The purpose of the game of football

There’s a leap from ‘other teams adapting’ to ‘crying foul’. A massive hop step and leap.

 

If every part of a football game was exciting then match of the day would be 10hrs long and Quest EFL show 3 days. Ive been bored during quite a few of our games in most seasons for the last 50 years. But i have also been entertained by many. I don't like watching teams who see possession purely as the key entertainment and i dont like teams who just hoof it with no purpose. I have been entertained by us all season and despite the dull halves of games there are also parts in the 90 mins that make up for it as with the game on Sat. Man City largely play tipy tappy with what seems like no purpose and then for 20 seconds a passage of great football creates a goal. People have different levels of perceived entertainment value. Having said all that, if I'm regularly bored and not entertained at all i usually go and find something else to do or watch.

 

My main frustration of how we play is the inaccuracy of our passing at times. I don’t believe we generally lump it forward aimlessly, I just think often the pass lacks quality. Take our CBs Mads and Helik, good solid defenders and a real threat at set pieces, but under a little pressure at the back and it’s either row Z ( fair enough) or nowhere near a team mate. They always seem to put it out quite close to them as well instead of trying get in further down the touch line. I have to say though, I’ve enjoyed the way we’ve mixed it up this season and how we are getting better at standing up to the ‘bullies’ Glad we don’t resort to the levels of shithousery that we’ve often seen from opponents this season.

 

I'm actually in shock at people complaining.
I also think our games are fairly enjoyable and noway near as bad as people on here make out, just desperate to complain about anything.

 

I still think the two least entertaining games at Oakwell this season were Luton and Coventry. There was never even the slightest chance of us scoring a goal.

 

I never cared if we won or lost, as long as I scored..

 

I think the season has panned out far differently from anyone’s expectations and perhaps we may have seen the vertical approach evolve differently had we not had anything to play for in the last 8 or so games.

I noticed on Saturday we did play it out from the back a couple of times which leads me to think that VI has more to his armoury than everything being hit into the oppos half.

The initial target of 50 points was met so quickly that it was sensible to keep doing what we are doing and now we have a chance to get the playoffs so the style and approach won’t change.

Maybe playing better teams who have faith in their own systems will allow our style to flourish - let’s hope we get a chance to find out

 

I honestly never thought folk would get bored of winning so quickly. I could happily keep winning this way for years.

 

Never thought we would get bored of winning?? It is not the results that are boring (or the effort, commitment to the cause, never say die attitude, workrate, Vale's impressive demeanour), but the football is lots of the time. If those of us who have a problem with the style of play shut up and just rode the wave and then only posted our reservations when results turned south we'd be accused of being hypocrites. My view is that this is a sensitive question because most of us know that this excellent form is bought at a price. I'm criticising no one else - everyone's mileage differs and if you want to see a derivation of long ball football fine. But this is little different than the POMO tactic pioneered by amongst others Charles Wade at the FA. Taken up by a lot of clubs, it was a bleak anti-football period in my recollection.

 

It’s just not hoof ball or up in air football all the time though as some are making out .
I thought we were superb at Brum! Great second half at Bournemouth away and despite the score line thought we played some great football against them at home .
We were great at Norwich no signs of hoof ball there but of course we lost so the critics have us down for hoof ball .
We outplayed Norwich and Chelsea in the cup and out footballer Brentford in their own backyard .
Think some are lazily lumping all the games together as the Wendy, Brum, Millwall,Derby Boro games but let’s not lose sight of the fact that these teams are noted for this type of game so it was always gonna be difficult to play any kind of football against them and their managers along with a lazy media and some of our own have managed to turn it round on us .
Thankfully there are journalists and commentators out there who can see it as it is.
When football teams come against us we can mix it with the best in this division and have.
I recall a poster on here who hit nail on head about the quality and mis hit passes are being lumped as hoof ball . We haven’t got top quality players but we have a quality team imo.

 

I don't think the football is bad overall and enjoy most matches. In general as I see it you get to pick any 2 (but only 2) options from the below:

1. "Pretty" possession based football
2. Consistently winning matches
3. Living within our means financially

I'm happy with our selections.

 

Yep. I can only think of the relegated teams and Brentford and Swansea that are capable of regularly playing decent football (though Swansea abandoned that against us). Helps if you have 10s of millions to spend on players.

Blackburn have tried to play possession based game this season (again, apart from at Oakwell), on a lower budget than those clubs listed above, but still at significant expense. And look where it's got them.

In all honesty, it's a pretty dire league, with not many players who are comfortable receiving the ball under pressure, which makes you wonder why so many clubs are giving so many players such massive wages.

 

Our fruit bowl contains apples, bananas, and oranges. My wife want us to try something she calls "pears", but I've told her, no, she can only have the ones in the bowl. I refuse to accept that any other fruits exist.

 

You've lost me

 

There can be other options than the 3 you've posted.

 

I'm all ears

 

Stick with the vertical football for our defenders, in order to minimise the opposition threat, but reduce the number of aimless balls forward from the midfield areas. Why give the ball away so often and so unnecessarily when we're already over the halfway line? Get it down and find a red shirt. I'm not asking for major changes, just a bit more composure.

 

There's a style of play where teams seem to value time with the ball and you almost think they've forgotten that the aim is to get the ball into the net. You could build a few impressive sequences of passing but if no goals come from it, then it quickly loses its appeal. The philosphy is "They can't score if they don't have the ball". The downside with it is that you also give the opposition time to organise themselves against you.

