Article in The Athletic about us/Ismael

Red CB · Feb 10, 2021

Red Rain said: ↑

I wrote the following piece a few weeks ago, never intending to publish it on the BBS. as a result of The Athletic article, I have updated it.

Why does VI play Hoof-Ball?

I have been consistently critical of 3-4-3. I did not enjoy the system in the hands of others, and I expected to dislike it in the hands of VI. However, there is no reason, that I can see, why the system has to be linked to the long-ball game. The system has been used extensively in the Premier League, and has not been linked inextricably to the long-ball game at that level. So why is it that Barnsley FC is playing that way under VI. I thought that I would search for reasons that might explain the absence of entertaining football since VI took over.

a. It is the way that VI plays. The long ball enables the team to keep its shape better. Defenders do not get as tempted to venture too far forward, exposing us defensively on the counter-attack. The 2 central midfield players do not push too far forward and ahead of the ball in support of an attack, and once again, that means that we are less easy to destabilise on the counter-attack. Players largely stay within their cells of attack/midfield/defence. Because the players hold their shape, they are much more prepared to defend their space. That does not mean that we do not concede, but it does mean that we do not concede many goals from open play. The majority of goals that we concede come from dead ball kicks or long throws, which VI is still working on and has not ironed out just yet.

b. Winter conditions are not conducive to the sort of play that we would all like to see. There is no doubt that it is harder to play the beautiful game when conditions under foot are wet and slippery. The smaller player who relies upon his speed and athleticism suffers more than the big strong defender under such circumstances. Are our players less able to compete under winter conditions?

c. In my opinion, to play 3-4-3 well, the team needs pace. It needs pace at the back, and it needs pace up front. When he inherited the team from Gerhard Struber, the team had lost Jacob Brown, who had pace. Toby Sibbick also has pace, but he had been sent out on loan. Our back 3 in particular had little pace, and that makes it hard to play the high back line that you need for an effective press. Up front, we are still short of real pace, and without forwards with pace, you do not drive the opposition back line deeper, and if you do not do that, you do not create space in front of their back line. Is the use of the long and aimless ball forward simply a reflection of this lack of an effective game plan to enable VI to play in the way that he wants? The problems is that pace is very, very costly, both in terms of acquisition of playing resources, and in keeping those resources satisfied in pay terms. The question is this, can BFC ever acquire a team equipped to play a pure version of 3-4-3 with the finances that are available. Personally, I think not.

d. VI is convinced that there is no need to play the beautiful game. There is no need to draw our opponent forward or play intricate pass and move football through midfield. He actually believes that it is more efficient to get the ball forward quickly, and to try to recover it in the opposition half of the pitch. He would not be the first to have reached such a conclusion. Successive managers of Wimbledon kept the team in the top division for many years with just such a plan. It can work, but it is not the type of football that I personally wish to watch. It is not the beautiful game.

e. He does not think that he has the quality of player to win games consistently playing any other way. It is not the way he would wish to play, but it is the only way to get results with the quality of player he has at his disposal. The fact that he had a reputation for ugly football before he arrived convinces me that it is not a new conclusion on his part.

So I have provided 5 reasons why VI might be playing the way he is. The question is this, is there any chance that he will change the way he plays for something more compatible with the idea of the beautiful game. Let us explore the reasoning.

a. If he wants the team to keep its shape because his bias is heavily slanted towards not conceding, then he is likely to play in this regimented fashion until something happens to convince him that the idea no longer works. I am not sure what that might be, but players who are much better in possession just might be the catalyst for an unlikely rethink.

b. Spring will bring warmer weather and dryer pitches. If others are right, the change in ground conditions could be the catalyst for a change.

c. Pace with quality is very expensive and I do not see a time when we can afford to acquire it.

d. The risk and reward profile for playing prettier football is one that you either see, or you do not see. I do not think VI sees it

e. It will be very hard for the club to increase its quality of player across the board whilst it retains the policy of buy young, improve and sell on for profit. It is not the policy that is wrong. It is an ideal fit for a club like Barnsley FC. However, at some point, the board will have to ask whether the playing policy is developing players who can be sold on for a profit. That is the major question that will affect the future of VI at Oakwell.

