Tempo - lack of

[old man villa fan]

I could have posted comments about tempo in the post match thread from yesterday, the Guzan thread, new players speculation thread, the Bacuna thread, the Gabby thread and probably many more.  I look at Villa and rarely see a good tempo to our play and we look so laboured in moving the ball around.

There are so many things needed to play with a good tempo, some less obvious but just as important as the major things.  In no particular order of importance I believe you need decisiveness in your next move, awareness of the positioning and movement of your own players, awareness of the position of opposition players, confidence, your own movement when you do not have the ball, strength of pass, ability to play short and long, anticipation, recognition of your own players weaknesses and how to help them, passing to a player in no worse position than yourself and there are many more things that I have probably missed.

Our problems over the last few years have been majorly influenced by playing at a poor tempo, resulting in individual errors costing us and relying on individual brilliance and on goals from the likes of Benteke to save us.  There are teams that do not have players of top quality but are effective and look goo because they play the game at a high tempo.  High tempo does not mean always running as fast as you can with the ball as the term 'let the ball do the work' is just as important now as it has ever been.

There are players in our team that mask their poor tempo with other qualities that fans see more clearly but the overall effect is that the team does not play as well as it could.

Looking at individual players:

Guzan - there are times when a keeper retrieves the ball and he needs to slow the game down but that should not be virtually all the time.  It really annoys me when Guzan waves his arms about telling players to move up, organise themselves etc and proceeds to roll the ball out of the area to kick of the ground and to then go nowhere near his intended target or even straight out of play.  this is very poor play when you consider that he is under no pressure when he is kicking the ball.  The result of this is that he has slowed the game down and then given possession back to the other team.  This is matched by his throwing/kicking the ball out to defenders/midfield players who have players on them by the time the ball gets to them.  The result is that the player either plays it back to Guzan leading to a hasty kick up field, they have to beat the player with a risky move (the 2nd goal yesterday) or they have to play a square ball across the defence.  Teams know how to press us to get the ball back.  So what is it with Guzan?  I think it is down to lack of awareness resulting in indecision and a slowing down of the tempo.

Bacuna - how many times do you see him with the ball with players in front of him and he stops, turns back, plays the ball backwards or tries to go around the player in a full 360 degree movement.  The result is the tempo of the play drops, leading to space closing up and players being picked up.  Also, he has a habit of playing balls to players in a worse position than himself.  I believe these problems are down to him not being a fullback and understanding the difference in play from that of a midfield player.  Gary Neville made a good point in the Man City game today when he said that a defender should get to the ball as quickly as possible so that he then has the extra time on the ball.  Bacuna is a big culprit of not doing this which results in him being pressurised and making poor decisions or mistakes.

Gabby -  many issues raised by many over the last week but picking up on just a few points with regards to the tempo of the game.  Poor positioning, poor movement, anticipation, poor first touch and a general casual approach to the game.  He looks to be a player from a different age now and not up to the modern day game.  How often do you see Gabby being involved in a slick interchange of passes.

Westwood - this may be a bit controversial with some but I think that Westwood does slow the tempo of the game down too much with the way he plays.  Examples of this are going back too deep to pick the ball up and then not passing quicker and rarely being involved in swift triangles of play.  He is not the quickest of players and should therefore try to play in a way that maintains momentum, not slow it down.

The match yesterday - all of the failings given above showed up yesterday, particularly in the 2nd half.  In the 1st half we moved the ball with a higher tempo.  I know it was hot but that is more the reason to play with intelligence and let the ball do the work.  In the 1st half Sanchez and Gueye, in particular, were moving the ball quickly and we looked a good side at times.  What has impressed me about the new players is their awareness and the higher tempo they want to play the game at.  Even though Veretout has started slowly you can see the ability there and even Ayew with his movement.

I know that this has been one of my long (and, no doubt, boring!) posts but I am optimistic if Sherwood will take a few risks and push on with his rebuilding.  I believe that the tempo to our game is so important and we are not picking it up to a level where it allows us to create chances.  We are too predictable allowing teams to defend against us too easily and having to rely on individual brilliance.  We do not have Benteke and we will not be able to replace his goals with one player.  A start would be for Sherwood to have confidence in playing the players he has bought and finding replacements at goalkeeper, right back and bringing in another forward that can lead the line. 

[oldham_villa]

Great post!

In the second half, I got the impression that Tim had instructed them to soak up the pressure. I say this as we stopped pressing the ball as much, and started to try to take the pace out of the game.

