Thought I’d post this as there’s been a lot of discussion recently on our struggles against low blocking, bus parking teams who try and pick us off on the counter.
Question and Answer from JM’s pre Bournemouth presser:
Is there a way of nullifying teams that are more set up in more of a deep block or to frustrate, like teams you are more expected to beat on paper?
“There’s there’s a lot of little things in there. I think there’s with the ball tactics and movements and ideas. We still are a team that if we gain an advantage in possession, we think we almost always have to go direct. And that’s not the idea. The idea is to now understand how to unbalance teams through a lot of tactical positioning and ball movement. And then what are the last third kind of movements and connections we want to have. And too often we have like a concept that we call often option A, option B, option C with pption A being the most threatening, most vertical action of the time or possibility and then option C being sort of a third-most vertical and too often we are always in our mind is option A and then it means that we’re giving the ball away too often, we’re losing too many advantages by thinking we can always make the most important play at that moment. And then it’s sometimes means that we’re not able to set up our counter pressing and rest defence tactics in moments which then means if we lose bad balls that the opponent has more space to get out on the counter. For this game, that balance and that understanding will be really important.”
Now that’s not his most Eloquent response ever but I thought the gist was interesting.
He’s saying his team are too focussed on playing the killer difficult forward/vertical ball too early in possession.
That in doing so we concede possession too frequently before we have our own counter press and rest defence formation set, which in turn makes us exposed in transition. In layman’s terms when we lose possession we rely on:
- a counter press to try and win the ball back
- a rest defence (positioning of the none-pressing defensive players to deal with a counter if the press is beaten
In short, if we lose the ball too quickly in a move, we’re less likely to have an organised press to win it back again and then also less well set to deal with the counter when it happens.
Implication here seems to be that he intends his team to mix it up and be more patient at times against these sides where the pitch/play is more congested but he recognises that we’re not getting it right still.
You could look at this and think… it’s positive he recognises the issue and believes they are working on solutions. Or it’s a negative that 6 months in and his team are still choosing the direct option as a default when he doesn’t expect them to.
As he says, important we get the balance right v Bournemouth. Let’s see.
Question and Answer from JM’s pre Bournemouth presser:
Is there a way of nullifying teams that are more set up in more of a deep block or to frustrate, like teams you are more expected to beat on paper?
“There’s there’s a lot of little things in there. I think there’s with the ball tactics and movements and ideas. We still are a team that if we gain an advantage in possession, we think we almost always have to go direct. And that’s not the idea. The idea is to now understand how to unbalance teams through a lot of tactical positioning and ball movement. And then what are the last third kind of movements and connections we want to have. And too often we have like a concept that we call often option A, option B, option C with pption A being the most threatening, most vertical action of the time or possibility and then option C being sort of a third-most vertical and too often we are always in our mind is option A and then it means that we’re giving the ball away too often, we’re losing too many advantages by thinking we can always make the most important play at that moment. And then it’s sometimes means that we’re not able to set up our counter pressing and rest defence tactics in moments which then means if we lose bad balls that the opponent has more space to get out on the counter. For this game, that balance and that understanding will be really important.”
Now that’s not his most Eloquent response ever but I thought the gist was interesting.
He’s saying his team are too focussed on playing the killer difficult forward/vertical ball too early in possession.
That in doing so we concede possession too frequently before we have our own counter press and rest defence formation set, which in turn makes us exposed in transition. In layman’s terms when we lose possession we rely on:
- a counter press to try and win the ball back
- a rest defence (positioning of the none-pressing defensive players to deal with a counter if the press is beaten
In short, if we lose the ball too quickly in a move, we’re less likely to have an organised press to win it back again and then also less well set to deal with the counter when it happens.
Implication here seems to be that he intends his team to mix it up and be more patient at times against these sides where the pitch/play is more congested but he recognises that we’re not getting it right still.
You could look at this and think… it’s positive he recognises the issue and believes they are working on solutions. Or it’s a negative that 6 months in and his team are still choosing the direct option as a default when he doesn’t expect them to.
As he says, important we get the balance right v Bournemouth. Let’s see.
