Tonight we saw a defensive mid field , I can see the ploy to tighten up but how are we going to score ?
Luckily we won't have to play to many teams with the style of Ajax in the Prem this year. And they are one of the top 20 clubs in Europe. And for a club like us, that is all we have to worry about. 15 or 16 teams won't play possession football like that and we will have our share of ball. It does make our, meaning British, football look clumsy at times but it would take a real change over decades to bring that mentality into our training and play. It will never happen.
In a league game we'll be more committed and when we did get a chance, we did score. All very good signs
i was not being critical was just commenting that for all those who want us to sign a DM the team can already do it but at the cost to an extent of a link between midfield and attack , thought Howson was very disciplined last night but could not do that and supply a link. If we can hold Ajax to a draw bodes well for picking up a few points against the top teams, draw against them and beat the likes of QPR and West Sham etc and we will be fine. OTBC!
Ajax were very clever who they isolated lag night. And it did expose a weakness. Hoolahan couldn't create and howson couldn't get started either. That's what PRE-seasons for, plug dem gaps.
As I said on the match thread last night, each style has a compromise. Ajax, and their style hasn't changed since they burst onto the scene in the late 60's, will sacrifice potency up front just to keep possession. To a certain extent, and I will probably get caned for saying this, its a conservative way of playing. No risk and scripted. Many love that style but personally, and I'm not that bothered about international football, I do love the cut and thrust and ambition of our football.
ok, i thought we defended very well last night and it was a very good result but there were problems. first up, our ball retention was extremely poor last night. yes ajax were superb but we kept on gifting them the ball back. we can't afford to do that against any team, especially not one who is as good as ajax! secondly, we defended deep and i thought despite our illustrious opponents having 70% of the ball, ruddy had little to do. this was down to some brilliant blocking by bennett and the much maligned ward but much of it was last ditch stuff - it shouldn't always need to be that way. thirdly, and most importantly, the game showed me more than ever before just how important it is to get a decent holding midfielder in that team so that our creative players can do just that - be creative. the balance is all wrong - we made ourselves difficult to break down with lines of four but we couldn't get the ball back quick enough and when we did, because we had too many players sitting back we had no option but to try and get the ball forward too quick and then possession was lost. yes we proved we can hold off a very talented side with what we currently have but that doesn't mean its the way forward! anyone who watched that game last night and thinks we don't need a defensive midfielder needs their head examining as far as i'm concerned! its so obvious.
just to add to that above post, as it looks a tad negative - i'm not negative! i was pleased with how well we defended but we are screaming out for that holding midfielder so much it hurts. but as problems go, we don't have too many - especially compared to our neighbours. my old man watched ipswich last night at southend. his comment that ipswich are 'a million miles away from being a top half championship side' made me smile the gap widens...
I thought last night told us more about what CH saw when he watched last season's videos than anything else: firstly, a team that tended to give the opposition a goal start and then had to play catchup; secondly, a team that had trouble holding on to a lead. You could almost read the players' minds throughout the game, thinking "where should I be?", "what's my job in this situation?". When Snodgrass came on you could see he wasn't tuned in in the same way poor fella! Overall I would think CH was pretty pleased with how it went. Exactly the sort of test for "proving" what they've been working on. In time it will become second nature. I agree though with those who think a quality DM would make the biggest difference if added to the current squad.
robbie, i thought we looked far more rigid, probably too rigid in truth but maybe that is part of the thinking in keeping things a bit tighter initially. as i say above, the balance doesn't seem quite right yet (although difficult to know against such a good side) but it'll come and we'll become more fluid in time. and i know i keep banging on about it, but that holding player would speed that process up! and interesting to see hughton has had the pitch widened too - shows how much he wants us to use our width.
Yes, I agree entirely. I see the rigidity simply as reflecting CH's temporary prioritizing/emphasis, just at this moment, on tightening up defensively. There was no lack of attacking play against Celtic and the Posh: they just didn't pose the same problems and didn't give the defence such a thorough examination!
it has to be viewed as encouraging that it took a wonder goal for a champions league team to beat our defence
On the same theme, last season we conceded 66 goals in the League, the same number as QPR; only the three relegated sides conceded more. Defensive frailty of that order means teams, however poor, believe they can always score against us. I like teams to feel apprehensive when they meet us!
I know we have had this discussion before but didn't last night illustrate the difference between UK coaching of the young and that of the rest of Europe? At Ajax and other good European academies 10 year olds are thrown a ball in a 5/6/7 a side practice match and told to dribble as much as possible or play 20 mins each way ' only one touch allowed ' Over here they concentrated on tactics etc. The Ajax team looked very young but they looked very comfortable on the ball and it was difficult for us to put them under pressure due to their skill in passing and movement. I think things are changing over here but it will take a few years to catch up.
What you saw was players like howson, hoolahan, pilks, bennett and snodgrass being restricted to a defensive role due mostly because Ajax are miles better than us but also because we lack an out and out defensive midfielder... We need one BIG time!
Ps Superman, be realistic. Yeah they only scored the one wonder goal but they should have scored loads more but failed to finish rather than us being amazing in defence. Still the records will say 1-1 vs Champions League Ajax I suppose
err, i was realistic. how many saves did ruddy make? i mentioned above that there were far too many last ditch blocks to save us but at the same time, that's good defending. ajax didn't create a string of chances but they did totally dominate all other areas of the game to the extent it looked like a training exercise of attack vs defence. i thought we coped pretty well but as i keep saying, the balance was wrong throughout the team - too much time spent on the back foot.
While I agree we need what is referred to as a defensive or holding midfielder, how I yearn for an Ian Crook, I don't think it would have made too much difference to last nights performance. They play that style and most other teams would have been chasing around. ManC and Arsenal did it to us last year. But the percentage says it won't happen to us too often this season.
Fair enough Supers, I meant no offense. Redruth- Isnt Fox our Crook type player? Gets the ball and spreads the play, picking passes and can take a set piece (though as I remember it, a lot of Crooks free kicks went into the wall or miles over lol).