Since I finished this piece, Mexbrough Tyke posted a very interesting article from The Athletic about VI, his 3-4-3 system and the press. It turns out that there are a number of different versions of the system, and that the version used can be triggered by the defensive formation used by the opposition as well as the triggers that I have already identified above. However, my piece was not about the press, and nor was it about 3-4-3. It was about the long ball (vertical football), and in particular, it was about why VI inextricably links the long ball with the press and 3-4-3. The Athletic article concentrated on describing how the press worked and in less depth, how the version of press was chosen for specific opponents. However, it offered no explanation of why the press has to be linked to the long ball. So the question that I pose is still a valid one, and it is an important question, in my view, because it goes to the root of whether you belief that football can be purely functional. A way of accumulating enough points to continue playing in the same league for the following season, and doing so without providing any entertainment, other that the odd goal. Or whether football is part of the entertainment business, and whether because the professional game is an entertainment, it should forfeit some of that win at all costs mentality, in favour of a more subtle approach, which insists that teams at least attempt to play the beautiful game. It is a question that will have different answers under different circumstances, and indeed, there is probably no single answer. We all have our scale showing the mix of success versus entertainment that we will tolerate, in slightly different places. The problem is more immediate for the coach, because it is my guess that the majority will tolerate poor entertainment as long as the team is winning, but few will tolerate poor entertainment when the team is losing. I must confess that I do not have a clue where the scale differs for me as compared to Joe Bloggs, I only know that it does, and that I have a lower tolerance than most.
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Red Rain , I have read your post where you repeat time after time the words "The Beautiful Game " , to be honest I find that description annoying to say the least , the game is " Football " & the object of the game is to score more goals than your opponent during the course of a game , whilst there are many ways & styles of playing the game the principle of scoring more goals than your opponents remains & VI has a way of coaching & achieving the best results he can out of the players he has to work with & so far he seems to be doing a pretty good job of it , I do not need in depth analysis of the game to satisfy my passion , I want to see my side doing their level best week in & week out to get the results which we all crave for & so far I am enjoying our performances under VI & long may that continue .

wakeyred · Feb 10, 2021

Great article, thank you. I have been meaning to ask you, are you originally from Mexborough?

Stephen Dawson · Feb 10, 2021

Mechanic bird in Corrie is from Mexborough.

Red Rain · Feb 10, 2021

Red CB said: ↑

Red Rain , I have read your post where you repeat time after time the words "The Beautiful Game " , to be honest I find that description annoying to say the least , the game is " Football " & the object of the game is to score more goals than your opponent during the course of a game , whilst there are many ways & styles of playing the game the principle of scoring more goals than your opponents remains & VI has a way of coaching & achieving the best results he can out of the players he has to work with & so far he seems to be doing a pretty good job of it , I do not need in depth analysis of the game to satisfy my passion , I want to see my side doing their level best week in & week out to get the results which we all crave for & so far I am enjoying our performances under VI & long may that continue .
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The Beautiful Game was an expression used to described the way that the Brazil team of the 1970's played the game. In my view, that is when the game was at its most entertaining, and the football played by that team was the most enjoyable that I have watched. I simply stole the expression in order to provide a shorthand for what I wanted to say. Your views are your own and I do not mean to say that they are in any way wrong. As I say in my piece, we will all have a different view of the right way to play the game. I am simply giving my own opinion because I thought that it linked to the article referred to by the OP..

YT · Feb 10, 2021

JackTatty said: ↑

In what?
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Mr Badger · Feb 10, 2021

Tyke_67 said: ↑

Don't start that again
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I prefer Grove Street.

55&counting · Feb 11, 2021

MexboroughTyke said: ↑

At Bayern, Ismael witnessed a contrast. Here was expectation, outlined graphically by the hierarchy – “In the changing room on the first day, Rummenigge, Beckenbauer and Hoeness walked in and said: ‘OK, we want to win the league, win the cup and reach the last four in the Champions League.’ The first day. So you know where you stand.

