How to approach the rebuild

khaled_a_d said:

Since he started playing football.
He has played only 1 year as inside winger before moving to 1st team. And was considered no9 for B team that year.
EV preferred to get him as LW because it is easier for young player to adapt on that rather than playing against strong CB.
He is very close to a player like Villa.

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And Villa was perfect as a LW, he was the best to play that role for Barcelona in my opinion.
I think Fati is looking like he can be an even more perfect player for that role, "inside winger" or what you'd call it. Maybe he can be great as a 9 too, but right now I think LW suits him better.

Anyway, in such a formation, the front three wouldn't necessarily have very clear roles but swap positions a lot centrally, Alba should be in control of the flank most of the time.

serghei said:

Koeman played him as a LW too before he got injured. With Griezmann and Messi as false 9.

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Yes, because Koeman at that time tried to fit Coutinho, Messi, Griezmann in 4231 , and all plays better centrally so it didn't make sense to put Fati as 9.
In your formation, both Messi and Depay will benefit from a 9 in front of them, both are SS , Depay was once a LW and is right footed, so overlap with Messi seems minimal

Fati is definitely a 9 like Khaled said, it's just difficult throwing a 17 year old into that position, when he hasn't fully developed physical for it yet.

Do people think his sweet finish skills was crafted over the years by him playing as a winger, he lacks a bit of pace to play their long term imo.

I'd say if the injuries doesn't rob him of anything, & he continues to develop, in about 2/3 years he will play as a 9, someone like pep would immediately play him as their.

But for now he should be rotating the left inside forward position & CF position with Depay throughout the game.

I swear if I see Kun & messi starting the majority of games next season I will break my TV.

Fati was used as both a striker and a wide player in younger categories. More as a wide player in years before made step up to first team.

In the youth cup run where he was Barcas best player and got to final v Chelsea he was a wide player also.

Not the case he is a 9 that has juts been played on wing in first team.

Bobo32 said:

I do now!
Not very revolutionary but pretty sensible overall. I am of course very sad to see Busquets not included, and I don't think Frenkie can play that role very well. Playing with two pivotes might suit him more yes.
I do think, without knowing the players very well, that these two CBs would be a good fit though. Pjanic and Griezmann should be of Juventus interest, nice.

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Like I said in the amigos section, Busi can certainly get playing time off the bench. He again, earned it for me to continue to be involved unlike someone like Pique.

With de Jong in the pivot, I base a lot of this on where I see him long term here. He has all of the tools and the skill set we need for that position and crucially, I believe he can surpass the offensive output we got from Busi all those years. If you look at how he performed in the libero role, he did such a good job of setting the tempo for our play and keeping the ball circulating quickly. I would not base your judgements solely off of the times he gets switched there in the middle of the game after we take off Busi.

With a run of games in that position, I think he would start to get comfortable and start making the position his own, much like he did this season in the libero and box to box roles. He is such an intelligent player and I think we will get the most out of his strengths as a player long-term from deeper, helping build up the play. From a dribbling standpoint, he is the type that once he gets at full speed, he is very hard to stop and he will naturally have more space to make those linebreaking runs from deeper than in the crowded spaces he has to occupy as an interior.

i_bleed_blaugrana said:

Like I said in the amigos section, Busi can certainly get playing time off the bench. He again, earned it for me to continue to be involved unlike someone like Pique.

With de Jong in the pivot, I base a lot of this on where I see him long term here. He has all of the tools and the skill set we need for that position and crucially, I believe he can surpass the offensive output we got from Busi all those years. If you look at how he performed in the libero role, he did such a good job of setting the tempo for our play and keeping the ball circulating quickly. I would not base your judgements solely off of the times he gets switched there in the middle of the game after we take off Busi.

With a run of games in that position, I think he would start to get comfortable and start making the position his own, much like he did this season in the libero and box to box roles. He is such an intelligent player and I think we will get the most out of his strengths as a player long-term from deeper, helping build up the play. From a dribbling standpoint, he is the type that once he gets at full speed, he is very hard to stop and he will naturally have more space to make those linebreaking runs from deeper than in the crowded spaces he has to occupy as an interior.

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Agreed regarding De Jong. He has a great eye for breaking the lines and advancing on the ball whenever the opponent doesn't close down. In a 3 at the back role, that central CB role is vital. Get that wrong (like we did with Pique) and the whole system collapses. You need an extremely dynamic player there to break in and join midfield every time there is a gap. Someone to play very fast with few touches.

Imo, that is the best position for him when in a 3 at the back system. He is the only quick player with an eye for breaking the lines, with good enough ball control and stamina to make those movements constantly.

serghei said:

I like Depay as a 9 much better than Aguero, who is puffy, slow, and would basically be a crappier Suarez who moves too little and too slow.

Something like this for a 3-4-3 would be sensible, with only the names we either signed or are close to signing, no De Ligt dreams made true. Puig first sub for Pedri ideally, but we all know Koeman will fuck it up as usual and give him pure garbage minutes if he stays.

Mingueza for Araujo very good sub as well. Lenglet for Garcia for the other spot, De Jong moved in CB-DM role. Wijnaldum and Moriba fight it up for the box to box midfielder role, Pedri and Puig make the deeper CM role with playmaking role.

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The only reason why I slightly prefer Aguero to Depay, at least right now prior to seeing them play, is their natural tendencies as players. The single most important thing we are missing right now from an offensive standpoint is box presence.

Depay likes to come to the ball and build, a bit like Greizmann. My only concern with Depay up top is that he will show to the ball so much that he will crowd out the center. Aguero is good with his positioning, finding space in the box and occupying and pushing back the defensive line.

Aguero naturally will push the lines back with his runs and the space he creates from that will give room for everyone else. Luis did this for a while but he got so bad and slow, he stopped being a threat to defenses and they just crowded out passing lanes to him. Aguero, while clearly not as quick as Depay, is by no means as pedestrian as Luis is now.

Honestly, the timing of the run is just as important as how fast the player making the run is and that is what I just expect Aguero to have a leg on Depay in terms of first arriving here. Could definitely change over time and once Depay gets settled here but I just expect Depay to be more comfortable here on the wing than as a 9.

Really just want to see us play players in their natural positions, like Koeman said he would do when he first got here. And both will definitely be an upgrade on Greizmann.

https://twitter.com/GuardiolaTweets/status/1308135363492405248

Here is one who is making the exact same point as me.