I completely agree. It may sound biased but I love the way we play, it's top quality football - you could say it's like an art form. Swansea play some attractive stuff in the Premier League aswell, i'd like to think we'd play the same way should we go up.
When something becomes ingrained in you, it's a tough habit to break. We won't change our style if we go up. As for the original point, did I watch a different Liverpool team dominate Europe? One that played keep ball, passed back to the keeper at every available opportunity and got more 1-0 wins the the Arsenal or was I simply too young to appreciate their rampant Englishness!?
I think we should all look at Manchester United's 7-1 victory over Roma a few years back. That's the perfect way for an English side to play football in Europe. Roma couldn't cope with the pace, which is how the Premier League game has developed beyond the slower continental style. The quick passing and the movement from Man United was superb and Roma just couldn't cope. United completely destroyed the Italians down the flanks with wave after wave of attack aswell. Quite why English teams are relucatant to play like this I just don't know, perhaps they are afraid of giving away too much space to the opposition. But there's only a certain amount of success to be obtained from playing negative football as we've seen quite obviously in the Champions League this season.
Some good replies and all with merit. I think some confuse what I am saying. I am not talking about actual tactics such as constant aerial bombardment. I'm not talking about wasting the ball. I am just talking about the difference between the Premier league and the continental style/Internationals. Possession football is key however I simply mean the pace and power of the English game whether it be with English players or foreign players. It's that constant assault that I mean. To be honest last night I was watching the game and in the first 20 minutes said to my Portuguese brother in law that Napoli were playing like an English team. they were driving at Chelsea constantly and not giving them a break. It was still end to end but Napoli looked really dangerous however Napoli did seem to tire towards the middle of the first half and then Chelsea started to turn the tables. The second half was awesome it was end to end for the first 20 with both teams driving at speed towards each other however again half way through that half Roma looked like they tired and again Chelsea dominated. The Liverpool comment is fair however Goalkeepers could pick the ball up. The 1st division did the same passing the ball back then Shilts and Co would simply pick the ball up. However it was still a fast paced physical style and driving at the opposition. The 1-0s were more down to defenders being allowed to defend back in that era. Nowadays contact means a free kick. Often no contact at all means a free kick as Drogba showed several times again like when Clive Tyldesley commented 'You're on camera' as a 'seriously injured' Drogba ' peeked to see what was happening. One habit that has become the norm these days to stop the fast paced game is that once you lose the ball in the box someone is suddenly 'close to death' and the team that could have launched an attack is urged to put the ball out of play seconds before the 'injured' player miraculously recovers. That happens at every attack where a team have pushed a few more than normal forward such as corners and free kicks. The Liverpool I am talking about is the Liverpool of the late seventies and early eighties. Just before the ban. Then once back in Europe it was only a short time before Liverpool gave Houllier then Benitez the job. Both played a continental style in the PL and Europe and barring a single CL victory (where they did play the English pace and power game in the second half) they won virtually nothing else. So yes Man U play possession football, Saints do, all the top teams do however they play it at a much faster pace than in Europe. Roma couldn't cope with it a few years ago. Napoli were struggling with it severely in the second half of each half last night. Only other non English team that I would say play in a similar vain as we do in England are Bayern. So we're not talking bang the ball forward at every opportunity, just the pace and power and constant assault that other nations' teams are not used to and often cannot cope with. Arsenal nearly did it last week too. Can go wrong of course but makes for a good watch, and more often than not (with good enough players) succeeds. Even Bobby Robson's England played fast and through the midfield. They were also very good to watch and my brother in law (Sporting fan) loved watching his team play in that style. We're obsessed with 'soundbites' in this country and these 'philosphies' that are repeated by every other jobsworth down the line mean we hear it so much we seem to have started to believe it. The Arsenal and Chelsea sides that beat Barca in recent years did it by 90 minutes of constant harrassment. Whether the goals came in the latter 10-20 minutes and turned the game around are by the by. It was the prior 70-80 minutes of constant pace and power that caused them to tire/switch off in that last 10-20 minutes. Many other teams try to park the bus or even try to play them at their own game and fail every time miserably.
Perhaps thats why we humbled and stuffed Werder Bremen last pre-season? I was shocked how good our side was that day
Surely we are better than spain now after all we beat them. Just got to catch up with Holland now. lol keep the opinions coming guys.
Sorry guys. Hillsborough report came on telly and the wife (portuguese) asked me what it was about. I showed her the coverage on youtube (first time I've watched it since it happened) and didn't know how it had affected me watching it live. A bit emotional now and first time I've cried for a long time especially withe seeing how disgusting some fans can be with the comments below the videos on youtube. Due to that I'm going to drop out of my ranting for a while at least. Need to let myself have some time away from the banter. Andy
Possession is the key in Europe as if you try and build up too fast you'll lose the ball really quickly. Teams aren't stupid in Europe, they are almost always well organized defensively, they keep bodies back to defend a break as well if they are all over the opposition. Napoli is an exception as they over attack and leave themselves wide open at times, they have a very rare overly aggressive high risk play style..they even play 343 or 523 with wing backs at times. You have to play possession football as otherwise you'll be chasing the ball around much of the game and have no energy on the attack. Fast counter attack high tempo passing would be ok for a team with pace to burn and a lack of attacking quality in the midfield but even then you'll get found out by Barcelona big time. If you want to beat Barcelona you are going to have to play high possession. Otherwise you are going to get 30% or less possession and you'll be knackered and you'll lose unless you have a ton of luck defensively and nick a goal against the run of play
The comtinentals do play posession football.......that is for sure. The game is a lot slower than the British game in their build up play.The one difference in my opinion is that they do not play so many loose balls they are more precise. Whereas we tend to be prepared for a gamble or two. In other words they wait for us to make a mistake and then take full advantage. I was surprised in the number of long balls Napoli applied during the game that surprisingly seemed mostly to find their own men.
Agreed with an added point about build up play being slower than here .... up to the point that they see an opportunity and then they go as quick as our play.
Agreed r.e. the last few posts here. Maybe I am a little on the nostalgia trip but I like the fast midfield play but not the type that becomes huge diagonal balls or lumping it forward. Maybe that is why I get so frustrated with Fox in the side and maybe I should step back and think about it a little more however when fox plays it seems to change the way we play and we then seem to bypass the midfield in favour of 'Bechamesque' diagonal balls from the half way line. Maybe that's down to me wanting to see the ball go through Lallana much more I am probably unfairly biased towards this opinion with regards to Fox.