“It was a mindset. (Goalkeeper) Oliver Kahn, he was a big personality who didn’t speak too much. But he was, is, really clever. When he said something, it was, how you say, an electric shock? But it was right. It was in him. No doubts. For 10 months he’d say nothing – ‘I’ll smile when I win the title.’ But he was right. If you want to play for this club, you have to have this mindset. Michael Ballack was the same.”

Ismael was not some bit-part player in these German doubles, he played a minimum of 30 league games, of 34, in each season.

Another trophy he won brought a memory of another distinctive goalkeeper. At Strasbourg in 2001, they won the French Cup on penalties. Ismael scored their penultimate spot kick, a certain Jose Luis Chilavert the winning one.

“Yeah, I played with a lot of personalities!” Ismael laughs. “Chilavert spoke about himself in the third person. He sat beside me in the changing room. I’d ask him how he was doing and normally someone would reply: ‘I’m fine.’ He would say: ‘Chilavert is good today’ or ‘Chilavert is tired today.’ Such a personality, big ego. But what a left foot.

“It was great to play with such guys and see why they made big careers. It’s not a surprise that Kahn, Chilavert had these careers. It’s a mindset: Dedication, prepare yourself every day, every week, every year to do it all over again. It looks easy but it’s daily work, really hard.”

Daryl Dike was explaining himself and, given he had just swapped the Florida holiday-making mecca of Orlando for Yorkshire in February, Dike (pronounced dee-kay) probably needed to.

Having made his United States debut on the Sunday night, here he was on Thursday lunchtime being unveiled as a Barnsley player to the local media via Zoom.

“When you are young in America, all you see is English football every day,” Dike says. “You wake up on Saturday and Sunday morning and it is on TV. It is your DNA. You dream about playing in English football.”

When the conference call finishes, Dike sits in an Oakwell office and tells The Athletic: “I’m super-excited.”

He is 20 and only made his professional debut for Orlando City last July. He has signed on loan until the end of the season. There is an option to buy. Having passed his COVID-19 test, Dike had his first training session. He was part of the attacking press and Ismael will be pleased to hear his new striker say: “You can see the intensity in training, going into tackles, pressing really hard.

“That’s not everywhere. You quickly pick up on the intensity factor. You can already see the culture, the family, the guys are close and willing to work hard for each other. They’re willing to play the model the coach has set up. The staff are super-helpful, trying to make players understand their role. You can see that immediately. I hope they’ll all help me acclimatise quickly.”

Dike played for the University of Virginia before turning pro, as did Barnsley CEO Murphy, and there was further reassurance from a colleague at Orlando City – Nani. The former Manchester United winger moved to the MLS side from Sporting Lisbon two years ago.

“He was always in my ear, giving me advice,” Dike says. “He was telling me to be prepared, that it is going to be difficult. He warned me: ‘It’ll be difficult, just don’t get scared, you know what you can do.’ That was the main thing.”

The rain delayed Dike’s possible debut against Derby on Saturday, but it could now come against Chelsea in a game to be shown live across the UK on BBC TV. He says he will “take it step by step” with regard to his future, but Barnsley’s American connections must think they have nipped in early to secure an up-and-coming talent.

It is a good reputation to have, one the ownership will seek to nurture. John Stones and Mason Holgate left Oakwell for fees totalling £5 million to join Everton in 2013 and 2015 and Ethan Pinnock joined Brentford for £3 million in 2019. At a club with a bigger developmental reputation – such as Brentford – those fees would have been larger.

That is all part of Barnsley’s process. The reality is that the club’s record purchase remains the £1.5 million paid for Georgi Hristov after their 1997 promotion to the Premier League, and on Thursday they encounter a billionaire’s club. Some optimism is taken from the fact that the last time Chelsea came to Oakwell — also in the FA Cup in March 2008, fielding a team that included John Terry, Michael Essien and Ismael’s former Bayern team-mate Ballack – Barnsley won 1-0 with a Kayode Odejayi goal.

It can be done.

And when it is put to Ismael that preparing Barnsley to face Tuchel’s Chelsea is surely harder than preparing Wolfsburg to face Tuchel’s Dortmund was, he disagrees.

“Barnsley is easier. Because everybody is on the same page.”
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Thanks for posting great read.

Article in The Athletic about us/Ismael

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