Is our style of play really that different?

[verlaine1979]

I'm not talking about formations, but I'm pretty sure I've been complaining about our midfield playing high possession, low-threat football since Poch's last season in charge. We haven't really had any goals from the middle since Morgan left, while for better or worse, Davis is as central to the midfield as he's ever been, with all the hard work and caution that entails. Last night we created almost nothing until we started playing with both CBs joining in up front, and we've hardly been creating boatloads of gilt-edged chances over the course of the last ten games or so.

 

I'm not sure I see a whole lot different between this season and last in terms of midfield play, but our play in the final third is very different without Mane's unpredictability and Pelle's physical presence (even though his flicks rarely came off).

[Stu Man Do]

Still playing a high amount of crosses into the box to strikers who aren't massively prolific in the air. Pelle a big miss there as he'd often turn duff crosses into a chance with his size.

 

Midfield is devoid of ideas going forward and seem to be scared of getting ahead or even in line with the play. My opinion is this is down to the manager wanting them to play it safe on the defensive. This often means they are late to transition to attack ( see Austins anger vs Liverpool when no midfielder got within 20 yrds of the box on the break) and leaves us susceptible to getting caught on the break. No goals from midfield is a big issue for us.

 

End of the day if we played to our ability we should have beaten Prague or Beer away from home. Just feels today that our dour manager is playing dour football. Disappointing isn't it?! :-(

[Saint Garrett]

Playing a 'half court press' up until the half way line, and then letting the opposition dictate the ball is painful to watch at home. The whole team needed to move about 20 yards up the pitch last night.

[SuperSAINT]

Playing a 'half court press' up until the half way line, and then letting the opposition dictate the ball is painful to watch at home. The whole team needed to move about 20 yards up the pitch last night.

 

I want to see us start each game like we did against Everton. (Not just the goal!)

[The9]

Playing a 'half court press' up until the half way line, and then letting the opposition dictate the ball is painful to watch at home. The whole team needed to move about 20 yards up the pitch last night.

 

There was a HUGE gap between the back 4 and the rest of the team throughout the game, we always seemed to be tackling from behind with our central midfielders having headed clear to one of their players, and it was this gap that they scored from.

[Saint_clark]

Was different under Koeman, didn't Cork, Schneiderlin and Wanyama all get 4-5 goals his first season here?

[saintant]

Miss the brave high-press football under Poch. Puel's boring possession for the sake of it football is horrible to watch and just allows the opposition to set up their defence and leaves us nowhere to go when we get near their goal.

[simo]

Have you watched us play , build up is mostly too slow we very rarely press high and we don't take as many risks as we used to !

[verlaine1979]

Was different under Koeman, didn't Cork, Schneiderlin and Wanyama all get 4-5 goals his first season here?

 

4 for Morgan, 2 for Cork, 3 for Wanyama in the league in Koeman's first season. Our central midfielders haven't been especially prolific at any point since we've returned. Taking the position as a whole, it usually accounts for around 8 goals over the course of a season. This season, our central midfield has contributed a single league goal so far, suggesting that if we're lucky and round up, we might see a total of 3 by the end of the season.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Our style now is nothing like it was under Poch, but neither was Koemans. Personally I thought Koeman relied on Pelle too much,until he was forced to leave him out & Long came good. Having witnessed some woeful away performances under Ron, I'd say the away style was pretty much the same as now. However, our home style was more positive, faster and on the front foot. The question is would Puels home form be better with Mane & Pelle instead of Redmond & Austin. We will never know, but there's no doubt Puel has a weaker set of players to call on.

 

I would put Poch's style head and shoulders above both Koeman & Puel's. Personally I don't mind Puels style and think he'll come good . We may not see the barnstorming home performances that we did under Ron, but overall I think we'll see more youngsters and I think he'll make them tactically better than Ron would

[shurlock]

Our style now is nothing like it was under Poch, but neither was Koemans. Personally I thought Koeman relied on Pelle too much,until he was forced to leave him out & Long came good. Having witnessed some woeful away performances under Ron, I'd say the away style was pretty much the same as now. However, our home style was more positive, faster and on the front foot. The question is would Puels home form be better with Mane & Pelle instead of Redmond & Austin. We will never know, but there's no doubt Puel has a weaker set of players to call on.

 

I would put Poch's style head and shoulders above both Koeman & Puel's. Personally I don't mind Puels style and think he'll come good . We may not see the barnstorming home performances that we did under Ron, but overall I think we'll see more youngsters and I think he'll make them tactically better than Ron would

 

Agree. Good post.