High press

I remember us playing Blackburn away under Keith Hill, I was sat with one of mates whose a Blackburn fan . We played great football , but no end result . Remember all Blackburn fans sat round us saying we was best footballing team they’d faced that season . We lost

 

I can remember us in 1979, 1981, 1997, 2000, 2016, 2019 playing superb football. And most of the time...we won.

 

Yes. When our season turned under Heckingbottom and we won the cup and promotion at Wembley the standard of football was immense.
We played good controlled flowing football and won frequently.
We were exciting to watch.
Is it possible to compare then and now? Yes .. and no.
Similar league position, yes.
Quality of football, no.
But let's see where this season takes us, and you never know !

 

I am a bit confused in that previously we had posters complaining we had no 'plan B' and only the 'high press' and so would eventually be 'found out' by the opposition who would simply 'play long' over the top and so bypass it. Now that, increasingly, some teams have tried that, we have countered it with an actual 'plan B' (and I suspect Val has more tricks up his sleeve if required, being one of the most tactically astute managers I have seen in a long time), people are complaining we are no longer pressing.

Whilst I acknowledge I have only watched 2 matches in full this season and the rest being very brief highlights, I have still, nevertheless, seen enough neat passing and slick interplay from the midfield to make me believe that style of 'ball to feet' football is not beyond the current squads' ability.

The biggest difference, (and no disrespect to Cauley) is we finally have a player who can consistently provide an end product whether it comes from a long ball approach or neat build up play. I recall before Dike, the common complaint was that the neat interplay final ball/pass decision making was the let down. We now have (albeit, sadly likely to be only temporary) the piece of the jigsaw that makes the difference. His conversion rate of chances is extraordinary (missed penalty aside) when compared to our other forwards. Up to his arrival looking at shots on target to goals ratio was pretty abysmal reading. Woodrow, Chaplin and even Moore all squandered (and still do) good opportunities on a regular basis, albeit Cauley's role is no longer an out and out striker and he is still a good player but how many times has he blasted high and wide with a clear sight of goal?

Finally, that video Cameo of Dike's performance yesterday showed his pace. Jeez! for a big guy he can't half shift!

 

Good post mate, i,m not for 1 minute saying we,re set up wrong per say, its obviously worked brilliantly for us, but its horses for courses Bournemouth being a prime example, 1st half we looked wide open, 2nd half we got it down and played football and we won the game, all i,m suggesting is we could have got it down yesterday and won more easily and we would have also won the wensdy game aswell imo.

 

Or capital letters!