Walter Ball

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I had a laugh with a bloke who was kicking off about it today. McLoughlin played 2/3 terrible long balls after we faffed about with it, I went to him after he complained at that “That’s what you wanted though right”. We just overplay it, there’s patience and then there’s overplaying. The one that summed it up for me was we played an effective rotation at the back where Pandur played a line breaker to Jones broke the press but then he immediately passed side ways to Maka and it was back to square one.

We’ll get there like we did under Rosie because we have a good core in Jones/Slater/Coyle who all played well today.

A lot of the new signings are playing catch up fitness wise;

Millar - no pre season due to Copa,
Bedia - not played much the last year
Zambrano - new environment
Drameh - been injured 2 weeks

That's the point. We didn't get there under Rosie cos the amount of transience in the squad you'll never reach potential.

We seem to be building a young core this time, so let's give it time.
 
I don’t think Macca and Jones are totally confident with the system. We didn’t see the darting dribbles into midfield from either which was a feature of the Brizzie game (presumably their press was different?). Someone earlier had mentioned on another thread that Zambrona was finding pockets of space quite deep but behind their press when we had the ball at the back. I noticed late on Symonds was doing the same (after he replaced Zambrona). Both were making themselves available but neither Macca or Jones seemed to have the confidence to make the pass.
Also noticed Macca went for safety first, booting the ball clear a few times when there could have been a pass on. Contrary to that, he did go foraying into midfield when we had the ball at the back.
In terms of playing Waltball, I thought it was a backward step from those two compared to Brizzie. We probably looked a bit more secure for it, but I just suspect they are too set in their ways to adapt any time soon. Neither were totally comfortable last season playing Rosie ball, and maybe this is a step too far?
Hate to say it but wouldn’t be surprised if Walt has come to that opinion too, hence the Cooper signing? Apart from been a TWS ****, he did play.a lot under Bielsa who people suggest had a similar style to Walt. And contrary to others opinions, he can’t have been a bad player for them. A ****, maybe but I can live with that.
 
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I don’t think Macca and Jones are totally confident with the system. We didn’t see the darting dribbles into midfield from either which was a feature of the Brizzie game (presumably their press was different?). Someone earlier had mentioned on another thread that Zambrona was finding pockets of space quite deep but behind their press when we had the ball at the back. I noticed late on Symonds was doing the same (after he replaced Zambrona). Both were making themselves available but neither Macca or Jones seemed to have the confidence to make the pass.
Also noticed Macca went for safety first, booting the ball clear a few times when there could have been a pass on. Contrary to that, he did go foraying into midfield when we had the ball at the back.
In terms of playing Waltball, I thought it was a backward step from those two compared to Brizzie. We probably looked a bit more secure for it, but I just suspect they are too set in their ways to adapt any time soon. Neither were totally comfortable last season playing Rosie ball, and maybe this is a step too far?
Hate to say it but wouldn’t be surprised if Walt has come to that opinion too, hence the Cooper signing? Apart from been a TWS ****, he did play.a lot under Bielsa who people suggest had a similar style to Walt. And contrary to others opinions, he can’t have been a bad player for them. A ****, maybe but I can live with that.
Don't you think Macca and Jones were similar with Seri, faffing about and not passing short to our top ball playing holding midfielder to spray the ball?
 
Don't you think Macca and Jones were similar with Seri, faffing about and not passing short to our top ball playing holding midfielder to spray the ball?
Probably. I bet they yearn for the day when defenders were defenders. I thought Jones would easily adapt, especially as he occasionally played central midfield earlier in his careers.
 
Probably. I bet they yearn for the day when defenders were defenders. I thought Jones would easily adapt, especially as he occasionally played central midfield earlier in his careers.
Jones always let Greaves go forward first. Don't know if Hughes likes to play out?
 
It’s fairly obvious Seri under Rosie dropped deep for the ball. Walter wants us to play through the lines. Zambrano was free a lot of the time but needed to work harder to find a little more space for the pass, then I don’t know if McLoughlin or Jones have the confidence or ability to find him. That one pass is essential in Walters style.
 
I noticed a similar thing with the corners. In the second half when we took three or four in a row short and people were going mad, then sarcastically cheering when we set up to cross the fifth one. The ball went in and, as it does the vast majority of the time, it was cleared easily and the attack was over. And of course, there was then absolute silence from the crowd.

I think one thing that might help this is some sort of really clear messaging from the manager to the fans that this is the plan, short corners and playing out from the back, this is what we'll be doing because we think it's best, and asking them to support it. Not in a post-match interview after a disappointing result because people aren't open to hearing it then. I remember the then Notts County manager Williams (now at Swansea I think?) giving a really good answer which went viral when he was asked at a fan event about his team's short corners. It was really convincing, charismatic and appealed to the fans to help by going along with it even if they didn't agree.

