Watching the GB game last night along with our performance against Ajax summed up how the majority of teams in this country will play.
We dominated possession for an hour against Uruguay. When they decided to up the pressure and keep possession further up the pitch, Uruguay kept getting the ball back on the half way line. As a nation, we will thump, hoof, slice the ball anywhere rather than try and play it out of trouble. As soon as we relaxed a bit, we played further up the pitch again and didn't have to hoof it so much.
Our first reaction against Ajax was to aim for position not possession. Lets hope there was a lesson learnt by both teams.
We dominated possession for an hour against Uruguay. When they decided to up the pressure and keep possession further up the pitch, Uruguay kept getting the ball back on the half way line. As a nation, we will thump, hoof, slice the ball anywhere rather than try and play it out of trouble. As soon as we relaxed a bit, we played further up the pitch again and didn't have to hoof it so much.
Our first reaction against Ajax was to aim for position not possession. Lets hope there was a lesson learnt by both teams.
ILD. I think we're to some extent talking at cross-purposes. I totally accept that, as a mid-table PL club, we have earned the right to play teams of the quality of the top teams in Europe. The issue I have with some of the posts is that far too much is being read into Tuesday night's game. We know that Chris Hughton is NOT Tony Pulis; and we know that our players ARE capable of excellent football, such as can match, on the day, teams as good as Man Utd, Arsenal and Spurs, which was the point of my comparisons ("on the day" because, at the moment, we cannot produce that quality with the consistency that the top teams show; it's something to strive for as we improve). Tuesday simply confirmed for me that CH is one of those who believes that success is built first and foremost on sound defence.


