u/NamanMalik007

-Fabrizio Romano

(If you wanna skip, you can read just the 4 points about the 4 pictures above and how I think we have issues in our right wing which are fixable with Spence.)

So, there are only 7 teams in the league which have conceded more goals than us but I feel that half of the problems we face come from our right wing being exploited by opponents. Now, Diouf is an excellent player and he more than makes up for his defensive shortcomings by his offensive output but we are indeed vulnerable to concede from our right wing because he is not a 'true defender'. Now, Akanji too is not without blame but I have been seeing improvements in his game since season started so this post focused more on our right wing.

I have noticed a consistent pattern of us leaving too much space on our right wing and opponents have been exploiting it a lot. And lots of problems come to Diouf not being able to transition back to defense as the possession changes. I have found him to be good in 1v1 situations but once the opponent is behind him, he struggles to get back to defensive position and track back and this happens mostly as we lose possession, ultimately leaving lots of space on our right wing. Out of 8 goals we conceded in league 4 came from similar space.

Of the remaining four goals 1 was against Monza when Akanji let Varela roll past him. 2 were against Napoli- both defensive blunders- Diouf making risky pass to Barella and second- half the team not knowing the ball is in play. last was the first goal by Udinese which was just a perfect cross and pin point header- no complaints there. Coming to the 4 we conceded from our right wing- I wanted to point out this pattern here with these pics-

1. Same problem here, Diouf was unable to track back as we transitioned which basically left Bisseck covering for 3 players and again we were too congested on the left while leaving lots of room on the right.
2. Here, Diouf wasn't really marking anyone.. He was too central to be blocking pass to Soule but yet too wide to defend Kone- here he struggled with his positioning.
3. Again, it was same issue here against Udinese. we left far too much room on our right wing, Stones had plenty of time to mark Ekkelenkemp but there was too much empty room left for him to run into.

4.Again, Diouf was struggling to get back to marking his player when the ball switched. Once, he lets the player behind him.. he leaves a lot of empty space and struggles to get back to man mark the opponent.

So, again I find these problems very fixable with addition of Spence but for the time being I think other clubs know that our right wing is our weak link defensively and exploit that area. that is why am very excited for Spence post break. Now, I love Diouf and I wish he wins Ballon D' Or with us but this is just little pattern that's been bugging me when I see us play and I am sure Diouf can work on these as well but I would love to see what Spence can bring to our team as well and I hope we stop conceding 2 goals before we comeback as it is not good for my heart.

He had some wonderful recoveries and did well in 1v1 situations and his positioning was flawless most of the times. I really want to see Spence soon but am getting more and more confident in Diouf to the point that I might miss him if we don’t play him in big games and went for Spence. Spence really gotta put in 9-10/10 performances consistently if he wants to bench Diouf