I'm not so sure we are a good enough passing team for that. Teams press us to play our out ball, which most often or not is to Bacuna. We then lose our grip on that move

[Hillbilly]

You may be onto something with Guzan. My memory recalls that one of ManU's strengths was Peter Schmeichel's ability to grab the ball and almost immediately sling it out to an advancing teammate before the opposition had a chance to turn around. There's something similar in Aussie Rules where the great teams have one or two defenders who are good at picking the best way to move the ball forward from the back. It really sets the tempo and doesn't allow the opposition to settle.

[Ron Manager]

I could have posted comments about tempo in the post match thread from yesterday, the Guzan thread, new players speculation thread, the Bacuna thread, the Gabby thread and probably many more.  I look at Villa and rarely see a good tempo to our play and we look so laboured in moving the ball around.

There are so many things needed to play with a good tempo, some less obvious but just as important as the major things.  In no particular order of importance I believe you need decisiveness in your next move, awareness of the positioning and movement of your own players, awareness of the position of opposition players, confidence, your own movement when you do not have the ball, strength of pass, ability to play short and long, anticipation, recognition of your own players weaknesses and how to help them, passing to a player in no worse position than yourself and there are many more things that I have probably missed.

Our problems over the last few years have been majorly influenced by playing at a poor tempo, resulting in individual errors costing us and relying on individual brilliance and on goals from the likes of Benteke to save us.  There are teams that do not have players of top quality but are effective and look goo because they play the game at a high tempo.  High tempo does not mean always running as fast as you can with the ball as the term 'let the ball do the work' is just as important now as it has ever been.

There are players in our team that mask their poor tempo with other qualities that fans see more clearly but the overall effect is that the team does not play as well as it could.

Looking at individual players:

Guzan - there are times when a keeper retrieves the ball and he needs to slow the game down but that should not be virtually all the time.  It really annoys me when Guzan waves his arms about telling players to move up, organise themselves etc and proceeds to roll the ball out of the area to kick of the ground and to then go nowhere near his intended target or even straight out of play.  this is very poor play when you consider that he is under no pressure when he is kicking the ball.  The result of this is that he has slowed the game down and then given possession back to the other team.  This is matched by his throwing/kicking the ball out to defenders/midfield players who have players on them by the time the ball gets to them.  The result is that the player either plays it back to Guzan leading to a hasty kick up field, they have to beat the player with a risky move (the 2nd goal yesterday) or they have to play a square ball across the defence.  Teams know how to press us to get the ball back.  So what is it with Guzan?  I think it is down to lack of awareness resulting in indecision and a slowing down of the tempo.

Bacuna - how many times do you see him with the ball with players in front of him and he stops, turns back, plays the ball backwards or tries to go around the player in a full 360 degree movement.  The result is the tempo of the play drops, leading to space closing up and players being picked up.  Also, he has a habit of playing balls to players in a worse position than himself.  I believe these problems are down to him not being a fullback and understanding the difference in play from that of a midfield player.  Gary Neville made a good point in the Man City game today when he said that a defender should get to the ball as quickly as possible so that he then has the extra time on the ball.  Bacuna is a big culprit of not doing this which results in him being pressurised and making poor decisions or mistakes.

Gabby -  many issues raised by many over the last week but picking up on just a few points with regards to the tempo of the game.  Poor positioning, poor movement, anticipation, poor first touch and a general casual approach to the game.  He looks to be a player from a different age now and not up to the modern day game.  How often do you see Gabby being involved in a slick interchange of passes.

Westwood - this may be a bit controversial with some but I think that Westwood does slow the tempo of the game down too much with the way he plays.  Examples of this are going back too deep to pick the ball up and then not passing quicker and rarely being involved in swift triangles of play.  He is not the quickest of players and should therefore try to play in a way that maintains momentum, not slow it down.

The match yesterday - all of the failings given above showed up yesterday, particularly in the 2nd half.  In the 1st half we moved the ball with a higher tempo.  I know it was hot but that is more the reason to play with intelligence and let the ball do the work.  In the 1st half Sanchez and Gueye, in particular, were moving the ball quickly and we looked a good side at times.  What has impressed me about the new players is their awareness and the higher tempo they want to play the game at.  Even though Veretout has started slowly you can see the ability there and even Ayew with his movement.

I know that this has been one of my long (and, no doubt, boring!) posts but I am optimistic if Sherwood will take a few risks and push on with his rebuilding.  I believe that the tempo to our game is so important and we are not picking it up to a level where it allows us to create chances.  We are too predictable allowing teams to defend against us too easily and having to rely on individual brilliance.  We do not have Benteke and we will not be able to replace his goals with one player.  A start would be for Sherwood to have confidence in playing the players he has bought and finding replacements at goalkeeper, right back and bringing in another forward that can lead the line.

