Should Pau Torres and Tyrone Mings both start?

[paul_e]

I think the left back thing was probably just a trial run in the event of an injury to Digne before Moreno is back rather than some tactical masterplan from Emery.  Possibly also to reduce Dignes minutes given how important he will be to us for the first few weeks.

I reckon it was also to have a look at the flipped shape from what we did last year.

[Footy-Vill]

I haven't seen all the friendlies, but am I right in thinking that Mings and Torres haven't played together yet as a conventional centre back pairing?

Yes that's the case it's fascinating discussion on who will be chosen.
I've since had a look at the line up for the win against Lazio and see Pau was chosen ahead of Mings.
Something I suspected and solves the mystery of how he was to fit them both in a back line of two centre-backs

Seems in order to include both Pau and Mings, it appears that Emery will have a back 3 with a right back pressing forward which would be Matty Cash.
When Mings or Pau don't play then it's maybe Digne or Moreno pushing forward and Konsa or Chambers at right back and Carlos or Konsa right centre back with Pau or Mings at left centre back.

There is no Mings and Pau on right side of defence.
Neither play there and the evidence shows that Emery is not looking to deploy a left centre back at right sided. As I suspected all along.

[pablo_picasso]

Cookies for everyone!!!

🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

[Risso]

I’d be starting Cash - Konsa - Mings - Digne against Newcastle.

[ldavfc4eva]

Agreed Risso, they showed tonight how comfortable they all are together.

For me it’s up to Pau and Carlos to force their way in.

We need another RB as Chambers and certainly not Ezri are the answer if Cash isn’t fit

[pelty]

I’d be starting Cash - Konsa - Mings - Digne against Newcastle.

100%

[nordenvillain]

I’d be starting Cash - Konsa - Mings - Digne against Newcastle.

100%

I agree

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I’d be starting Cash - Konsa - Mings - Digne against Newcastle.

100%

I agree

All look great. Nobody even close to pushing them for a start.

[Beard82]

I’d be starting Cash - Konsa - Mings - Digne against Newcastle.

100%

I agree

All look great. Nobody even close to pushing them for a start.

100% - tricky first match, lets not risk it

[Beard82]

Torres, hasnt come here to play left back - Im sure ill be fitted in somehow soon, but possibly not as a left back, or at least not in the formation we had today

[Footy-Vill]

Torres, hasnt come here to play left back - Im sure ill be fitted in somehow soon, but possibly not as a left back, or at least not in the formation we had today

Torres is not a left back - if the idea to sign him was due to his passing from defence into midfield, then he would be wasted at left back

A kind of inverted left back role for Pau though is happening. Emery version of it and his vision for having Torres and Mings in the team together.

And what is an inverted full back?

https://www.coachesvoice.com/cv/inverted-full-backs-guardiola-cancelo-trent-alexander-arnold-lahm-football-tactics/

To help make sense of it all and the Mings and Pau question.

[paul_e]

The common attacking shape amongst the top sides now is 325, with a wide back 3 that is closer to 1CB and 2FBs than the more traditional 3 CBs. The 2 are then a double pivot but generally 1 is a more defensive option who will stay quite deep and be the 4th defender against the counter-attack whilst the other steps up and dictates play and sets the ponit and tempo of the attack.

Luiz works perfectly in that 2nd role because he's fantastic at both being the quarterback and changing the point of the attack but also at drifting into space around the box and timing runs to break in and get chances on goal. Tielemans works in both positions so long as we're dominating possession and Kamara is exceptional at the more defensive role, I can see us playing every combination of 2 from 3 fairly regularly.

For the 5 I think we set up in a few different ways last year but the 2 most common were:

Starting in a 442 Where Moreno pushed up and Cash/Young joined the 3, JJ and McGinn moved in from the wings to fill the gaps between FB and CB (half-space is the common term for this amongst the tactical nerds) and Bailey drifted out wide on the right.
or
Starting in more of a 451 Where McGinn was in the 2 and Bailey played on the right, in this the big difference was Buendia drifted into the right side half-space from a more central position.

When Digne played we mixed it up during the game a bit more because we sometimes pushed him up and other times we pushed Cash up but neither of them really worked.

In pre-season I think Emery has worked hard on getting Cash to be more productive if he pushes into that and to encourage it he's been using Torres on the left to remove any doubt of who would be the more attacking full back. Diaby also plays a big part because he can fill 4 of the 5 spots at any point so we're a lot more fluid in our shape.

[AV82EC]

The common attacking shape amongst the top sides now is 325, with a wide back 3 that is closer to 1CB and 2FBs than the more traditional 3 CBs. The 2 are then a double pivot but generally 1 is a more defensive option who will stay quite deep and be the 4th defender against the counter-attack whilst the other steps up and dictates play and sets the ponit and tempo of the attack.

