Unfortunately our pressing game has been so successful that no one wants to play football against us anymore & as we don't mess around at the back the games all turn into ping pong. The last 4/5 teams we've played have all gone direct against us. I've seen some reports from the Derby end saying our style is shocking, yet the little bit of football that was played tonight was by us. don't remember Derby putting together more than 2 passes. Not complaining about the results but for periods of the game its not pretty. wind didn't help, but wasn't the cause. Saturday's game will be better as I don't see Bournemouth going long, especially after their success earlier in the season against us.
Saturday's going to be a really interesting one. A better pitch, and a team that are unlikely to change their style (although who knows with Woodgate). I'm looking forward to it.
Saturday is fascinating, tactically. Lots of opponents have criticised us for our direct play (as have fans, myself included), but what they don't seem to realise is it's a tactical choice, which has proved successful against most of our opponents. It's not that we can't play neat, short football, we're choosing not to. There have been games where we've adapted out style really successfully - most notably Norwich and Chelsea in the cup and Brentford away. Against teams who want to play the ball in their own third with the intention of committing our team forward, we've gone ultra-aggressive and pressed them even harder, but complimented this with playing shorter passes to reduce the risk of losing possession after regaining it. I think that's what we'll see more of on Saturday. Christ, I've gone all Red Rain there. Feel like I should type another 56 paragraphs now.
If I was the manager of a Championship team and we were facing Barnsley there's no way on earth I'd instruct my team to play a passing game against Barnsley because I would know for certain we'd get fk*ced. Derby are the first team in a long while that haven't been. Part of that was due to the wind, part of that was due to their tenacity. And you're right, we played the better football. We can't expect teams to turn up and allow themselves to get rolled over. They've all seen us now, they change their formation and tactics to compete. Derby did a good job of it. Others won't.
Here's one for you; are we actually playing the press anymore? Seriously?? I'm not talking about the mad British Bulldog bit where everyone charges up to the halfway line, but the pressing game we saw much earlier in this run. I'm not seeing it - the synchronised, coordinated closing down, where the front three hunted as a pack, with midfield & wing-backs picking up the rewards of the errors that forced. All I'm seeing is balls launched upfield, usually blind and often from positions in the opponents' own half, when a simpler, more positive pass to someone in space is there on a plate. Don't get me wrong, I'm as fickle as the next fan and would take more of the wins this system has earned in a heartbeat, but it's genuinely awful to watch, and I can sympathise (not much!) with opposing managers who have a bit of a moan when they've just lost to it. Just an opinion, obviously, but I think 'the press' is a bit of a misnomer. Whatever it is, it's not pretty.
Isn't that because we haven't faced teams attempting to play it out from the back? A change in tactics in reaction to the opposition rather than a change in philosophy. We look better when we're doing as you described, hunting in packs, but if the opposition refuse get drawn into those situations then we have to adapt.
You might be right, Jay, but I'm still seeing plenty of references to our pressing game which, by my yardstick, we haven't seen for a few games now.
I think it’s like Jay has said, the pressing game from earlier in the season was more visible because opponents wanted to play at the back. Only Brentford, Bournemouth and Norwich (league) have any real success at playing through the press. All the other teams have gone long to avoid being closed down in their defensive third so you just end up with long balls going to and fro. The press is still there I think but it just causes a rushed long ball so I think that’s why we don’t see the pack hunting as visibly. Jed Wallace (Millwall) said in an interview which is shared somewhere on here that he’s never played against a team that press like we do at any level so the press is still there
Bang on. Opposition teams now come to play the same as us and it descends into a horror show. Likewise I'm happy with the points and position but there's a real Emperor's new clothes situation going on right now where people are trying to convince themselves that it's decent football. I'm hoping Bournemouth play their normal game on Saturday and we might jus t see a game of football.
I think this is spot on. The worst games have been against teams that have matched us up and looked to do the same to us. Sadly I didn't see the Brentford or Norwich (cup) games which seem to be the sole examples where we played some football in them and the game where the press was most active was Chelsea until dike came on. If this team wore red and white stripes and had Neil Warnock as manager, it would be getting absolutely hammered for the style they are playing. And if you looked at the games and removed the result and purely commented on performance, there isn't that much to enjoy. The enjoyable parts are pretty much speculative strikes from Dike, Mowatt and Styles and 3 points. I haven't seen the last two games and sadly, I feel relieved that was the case. If this style continues, the best way to watch Barnsley will be to watch the 2 minute highlights reel.
I think part of our problem is that we have forwards that are very good at the pressing side, like Frieser and Chaplin, with others who are better with the ball, or at holding it up, like Dike and Morris. Not sure we have any that are good at both. Woodrow moving into a wider position seems to have thrown things out as well, maybe he should be rotating with Dike in the middle for the next three matches.
We gunna see how good big Val is tacticly , mangers are adapting to our style of play now , before it was little old Barnsley but now they're looking at us in a different light