Then you've got the true 'hoof it' style of play, which for me means you fight for the ball in your own half, then when you win it you kick/head it as far into the opposition half as you can at which point it's likely 50/50 who wins the loose ball. Philosophy is "they can't score if the balls nowhere near our goal, so boot it away when it comes near". Downside is you might lose the 50/50 and they hoof it back into your half.

The high-press is different and I wish people would stop mixing it up with 'hoof-ing it'. You fight hard for the ball in their half, and when you win it you have a small window of time to get the ball in their net before they know what happened. If they manage to get it into your half you still want to get it back into theirs as quickly as possible. Philosophy being a mix of "they can't score if we don't let the ball leave their half" and "we have best chance of scoring in the X seconds after winning the ball from them". When Klopp played a high press to great success at Liverpool everyone thought he was a genius. When we play it we get accused of 'head tennis' and 'hoofing it'. (There's still a downside with this tactic - we seem to be vulnerable from getting hit on the counter-counter. I sometimes think the defense are so used to the ball being won back upfield that it takes them by surprise when a break comes at them)

 

I think the suggestion is that you can succeed at this level by playing possession-based, attacking football. The sort that DannyWilsonLoveChild, RichieD and Red Rain for example are clamouring for. And I'm not referring to our team from 1996/97, because that's 25 years ago and football is nothing like that nowadays and the gulf between the haves and have-nots has only increased.

But Norwich City are living proof that it can be done. They're running away with the division seemingly, and every time I watch them, they play an attacking game of football, always on the front foot and their football is massively possession-based. The likes of Watford, Brentford and Bournemouth play a more direct, but similarly possession-focused game. Swansea are a bit more direct and rely hugely on set-plays, but they do play through the lines in the main. Reading too, like to play out from the back but with Meite they can go long, or go over the top utilising the pace of Joao, Olise, Puscas et al.

The thing is, all of those sides have implemented that/their way of playing over a number of years. And the majority of those named have spent time in the Premier League and thus enjoyed the financial benefits of that, which enables them to acquire more expensive, highly-rated talent. Although I always tip my hat to Norwich in that regard because they've got youth players in their XI, such as Cantwell and Aarons. They got Pukki for free, and Buendia for around £1,500,000. They also - as a club - stuck with Farke when he looked to be failing. And, when they've been relegated. But some of the clubs we're regularly turning over have spent cash and wages on just one player that would dwarf our spending across numerous seasons, on the entire football club. See our latest opponents for example - Middlesbrough. They spent £15,000,000 on Assombalonga. Or look at Bournemouth and the amount of players in their squad that cost them eight-figure fees. With Jack Wilshere on the bench.

Such financial disparity.

Now, Barnsley could well implement, as a club, a possession-orientated style. And recruit (with its budget) players to fit that philosophy. It'd take time. But who knows, maybe we'd eventually get there and we'd be a top six side winning lots of games playing in that fashion? But Barnsley chose to implement this style, this current philosophy. Three years ago now. The attacking football we now see, with the highest of high presses, direct with purpose. And it's got us into the top six winning lots of games. It's also a brand of football that some of us happen to like. Not every football watcher believes the Dutch side of the 70's or the many Brazilian sides of yesteryear, or even the Spanish tiki-taka sides are the 'perfect' examples of football. Plenty people do. But not all of us.

Personally, if a ball is heading into our third with an opponent chasing it down, I want my defender to get rid. I do not want to see him Cruyff turning on the edge of his own box and playing out. Because I like statistics and facts. I like science. The less risks you take in football, in your own third, the less likely you are to face shots, make mistakes, concede goals. But once the ball is in the opponents half, I want to see attacking football in all manner of guises. Long shots, lots of crosses, running at pace, physicality, tricks and skills. The lot. And I've seen plenty of that.

But first and foremost, I want to know when I watch my team, that they've all busted their gut for the cause. That they've run themselves into the ground. I demand sheer effort as a minimum. I don't want my team to shirk 50/50's. I love seeing my players out-jump their man and win the header. Three men enveloping one opponent to win the ball? Yes please.

It's an opinions game, we all like different things. That's the beauty of football. And whilst I loved watching Craig Hignett, Martin Bullock and even recently, Adam Hammill and their ability to beat men and produce moments of magic, when anyone asks me who my favourite player has been watching BFC over the years, I always say Brendan O'Connell. Because to me, he epitomised what football is to me. That energy, desire, effort and willingness to keep at it and never give up. So naturally, I love this current version of Barnsley FC. And I'm not saying this because we are 5th in the league. I'd have taken mid-table and 50-odd points and being on the beach right now, personally, whilst playing this style of football. I just want us comfortable and competitive in the second tier. Anything beyond is a bonus.

I did actually predict we'd be promoted, when we were at St George's Park last August, in fairness. I felt we had a good group of people at the club whose dedication and hunger would perhaps give us an edge in what was always likely to be a strange season due to the ongoing impact of COVID. I was taken aback then, with our start to the season and the departure of Gerhard. But it feels like a lifetime ago does that. It's like Valérien has been here years. And our recruitment and decisions on outgoings too have again been immaculate.

Whatever happens this season now, it's been one of the best we've had. So much to be proud about. And regardless of your preference in terms of the football played on the pitch, we all enjoy winning games and that dream of achieving special things. If someone had told you on April 13th last year that in a year's time, this is where we'd be, you'd have told them to put down the crack pipe.

 

I agree with Warnock.We won`t get away with this style of football two seasons in a row,no matter which division wer`e in.