Slow backwards boring football until we're losing

[sacreblueits442]

On 01/10/2021 at 08:28, 5waller5 said:

 
Maybe, I guess we’ll never know fully.

? But it was one of the most enjoyable 45 minutes of recent seasons, and I thought we looked superb. Then realised how unhappy BR was with it - difficult to fathom why!! 

....we lost our discipline....!!!

That moment perhaps was a big eye opener to Rodgers how much further we had to go.

  He has been building a team that was moving in the direction of challenging the top teams positions in the League. 

  We are playing how he wants to see us play, and then having comfortable gained a good lead we stopped doing the things that had got us in the position we, at the time, found ourselves. 

  The movement had stopped for some, and passing became extravagant and shooting at goal became Hollywood.  Did anyone expect Brendan Rodgers was capable of showing that much emotion under any circumstances at a football match.

  How frustrated must he have felt, that what he was building and trying to reinforce to become the norm, was being picked apart by an unprofessional bunch of players  who only sort their out gratification and was ignoring the team ethos.

[turtmcfly]

19 hours ago, OntarioFox said:

The Zambians on Facebook are attaining Mahrez-levels of fanboy cringe, but they have been making a fair point - our midfield is wank right now.

 

Both Tielemans and Wilf are miles off their usual levels. All our service is going through predictable wide channels and we're losing the ball but then not winning it back like we would on a good day with Ndidi. Soumare, can't work his role out at all yet, but an occasional barnstorming run isn't enough to paper over his poor first touch and equally crap playmaking. Our over-reliance on wing play leaves us exposed down the flank, which leads to our slow defenders being turned again and again.

 

Sounds like Choudhury might get another go now with Wilf's hammy gone, and if so then good luck to him. We're putting so much pressure on a backline we all know is playing like crap, because our Midfield is playing passive, ponderous football. It's the main cause of our malaise for me, and if it takes Hamza doing a bit of headless chicken and breaking somebody's kneecaps for a straight red to inject some life into the middle of the park for us, so be it.

 

I think our general defensive displays might improve if our backline actually gets some bleedin' protection.

 

This. And then this again. 

 

We get marmalised in midfield.  A lack of effort to find pockets of space combined with an inability to control it or pass accurately when they do is killing us.

 

All the moaning about side to side at the back, but AFAICS when our defenders have it currently the only other safeish option is humping it long to Vardy. Balls into midfield are becoming semi-suicidal. 

 

[honeybradger]

40% possession, 442 and 2-0 up, hopefully rodgers clocks that dull possession football isnt the way forwards.

[ThurmastonFox]

I like the more direct goal kicks. No more tippy tappy

[Matt]

Forward passes. Wow! 

[tickler28]

This is becoming the theme of the season. I'm not being funny but how long is this allowed to carry on before its considered a crisis?

[Big Dave]

1 minute ago, tickler28 said:

This is becoming the theme of the season. I'm not being funny but how long is this allowed to carry on before its considered a crisis?

I thought we played the ball backwards very little last night. We tried to play forward, but they had such a deep block. Didn’t think it was a particularly slow game either.

If Vardy stuck the penalty away, everyone would be happy today.

[Fox92]

2 minutes ago, Big Dave said:

I thought we played the ball backwards very little last night. We tried to play forward, but they had such a deep block. Didn’t think it was a particularly slow game either.

If Vardy stuck the penalty away, everyone would be happy today.

If Vardy scored we'd have won but the game itself still wouldn't have been great.

 

We were to slow again.

[tickler28]

7 minutes ago, Big Dave said:

I thought we played the ball backwards very little last night. We tried to play forward, but they had such a deep block. Didn’t think it was a particularly slow game either.

If Vardy stuck the penalty away, everyone would be happy today.

You must have been watching a different game to me. Admittedly it wasn't the worst its ever been but we were playing against a team no better than a lower championship standard if that. They were giving us acres of time and space yet we were still opting for the backward pass. Watch it again bud and you'll see what I mean.

[An Away Move]

I thought we were playing statues last night. No one offering runs in the final third. No clever movement. Barely any movement actually. 2 shots on target from 77% possession tells a story about the lack of creation. It wasn’t the opposition defending well. It was us. Our attack is like an old school pensioner - slow movement and no teeth.  

[RowlattsFox]

Pretty sure Brendan isn't telling them to go out and play like that. He wants to pass like Man City and control the game but Either the players just aren't good enough to play like that or the system doesn't allow it. 

 

I think Brendan's vision is becoming a little outdated and he needs to adapt. Big period between now and Christmas where we have to get something going. 

[fox_up_north]

I agree with that. The way he talks about Spanish football and how he idolises it, it's clear that's his aim but I think an element of that comes with risk. 

 

If you want the goals, you have to get forward and unless you've got a backline of Cafu, Ramos and peak Ferdinand, you've got to concede somewhere. 

