Pragmatic system... not talking about the players. That is in short a defensive four protected by 2 deep lying defensive midfielders and helped out by hardworking wingers that often retreat to provide 2 waves of cover, plus often a 5th midfielder instead of 2 forwards. Rafa never sets up his team for all out attack and takes few risks.
Wow... I'm awed by your impressive command of strategic generalizations. Everything you say there is equally applicable to Chelsea (for instance) who will occasionally played Drogba up top by himself with 5 midfielders. The only difference of late has been Ancellotti's "diamond" formation which negates the reliance on wingers in favor of a compact midfield four supporting Drogba and Anelka up top. Before Ancellotti, much of your so-called "pragmatic system" was equally true of any of the big four, with Arsenal the notable exception.
I don't even have to get into analyzing ManU. to show how it applies to them as well... but "in short" a defensive four helped out by a deep lying Michael Carrick, with Scholes playing a more dynamic role, dropping back or pushing forward as necessary. The past several seasons Rooney and Ronaldo were up front, but often Ronaldo played just behind Rooney with Scholes and Carrick, and Anderson and Park on the wings, or berba and Giggs on the wings.
Not Ancelloti, nor Ferguson ever "sets up [their]team for all out attack and [take]few risks"
Maybe you can go google a stat on goal attempts conceded by Liverpool in comparison to other teams in the league and then it would be instructive of the point im making about Reina's workload over Rafa's reign. Imo, as soon as Liverpool start regressing and the covers get pull off of Reina he was exposed.
No need for google... but since you asked for it
http://www.thescore.com/epl/teams/0/goalie_splits?season_id=5&type=shots_faced&view_type=standardPeruse that and you'll see that Reina's 355 shots faced was more than what both Cech (312) and Van der Sar (222) had to face. His save percentage (.098) is respectable when you look at Cech (.089) and Van der Sar (.058) save rates, relative to shots faced, and # of clean sheets... in other words, his save rate is lower, but not at all surprising given how many shots he faced compared to the other two... and pretty impressive given that he still managed to tie for league lead in clean sheets. All this DESPITE playing behind a very
leaky shitty defense last season.
Yes, a slip on a rudimentary clearance is a lapse in concentration. They crucify Paul Robinson for doing something a hundred times easier to justify than that. Forgetting the 'sun in he eye' excuse in the Arsenal game i talking about general observation of his play. The occasional comedy moments that he does drop on yuh, throwing the ball out to an opposing attacker, the occasional flapping that mightn't result in goals but as a keeper should be kept to a minimum.. I'm not saying he is not a very good keeper, I am just saying he eh up there with the best for me. Yuh doh see Buffon, Casillas, VDS, Given, Friedel and even Valdes doing dem ting with any kinda regularity.
Robinson took his eye off the ball and get embarrassed by a clump of grass. Reina's plant foot slipped out from under him... how is that a "lapse in concentration"... he shoulda been concentrating more on the loose sod in the penalty box rather than looking upfield as he surveyed for a team mate to pass to? Yuh not making much sense here... sorry.
"throwing the ball out to an opposing attacker"?? Reina is widely acknowledged as one of the best distributor's of the ball in the EPL. Buffon, Casillas and Valdes... which EPL teams dem play for again?
