Many people on here have criticised CH for "playing for a draw". I have never seen or heard of a manager tell a team to play for a draw, not at the start of a game anyway and Im sure CH has never done so. Its just a ridiculous myth.
No manager is going to say we played for a draw. But they clearly set there teams up so they don't lose in the hope they also may win. So while they may not be playing for a draw, they are certainly set up for it. Your just getting picky on terminology when you know that really the crux of the argument surrounds playing with a defensive mindset.
What is wrong with playing defensively? Surely in some matches it is a sensible approach to take. No point in people saying he told them to play for a draw then if they know its not true.
I would go further and say that when we went away to the Etihad, playing a weak team (of course owed to injury to some extent) that CH went there expecting to lose. I have no problem with playing for a draw especially during tough away games but this season it hasn't seemed to come off for us which means not only to we have some thoroughly uninspired away performances but we have lost the game anyway. I think in theory we should play defensive teams in some fixtures to protect our goal difference but when you are losing 5-1 or 7-0 it is difficult to see the point in doing so.
Like most issues on here, this is largely a matter of perception, where people see what they expect to see. For some, a 4-2-3-1 is a defensive formation, for others it's a flexible formation to balance attack and defence. Most teams play a DM these days, but some would argue that is to allow the other midfield players to move forward when attacking. Lambert used to have the mantra, 'if you can't win the game, make sure you don't lose it' but nobody saw that as defensive, or playing for a draw.
That's a very valid point Rick, it was generally considered quite a profound thing to say at the time, but I'm sure if Hootun used it he no doubt would get slated.
Surely when facing top 6 guys you set up not to get caned with a hope you might nick one that's not playing for a draw is it?
To win a game you need first not to loose. Maybe the Hughton can get the balance wrong at times like against a 10-man Hull, but last year against team like United or Arsenal the principal if tight at the back looking for the counter worked really well. I would say in those games playing defensively is the best way of winning not just drawing for a club like ours.
