Proper football like the foreigners play.

One thing I’ve never understood about English football is our obsession with passing the ball in the air. The Champions League final was a perfect example of this. Man U. were made to look like complete donkeys by Barcelona because they insisted on playing high passes while Barcelona stroked it across the grass. England do the same in the finals of every competition they get to and it’s bloody embarrassing to watch whenever we come up against a good technical team.
The fact is that when a player receives the ball at their feet they have plenty of time to control it then pass. When the ball reaches them knee high it is harder to control and so the player has less time before a defender is on top of him. Waist high the player has maybe a 60% chance of retaining possession and chest high or above it’s anybody’s.
High passes are effective for defenders when they need to clear in dangerous situations and in the opposition’s six yard box where any chance of possession could lead to a goal.
I personally don’t think we will have any sustained international success until our coaches wake up to this and change the way we play.

 

Yeah but if you just hoof it up you might get lucky with a defensive mistake!




By the way that was a tongue in cheek comment

 

Not so tongue in cheek. That typifies the tactical nous of our coaches since the 70s.

 

Its a far more complicated issue than just 'we need to stop playing high passes and start playing low passes.' It all comes down to the structure of coaching at youth level, but if I'm honest, I wrote a long piece about this on another article, and I can't be bothered to go into it again.

The facts are we teach kids to win, the Spanish teach kids to play. I'm afraid it will be a long time before our national side and major club sides start passing the ball around like we saw the young Spaniards do last night

 

Having watched Man Utd first then the England U21`s last night the gap is widening between us and our European counterparts. The English lads are not comfortable on the ball and seem to start panicking after three passes thinking the need to hit 60yrd passes to get it up field. How the young lads scraped a draw out of last night I will never know. Arsenal have played a similar passing game for the last 6-7 years, but withoutn the killer instinct, so they`re half way there. The sad factor is that when I watch the youngsters I cringe at what our future holds. With dramatically overflated prices massaging their ego`s we stand absolutely no chance in the future, Jordan Henderson 20million, my arse! The only way I see us improving is to take out the goals entirely at the youngest stage and have competition keep ball, teaching them about short sharp passing. But we teach them to win at all costs, and I very much doubt that will ever change.

 

Thought England U21s played well last night. We weren't outplayed at all infact Spain only really had the possession in the midfield without creating much up front. The stats were quite even. Plus some of our players were left out- Wilshere for example.

I agree with you about the high transfer prices are taking the mick and that they're inflating their egos so much, at a young age. Also agree to change the way we play will mean a complete overhaul at all levels and the FA aren't interested.

Proper football is doing one or the other, you can't do both. Either it's playing this tippy tappy crap or being able to stick the boot in and maybe learning a bit of play acting. Getting stuck in and being rough and tough and well marshalled hasn't stopped the Italians doing well over the years. Problem with England is we've always bottled it, even when we had potential. Even if we passed it about we'd still come up short.

 

I know what you mean, but how often do kids football coaches say things like "Just enjoy it." or "It's taking part that counts." We're probably one of the few countries that treat 'taking part' as an achievement and reward it with trophies etc.

I hardly think you can say the English attitude to sport is too competitive. More the opposite.

 

The problem is that the majority of people in this country would rather see their centre midfielders kick **** out of the opposition rather than play a decent pass. The attitude to the game here is "get stuck in" and people mistake running around like a headless chicken for effort. People claim they want attractive football, but it's still a crunching tackle or somebody chasing a lost that gets the biggest cheer. It's the same at all levels, most parents want their son to do a slide tackle rather than play a ball into a channel, the whole set up of football in this country needs to change really.

 

You've got to remember it's not just passing but also pressing which makes Barcelona such a good team. Generally, play a 'passing' foreign side against a 'win-at-all-cost' English side and it won't be as uneven as Barca-Man U at all.

 

The point exactly i'm trying to make about our obsession with signing a target man!!

 

Leeds and Norwich played attractive football last season with Becchio and Holt in our teams.

 

The problem with the future of english football is that england imo, only have two players who have good passing ability. Wilshere and Huddlestone. Everyone at barcelona can pass a ball scarily accurate and they're all hungry for it. As soon as you see xavi, messi or iniesta make a pass they've found space to receive the ball again. Its the same when they lose possession. The whole team runs back for it and presses the opposition into making a mistake. You don't see footballers in England with that sort of enthusiasm or passion for the game which sadly, is why no team in england play anywhere near as good as barca.

 

I think that is very true but have you heard the shouts from the parents on the touchline?? "Tek his legs", "Do him."

 

When I started training for mens I was told to "let him know you're there" which basically translated as give him a good kicking.

 

Competitive contact sport, innit?

 

Agreed.

The name of the game is "Football", not "Manball"!. Until our kids learn to play the ball and develop ball-skills, we're going to slip further and further behind the rest of the world. At club level and at national team level.

The show that Barca put on against Man. U. should have every school, parent, coach, manager and player experiencing a dramatic and deep rethink. Will it happen? I doubt it!

 

I used to like giving opponents a good kicking.

 

Now ,now, Rosie!!! So much violence at such a young age????? Tut,tut!