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Esoterica

Esoterica

Well-Known Member
But it also tells you a lot about what is dysfunctional about our play right now, especially against a team sitting deep. Our 2 in midfield get on the ball and see 2 wingers, whoever won the 'I get to play number 10 this week' lottery, and our striker all paired up with the opposition's back 4.

There's only a finite number of things that can happen at that point. No-one in our squad is any good back to goal, so it forces the wingers to go even wider to create a passing angle, and then we get Saka and Esse too far away from the box to really be a goal threat themselves and so trying a trick, to buy a yard of space, to fire a ball over to a couple of forwards who aren't great in the air and already dominated by a couple of bruisers who haven't had to move. Or we just lump a diagonal ball over the top. It's like watching a team desperate to score a last minute goal in a cup tie but for 90 minutes, every week.

It's so limiting to our attacking play. No chance for triangles and to move up the pitch as a team, no-one running beyond the striker from a deeper position causing confusion and pulling a defence out of position. No wingers making runs inside their fullbacks buying space for the striker when the centre backs get pulled out of position. That's what I mean when I say on the match threads that it looks like we have no plan for how we want to score goals. What is our attacking strength and what are doing to play to that strength?

Our entire attacking unit needs to start deeper against a low block and start playing a less direct, more possession based game with far greater movement off the ball than we currently have - we aren't asking our opponents the right questions. Are you organised enough and disciplined enough to hold this shape while we zip the ball around in a more dynamic shape? The only question we really asked Oxford, is whether they could stay awake long enough to collect their point.
 
clint van damme

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
Esoterica said:
But it also tells you a lot about what is dysfunctional about our play right now, especially against a team sitting deep. Our 2 in midfield get on the ball and see 2 wingers, whoever won the 'I get to play number 10 this week' lottery, and our striker all paired up with the opposition's back 4.

There's only a finite number of things that can happen at that point. No-one in our squad is any good back to goal, so it forces the wingers to go even wider to create a passing angle, and then we get Saka and Esse too far away from the box to really be a goal threat themselves and so trying a trick, to buy a yard of space, to fire a ball over to a couple of forwards who aren't great in the air and already dominated by a couple of bruisers who haven't had to move. Or we just lump a diagonal ball over the top. It's like watching a team desperate to score a last minute goal in a cup tie but for 90 minutes, every week.

It's so limiting to our attacking play. No chance for triangles and to move up the pitch as a team, no-one running beyond the striker from a deeper position causing confusion and pulling a defence out of position. No wingers making runs inside their fullbacks buying space for the striker when the centre backs get pulled out of position. That's what I mean when I say on the match threads that it looks like we have no plan for how we want to score goals. What is our attacking strength and what are doing to play to that strength?

Our entire attacking unit needs to start deeper against a low block and start playing a less direct, more possession based game with far greater movement off the ball than we currently have - we aren't asking our opponents the right questions. Are you organised enough and disciplined enough to hold this shape while we zip the ball around in a more dynamic shape? The only question we really asked Oxford, is whether they could stay awake long enough to collect their point.
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Good post

1 very important sentence in there, 'no one in our squad is any good back to goal' (the best is probably our left winger).

But I think that answers why Lampard drops Simms even when he's scoring once Wright is available, Simms is truly awful with his back to goal.

It also explains why he wanted Bamford and we really missed an opportunity not getting him.
 
SBAndy

SBAndy

Well-Known Member
clint van damme said:
Good post

1 very important sentence in there, 'no one in our squad is any good back to goal' (the best is probably our left winger).

But I think that answers why Lampard drops Simms even when he's scoring once Wright is available, Simms is truly awful with his back to goal.

It also explains why he wanted Bamford and we really missed an opportunity not getting him.
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Simms is quite a funny example of that actually because it strikes me that they’ve tried to do a lot of work with him playing as a focal point of the attack and involving him early. You see it when he will do a bounce pass or cushioned header first time. Shame for him that he doesn’t have the game intelligence to realise that, when no teammate is around you, maybe it’s not best to play it first time.
 
Nick

Nick

Administrator
SBAndy said:
Simms is quite a funny example of that actually because it strikes me that they’ve tried to do a lot of work with him playing as a focal point of the attack and involving him early. You see it when he will do a bounce pass or cushioned header first time. Shame for him that he doesn’t have the game intelligence to realise that, when no teammate is around you, maybe it’s not best to play it first time.
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Although if we are playing it to the striker's head then there needs to be teammates around him / playing off him.
 
shmmeee

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
Esoterica said:
But it also tells you a lot about what is dysfunctional about our play right now, especially against a team sitting deep. Our 2 in midfield get on the ball and see 2 wingers, whoever won the 'I get to play number 10 this week' lottery, and our striker all paired up with the opposition's back 4.

There's only a finite number of things that can happen at that point. No-one in our squad is any good back to goal, so it forces the wingers to go even wider to create a passing angle, and then we get Saka and Esse too far away from the box to really be a goal threat themselves and so trying a trick, to buy a yard of space, to fire a ball over to a couple of forwards who aren't great in the air and already dominated by a couple of bruisers who haven't had to move. Or we just lump a diagonal ball over the top. It's like watching a team desperate to score a last minute goal in a cup tie but for 90 minutes, every week.

It's so limiting to our attacking play. No chance for triangles and to move up the pitch as a team, no-one running beyond the striker from a deeper position causing confusion and pulling a defence out of position. No wingers making runs inside their fullbacks buying space for the striker when the centre backs get pulled out of position. That's what I mean when I say on the match threads that it looks like we have no plan for how we want to score goals. What is our attacking strength and what are doing to play to that strength?

Our entire attacking unit needs to start deeper against a low block and start playing a less direct, more possession based game with far greater movement off the ball than we currently have - we aren't asking our opponents the right questions. Are you organised enough and disciplined enough to hold this shape while we zip the ball around in a more dynamic shape? The only question we really asked Oxford, is whether they could stay awake long enough to collect their point.
Click to expand...

I love your posts man
 
L

Legia Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
An offside issue that has started to grate me is from our attacking free kicks where someone (usually Wright) stands yards ahead goalside of the defence, I presume hoping to prevent being blocked off by his marker, but banking on the defence retreating before the kick is taken and then playing him onside. It seems to me however that over 50% of the time we end up being offside, which results effectively in us harmlessly handing possession back to the opposition in the form of a free kick to the opposition. The tactic also seems counterproductive in that our player's first move is backwards, making it more difficult to get forward momentum in attacking the ball ahead of the defenders.
 
shmmeee

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
Legia Sky Blue said:
An offside issue that has started to grate me is from our attacking free kicks where someone (usually Wright) stands yards ahead goalside of the defence, I presume hoping to prevent being blocked off by his marker, but banking on the defence retreating before the kick is taken and then playing him onside. It seems to me however that over 50% of the time we end up being offside, which results effectively in us harmlessly handing possession back to the opposition in the form of a free kick to the opposition. The tactic also seems counterproductive in that our player's first move is backwards, making it more difficult to get forward momentum in attacking the ball ahead of the defenders.
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Definitely a thing. I remember O’Hare talking about “I was standing in the offside position” when he got twatted at a FK a while ago. Also got no idea why we do it tbh.
 
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