It just makes my blood boil sometimes reading Rafa getting lambasted for his Barry-gate affair, especially when this has been brought up again following his Times interview (and I'm actually going to do a bit of research and write a piece about it).
It was clear that Rafa wanted to evolve the attacking approach of his team last season.
Hence the PDA of his man-love for Barry.
So what's the fuss about this guy?
Well nothing much really, but after giving hints in the interview above, there's nothing wrong with us getting used to the idea that the favoured 4-2-3-1 might be reviewed. And fitting Barry and Keane into the revised formation.
It's not that difficult, really. I mean you would arrive at a diamond 4-3-3 most probably:
Keane Torres
Gerrard
Barry Mascherano
Alonso
Now put that against the 4-2-3-1 below:
Torres
Riera Gerrard Kuyt
Alonso Mascherano
Just an almost direct swap of Riera & Kuyt with Keane & Barry. We'd get double the goal threat from Torres (as Kuyt can't really be counted as a goal threat that much, and the most glaring comparison between his strongest points & Keane's is that Keane is a much better goal threat on his own), plus more physical presence in centre mid & set pieces without losing out on the delivery & composure of Riera on the left.
I mean, does Rafa need to write that out for you?
Barry-Keane was his plan (and the above could be a likely formation) before the start of last season. Kuyt performed well last season as a direct result of this plan falling through. Anyway, though he has repaid his transfer fee, he's still far from the ideal threat from the right, although he is a perfect fit there post conversion.
I'm not saying it will work wonders, but saying it couldn't posisbly work and Rafa's lost his tactical marbles with his Barry-Keane combo sounds exactly like who didn't have any tactical marbles in the first place.
It was clear that Rafa wanted to evolve the attacking approach of his team last season.
Hence the PDA of his man-love for Barry.
So what's the fuss about this guy?
Well nothing much really, but after giving hints in the interview above, there's nothing wrong with us getting used to the idea that the favoured 4-2-3-1 might be reviewed. And fitting Barry and Keane into the revised formation.
It's not that difficult, really. I mean you would arrive at a diamond 4-3-3 most probably:
Keane Torres
Gerrard
Barry Mascherano
Alonso
Now put that against the 4-2-3-1 below:
Torres
Riera Gerrard Kuyt
Alonso Mascherano
Just an almost direct swap of Riera & Kuyt with Keane & Barry. We'd get double the goal threat from Torres (as Kuyt can't really be counted as a goal threat that much, and the most glaring comparison between his strongest points & Keane's is that Keane is a much better goal threat on his own), plus more physical presence in centre mid & set pieces without losing out on the delivery & composure of Riera on the left.
I mean, does Rafa need to write that out for you?
Barry-Keane was his plan (and the above could be a likely formation) before the start of last season. Kuyt performed well last season as a direct result of this plan falling through. Anyway, though he has repaid his transfer fee, he's still far from the ideal threat from the right, although he is a perfect fit there post conversion.
I'm not saying it will work wonders, but saying it couldn't posisbly work and Rafa's lost his tactical marbles with his Barry-Keane combo sounds exactly like who didn't have any tactical marbles in the first place.
No comments:
Post a Comment