I’ve thought this would be worth a try – Bailey and Buendia aren’t offering much and Ollie ends up in wide positions a lot of the time anyway
Pommerz on
I wished we tried Ollie out wide when we had Rashford. Would love to see this given a go.
305BlackPanther on
I feel like we’re going to lose Ollie in the offseason anyway, why not try it
keithh84 on
The adaptation to the defensive work you have to do out wide would be too much to handle given he’s carrying an injury. Morgz out left and Barkley or Luiz in the 10 would be better imo.
ImmediateMeat9255 on
Luiz onana both think they should hold no one takes responsibility to drive forward
Nekokeki on
I’ve completely given up on Bailey at the end of last season. Anything to get him off the pitch. When is Alysson expected to be back?
RowanBoat209 on
So here’s the thing. Ollie hasn’t been a winger since he was a solid mid table Championship level winger. Just because the positioning he takes up in certain game states can bias him to the left doesn’t mean that putting him out there as a pure left winger would work, especially with a manager who’s incredibly specific in his tactical desires from wingers, where he generally prefers wide 10s.
I’d use Henry as a good tactical example. Henry also always biased to the left despite nominally being in the centre because it suited his pace, striking style, and his desire to exploit the gaps between CB and LB, which is easier than between two CBs. Watkins fits all of this too. However, Henry was shunted out wide for Barcelone and he was never the same player. Yes he was still very productive and very good, but that’s because he was genuinely a world class talent and played in an incomparably elite team. I love Ollie and I love our team but we are neither truly elite nor is he world class. If Henry drops off pushed out wide, then Ollie really does.
Sentimentally I really would like it to work because I, like any of us thinking this idea through, both love Ollie and recognise something isn’t working rn, so we seek a solution that gets him playing and “fixes” us attacking wise. But this is not it. Ollie is a great striker who’s out of form. Turning him into a winger in a system where his skills don’t match what the manager wants from a winger only makes that worse.
fastmovingcars on
Luiz has been way too lackadaisical with his passes in his few games since returning. I feel like Ollie would be waiting too long for passes up the left side.
8 Comments
I’ve thought this would be worth a try – Bailey and Buendia aren’t offering much and Ollie ends up in wide positions a lot of the time anyway
I wished we tried Ollie out wide when we had Rashford. Would love to see this given a go.
I feel like we’re going to lose Ollie in the offseason anyway, why not try it
The adaptation to the defensive work you have to do out wide would be too much to handle given he’s carrying an injury. Morgz out left and Barkley or Luiz in the 10 would be better imo.
Luiz onana both think they should hold no one takes responsibility to drive forward
I’ve completely given up on Bailey at the end of last season. Anything to get him off the pitch. When is Alysson expected to be back?
So here’s the thing. Ollie hasn’t been a winger since he was a solid mid table Championship level winger. Just because the positioning he takes up in certain game states can bias him to the left doesn’t mean that putting him out there as a pure left winger would work, especially with a manager who’s incredibly specific in his tactical desires from wingers, where he generally prefers wide 10s.
I’d use Henry as a good tactical example. Henry also always biased to the left despite nominally being in the centre because it suited his pace, striking style, and his desire to exploit the gaps between CB and LB, which is easier than between two CBs. Watkins fits all of this too. However, Henry was shunted out wide for Barcelone and he was never the same player. Yes he was still very productive and very good, but that’s because he was genuinely a world class talent and played in an incomparably elite team. I love Ollie and I love our team but we are neither truly elite nor is he world class. If Henry drops off pushed out wide, then Ollie really does.
Sentimentally I really would like it to work because I, like any of us thinking this idea through, both love Ollie and recognise something isn’t working rn, so we seek a solution that gets him playing and “fixes” us attacking wise. But this is not it. Ollie is a great striker who’s out of form. Turning him into a winger in a system where his skills don’t match what the manager wants from a winger only makes that worse.
Luiz has been way too lackadaisical with his passes in his few games since returning. I feel like Ollie would be waiting too long for passes up the left side.