I've watched our game back and the glaring thing, as I said in the dying moments of the game, is that our players are miles apart.
If we want to be doing this death by a thousand passes routine, the players need to watch teams that are actually good at it.
For starters, Seri and Morton need to be up and down the park constantly. Morton was, but Seri just isn't mobile enough and it's allowing teams to just walk through our midfield because they aren't being closed down. Out of possession, we need to hunt in packs and close the ball down, not just walk around expecting the opposition to make a mistake or, worse, the defence to deal with it. Our midfield needs to be dynamic and I've said this from Day 1, it's just too slow. For all the flair in the world, Morton doesn't put a tackle in, so having him and Twine and Tufan (who to his credit has started getting stuck in) and Seri means that nobody is trying to win the ball back and we just get mowed through when out of possession.
I know Seri is a great footballer, but he just doesn't work in this type of set up. It was like when we had Thudd; if you're playing him as part of a 4-3-3 with him as the sitting midfielder, it's not too bad because there are two other midfielders working alongside him. Play him in a 4-2-3-1 and there's only one other guy to help out. He's a quick passer of the ball and has great vision, which sort of brings me to my next point, which is...
When we pass, the ball takes a ****ing age to get to where it's going and that's because the players are far apart. Get them in closer, the ball doesn't have to travel as far and you can press forward much quicker. Even the ball across the defence is slow, I'm surprised there aren't more interceptions from the opposition.
Sky Sports recently did a mini documentary of Fabregas coaching at Serie B side Como 1907. They play a very similar style and he outlines exactly how that style of football should be played. Very fast tempo, players confident enough to take on opposition without fear of losing the ball. That's clearly what we're trying to do, we just don't do it quick enough.
Sounds kinda nerdy, but something I say to new players on the video game I play (a first person shooter) is that one of the first things you need to learn is "anticipation without hesitation". Don't wait for the opposition to do something, make them do what you want them to do, dictate the game. If you know what your opponent is going to do, you don't need to adjust what you're doing because 99/100 times they'll do the thing they usually do.
For me, in January, the left back situation needs sorting out. Either James Furlong isn't good enough, which is baffling because he hasn't been in the U21s AFAIK and he hasn't played for us either, despite us using everybody else we possibly could there, or Liam favours Coyle there. I assumed Coyle/Christie/Greaves played there because we had no other options and it was temporary, but I'm starting to think there's a tactical decision behind it. Forget Vinagre, great player, but if we're serious about promotion, he can't possibly be first choice. Still think Derry Murkin would have been a good signing, but he went to Schalke instead. Ridvan Yilmaz isn't getting much game time at Rangers, get him in.
