Saints' Style

This is my take on our style of play and why it blows hot and cold.

It relies on a deep playmaker who spreads the ball about to play in the wingers and forwards. We all know that Lallana and Chamberlain are lethal up against fullbacks when they have space in behind. That playmaker, in our case Schneiderlin, can look up and pick out passes to players making attacking runs. When it works, it works very well.

Two problems though. Firstly, defenders don't give Morgan time to look up and pick a pass before they stick a boot in, particularly away from home. Secondly, the injury Morgan picked up against Walsall sounds like it could be nasty.

Possible solutions? We could bring in a player who can pass like Schneiderlin but can do it quickly enough to not get closed down. This is league 1 though and it aint going to happen.

Lallana, Lambert and Chamberlain will control most passes in their general direction, so the player needs to willing and capable rather than sublime. Chaplow isn't the right kind of player. Hammond puts himself about and does the simple stuff well, but isn't suited to a creative role. Quite radical, but more realistic solutions could be to move Jose Fonte into midfield or to give a break to Ward-Prowse, who specialises in that sort of play.

Or we could probably just make use of the loan market.

The only solution if nothing happens is the long ball and no-one wants that!

 

The analogy I use is:

"At times it is like playing chess, no great drives forward, just one square at a time."

 

Chaplow is class and should start every time, preferably with morgan when he is fit

 

Our problem last night was just the lack of a quality finish. If just one of our many shots had gone in before they had scored we would have walked it.

 

You won't get far playing chess like that DTLW!

Stating the obvious really, but a passing style won't work without someone spreading the ball about.

 

True I guess, but if you don't play to your gameplan, the chances often don't fall to who you might want them to. Pump the ball into the box and the chance will fall to whoever's head it lands on. Lambert rarely misses a very good chance when it falls to him.

 

We play one way and teams figure it out every time.

 

that may be the case, but that shouldn't stop it working if we do it properly.

 

The thing about passing a ball is to try and fool the opposition as to where you are going to pass it, therefore making it harder to intercept. With our current style of play we are IMO too predicable as to where we are going to pass the ball. We look, tap tap and then pass where we looked. By that time half the opposing team have worked out our intentions and intercept. Also we do not second guess at all we wait for the action to happen then we react.
Question guys and gals.......Can any one explain the strategy of not leaving an attacker up when defending corners and the like? Sometimes we have that many back we are getting in each others way. They have 10 out field players we have the same. They leave 2 defenders up or midway in our half that can control any loose ball out. Our options just to hoof the ball up field immediately giving possession away. Where as if we left someone up on the half way they would have to leave at least two back near him on the half way or beyond if our player was known to be fast. Creating space and giving us at least one spare man or possibly two to utilise this area to cover and get the hell out if we get possession.

 

We at Bournhemouth do that when defending a corner we get everyone back and it is so annoying. Eddie Howe always played that way but Bradbury takes a gamble and leaves one up top.

 

I just do not see leaving one or two players up as a gamble. By doing that you are forcing the opposition to keep men back as well and are giving them something to think about. I would love to see Nigel leave Alex and maybe Adam up front because they can run with the ball and both are capable of scoring. Ricky is not fast enough and being a good header can help more in our box.

Thoughts?

 

i agree, but someone did point out to me the amount of goals we conceded having everyone back is minimal. Yet i am with you, leave one up top or it just invites pressure. Frustrates me so so much

Maybe it is the managers who were ex defensive players that like it with way with the more attack minded leaving men up front

 

If the manager doesn't think the team is good enough to defend unless we have the whole team back then we have a serious problem. To score goals you need players in their area and not ours. We need to leave players up front and those players need to be able to run and fast.

 

The philosophy that we used when playing (conference level kind of) Was we used to leave one up in the opposing half and one midway, one on the edge of the area. As a consequence the opposition used to leave two up for furthest forward player, one near or marking the midway player. That used to leave two spare players to spot and stop the runners (you do not need one out for the corner/free kick guy do you) if you needed a wall that was different. The forward player stayed up there the wall players half would go back up field after the kick (fast) the other half used if necessary to defend. That system worked well. It was not often that we conceded from a corner. On the other hand the breakaways we had were numerous, although we didn't score many from those either, because our forwards usually were fast but not much else If they knew who I was they would crucify me good lads all of them......

 

I thought we did leave someone forward when we were defending set-plays? Maybe I haven't been watching carefully enough!

Back to the original question though, how do we impose ourselves on a game without the midfield spreading the ball about? Hammond and Chaplow don't really have the range to cause much trouble from that perspective. Maybe its time to put 5 in midfied if we arrre having trouble dominating games?

 

Rarely Matt.....occasionally you will see him on the touch line waving Chamberlain forward or Barny perhaps. Not that often though. Maybe he will read what we put on here and change things.

 

My only worry about Chaplow is that now he has secured a contract, he doesn't put himself about as much as he did when playing for his place, there have been two games where he got completely by-passed, was that because he wasn't getting in place to receive the ball or was it because our hoof-ball tactics simply missed out the mid-field where so much more damage can be done. I want to see our mid-field upon getting the ball to move forward, lately the first ball has always been backwards thus losing the momentum.

 

A team can switch tactics and shape to a certain extent, but changing philosophy is a very different matter. A team can't go from playing like Arsenal one day to playing like Stoke the next. Not successfully anyway and it's pretty naive to think that it can be done during a game. A manager can change things for the better, but the philoophy is still essentially the same.

Adkins' philosophy is to pass and move, to make the pitch big and to create space for attacking players to exploit. It won't work without someone creative in the middle, pulling the strings to make it happen.

 

I can accept that. Thing is, who do we give Spiders job to?

 

Trouble is we seem to play Lambert behind Barny or Guly although they do interchange (Guly that is) Someone else said earlier that neither Lambert or any of the forwards like playing down the wing channels. That may be true of both Barny and Guly but Lambert does quite well although perhaps not of late. Trouble is with Guly and Lambert playing behind each other we are not attacking as a spear head, we are always waiting for someone to run through. Which is not necessary to be the best options coming through. (neither Lambert and or Guly) With the exception of course now he's back of Lallana or Chaplow. (Who since signing has perhaps gone off the boil too) We are obviously awaiting for Lallana to regain full match fitness. He and perhaps Chaplow or Lambert can turn a match on their own. Although as previously said Chaplow has gone off the boil. We really could do with more players being able to turn a difficut game perhaps.