lapal_fan Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 I was a bit young at the time, but I remember it being pretty good under Little.. We scored some great goals then, but I guess that was another era and way of playing the game.. I think we're crying out for a Merson type player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I was a bit young at the time, but I remember it being pretty good under Little.. We scored some great goals then, but I guess that was another era and way of playing the game.. I think we're crying out for a Merson type player. For a while under Little it was marvellous. Draper, Super Tommy Johnson, Yorke with Alan Wright and Gary Charles bombing forwards from the wing back position. Lots of movement and lovely one touch football. Ditto under Atkinson at his best as well. We even had it for a while under Gregory with the likes of Merson, Angel and Hendrie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted October 28, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted October 28, 2014 MON had players who could run at and beat defenders and while carews movement wasn't amazing he was good at attacking space in the box. But that's exactly my point. When you have players who can beat defenders and can feed a poacher in the box, then you don't need that off the ball movement as much because you can score goals. Right now, we have neither. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I think were slightly better off it than we are on it. Just a horrible football team to watch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danishlad Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 MON had players who could run at and beat defenders and while carews movement wasn't amazing he was good at attacking space in the box. But that's exactly my point. When you have players who can beat defenders and can feed a poacher in the box, then you don't need that off the ball movement as much because you can score goals. Right now, we have neither. Spot on Stevo, we don't have players who beat a man with skill, or move into good positions. We have fast, strong, players with no understanding of movement or anticipation. Which is why we are best at counter attacking with 27% possession. And the reason why we can't create chances against a team sitting deep when we have 55-60% of the Ball. Our players are one trick ponies. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 We don't even have players who can lift the ball over defenders who are 20 feet away, so movement off the ball is a moot point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Does it drive anyone else absolutely bananas? I honestly, truly, cannot conceivably understand how or why we are so fundamentally terrible at not moving when someone else has the ball. The players run about 10 yards in a forward line and if they don't receive it by then, they're utterly useless because they're picked up by a defender and just continue to stand and wait for something to happen. It's been something that has annoyed me since Gareth Barry left. We had a short spell in Houiller's reign when off the ball, we weren't too bad, but I think, for a professional football team, we must be one of the worst at it. The complete lack of movement off the ball makes us so easy to work out, easy to defend against and it's maddening. Watch Chelsea, Arsenal or Man City, their players are constantly making little runs, not always in straight lines either. Obviously teams like Madrid or Barca are the masters of this, but it's such a simple concept that we haven't got right in years. The one thing that annoys me is that we can only run forwards, never backwards when we have the ball. It's so rare when you see a midfielder dropping deep to collect the ball from a defender.. I think Delph's probably the best at it, because he always wants the ball, but even he can sometimes be accused of it. I don't know, I just needed to get that off my chest. Oh, one last thing, the options given to our fullbacks to pass to someone on the floor are laughable. Cissoko and Lowton last night had 2 choices for passes consistantly yesterday, pass to the closest CM inside, or hit it up the line and hope Gabby or Wiemann get to it and retain possession.. Maddening. A million ditto's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 No one ever moves even when we have a throw. I have not seen a another team in the Premiership that struggles so much to find a player off a throw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) Whilst I appreciate the effects that goals bring and the game changing it can offer...you can equally get lured in the false sense of security it can bring....it can mask over a multitude of flaws. In my view there is no substitute for having ability on the ball, allied to ball winning abilities, players who can shoot and disrupt the opposition...running off the ball not only allows your colleagues space and time on the ball it spooks the opposing defenders...it can dismantle teams. Goal scoring can never be under estimated....but all the substance leading up to goals can equally never be under estimated. If you went to the bank for a loan and bank manager asked how much you will make in the first year and you said 500k....do you think he would leave it at that....or ask how are you going to do it? Football is not much different....there is a bit more to it than just scoring goals, despite the importance of doing so. Edited October 28, 2014 by TRO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Whilst I appreciate the effects that goals bring and the game changing it can offer...you can equally get lured in the false sense of security it can bring....it can mask over a multitude of flaws. In my view there is no substitute for having ability on the ball, allied to ball winning abilities, players who can shoot and disrupt the opposition...running off the ball not only allows your colleagues space and time on the ball it spooks the opposing defenders...it can dismantle teams. Goal scoring can never be under estimated....but all the substance leading up to goals can equally never be under estimated. If you went to the bank for a loan and bank manager asked how much you will make in the first year and you said 500k....do you think he would leave it at that....or ask how are you going to do it? Football is not much different....there is a bit more to it than just scoring goals, despite the importance of doing so. Like many of yours TRO, a good post. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I was a bit young at the time, but I remember it being pretty good under Little.. We scored some great goals then, but I guess that was another era and way of playing the game.. I think we're crying out for a Merson type player. It was a different era for sure and many things have changed, but equally many things have remained the same. The things that havn't changed is.... We all want to win, that was the same at the turn of the century, we all want to see goals that hasn't changed either....in any era there are challenges that have to be met and dealt with and the teams that do best meet those challenges and deal with them.....that too hasn't changed over all these years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I was a bit young at the time, but I remember it being pretty good under Little.. We scored some great goals then, but I guess that was another era and way of playing the game.. I think we're crying out for a Merson type player. For a while under Little it was marvellous. Draper, Super Tommy Johnson, Yorke with Alan Wright and Gary Charles bombing forwards from the wing back position. Lots of movement and lovely one touch football. Ditto under Atkinson at his best as well. We even had it for a while under Gregory with the likes of Merson, Angel and Hendrie. Interesting to think back how all those managers were spoilt with transfer funds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 We had a spell at 2-0 down where we had possession for a couple of minutes. I shit you not and made a point of noticing that not one single player moved more than a foot after passing the ball. Football is simple, pass and move. I've wanted Lambert to have time but as with others I just don't see that we have any clear direction, philosophy or purpose. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isa Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 He has had time, that's what makes it all the worse. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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