Hoffball wasn't entirely missing as there was a lot of sharp passing, especially in the first half. I'm not against some long passing as it allowed some possession in their half before their defensive block was settled. It was a way to deal with the disadvantage of no striker up front. Once we scored, it became a means of relieving the pressure and it worked. It was an even match won by a classy goal at a critical point. Full credit to Nacho for that, and to Marcondes for the assist. In football, there are no points awarded for style.
Hoff's post match interview made it sound like the style of play was a last minute decision which seems odd. "How we prefer to play, it was difficult. After the warm-up we decided to play more direct today..."
Here's his comments in full: "Delighted with the win, delighted with the mentality from the boys, because it's difficult circumstances, and it's been raining a lot, and the pitch was soft out there. We spoke about after the warm up how much we could actually do in terms of our normal way of playing and we decided to be a little bit more direct in our approach, a little bit more about second balls and runs in behind and situations like that. And I think in terms of that we did well, in terms of supporting each other and tracking back and defending the box and all those situations that come into play. I think we did very well. We could actually already see it from the start of first half where our first 15, 20 minutes are really good. We find the rhythm and the flow and we have some dangerous moments. We have the chance for Emi (Marcondes) and more moments in and around the box, where it's just the final pass or the final decision. We have that square pass from Ante (Crnac) to Borja just before half-time. I was actually quite pleased with that aspect. Then after an okay start to the second half they get momentum, and we have to defend, and we have to put bodies in to block shots and defend crosses and corner kicks and long throws and situations like that. It was important for us to get (Ashley) Barnes on the pitch. He was a part of changing the momentum for us. That goal was decisive and important, but it was a very, very even game in the second half. And to be fair, they were probably a little bit on top."
Hoffball is not about "style", i.e. playing "stylish" football. lt's a strategy for winning games by weighting the odds in one's own favour by e.g. depriving the opposition of the ball, compressing play into their defensive third rather than ours, controlling them rather than them controlling us. It's the antithesis of fighting a rearguard action as per yesterday. We took the points while surrendering on the pitch. Made it sound like that, but in fact he gave advance notice in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, during which the Pompey game was specifically referenced. Remember what outrage there was last year when Wagner similarly raised the white flag against Southampton at Carrow Road? At least Saints were in the top two at the time; Pompey and Luton are in the bottom five!
Here's Duffy's reaction: "It's one of those games where you get a buzz and thrill out of winning 1-0 away from home where you know you haven't played great football, but you've seen 11 men die out there for three points. It gives you a different satisfaction. When you look around out there, you see every single person giving absolutely everything to win a game of football. That's the feeling in there. We've won games comfortably this year, and we haven't had a feeling like that in the dressing room, especially away from home, where it's been difficult for us to find a way of playing. Grounds like this are very difficult. We've got great satisfaction from that." Luton hadn't lost at home since early in the season and our away record is awful. Throw in a soggy pitch totally unsuited to Hoffball and Onel up front and there's a realisation that the odds weren't in our favour. It was a night for hard graft and total concentration to grind out a win. We needed that. Hoffball will return at home to Coventry.
