Quote from: paul_e on March 06, 2017, 02:29:54 PMWhen we do try to pass the ball all too often we're doing it in the wrong areas and at a very 'easy' tempo.I firmly believe that the style bruce likes to use is focus on defensive shape and keeping things tight for 60-70 minutes and then having short spells where the team are free to attack. We start ok, have 10-15 minutes and then we go defensive, and then we have a spell after about an hour where we play for 10-15 minutes. Those are the only periods where we actually try to win the game. I understand it, it's a 'earn the right to play' approach, but it does mean there will be plenty of times where we pick the ball up near our own box and have no option but to lump it forward and hope the striker can either hold onto it for a bit or score a solo effort. The problems I have with it are that if we concede he doesn't seem to have another plan and it seems unsuited to a team that expects to win more often than not.Despite how it may come across I don't want us to play tiki-taka I think that only works if you have 2-3 game changers (such as messi, neymar and suarez) who only need half a yard of space to make something happen. When I talk about Barcelona I spend far more time praising the way they defend than I do talking about their attacking and passing. What I want to see us do is be able to adapt to what's in front of us. I want everyone to be confident they can trap a ball and receive a pass with a man at their back. I want us to have movement off the ball that opens gaps and players willing to play high risk/high reward passes when those gaps appear to try to make things happen.What I don't want is a team that's scared to have the ball and that's what I think we are right now. I'm more than happy to be proven wrong but I just don't see Bruce or this coaching team as being willing or able to fix that.Some of the stuff Southampton played under Koeman looked like a decent mix of possession football and the more traditional approach. Looked like the type of thing easier to replicate than Barca or Tony Mowbray's tiki taka. Pochettino before him had obviously placed the emphasis purely on movement and possession football. Which looks great when everyone is on song and you can wear the opposition down with your tempo and probe for openings. But under Koeman they weren't afraid to get the ball out wide to Tadic and look for Pele in the box. The key was that wan't their only method of attack.
When we do try to pass the ball all too often we're doing it in the wrong areas and at a very 'easy' tempo.I firmly believe that the style bruce likes to use is focus on defensive shape and keeping things tight for 60-70 minutes and then having short spells where the team are free to attack. We start ok, have 10-15 minutes and then we go defensive, and then we have a spell after about an hour where we play for 10-15 minutes. Those are the only periods where we actually try to win the game. I understand it, it's a 'earn the right to play' approach, but it does mean there will be plenty of times where we pick the ball up near our own box and have no option but to lump it forward and hope the striker can either hold onto it for a bit or score a solo effort. The problems I have with it are that if we concede he doesn't seem to have another plan and it seems unsuited to a team that expects to win more often than not.Despite how it may come across I don't want us to play tiki-taka I think that only works if you have 2-3 game changers (such as messi, neymar and suarez) who only need half a yard of space to make something happen. When I talk about Barcelona I spend far more time praising the way they defend than I do talking about their attacking and passing. What I want to see us do is be able to adapt to what's in front of us. I want everyone to be confident they can trap a ball and receive a pass with a man at their back. I want us to have movement off the ball that opens gaps and players willing to play high risk/high reward passes when those gaps appear to try to make things happen.What I don't want is a team that's scared to have the ball and that's what I think we are right now. I'm more than happy to be proven wrong but I just don't see Bruce or this coaching team as being willing or able to fix that.
I don't think we play long ball, as that implies a deliberate tactic.
No need to be facetious when I've made the same point.
Quote from: Chris Jameson on March 06, 2017, 03:31:29 PMI think part of the problem is that we've been spoilt rotten with the standard of football we've seen in recent seasons, whoever was appointed manager was always going to have a lot to live up to. I think we should stick with him, despite the fact he's had 5 months to sort things out.the bar is set very lowbut we don't have to keep lowering it
I think part of the problem is that we've been spoilt rotten with the standard of football we've seen in recent seasons, whoever was appointed manager was always going to have a lot to live up to. I think we should stick with him, despite the fact he's had 5 months to sort things out.
Quote from: Ads on March 06, 2017, 04:50:14 PMNo need to be facetious when I've made the same point. I wasn't being facetious. Not every post replying to you is a personal sleight.
A lot of people moaned about the performance at Rotherham. If we were top of the league you can bet that most of them would have called it a professional performance - turn up, three points, job done.
There will be Chelsea and Newcastle fans moaning on boards that they are not happy with the style of football being played. United have won a cup already, it will be the same over there. West Brom are having their most successful season ever and I have no doubt there will be some saying the same thing over there and dont get me started on the West Ham Way. At the opposite end of the scale there will be Arsenal fans complaining their football is too nice and they need to win ugly- that the result is more important than the method.Ultimately, we have a new squad at a club that has been through the wringer and been beaten down for a good few years. We are everyones favourite scalp at the moment and I have no doubt whatsoever that teams raise their game higher against us than Reading, Huddersfield, QPR etc. We dont need pretty football at the moment, we need wins but it is nowhere near as bad as John sees it in my opinion. I have complete faith Bruce will take us up next season and have seen enough to believe we have the talent to develop the football at the same timeExcellent post with many good points I agree with. That said, I live abroad and don't shell out for the poor football, so I guess the paying customer must decide the lesser of the evils.
Quote from: Ads on March 06, 2017, 03:38:23 PMI don't think we play long ball, as that implies a deliberate tactic. My biggest criticism would be that until that first goal goes in or after a bright start, we look devoid of a method of attack, long ball or otherwise.We play long ball by default because we don't have much of a plan and our players aren't comfortable receiving the ball in tight spaces so we drift backwards until the inevitable hoof up field which we don't have the players to utilise so we lose possession and the cycle starts again. That's why I think it's a coaching issue, In my opinion we need to get the players willing to play in the opposition half and not always playing it safe. I don't believe, from what I've seen, that Bruce agrees with that even though he's signed players like Hourihane and Hogan who would benefit from it.
I don't think we play long ball, as that implies a deliberate tactic. My biggest criticism would be that until that first goal goes in or after a bright start, we look devoid of a method of attack, long ball or otherwise.
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Topic: Bruce Sacked at last (now official) (Read 2124598 times)
