Style of play

[Phil Mitchell]

Irregardless of who comes in next, this stubborn brand of sidewards and backwards football it’s almost as safe as Rudkin’s employment at the club. 
 

Topkin will hire a manager that plays this way, we aren’t going to see improvements overnight with a new appointment until this fetish with Brendanball is over.

This isn’t Brendan’s team anymore, this isn’t his club to manage anymore, his essence is still very much present and it’s not just holding us back, it’s rapidly tightening the noose.
 

What ticks me off the most is that Top is never actually around to watch the system he so desperately demands we play. We just have to digest it week after week.

 

It’s boring, it’s stale, it’s slow and the whole league has our number. We will get relegated if we don’t change.

 

Phil.

[BrilliantFox]

The only style of play I want is winning football. I think we are going to get exactly that.

 

Edited 26 January by BrilliantFox

[AjcW]

I went to watch Notts County on Saturday.

 

They've adopted my preferred approach to football which is a bit of a combination of passing football and direct football.

 

They pass it around but they do it at speed and it goes forward, even if they risk losing it at times.

They also play with a clear target man, he's there for crosses as they get it out to their wingers quickly, he's also there as an escape route if they're pressed in defence or midfield and need to get it up quickly. 

 

I think more managers are moving towards this style now. Sadly not the ones we keep hiring  

Edited 26 January by AjcW

[Katy]

8 minutes ago, Phil Mitchell said:

Irregardless of who comes in next, this stubborn brand of sidewards and backwards football it’s almost as safe as Rudkin’s employment at the club. 
 

Topkin will hire a manager that plays this way, we aren’t going to see improvements overnight with a new appointment until this fetish with Brendanball is over.

This isn’t Brendan’s team anymore, this isn’t his club to manage anymore, his essence is still very much present and it’s not just holding us back, it’s rapidly tightening the noose.
 

What ticks me off the most is that Top is never actually around to watch the system he so desperately demands we play. We just have to digest it week after week.

 

It’s boring, it’s stale, it’s slow and the whole league has our number. We will get relegated if we don’t change.

 

Phil.

Completely agree, Phil. That style of play is turgid and makes me hate football. 
 

Plus I really love the word irregardless 

[davieG]

Even Pep has moved on from pure Pep ball with less passing, more direct and with a target man.

[dmayne7]

1 minute ago, AjcW said:

I went to watch Notts County on Saturday.

 

They've adopted my preferred approach to football which is a bit of a combination of passing football and direct football.

 

They pass it around but they do it at speed and it goes forward, even if they risk losing it at times.

They also play with a clear target man, he's there for crosses as they get it out to their wingers quickly, he's also there as an escape route if they're pressed in defence or midfield and need to get it up quickly. 

 

I think more managers are moving towards this style now. Sadly not the ones we keep hiring  

Everything is symptomatic of the state of modern football. So much snobbery and the amount of amateur analysts, that want to turn it into American Football in terms of plays and intricacies. Not saying that football shouldn't evolve but too many people place too much emphasis on minute tactics, when the reality is that games that are won by tactics are done so because players and managers had the ability to adapt to the situation, not because they tried to map out every single play. The most important thing is that there is an overall style/approach to work towards, as to gives the players clarity, but the flexibility to change when needed.

 

The football you're describing is probably what most people want to see. Our Title winning team gets slapped with the counter attacking tag as though it's somehow an insult? Teams rarely threatened us and we attacked with lots of purpose. Also played lots of slick football that seems to get ignored. The best football under Pearson and Rodgers had elements of this style too. Reality is that winning games is more entertaining than not, and that generally comes from prioritising winning over how you win.

[Phil Mitchell]

3 minutes ago, Katy said:

Completely agree, Phil. That style of play is turgid and makes me hate football. 
 

Plus I really love the word irregardless 

Needed a thesaurus for that, usually it’s “ it don’t ****ing matter”. Phil.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

The thicko owner just wants us to play like Man City. Anyone that interviews and says they'll play like that will have a chance of getting the job.

[dmayne7]

4 minutes ago, Phil Mitchell said:

Needed a thesaurus for that, usually it’s “ it don’t ****ing matter”. Phil.

Dodgy thesaurus considering it's not really a word (has become one now) . What are they teaching you in Walford?

[Aleksz]

But what's the answer? We don't have a target man style striker that can make a ball stick to go more direct, we don't have enough pace at the back to press super high and play a high line (nor the energy up front - looking at you Ayew), we don't have flying fit pacey wing backs to play a 3-at-the-back wing back system. What you're seeing in terms of the set up is a result of the shocking squad we've assembled - not only in terms of its attitude and desire, but also in terms of the profile of players any manager has to work with -  its a mix and match squad of poor quality. I don't know what the solution is. 

[Phil Mitchell]

Just now, dmayne7 said:

Dodgy thesaurus considering it's not really a word (has become one now) . What are they teaching you in Walford?

I do dodgy. And I’m the teacher. Phil

[Phil Mitchell]

18 minutes ago, Aleksz said:

But what's the answer? We don't have a target man style striker that can make a ball stick to go more direct, we don't have enough pace at the back to press super high and play a high line (nor the energy up front - looking at you Ayew), we don't have flying fit pacey wing backs to play a 3-at-the-back wing back system. What you're seeing in terms of the set up is a result of the shocking squad we've assembled - not only in terms of its attitude and desire, but also in terms of the profile of players any manager has to work with -  its a mix and match squad of poor quality. I don't know what the solution is. 

