yep, there is a real discussion at the moment around whether positional play is killing the game and killing players’ ability. Football like everything else is cyclical, eventually a club will have success with chaotic individualism and everyone will start developing anarchists. Or something. For now, pep and Spanish styles are king for better or worse.
Just watched the highlights again. I hate it. I hate the way we play. We’re going to be beaten by everyone.
I don't have an issue with starting the season with the play-off team. They had earned the shirt and the hope was that the continuity would be enough and maybe the new signings weren't up to speed. Tbf it was pretty good against Toon but these last two matches have shown that changes are needed. It's a good time to work on the training ground and try and get the right formula moving forward. It's too early to judge anything yet when the team could look radically different in a few games.
It happened in ice hockey, New Jersey perfected the neutral zone trap and when you are highly trained professionals, it worked well. Games, in ice hockey mind you, suddenly became 1-0 or 2-0 wins and with a few 0-0s too. Eventually, coaches developed tactics to stop its effectiveness. A bit like the league had to make the goalie zone behind goals to stop very good puck-handling goalies from instantly stopping attacking play. In professional football someone will develop a play or pattern that will make all this tippy-tappy anti-football play from being successful or too risky. I mean Saints have done it in reverse by being a bit crap at it, so maybe other teams will see Saints shipping goals, never winning a game and say 'That's too risky'. Perhaps we inadvertently are doing the professional game worldwide a favour? I know I don't really like it, my wife who is not a football fan, has seen it on the TV and said 'This is boring'.
The Spanish national team have already partially moved on from it and went and won the Euros. It was also interesting to see some nations play 4-4-2 in the summer. There is no right or wrong way to play football. Both teams start with 11 on the pitch after all.
Well I suppose it could be argued if your team constantly ships goals from errors and doesn't win matches then that way of playing football is 'wrong', having said that it is only three games in a new league, but having said that you don't get 10 games grace in the EPL as teams who have not won for ten or more games have found out. It's a conundrum and we as the fans can do literally nothing about it except get frustrated, vent and waffle. Personally I don't like the style but I started watching football in the early 70s and it was a bit more run-and-gun then. It's not just Saints either, I've watched other teams doing it on TV and it is so boring.
