Bernard is a 10?

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I wouldn't do it. He's far too easily muscled off of the ball to be played in the middle. Out wide he ends up shining with his one-on-one skills and link-up with the full back. I don't think it would work out well.
 
Thing is though its ok saying Sig is one of our most dangerous players and he is. But the problem is the rest of the team doesn't always function when we play with him as a ten. Of course he has good games and does score/create I just think you need options if he isn't playing well. A different type of number ten could be tried or what I favour more of a 433, which might end up being more attacking he could play from deep and creep into the box get strikes off. Gomes would be allowed more space to roam and the forwards can stay high up instead of having to protect their full backs all the time. Why does Sig have to have his own individual free 10 role for each game? Is it a luxury we can afford in every game? I could understand it if he was running games but he doesn't do that he is a player of moments. There are games especially away when he is anonymous and we make very few chances. I dont think Silva will do it until he has a Doucoure box to box type but I can see us transitioning to a 433 in future years. It's the modern formation 4231 is becoming a bit old hat. It would be good to try something different away from home anyway hopefully Kean and Iwobi help our cutting edge on the break. It's no coincidence we have had two nil nills against Palace with largely the same players and formation.
 
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....Bernard is technically gifted and composed but for some reason he loses that when in threatening positions. We need a reasonable goal return from our no10, I doubt Bernard will provide that.

I wonder if it's a mental thing with him? If he had composure in front of goal, he'd be a seriously good player. Thats all I could see that differentiates him and Coutinho really, Coutinho was an enormous goal threat (it's a massive differentiator though).

As for moving him to a 10, I have my doubts about that. At present one of the big positives he has is his relationship with Digne behind him. We would lose that. Sigurdsson is not everyones cup of tea (and in many ways not mine) but you can't argue with 13 goals. Where are we replacing 13 goals from?
 
I’ll give Marco the benefit of a doubt here as it was the first game of the season and Gomes came out early, but even so, was it a commanding performance? Did we look even slightly decent in the final 3rd? For me, the answer to both is no.

I think we are desperate for more creativity and flair in the middle. We won’t be a consistent team with Sigurdsson imo. He relies too much on everyone else in the side.
 
I wonder if it's a mental thing with him? If he had composure in front of goal, he'd be a seriously good player. Thats all I could see that differentiates him and Coutinho really, Coutinho was an enormous goal threat (it's a massive differentiator though).

As for moving him to a 10, I have my doubts about that. At present one of the big positives he has is his relationship with Digne behind him. We would lose that. Sigurdsson is not everyones cup of tea (and in many ways not mine) but you can't argue with 13 goals. Where are we replacing 13 goals from?
You presume you'd just play one formation you need options. You can use either or depending on the game. I am not advocating dropping Sig, but changing shape in certain games. Currently we just keep doing the same thing even if it isn't working. I think I would like to see more of an attacking 433, Sig could be one of the midfield players pushing forward from deep. We might end up creating or scoring more as a team? Look at the two best teams in the land they dont play a 4231. They play with a fluid front three, one anchor and two more playmaking types. With the full backs pushing right on. What we play ends up being a jumbled 451 especially away, it works better at home granted.
 
I wonder if it's a mental thing with him? If he had composure in front of goal, he'd be a seriously good player. Thats all I could see that differentiates him and Coutinho really, Coutinho was an enormous goal threat (it's a massive differentiator though).

As for moving him to a 10, I have my doubts about that. At present one of the big positives he has is his relationship with Digne behind him. We would lose that. Sigurdsson is not everyones cup of tea (and in many ways not mine) but you can't argue with 13 goals. Where are we replacing 13 goals from?

....I agree. It appears Sigurdsson wasn’t at his best yesterday, but he gets in great goalscoring positions, he gets on the end of things.
 

....I agree. It appears Sigurdsson wasn’t at his best yesterday, but he gets in great goalscoring positions, he gets on the end of things.

Is he ever really at his best though? I don't think he runs games at all. He is good without the ball in terms of pressing and team shape and he is a good finisher. He's an odd player in that regard really. I suspect playing a lot in Iceland in his formative years gave him quite a unique development and he has a range of skills that don't naturally suit any one position.
 
You presume you'd just play one formation you need options. You can use either or depending on the game. I am not advocating dropping Sig, but changing shape in certain games. Currently we just keep doing the same thing even if it isn't working. I think I would like to see more of an attacking 433, Sig could be one of the midfield players pushing forward from deep. We might end up creating or scoring more as a team? Look at the two best teams in the land they dont play a 4231. They play with a fluid front three, one anchor and two more playmaking types. With the full backs pushing right on. What we play ends up being a jumbled 451 especially away, it works better at home granted.

I'm certainly in favour of changing a different formation. I think Silva's preferred formation is the 4-3-3. However putting Bernard into the 10 doesn't fundamentally change that problem, it just puts a different member of the team into it.
 
Sigurdsson certainly isn’t a number ten so I’m up for trying anything there tbh.

I’d go 4222 myself. Get Sigurdsson out the team, get Richarlison up top with kean, with Bernard and wobes out wide.
 

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