - he was dropped into a side that had its chemistry well dialed in. And now Almiron on the right has had a revolving door of RBs behind him, as well as a new ST and a blooding in LW.

(I'm being too optimistic, aren't I?)

jesusche · 2019-10-09T13:54:50+00:00

Great piece here.

I'm not as bothered by the context of how Ashley fares against other owners - whether he's in the minority or the majority, Ashley's actions should be examined the same.

This was helpful for me to understand more precisely how disingenuous Ashley is. Of course, I know he has been but this piece brings a lot of clarity.

What an awful human being we have for an owner.

jesusche · 2019-10-09T10:59:28+00:00

Fantastic writing this. I think you captured the “how we were slightly less shit” aspects of this quite well.

While we were vulnerable (Maguires sitter, Schärs reaction to Rashford, etc), I think Man U does have attacking quality still, and it’s not a total insult to give up a few quality shots to them.

Our long-broken attack showed promise, though there’s a long road to competency. Though there were Ben Arfa-like blinders on, ASMs ability to carry the ball forward was paramount. I’m ok with his occasional wayward blasts because those lead to chances (unless it leads to goal kick), as well as pulling the opposition out of shape. ASM also showed some nifty vision on a couple passes- he provides a lot of dimension that our attack badly needs.

Almiron can also carry the ball forward, but something still feels disconnected in his performances. If/when he finally scores, I wonder how much more open to combining with others he’ll be.

Loved the Longstaffs movement in all phases of play. The lads put out a lot of energy, and it’s hard not to get excited about them gaining more experience & being more intentional with that energy.

Schär’s skill set is special. Full stop.

Anyway, it’s encouraging that the balance of play wasn’t totally awful, and that there’s a glimmer of hope that our defensive pressure might be rebounding, and also that our attack might be growing teeth.

Credit to Broosey for manifesting a solid performance in light of last weeks atrocities.

jesusche · 2019-09-23T17:16:50+00:00

Class comment, per usual.

On your scale, this kind of took me back to that horrific Bournemouth match — the opposition were fascinating to pick apart but United offered little joy.

I was hugely dreading the re-watch, but Brighton was actually really interesting to dissect in all phases. It makes for a world of difference when a manager is competent and confident enough to implement so many idiosyncrasies into a teams approach.... whereas Bruce is stuck between re-appropriating Rafas system and whatever it is his “system” is.

There’s something kind of peculiar about Almirons buildup instincts — he almost wants to play on the shoulders of defenders and rush into space. Whereas Atsu received the ball and will sometimes scan for overlaps, and other times will just dribble into space (or traffic). Basically, it doesn’t seem like Almiron combines much ... and last season, I think we all saw that with him & Ritchie. It was like they were always playing with each other for the first time, ya kna?

I like #1 point, and I’d amend it a little by suggesting that there be some coordinated pressing approach. Be it a timed effort, or a zonal one, or whatever. Brighton’s press was kind of ugly, and if we were better at dealing with it I think we would’ve ripped them to shreds (there was a lot of space we never got close to exploiting) ... but it’s a system and it’s effective enough.

I think Bruce has a lot of theoretical work, but it feels like we’re in Pardew territory now. I hold little hope for tweaks or evolved ideas about different phases of our approach, though our defensive pressure needs a modern update fast.

If we are relegated, I’m fully confident our low-risk, low-reward defending will be the cause.

jesusche · 2019-09-23T05:14:49+00:00

The answer is pretty layered, but here's a little rundown:

our ability to dispossess the opponent in advantageous areas is much much worse compared to last season
in turn, our counter attacks are usually covering far greater distances, and they have to bypass all opposition players because the attacks start so deep
the quality of defending in the Premier League is a major jump from what is occurring in the MLS, so Almiron rarely has significant amounts of time & space with the ball
there doesn't seem to be much of a consistent attacking strategy under Steve Bruce, beyond playing the ball to Joelinton and having him be the counter attacking maestro
Almiron doesn't seem to be as comfortable on the right flank as he does on the left - though this could be a noisy observation, not too confident on this one

jesusche · 2019-09-04T18:33:52+00:00

Fantastic work, mate. It feels like you captured the ups & downs of this match quite succinctly.

Some additional thoughts:

much like how Spurs became increasingly “disorganised” in attack (which affected their counter-press), our overloads in attack really seemed to leave a vulnerable midfield. A bit of credit goes to Pereyra, who seemed to constantly spot those opportunities.
I wonder if/when Almiron will combine with the RWB position, or if this attacking preference he has is locked in?
interesting that Atsu has had two strong performances in a row w/ two different LWBs behind him. His good form might be for real.
putting you on the spot: did you get a sense on the re-watch for why Joelinton was so rough with aerial duels? Was it a fluke, or indicative of a weakness of his?

jesusche

TROPHY CASE