"Wish he'd put his foot in more" (1 Viewer)

Interceptions are more valuable than tackles.

Look what happened when Kelly dived in at Oxford.

Diving in your less likely to come away with the ball and also with referees these days only have to time slightly wrong and you'll almost certainly walk away with a card!

4-4-2 don’t lock the front door 1p sweets wife stays at home and gets the dinner on, fish and chips out of a newspaper

Products of the non contact era. Not many young players know how to tackle these days or have the inclination to. They might stare menacingly at an opponent when they’re looking the other way but that’s about it.

"if I have to make a tackle I have already made a mistake" - Paolo Maldini.

It's how football has evolved. To add another quote.

"I don't train tackles" Pep Guardiola

Bobby Moore always seemed to be 'there' rather than a great thumping challenge. Trevor Peake, too.

I just meant he doesn’t seem to break up play like Kelly does. I could be wrong, but looking at him as a Kelly replacement, his ability to break down attacks would be my major concern.

Not sure how that makes me a footballing dinosaur, but OK.

I’d also say that the person who said this about Shipley was our Lord and Saviour Mark Robins.

Holding midfielders need to be able to put a foot in, that's part of their job.. Why is this a discussion

Tackling is a skill, just as passing, shooting, dribbling etc.
It seems to be going out of fashion now, I blame the snowflake generation, bloody millennials!

You only need to look at the old 70s games between Leeds and Chelsea to know that 'tackling' and how it is dealt with by referees has totally changed. It is hardly surprising that coaches have changed players' approach to it. In addition if you look at the old pitches, there was 6 inches of mud to slide through (and cushion the slide) whereas a lot of the pitches now will injure the tackler as much as the tackled due to the lack of a soft layer of mud to soften the impact!

Last Tuesday against Watford showed that players in the top league hate a tackle. When we tried to bully our way back onto the ball it looked like something they’d never seen before and would complain - the ref seemed to buy it every time too.

Tommo1993 said:

Last Tuesday against Watford showed that players in the top league hate a tackle. When we tried to bully our way back onto the ball it looked like something they’d never seen before and would complain - the ref seemed to buy it every time too.

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They don’t like it up em!

Winning the ball back is about desire, timing and aggression. It's not about tackling technique per se. Look at Luke Thomas he was superb at it.

Just fucking break their legs.

- Getting in before Nick.

Earlsdon_Skyblue1 said:

Just fucking break their legs.

- Getting in before Nick.

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Early doors, definitely let him know you were there with that one.

Good players do not go to ground. You are out of the game on your ass whether you win or lose the tackle.

Sky Blue Harry H said:

Bobby Moore always seemed to be 'there' rather than a great thumping challenge. Trevor Peake, too.

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George Curtis always seemed to be “there” but he’d already gone through three players to get there.

Sky Blue Harry H said:

Bobby Moore always seemed to be 'there' rather than a great thumping challenge. Trevor Peake, too.

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Can I add Paul McGrath.

Hobo said:

Good players do not go to ground. You are out of the game on your ass whether you win or lose the tackle.

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This couldn't be further from the truth

Skybluefaz said:

Winning the ball back is about desire, timing and aggression. It's not about tackling technique per se. Look at Luke Thomas he was superb at it.

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Took the words out of my mouth. Perfect example.

As ever there are times to put a tackle in and times not to. If a team, is knocking it around / breaking quickly then going to ground can be dangerous as they could potentially be 20 or 30 yards further up the pitch by time you are back on your feet. I would say there isnt much point in say Shipley / Eccles sliding in of they are closing down in the middle of the park, as they are putting pressure on the player while retaining shape so defending collectively. As for "Kelly" always seemingly in the right place, that's something that comes with time and experience, being able to read the game well, comes with experience and footballing intelligence. Unless they are a super talent, our younger midfielders are not yet at that level of game intelligence, continue to improve, learn etc then they will be. I've always thought that midfield is always the hardest position to "learn"

As for using Kelly as an example, I'm obviously not using the Liam Kelly who took leave of his senses late on Saturday...

Tommo1993 said:

Last Tuesday against Watford showed that players in the top league hate a tackle. When we tried to bully our way back onto the ball it looked like something they’d never seen before and would complain - the ref seemed to buy it every time too.

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Yet they kicked O'Hare to bits....