[Ron Manager]

I could have posted comments about tempo in the post match thread from yesterday, the Guzan thread, new players speculation thread, the Bacuna thread, the Gabby thread and probably many more.  I look at Villa and rarely see a good tempo to our play and we look so laboured in moving the ball around.

There are so many things needed to play with a good tempo, some less obvious but just as important as the major things.  In no particular order of importance I believe you need decisiveness in your next move, awareness of the positioning and movement of your own players, awareness of the position of opposition players, confidence, your own movement when you do not have the ball, strength of pass, ability to play short and long, anticipation, recognition of your own players weaknesses and how to help them, passing to a player in no worse position than yourself and there are many more things that I have probably missed.

Our problems over the last few years have been majorly influenced by playing at a poor tempo, resulting in individual errors costing us and relying on individual brilliance and on goals from the likes of Benteke to save us.  There are teams that do not have players of top quality but are effective and look goo because they play the game at a high tempo.  High tempo does not mean always running as fast as you can with the ball as the term 'let the ball do the work' is just as important now as it has ever been.

There are players in our team that mask their poor tempo with other qualities that fans see more clearly but the overall effect is that the team does not play as well as it could.

Looking at individual players:

Guzan - there are times when a keeper retrieves the ball and he needs to slow the game down but that should not be virtually all the time.  It really annoys me when Guzan waves his arms about telling players to move up, organise themselves etc and proceeds to roll the ball out of the area to kick of the ground and to then go nowhere near his intended target or even straight out of play.  this is very poor play when you consider that he is under no pressure when he is kicking the ball.  The result of this is that he has slowed the game down and then given possession back to the other team.  This is matched by his throwing/kicking the ball out to defenders/midfield players who have players on them by the time the ball gets to them.  The result is that the player either plays it back to Guzan leading to a hasty kick up field, they have to beat the player with a risky move (the 2nd goal yesterday) or they have to play a square ball across the defence.  Teams know how to press us to get the ball back.  So what is it with Guzan?  I think it is down to lack of awareness resulting in indecision and a slowing down of the tempo.

Bacuna - how many times do you see him with the ball with players in front of him and he stops, turns back, plays the ball backwards or tries to go around the player in a full 360 degree movement.  The result is the tempo of the play drops, leading to space closing up and players being picked up.  Also, he has a habit of playing balls to players in a worse position than himself.  I believe these problems are down to him not being a fullback and understanding the difference in play from that of a midfield player.  Gary Neville made a good point in the Man City game today when he said that a defender should get to the ball as quickly as possible so that he then has the extra time on the ball.  Bacuna is a big culprit of not doing this which results in him being pressurised and making poor decisions or mistakes.

Gabby -  many issues raised by many over the last week but picking up on just a few points with regards to the tempo of the game.  Poor positioning, poor movement, anticipation, poor first touch and a general casual approach to the game.  He looks to be a player from a different age now and not up to the modern day game.  How often do you see Gabby being involved in a slick interchange of passes.

Westwood - this may be a bit controversial with some but I think that Westwood does slow the tempo of the game down too much with the way he plays.  Examples of this are going back too deep to pick the ball up and then not passing quicker and rarely being involved in swift triangles of play.  He is not the quickest of players and should therefore try to play in a way that maintains momentum, not slow it down.

The match yesterday - all of the failings given above showed up yesterday, particularly in the 2nd half.  In the 1st half we moved the ball with a higher tempo.  I know it was hot but that is more the reason to play with intelligence and let the ball do the work.  In the 1st half Sanchez and Gueye, in particular, were moving the ball quickly and we looked a good side at times.  What has impressed me about the new players is their awareness and the higher tempo they want to play the game at.  Even though Veretout has started slowly you can see the ability there and even Ayew with his movement.

I know that this has been one of my long (and, no doubt, boring!) posts but I am optimistic if Sherwood will take a few risks and push on with his rebuilding.  I believe that the tempo to our game is so important and we are not picking it up to a level where it allows us to create chances.  We are too predictable allowing teams to defend against us too easily and having to rely on individual brilliance.  We do not have Benteke and we will not be able to replace his goals with one player.  A start would be for Sherwood to have confidence in playing the players he has bought and finding replacements at goalkeeper, right back and bringing in another forward that can lead the line.

Interesting and thought provoking post OMVF certainly given me something to think about this morning.

