Article by Deputy Editor Marc AshedWe are midway through October and we have already seen the ups and downs of a squad that has been completely revamped. Paulinho has cemented himself among the top central midfielders in the league, Andros Townsend has returned from loan and moved directly into the starting 11 while Christian Eriksen has displayed his immense talent and potential to be a world class no.10. While there has been a ton of positives, there are also some things that are a work in progress.
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Roberto Soldado, while setting up several goals and displaying strong link up play, hasn't found the net in weeks and Erik Lamela, our record signing has only provided a glimpse into what he can be. We have had trouble scoring despite having plenty of attacking talent and chances. Soldado and Lamela both need time to settle and I am sure that once they do, they will both justify their price tags. But in the meantime, an idea that I have been toying with is playing Lamela in a false 9 role. In this article, I want to look at why it could work with our current squad.
Sam Tighe at Bleacher Report did a great analysis of the false 9 (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1802653-complete-guide-to-the-false-9-and-who-plays-it-best). The idea behind the false 9 is that the striker drops deeper in midfield to collect the ball rather than leading the line. The striker needs to be able to take players on, build the attack, score multiple different ways and have a keen eye for the pass. Lamela fits those criteria.
When the false 9 drops deep to collect the ball, he brings the center backs with him creating space for the wings and advanced midfielders to make runs off of the ball and get in behind the defense. We have Townsend, Gylfi, Chadli that are capable of scoring plenty of goals and making intelligent runs behind the D. Not to mention, Paulinho, Holtby and Eriksen are all midfielders who are capable of supporting the attack, scoring goals and racking up assists.
The play builds up further away from goal rather than inside the final 3rd and this style promotes fast passing and counter attacking football. This would solve a problem that we have of sometimes slowing down play in the final 3rd and looking to pick out a pass in too compact of an area. This allows the defense to settle in and park in front of the goal.
Lamela is capable of playing in this false 9 role and thriving. He had 15 goals and 5 assists for Roma playing as a right wing and played no. 10 for River Plate in Argentina. While Soldado finds his stride, its an option worth looking at to encourage Lamela to play more creatively, freely and help him settle in the Premier League.
@MarcAron22
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Marc A. Ashed
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lamela needs time. He is young, new to the country, does not speak English, and also new to the English game. Right now his preferred role is probably unclear too. I would probably like to see us line up similar to Chelsea which is 4-2-3-1 but our attacking players are just not as good at Chelsea. Dembele is a decent player but offers little creativity or goal scoring. Sigg is on and off, and Eriksen still has to prove he can do it over time. Lots of potential, but we need more. Right now I might even consider Sandro and Capoue as holding and then have Townsend, Eriksen and Paulinho as our attacking 3. but compare that to having Mata, Hazard and Oscar? This false number 9 requires someone who is strong and can handle the pace.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think the deep-lying, creative no.9 is worth a go for Lamela. Before arrival he was described as able to play across the front line but since then he's only ever been spoken of in terms of "Lennon or Townsend on the right... Oh, so where do we fit Lamelain?" as an afterthought. This might be radical but I'm in favor of building the strategy and tactics around the strengths of the players, not trying to squeeze highly talented players into tight boxes and narrow functions and thereby discarding half their abilities and what they should be bringing to the pitch.
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