But the short corners aren't very good are they ?

How many times did they work ?
 
But the short corners aren't very good are they ?

How many times did they work ?

I think the short corners are to more control where the opposition defenders are
Instead of taking a regular corner where all their big men are in the box
We want to try to draw them out a bit and make them run towards their own goal which is a defenders nightmare
Obviously its not working so far

Off tangent a bit
But when did any of our current players last score a headed goal?
Im struggling to think off top of my head
 
I think the short corners are to more control where the opposition defenders are
Instead of taking a regular corner where all their big men are in the box
We want to try to draw them out a bit and make them run towards their own goal which is a defenders nightmare
Obviously its not working so far

Off tangent a bit
But when did any of our current players last score a headed goal?
Im struggling to think off top of my head
Well, they wouldn't have scored off the top of your head...:emoticon-0100-smile
 
What's Slutsky doing these days?
Slutsky is a better version of Walter. Fingers crossed this mystery striker we are getting is the missing link as I don't want see Walter go to quickly as changing managers all the time is no good for anybody. Wonder if it's Akpom or somebody like that
 
Slutsky is a better version of Walter. Fingers crossed this mystery striker we are getting is the missing link as I don't want see Walter go to quickly as changing managers all the time is no good for anybody. Wonder if it's Akpom or somebody like that
Especially so when the entire transfer strategy this window seems to have been to get Tim the players he needs to suit his supposedly unusual system. Binning off the manager prematurely in those circumstances might create an even bigger problem.
 
But the short corners aren't very good are they ?

How many times did they work ?

Depends what you mean. They didn't lead to a goal, but hardly anyone ever scores from lumping a corner into the box these days. It's easily defended, especially by Millwall against us, of all matchups. Our short corners tended to lead to us continuing our attack, maybe from a different angle or from another corner even. When we did lump it in it was cleared and our attack ended. So the short ones worked in the sense that they were better than the one where we lumped it.

A lot of fans seem to have a problem in that they're convinced that slinging it in the box is a valuable thing, and to turn down an opportunity to do so is a waste. But the reality for most teams, certainly us, is that it's not a particularly valuable thing at all.
 
Depends what you mean. They didn't lead to a goal, but hardly anyone ever scores from lumping a corner into the box these days. It's easily defended, especially by Millwall against us, of all matchups. Our short corners tended to lead to us continuing our attack, maybe from a different angle or from another corner even. When we did lump it in it was cleared and our attack ended. So the short ones worked in the sense that they were better than the one where we lumped it.

A lot of fans seem to have a problem in that they're convinced that slinging it in the box is a valuable thing, and to turn down an opportunity to do so is a waste. But the reality for most teams, certainly us, is that it's not a particularly valuable thing at all.
Just watched the highlights of the Liverpool v Brentford game and Liverpool scored by counter attacking from a Brentford corner played directly into the box. The analysis suggested a short corner was the better option and Brentford should have concentrated on keeping the ball and moving Liverpool around rather than lumping it in. It feels crazy to think of a corner as being a defensive/neutral action but I can see how it could be viewed that way. It’s a different way of looking at the game and one that most people watching won’t have much time or patience for, hence the moaning in the stands. The coaching staff on the other hand will pay more attention to it. There’s an understanding that corners aren’t that profitable directly unless you have a significant physical advantage.
 
Just watched the highlights of the Liverpool v Brentford game and Liverpool scored by counter attacking from a Brentford corner played directly into the box. The analysis suggested a short corner was the better option and Brentford should have concentrated on keeping the ball and moving Liverpool around rather than lumping it in. It feels crazy to think of a corner as being a defensive/neutral action but I can see how it could be viewed that way. It’s a different way of looking at the game and one that most people watching won’t have much time or patience for, hence the moaning in the stands. The coaching staff on the other hand will pay more attention to it. There’s an understanding that corners aren’t that profitable directly unless you have a significant physical advantage.

I don't see it as defensive. I think that's part of the disagreement between coaches and some fans: the fans hear the argument about keeping the ball instead of giving it away and think that's about being cautious, but coaches will say it's about giving ourselves the best chance to score. I think the same issue with difference of perception happens with short goal kicks and playing out from the back too. A lot of people see that as cautious but I think (and I think coaches would say) that it's actually taking a risk, trusting yourself to gamble for a greater reward than lumping it up the pitch which is actually the safe and boring option.

I wonder if any other sport has this problem where fans' perception of a popular strategy is so much more negative than the way coaches see it. It's a really strange thing that's developed in football in recent years I think.