[AV82EC]

Can it be a surprise that you've picked 3 players who were mainstays of the old regime. I think Westwood can adapt but Gabby is on borrowed time. I've done a complete 180 on Guzan since last season, he is being shown up as an enormous weak link as we try to play a more progressive game where constructive distribution from the back is required. For 3 seasons he had the ability to smash it forwards and Benteke would invariably be there or there abouts to do something with it but now he's being asked to do something else he seems completely incapable. He needs replacing if not this window then definitely in January.

[Monty]

Very interesting post. I think a lot of it has as much to do with movement as it does with individual players, however, and the lack of movement could be down one of two things:

1) Sherwood is as much of a numpty as our previous managers and, confusing the sport with chess, doesn't know that players are actually allowed to move around when the opposition aren't looking (we've been the most static, ponderous, slow-passing team in the league for a while now);

2) Sherwood wants them to move more and better, but the players just haven't gelled yet.

For now, I'm going with 2) - Tim may be many things, but he doesn't seem keen on the cautious musical statues our previous managers got off on - and hopefully we'll see that improve. Perhaps our eventual first eleven will have Gana and Veretout in midfield behind a three of Gil, Grealish and Adama, and that really would have more movement and zip than our current eleven.

[warleyboy]

Great post old man, and I have to agree with you.
Fortunately though, I believe TS knows this only to well, hence a new crop of players.
I think the tempo will increase as the team gets to spend more game time together, and we will see a lot more fluent football as the season progresses.
We already know TS would like A Guzan replacement, he already sees his weaknesses, we know he would like another CB and CF, only the RB position is confusing me.
5 year contract for Bacuna, I don't get it, I would like a new RB Asap.

[eamonn]

Fine post indeed, only slighlty marred by Ron Manager quoting it twice.

[Ron Manager]

Fine post indeed, only slighlty marred by Ron Manager quoting it twice.

My tablet is playing up. Sorry to have spoilt your enjoyment of OMVF excellent contribution.

[oswald funkletrumpet]

great post

[Witton Warrior]

As OMVF says they do try and play with tempo but as soon as it breaks down they seem to go into a collective shell (fear of failure?) - there were several occasions against Manure where an early through-ball into the wing or a runner from midfield was either not played or played badly. we need players ahead to pass to!

The Cleverley goal against Everton and the Sinclair effort against Olbiun are examples

Mind you, passing to a player in the same shirt is good for starters

[KRS]

The lack of tempo was noticeable in pre-season but I put that down to reasons stated in your second paragraph. Theres no doubt in my mind that we have signed some very talented footballers this summer that like to pass and move so hopefully the general tempo will improve as they start to gel and find out more about each other...unfortunately that takes time in training and match days, and the game weeks are ticking by already.

Its no coincidence that you have highlighted 4 players from previous seasons, but I would also add Sinclair into that list as he constantly frustrates by holding up play, allows defenders to regroup and slows down the tempo which pretty much negates any attacking threat particularly on the counter.

[Hookeysmith]

very intelligent post and I would like to add my twopennyworth.

If you look at the amount of times a pass is made, across the park especially,  that is at worst just behind the receiving player or at best in line meaning they have to check back to receive it losing any forward momentum they have created. It happens so many times its untrue.
Any that is in early enough to see Man U warming up saw them playing in an almost flat forward 4 passing balls left to right from the half way line all the time moving forward will the final ball into the box usually skimming along the 6 yard line for a variety of forward to smash home. That tempo and "memory action" is replicated in the game also. Moving the ball at pace, in front of the player to keep momentum and then whipping it in

It can't be that difficult can it?

[LeeB]

very intelligent post and I would like to add my twopennyworth.

If you look at the amount of times a pass is made, across the park especially,  that is at worst just behind the receiving player or at best in line meaning they have to check back to receive it losing any forward momentum they have created. It happens so many times its untrue.
Any that is in early enough to see Man U warming up saw them playing in an almost flat forward 4 passing balls left to right from the half way line all the time moving forward will the final ball into the box usually skimming along the 6 yard line for a variety of forward to smash home. That tempo and "memory action" is replicated in the game also. Moving the ball at pace, in front of the player to keep momentum and then whipping it in

It can't be that difficult can it?

I watched the Man Utd match closely, I was sitting on my jack so that helps. Although there wasn't much in the game, the thing I noticed was the passing technique of all of their players, probably Smalling aside.
Crisp, sliding along the turf and right onto the favoured foot. Those kind of things make a big difference when you're looking at the top level.

I'm going to put the current issues down to a team still getting to know each other, because for me the outstanding difference that Sherwood bought to us last season was the increased tempo we played with.