The stat about the crossing % from Kenny's first 6 months at the club and the season underlines our problem this season. It's as if we've changed our entire style just so we can put in loads of pointless crosses for one target man in Carroll. I know we have wasted a lot of chances and we have the worst chance conversion rate but I would like to know how many of those chances are clear cut chances. I bet a lot of them are from crap crosses or just long range efforts. When we get the ball from out wide through Bellamy, Suarez or Kuyt, and try to run towards the box, not cross at the first moment, look up, keep running closer and closer to goal, and then square it to e.g. Maxi who tends to score more often then not. That is our style. That's what we should be sticking to. We've tried to play to this Moneyball theory of more crosses, more regains, more headers wins you matches. We should keep it simple, just like Kenny did when he first came. We had the players like Maxi, Kuyt, Suarez who interlinked well. Nothing complicated.
KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS Shankly said it. Paisley said it. I've said it to every strategy student I've ever taught. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID We already have have a simple formula in pass and move - if we have the ball, they don't. Hence we have the opportunity to score and they don't. After that slavish devotion to any idea such as Moneyball and strict formations is just rubbish!
I think the keyword as you say is "pointless" crosses. I've been bemoaning our lack of quality out wide for years (and still am) so i have no issues that we are getting more crosses into the box, the problems we obviously have are that: a) We have no goal poacher to get onto the early low crosses (ala Robbie/Owen etc) b) Mandys positional sense has been poor at times and with him being in and out of the team no real understandings between front players has developed c) Quality of crossing, as you said, has so often been pretty dire (****e in other words) Plus I'm still not convinced that all our woes in the league this year have been down to Comolli interfering and I would still be amazed if Kenny had no say in last years transfers. I think both have to take a share of the responsibilities (which Kenny has done to be fair) but it will be interesting to see if the owners put someone else into a similar role (and who that may be), do they alter the role to be either more or less active in terms of transfers/first team affairs or even if they do away with it altogether (unlikely IMO). We may get an indication of a change in direction/philosophy when we know what style of players come into the club this summer
Do you know what? we get enough of this psuedo-science dogsh!t in the workplace with spurrilous KPI's, 'benchmarks', 'standardisation of work procedures', 'McDonaldisation' and various other futile attempts by accountants to overcome their lack of people-management with a cockeyed hybrid of a tickbox proforma recipes supposed to deliver magic panaceas. Do you think Busby, Nicholson, Shankly, Stein, Ferguson or Clough used a fooking calculator to manage? I remember an old story about Noel Cantwell signing to United from Coventry (I think). His position, if I remember the story correctly, was left back. He asked busby what the 'tactics' were for the next game. "What do you mean?", a puzzled Busby continued, "You play left-back and adapt to the game as it develops. That what we bought you for." Can you imagine the Brazil team of '70, the Dutch team of '74 or the current Barcelona team being managed like this? FFS, if this is what Fenway want they may as well bring Graham Taylor and'POMO' out of retirement.
Given their recent sacking of Comolli, I'd say it's pretty evident that this ISN'T the way they want to go. They might have considered it when they took over, given their lack of knowledge in football and given the supposed 'expertise and experience' of Comolli, but they've grown into their role and probably realised it's a stupid way to run a club. I doubt Kenny gives two ****s about a magical number of headers needed to win a game, more likely he'll tell them to go out and stick the ball in the net.
I've said it to every strategy student I've ever taught. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID Do you think there's shades of Power and the Audit Society in all this Dave? Supposedly, John Henry has made his fortune by using mathematical formulae in the stock Market. Good for him. I'm worried he's the type who'd tell Michaelangelo to get a bl00dy move on emulsioning the ceiling on that chapel.
I think you can make money using a formulaic strategy on the stock market as you are looking at trends and movements, you are not trying to influence real time events