We don’t have a striker on our books good enough to play in a two let alone one his own. But surely two shit strikers is better than basically none when playing one up top. Phil

[FoxinNotts]

We have two strikers on the books, Daka and Evans (I don't include Ayew as a striker. He should be used sparingly, to come on, as a replacement for Abdul, on 80mins, and nothing more!)

We have currently two fit 'number 10's' (if you can call them that, as I'm not convinced with either, for differing reasons). Page and Bobby Reid.

 

I think our best formation with the current state of the squad would be to line up as a rigid 4-3-3. The biggest problem with our squad is we have no fit creative number 10 (barring Page who is yet to prove himself).

4-3-3 a la Eddie Howe's Newcastle is the way forward for us.

 

RB-CD-CD-LB

CM-CM-CM

Abdul - Daka/Mavididi - Monga

 

Stop this side to side nonsense, get it up the pitch quickly, through the lines.

[StanSP]

There has to be a change up. 

 

We have wingers that don't get on the ball enough, and midfielders (barring James) that don't support our attack enough. We have strikers that don't get in the correct positions to be on the end of crosses and are asked to play a deeper position even though we don't have anyone running deep to get towards goal (barring James). 

 

They say play to your strengths but we don't do that. 

 

I want a team that puts in effort for 90 mins, plays for the badge, shows some passion and is capable of passing a ball from about 5 yards upwards. Is that too much to ask? 

[Globalfox]

The first thing we need rid of is these laptop coaches who peer at the laptops and run down to tell the manager what the numbers show them. Back and across passing does not count. Even Arsenal got caught on it yesterday.. it has had its day.

[Corky]

Bin Ayew as a striker (firstly). Play three at the back as our full backs are terrible. Get some pace in the team.

 

[Alf Bentley]

12 minutes ago, Corky said:

Bin Ayew as a striker (firstly). Play three at the back as our full backs are terrible. Get some pace in the team.

 

 

For a split second, I thought we'd signed an exciting new Saudi striker. 

[Alf Bentley]

1 hour ago, Katy said:

Completely agree, Phil. That style of play is turgid and makes me hate football. 
 

Plus I really love the word irregardless 

 

1 hour ago, dmayne7 said:

Dodgy thesaurus considering it's not really a word (has become one now) . What are they teaching you in Walford?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irregardless

 

"Irregardless is a word sometimes used in place of regardless or irrespective, which has caused controversy since the early twentieth century, though the word appeared in print as early as 1795. The word is mostly known for being controversial and often proscribed, and is often mentioned in discussions on prescriptive and descriptive lexicography".

 

Long history....controversial.....proscribed....often mentioned in prescriptive and descriptive lexicography?! Multiple good reasons to use it, then. 

 

Oh, and regarding the core issue, we do indeed have a turgid, hate-inducing style of play that needs reform, if not revolution... Phil is our leader - or Katy, maybe!

[iancognito]

1 hour ago, Phil Mitchell said:

Irregardless of who comes in next, this stubborn brand of sidewards and backwards football it’s almost as safe as Rudkin’s employment at the club. 
 

Topkin will hire a manager that plays this way, we aren’t going to see improvements overnight with a new appointment until this fetish with Brendanball is over.

This isn’t Brendan’s team anymore, this isn’t his club to manage anymore, his essence is still very much present and it’s not just holding us back, it’s rapidly tightening the noose.
 

What ticks me off the most is that Top is never actually around to watch the system he so desperately demands we play. We just have to digest it week after week.

 

It’s boring, it’s stale, it’s slow and the whole league has our number. We will get relegated if we don’t change.

 

Phil.

Season 1 and 2 Brendanball was great. We werent moaning about sideways and backwards until that season after the cup. It was Puelball that was worse. Enzoball got far more criticism but we were a mile ahead of the whole division anyway.

 

I don't even know what Marti's style of play was even now. We didnt press, we didnt sit deep, the passing was too erratic to be called a possession team.

[CosbehFox]

2 hours ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

The thicko owner just wants us to play like Man City. Anyone that interviews and says they'll play like that will have a chance of getting the job.

Irony being Man City are now uber direct. Went to a shot saving keeper this summer. Use their wingers and full backs for crosses. Aim to get the ball as quickly as possible into Haaland whose the most physical striker going 

[demon_dog]

Went to the women's game yesterday, although they lost they showed far more passion and commitment to playing the game than this present bunch of men!

Football was also far more entertaining, not to much tippy tappy around at the back 

[Phil Mitchell]

9 minutes ago, demon_dog said:

Went to the women's game yesterday, although they lost they showed far more passion and commitment to playing the game than this present bunch of men!

Football was also far more entertaining, not to much tippy tappy around at the back 

Be honest, you went to see Alisha in a tight pair of shorts with our badge on it. Phil

[Bourbon Fox]

It's worrying that in that weird interview released on WYS podcast yesterday Top still spoke about getting promoted 'playing the right kind of football'

[PingCower]

Heard Dominic Wells on WYS earlier in the week and he seemed to have a pretty good grasp of what was going wrong and what’s needed tactically. He should work for Kingy

[damolcfc]

1 hour ago, demon_dog said:

Went to the women's game yesterday, although they lost they showed far more passion and commitment to playing the game than this present bunch of men!

Football was also far more entertaining, not to much tippy tappy around at the back 

We know why u went 😉