 

Hate to say it but I'd like to see the lads off the leash. We're not keeping clean sheets so why bother when the attack is that good

[Fox92]

5 minutes ago, fox_up_north said:

I agree with that. The way he talks about Spanish football and how he idolises it, it's clear that's his aim but I think an element of that comes with risk. 

 

If you want the goals, you have to get forward and unless you've got a backline of Cafu, Ramos and peak Ferdinand, you've got to concede somewhere. 

 

Hate to say it but I'd like to see the lads off the leash. We're not keeping clean sheets so why bother when the attack is that good

Leeds will be interesting on Sunday because we know what they're like - they'll come at us and attack - be interesting to see how we cope and if we just go back at them.

Got potential for lots of goals.

[fox_up_north]

6 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

Leeds will be interesting on Sunday because we know what they're like - they'll come at us and attack - be interesting to see how we cope and if we just go back at them.

Got potential for lots of goals.

In a just world, they'd score early and make us wake up

[Matt]

52 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

If Vardy scored we'd have won but the game itself still wouldn't have been great.

 

We were to slow again.

I keep hearing if we’d scored the penalty no one would have any problems.

 

I think you’d have had a few that it would have papered over cracks and they’d still be blind to it all but I think generally most people are seeing the bigger picture now and finally seeing it for what it really is.

[tsintskaro]

Absolute dogshit team giving us a lot space and options to play and still we are so passive

[tickler28]

There seems to be a narrative amongst some of our supporters that anybody criticising our style of play or the manager is not a real fan and needs to remember how crap we were 10 years ago....its getting tedious and boring that these supporters feel they have some agenda to protect the manager and players at all cost 

[Nalis]

I am concerned last night and Arsenal is now the norm and the exception is now the Man U performance.

[An Sionnach]

When it comes to style, Chelsea are no icons. Tuchell however is a pragmatist and his team works like hell and defends grimly. They have conceded three goals so far and if you do that you are going to get the job done. Playing pretty is not the only way to succeed.

[Matt]

13 minutes ago, An Sionnach said:

When it comes to style, Chelsea are no icons. Tuchell however is a pragmatist and his team works like hell and defends grimly. They have conceded three goals so far and if you do that you are going to get the job done. Playing pretty is not the only way to succeed.

Thing is I often see possession football described as being 'pretty', is it? Really?

 

It's generally very boring, tedious, labourious and far from exciting.

[Kilworthfox]

15 minutes ago, Matt said:

Thing is I often see possession football described as being 'pretty', is it? Really?

 

It's generally very boring, tedious, labourious and far from exciting.

No it's dogshit when it's slow, and you don't have the players to implement the system you want, just shows their flaws and demoralises them. 

 

Don't worry he won't change, it won't take long, a change is inevitable. 

[Vestan Pance]

41 minutes ago, tickler28 said:

There seems to be a narrative amongst some of our supporters that anybody criticising our style of play or the manager is not a real fan and needs to remember how crap we were 10 years ago....its getting tedious and boring that these supporters feel they have some agenda to protect the manager and players at all cost 

Some people are in denial over the growth of our wage bill over the past 10 years. We're now in the top 20 in Europe but some seem to think that the club should be bobbing around the middle of the Championship and struggling to beat the likes of Legia and Spartak.

Edited 5 November 2021 by Vestan Pance

[Matt]

8 minutes ago, Kilworthfox said:

No it's dogshit when it's slow, and you don't have the players to implement the system you want, just shows their flaws and demoralises them. 

 

Don't worry he won't change, it won't take long, a change is inevitable. 

I said last night, we're just going through the motions now.

 

Do I want him to go? Not really. (Would I be sad to see him go? Not really)

 

Why? Because i'm not really sure who we'll replace him with and whoever we replace him with will probably play the same shite anyway so what's the point..

 

It's just a major issue within the game atm, i'm a big believer of cycles within football and this is a cycle that I think will be coming to an end shortly and the next style will be the 'in' way to play, i'm predicting it to change when Pep leaves Man City in summer 2023 with abit of luck.

 

A change within football can't come soon enough though.

 

Edited 5 November 2021 by Matt

[Guest worth_the_wait]

21 minutes ago, Matt said:

It's just a major issue within the game atm, i'm a big believer of cycles within football and this is a cycle that I think will be coming to an end shortly and the next style will be the 'in' way to play, .

 

Spot on.

 

This recent obsession with "possession based football" ie risk averse tippy-tappy sideways and backwards bores me senseless ... and is doing as much to kill off the atmosphere as anything else.

 

[Corky]

5 hours ago, RowlattsFox said:

Pretty sure Brendan isn't telling them to go out and play like that. He wants to pass like Man City and control the game but Either the players just aren't good enough to play like that or the system doesn't allow it. 

 

I think Brendan's vision is becoming a little outdated and he needs to adapt. Big period between now and Christmas where we have to get something going. 

We look like a team worried to lose the ball and get caught out. I don't think he wants to play slow, backwards football but just doesn't want us chasing back desperately if we lose it. Doesn't make for exciting games, I grant you, but I don't get the Puel comparisons at all.