Minority Report v Stoke City

The day we ALL agree on players and styles, this board should shut down.
I presume this board is here to vent our views and opinions on our club....and long may it continue (including red rains reports). If i disagree (and i have) i will continue to challange him.
Imho we, under this excellent coach are utilising this squad to gain the maximum of points by playing a certain way. Hoof ball?....not quite...but its as direct as ive seen us play (go back to 76). I also think the pitches and lack of crowds are to our advantage. By god he has the players applying themselves out there...not pretty for large periods sometimes but anyone of these more expensive players/teams who think they can rock up and football us with no commitment are in for a shock. It can be a war of attrition at times but its very effective and tbh im enjoying the games.

 

Well said, Ben. Saved me the bother..

 

I get the theory of the tactic TBH, put ball in last third, win ball in last third, more potential to score etc.

Like you say what trips us up at moment is scoring, said other day if we could score with more consistency we would be one hell of a team.
I think people see the ball kicked aimlessly upfront and because it often never finds a player and starts to come back is what frustrates them but I don’t think that’s the primary aim of the hoof.
It’s like a game of chess for me where a player is thinking multiple moves ahead and the initial move seems pointless.

 

Ps
Bang on this, amount of times even going back to Stendel where we were a fraction off a great move or goal.
That goal was I believe what they are trying to achieve

 

I can't disagree with that at all. And I'm one that dislikes watching Man City (though ethics and finances also plays a part in that too) and football is completely subjective and what we all enjoy or what we don't is down to each of us. I'd rather watch Liverpool than Man City because of their pace of play (well, til this season) and aggressiveness of the attacking.

I really hope this style evolves and we get to the point where the attacking is much more measured and by design and through either confidence or recruitment we find a way to play more attractively. Because I know we can do it and I know some of these players have good technical ability. It's not like we have Perkins and Dawson having to do a job (though they probably would fit in this system ironically).

I don't see it as Wimbledonesque (although once they moved post Fashanu, they played some pretty decent football but just didnt get the credit for it), or from the playbook of John Beck, but its very often hoofing it. And my definition of hoof, I mean more often than not a ball is played, or intended to be played over a long distance with little thought to where it eventually ends up. And my feeling is that happens way way way more than I've ever seen a Barnsley side play.

I also wonder if this head scratching new style is causing a real conflict with aesthetics because the natural combatting of it is to hoof it back at us and play us at our game to a degree. That leads to the head tennis, ping pong, bedknobs and broomsticks back and forths which leave me screaming at the telly for someone to bring it down, even if it's the opposition. And often, once the opposition is struggling and tired, we start playing to feet more. I can understand the logic, I can appreciate the intelligence if you can manage such intensity for 90 minutes and we are seeing how effective it is. But god, in my beholder eyes, its awful to watch, and I'm really really trying to enjoy it.

 

There are several (ahem) direct teams in this division. I think someone commented we out stoked, stoke....and i felt that was accurate. We can now (for the first time in a while) man up against them. I do believe the 2 new lads up front have brought us on another 20%, simply because they can hold the ball up (as well as being highly competitive and skilful) and again imho this then lets our midfield get forward to support. It certainly ads even more humph to our play and gives us more options. Together with our 95 minute pressing and youthfulness .....it gives most teams problems, they dont like.

 

Hope we have the 'lions' share of poss

I had this view until recently. I had stopped paying my tenner to watch hit and hope but lately I think I've seen more outbreaks of football in the final third - at least an attempt to play football. I've seen some very nice one touch stuff being played. Usually, it's just that final ball or decision making that lets us down. We are close, so close. If we could just increase our passing accuracy, we wouldn't need to start attacking play with a hit and hope. I also think we don't switch it enough to widen play but seem to prefer the intricate triangles. But we are getting a lot right, too, and I'm paying my tenner again to see these boys give everything to get the win, pretty or not. VI is doing a phenomenal job with what is becoming a very capable squad.