Practice makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. J/K
I've never heard this saying before. If it's a saying. But I think you're saying that it's a process and if we just follow the process, we'll get better.
I agree, as long as the practice is intentional and challenging, not just dumb repetition. We're talking about competitive sport, not piano, so that has to include learning to play different styles so that we can be more reactive and less predictable. It's a competency - PV talks about it like it's a weakness.
Having said that, I loved the tactical change-up when we brought Isi on and went to a 3-5-2. We were getting pinned by LA, so we switched to a counterattacking style with Villa playing behind Berget and Medina. Every time we turned over the ball, Villa picked it up in space and drove the counter. Then when we decided to pack up and take the point, we brought Mata on and switched back to a 4-5-1.
That's the kind of flexibility I wanna see from us. Let's see if it sticks when the RB match is no longer visible in our rearview mirror. Let's see if Vieira is willing to roll it out from the start in a match against a high pressing team. 3-5-2 is basically the shape we would like to be in after the defensive to attacking transition - the transition that high pressing teams struggle to let us have. Defending in that shape seems to means that we bypass that issue.
Also, our ability to hold the ball in dangerous areas is soooo much better with Isi back. He has to start. I really loved Villa as a #10 as well, where it's easier for him to pick up the ball.
Other things - I was pleasantly surprised to see how well Sweat played out of the back, but he looked terrifyingly exposed by Blessing on D.
Herrera has copped a lot of flack recently but I thought he was one of our best players today. In a game where we struggled to win midfield, he broke things up, turned play around and got the ball out of tight situations. If only he could shoot or find a long pass.
Ibeagha was solid but his lack of distribution meant that we play everything down the left side. Though I think this happens with Chanot as well.
I think it's hard to know that much about Medina with this in mind. My major frustration with him is that he hasn't found ways to get into the game, but this kind of image^ hints that he isn't getting a ton of opportunities. Another reason why I think the 3-5-2 is promising - it puts Medina in a more central position, which I think is closer to where he likes to be. Isi aside (and Lewis, maybe), I don't think we have the wingers we need to play a classic 4-3-3.
Overall, we looked pretty meh for most of the match. We had much better chances, but that was mostly Villa. Happy with a point, but not the way we played, although there are glimmers of hope that we are closer to ditching our philosophical rigidity.