Week 18 Tactics

-------------------------Arrizabalaga
Klostermann -- Murillo -- Francis -- Balenziaga
--------------------------Iborra
----------------Toure ------------ Guedes
-----------------------Dembele
----------------Dybala ------Aspas

Bench - Smith,Daniels,Valbuena,Grifo,Parades,Stanislas ,Afobe

Back 4 to drop a little deeper with Gray or Iheanacho up top.
Murillo to pick the main forward up
Francis to cover with pace
Full backs show wingers inside, get down the wing when got the ball
Iborra sit infront of the defense cut the supply into forward out, Drop into a back 5 when under pressure
Guedes & Yaya go box to box and look to bully their midfield and try to stop their CM dictating the play, Both DM when defending
Yaya to go rampaging forwards, Guedes drop back when that happens
Dembele to sit behind the forwards and drift about looking to knock balls in behind if they have a back 5 knock into channels
Dybala to link things and get beyond the defense running in behind slowest defender
Aspas just drift wider into the channels to get yourself in behind

BENCH
Mannone
Bartra
Yedlin
Mawson
Arter
Abraham
Defoe


TACTICS (149 words)
Tough game against Bournemouth but we need to have a go at their weakened defense, Lookman and Mertens should start wide and cut in to stretch them out, with Vardy looking to get in behind. If they try to drop deep this will play into our hands creating a lot of room for Castro, Keita and Alli to play in front of their defense, but generally trying to play quick football. Defensively I want Keita on Toure to match him physically, and Castro zonally defending the space in front of the back four. Dybala is their big threat but our main chance is to isolate him and be quick to pressurise to starve him of support.

SUBSTITUTIONS
If winning - Arter for one of the midfielders, fresh legs.
If losing – Defoe and Yedlin for Lookman and Meunier, more aggressive fullbacks and move Alli and Mertens RAM and LAM.

---------------------Valdes

Gibson-----Van Dijk------Lindelof --- Rose

-----------Weigl-----------Rabiot-----------------

-------------------Tielemans

--Mane------------------------------Iwobi

-----------------Ibrahimovic

Subs - Konstantopolous, Tierney, Nsue, Forshaw, Merino, Isak

Game plan - use our midfield trio to dominate the game, press on to their midfielders and attack with width to put pressure on their defence leaving Zlatan room. Gibson purely defensive role to prevent Belotti getting into the channels

Van Dijk to mark main striker, Lindelof cover
Gibson stay compact with Van Dijk, Weigl to help cover that side but prevent Belotti getting into the channels
Weigl to sit deepest and control the game, Rabiot to pick passes and support attack
Tielemans as the creative hub, take long shots, play into the front 3
Mane and Iwobi to run with the ball, and run in behind off Ibra when he holds it up
Ibra hold up the ball, get into the box and finish chances - look to play in Mane/iwobi

Injuries:
Buffon
Lahm
Bernardeschi
Hogan


Subs: Telles, Holgate, Sanchez, Neves, Davies, Iheanacho, Pinamonte

Tactics :
Defence
Defend from the front.
Barzagli stay tight to Ibra, Sule  play spare sweeping up loose balls, clear crosses into box
FBs pick up wingers, keep them wide. Wingers track back and support the FBs, cutting off supply to their wings.
Dembele sit and give FBs some freedom to get forward

Attack
Targeting the wide area, attacking with pace.
Dembele playing deep, dictating play, getting ball to the wingers.
Bakayoko box to box, joining the attack.
Martins/Oyarzabal attack FBs, get the ball into the box.
FBs overlap wingers, provide extra width, but never at the same time.
Winger tucks inside when FB overlaps to provide support to the front 2
Belotti and Gray to work hard, use pace and stretch defence. Pull CBs apart and create space for wingers/Bakayoko to move into.

Subs: on 70 minutes, Iheanacho for Gray, Davies for Bakayoko

Not a fan of nando's formation tbh. Far too narrow and against the strength of Sunderlands wingers it gave them a big disadvantage. A massive mistake playing Guedes in CM. The front 3 of Dybala Aspas Dembele are a nice trio but the rest of the team needs work imo. I rate Iborra though but the rest of the team can be improved. Sunderland are very well balanced but a more defense minded player next to Castro is needed. Sunderland win

Tough one. Can see Sunderland having more luck down the wings but i feel they should have chose to target those areas more. I feel like they should have made that the focus for the whole game. Lookman, although decent could be improved on however i like the main string of the Sunderland team. I think i can see Bournemouth edging this, i feel like Dybala and Dembele will be too much for the defence of Sunderland in the end but a very close match. It just shows the power of a great striker in this fantasy game as thats basically what has edged it for me today. Bournemouth win.

Not feeling a lot of love for Bournemouth's formation this week and feel that Sunderland are set up well to exploit it. The central trio of Castro, Keita and Alli has a nice blend to it and they make Sunderland tick today. Not overly keen on the buys they've brought in though, Cahill is Cahill but he has his flaws and Vardy needs a good end of season in RL to prove he's not a one season wonder in the premier league. At the other end I can see Dybala and Dembele tearing holes in the Sunderland defence when the opportunity arises but still nodding it towards Sunderland overall.

For me the midfield trio of Rabiot, Weigl and Tielemans is what separates the sides today, the extra man against what is also a strong midfield pairing. Also think it was an oversight by the Burnley manager to not bring in a better keeper for this game with Buffon's injury. Up front the class of Ibra shines through combined with Mane.

A tough one to call but I have to give the edge to Boro. I really like the midfield 3 of Rabiot Weigl Tielemans these players could be the best in the world in their positions in a couple of years. Need to improve on Iwobi don't rate him at all but still think he would get some joy against the reserve right back. Burnley for me need to start playing an attack midfielder behind Belotti, drop Gray and try and get a decent one in.

Ibrahimovic is always going to cause problems in most games but i feel Burnley were well prepared for him. Burnley have opted for a very balanced set up and i feel like if put into tick boxes, they answer all the questions that Boro throw at them in this one. Feel like Boro need to improve on Iwobi but have a very capable team, just feel it was tactics that edged it for me today. Burnley win.