We scour the post-match press conferences next to find some pertinent Fantasy soundbites for your perusal. Slaven Bilic and Ronald Koeman discuss their weekend tactics, Arsene Wenger bemoans Arsenal aerial deficiency, whilst Jurgen Klopp hails Alberto Moreno’s display against Stoke ahead of double Gameweek 34.
Wenger admits Gunners’ aerial weakness
After serving up clean sheets in Gameweek 31 and 32, Arsenal were ill-equipped to deal with Andy Carroll’s aerial prowess at the Boleyn Ground last weekend, ultimately leading to the combative frontman netting a hat-trick that included two headers. The Gunners struggled to compete on that front all afternoon, conceding the joint-most headed attempts (six) of any team last Gameweek. Although many observers attributed this in part to Arsene Wenger’s decision to opt for David Ospina over Petr Cech, the Gunners boss insisted that his side have suffered from the same deficiency all season, regardless of his defensive selection:
“The thinking [behind choosing Ospina] was that he has had some outstanding performances. With Petr Cech or David Ospina, we have exactly the same problem in the air. We didn’t concede in the last two games. Since the beginning of the season, we have had exactly the same problem, no matter who plays. If you look at the goals we have conceded since the start of the season, [most of them] are headers in our box. That happened today.”
Bilic on starting Carroll vs Arsenal
West Ham United catered their game to Carroll’s style of play against Arsenal, recording the joint-highest number of crosses (11) on the weekend. By virtue of the rangy striker’s dominance over his markers, the Irons posted the best cross-completion percentage (42.3%) by a significant margin, underlining the effectiveness of the tactic. Discussing the hosts’ strategy, Slaven Bilic discussed how he looked to exploit the Gunners’ weakness on the wings:
“Sometimes their wingers don’t track back so we knew we would have space on the flanks. We hoped if we had space we could use it to put in good crosses. We have a few players who can bend the ball in really well – Payet, Lanzini, Antonio, Cresswell and Noble when he goes wide – and basically you are putting the ball in the box, it’s more likely to find Andy than the defenders. He has done it against Liverpool, against Chelsea and now against Arsenal, so it was a good decision”.
Klopp hails Origi improvement
Courtesy of a brace in the second half against Stoke City, Divock Origi now boasts three goals in two starts across all competitions. On the eve of Liverpool’s home tie against Borussia Dortmund, the young Belgian’s form heightens Daniel Sturridge’s risk of reduced pitch time during the Reds’ double Gameweek 34 (bou & EVE). Jurgen Klopp expressed delight on the speed of Origi’s development:
“You see what confidence can do, I think Divock said himself, that when he came here everything was difficult for him. He is still a very young player. Coming here and everyone’s expectations are high because he’s a highly-rated striker. When I came here he wasn’t fit, and then he had one or two small things, so now the most important thing he must stay fit. The last injury he used (the time out) for a little bit of body strength, so now he has to wear another shirt! The first goal, set-piece, quick in mind, short corner and then what a cross and what a header. It is only possible with confidence.”
Klopp praises Moreno display
Bagging a goal and assist against Stoke City, Alberto Moreno enjoyed his best Gameweek score (12) of the campaign. Among all defenders, the Spanish full-back ranks fourth for attempts (31) and top for key passes (49 – which is 13 more than second-placed Aleksandar Kolarov), so it’s somewhat perplexing that he’d mustered zero goals and a solitary assist prior to the Potters clash. Klopp lauded Moreno’s all-round performance on the weekend, praising his level of concentration at both ends of the pitch:
“I would say Alberto [Moreno] had his strongest performance since I’ve been here. The goal gave him confidence, but he was concentrated, good in defence, very good in our build-up and changed positions, played in the half-space and so that was good. You saw that it was not too easy for Stoke to defend the formation; Daniel was very flexible together with Roberto in the centre, Ojo on the right wing very offensive like a striker and left half of the space open for Alberto to go and join in the half-space. That’s because we tried to find the best system for these players.”
Hiddink talks rotation
Having afforded playing time to the likes of Ruben-Loftus Cheek, Bertrand Traore and Alexandre Pato in recent weeks, Gus Hiddink employed further rotation for Chelsea’ trip to the Liberty Stadium by drafting in Asmir Begovic for Thibaut Courtois between the posts. The Dutch manager revealed that he’ll continue to blood youngsters and grant fringe players opportunities even if it diminishes the Blues’ chances of winning their remaining matches:
“It’s not a personal objective [staying unbeaten] but at the same time if it’s the objective then you win games, Chelsea win games, the team wins. You can see now we have given some younger players opportunities to play. There is a risk you can lose more easily than when everyone is on board. I prefer to give chances to people playing less frequently and then having the risk of defeat The idea behind it was that Begovic is doing his job as a professional very well in training to keep himself in shape. Every training session he is 100 per cent committed and on top of that he is helping out [Thibaut] Courtois in a very good professional way, and that’s why I rewarded him by having him play at least once.”
Guidolin lauds Sigurdsson goal threat
Punishing 56,000 Fantasy managers that shipped him out before Gameweek 33, Gylfi Sigurdsson produced his fourth goal in five starts during Swansea City’s 1-0 win over Chelsea. Since the turn of the year, the Iceland international charts third among all players for goals scored (nine), illustrating the dangers of discarding form recruits in the pursuit of double Gameweek coverage. With five matches left to go, Francesco Guidolin has challenged Sigurdsson to add more goals to his tally:
“He is very important for me and for the team. He’s an important player of the Premier League. I hope to have the possibility to work with him in the future because, for me, he is the perfect number 10. He is a player for the team, he runs very much, he is a good striker, he can play in midfield and he can change position. Two months ago I said he can score 15 goals in the season and this is [almost] a reality because now he is on 11. For a number 10, this is very important.”
Koeman explains weekend line-up
Facing a Newcastle United outfit that conceded 10 goals in their previous four away fixtures, Ronald Koeman chose to field an attacking unit at St Mary’s Stadium, with Sadio Mane, Shane Long, Pelle and Dusan Tadic comprising the offensive quartet. This approach ultimately paid dividends, with Saints dominating the chances (20 attempts to five) and fashioning more key passes (17) than any team on the weekend. Koeman explained they went for the jugular early to take advantage of the Magpies’ porous defence:
“If a team is really fighting against relegation they are not full of confidence. If you give them domination they can grow with confidence. We wanted to start well. It was the key to win the game today. You don’t give a team a feeling they can dominate. You must make them run behind you. It is a fairly offensive way of playing. You need your strikers to have the responsibility of playing more compact.”
Pelle cites fitness as reason for improvement
Graziano Pelle is back in form following a mid-season slump, having recorded four goals and three assists in his previous quartet of starts. Delving into the stats, only Harry Kane chalked up more shots on target (11) than the Italian (eight) in his last four outings, while Pelle placed joint-top among forwards for key passes (nine) across the same period. Ahead of back-to-back road trips against defensively suspect Everton and Aston Villa, the former Feyenoord hitman spoke on his renewed confidence:
“I’m happy again after a struggling moment that I had. An injury kept me out and I was not in the best condition for a few months, but now I feel really good. There’s nothing to worry about now and hopefully I can keep going until the end of the season. When we play with Sadio, Shane, Dušan and I, it means that we’re really offensive, but again it was good because the trainer gave us confidence.”