Luiz works perfectly in that 2nd role because he's fantastic at both being the quarterback and changing the point of the attack but also at drifting into space around the box and timing runs to break in and get chances on goal. Tielemans works in both positions so long as we're dominating possession and Kamara is exceptional at the more defensive role, I can see us playing every combination of 2 from 3 fairly regularly.

For the 5 I think we set up in a few different ways last year but the 2 most common were:

Starting in a 442 Where Moreno pushed up and Cash/Young joined the 3, JJ and McGinn moved in from the wings to fill the gaps between FB and CB (half-space is the common term for this amongst the tactical nerds) and Bailey drifted out wide on the right.
or
Starting in more of a 451 Where McGinn was in the 2 and Bailey played on the right, in this the big difference was Buendia drifted into the right side half-space from a more central position.

When Digne played we mixed it up during the game a bit more because we sometimes pushed him up and other times we pushed Cash up but neither of them really worked.

In pre-season I think Emery has worked hard on getting Cash to be more productive if he pushes into that and to encourage it he's been using Torres on the left to remove any doubt of who would be the more attacking full back. Diaby also plays a big part because he can fill 4 of the 5 spots at any point so we're a lot more fluid in our shape.

Are you an optician Paul?

[paul_e]

The common attacking shape amongst the top sides now is 325, with a wide back 3 that is closer to 1CB and 2FBs than the more traditional 3 CBs. The 2 are then a double pivot but generally 1 is a more defensive option who will stay quite deep and be the 4th defender against the counter-attack whilst the other steps up and dictates play and sets the ponit and tempo of the attack.

Luiz works perfectly in that 2nd role because he's fantastic at both being the quarterback and changing the point of the attack but also at drifting into space around the box and timing runs to break in and get chances on goal. Tielemans works in both positions so long as we're dominating possession and Kamara is exceptional at the more defensive role, I can see us playing every combination of 2 from 3 fairly regularly.

For the 5 I think we set up in a few different ways last year but the 2 most common were:

Starting in a 442 Where Moreno pushed up and Cash/Young joined the 3, JJ and McGinn moved in from the wings to fill the gaps between FB and CB (half-space is the common term for this amongst the tactical nerds) and Bailey drifted out wide on the right.
or
Starting in more of a 451 Where McGinn was in the 2 and Bailey played on the right, in this the big difference was Buendia drifted into the right side half-space from a more central position.

When Digne played we mixed it up during the game a bit more because we sometimes pushed him up and other times we pushed Cash up but neither of them really worked.

In pre-season I think Emery has worked hard on getting Cash to be more productive if he pushes into that and to encourage it he's been using Torres on the left to remove any doubt of who would be the more attacking full back. Diaby also plays a big part because he can fill 4 of the 5 spots at any point so we're a lot more fluid in our shape.

Are you an optician Paul?

No idea what happened there, sometimes the editor does weird things if you cut and paste I think.

[Bad English]

The common attacking shape amongst the top sides now is 325, with a wide back 3 that is closer to 1CB and 2FBs than the more traditional 3 CBs. The 2 are then a double pivot but generally 1 is a more defensive option who will stay quite deep and be the 4th defender against the counter-attack whilst the other steps up and dictates play and sets the ponit and tempo of the attack.

Luiz works perfectly in that 2nd role because he's fantastic at both being the quarterback and changing the point of the attack but also at drifting into space around the box and timing runs to break in and get chances on goal. Tielemans works in both positions so long as we're dominating possession and Kamara is exceptional at the more defensive role, I can see us playing every combination of 2 from 3 fairly regularly.

For the 5 I think we set up in a few different ways last year but the 2 most common were:

Starting in a 442 Where Moreno pushed up and Cash/Young joined the 3, JJ and McGinn moved in from the wings to fill the gaps between FB and CB (half-space is the common term for this amongst the tactical nerds) and Bailey drifted out wide on the right.
or
Starting in more of a 451 Where McGinn was in the 2 and Bailey played on the right, in this the big difference was Buendia drifted into the right side half-space from a more central position.

When Digne played we mixed it up during the game a bit more because we sometimes pushed him up and other times we pushed Cash up but neither of them really worked.

In pre-season I think Emery has worked hard on getting Cash to be more productive if he pushes into that and to encourage it he's been using Torres on the left to remove any doubt of who would be the more attacking full back. Diaby also plays a big part because he can fill 4 of the 5 spots at any point so we're a lot more fluid in our shape.

Are you an optician Paul?

No idea what happened there, sometimes the editor does weird things if you cut and paste I think.

In full site mode, select text then click on the "remove formatting button" (the one with two letter A's on it).