Compare their attacking strategy with ours. Quick, mobile players who pass and move and pull defenders out of position to then quickly fill in the space left behind. Ours is ponderous, and after Plan A of an O Grady flick for Pederson to run behind we have nothing. Jennings offers pace, but counter attacks involving Dawson, Woods, O Grady and Pederson take twenty minutes to play out - and end with us passing backwards when all their back four is in position. The majority of other teams in the league move the ball quickly and have quick, mobile players. We have no pace. I can't remember the last time a side came to Oakwell who were slower than us.
Said after half an hour that every time they attacked they created a good chance. Steele was having to make a save regularly. Other than a header at the start of each half, can't remember us fircing their keeper to save much. Sent from my SM-T210 using Tapatalk
You've hit on one of our major problems with lack of pace. Here's a few more areas you can add to the list. 1. Speed of thought 2. Footballing intelligence 3. First touch 4. Two footedness 5. Moral courage 6. Physical courage 7. Composure 8. Belief in team mates 9. Never say die attitude 10. Positional awareness 11. Skill 12. Passing ability 13. Ability to defend set pieces 14. Ability to take meaningful offenive set pieces 15. Urgency when match situation demands it. 16. Creativity / spark 17. Finishing apart from that, we're ace.
Spot on Fonzie. When O'Grady gets the ball (and manges to control it) he has no conception of the early pass. He wants to wrestle the centre half, then do his roll-over-the-ball trick, before his head comes up. His merit lies in a quite cool finish if given time and space. Dawson treats the ball like it's on fire and he needs to get used to the heat before he can safely kick it. Woods seems to calculate who, if he passes it to, is most under pressure. Then gives them the ball - usually a backwards pass to which any footballer finds easy
Jennings aside, we have zero pace. We can seldom get in behind teams and we're not good enough to play through them. Too many similar players. Mostly midfielders. All wanting to do the same, safe, tippy tappy football. No one wants to drive forward apart from Dawson, who isn't good enough to do it effectively.
yep,that just about sums up why we are league 1 bound and if I'm honest I've felt like this since the wigan match............at homepiss poor all season,no two ways abart it.