I know McClaren can only work with the players that are at his disposal and that resources are tight. Accepting this, he is probably, after some experimentation, deploying the optimal system available to him albeit with sporadic results and inconsistent form table performances. I suppose lower mid table, however, constitutes a reasonable outcome from a squad some had down as relegation candidates at the start of the campaign. All that aside, I remain concerned about the skills shortage within the squad which is evident in the continually poor possession statistics. There is hardly a game goes by where the Rs are recorded with little more that one-third of the possession. There is nothing wrong with a counter-attacking capability, or to play a pressing game without the ball, preferably as high up the pitch as possible. But I can’t see how any team can ultimately be sustainably successful if it doesn’t have the ball. Of course, what matters most is what you do with the ball when you’ve got it. But every time I’ve watched the Rs this season (albeit on the telly) I’ve remained struck by how few consecutive passes this team can string together. Yes, there was a recent example of a good passage of play, plus McClaren is trying to do the right thing by playing the ball on largely on the deck and out from the back, but I rarely see more than 3-5 consecutive passes completed before a clumsy piece of footwork results in the loss of possession. Other teams in this league seem to have this much better than the Rs. Bristol City has c. 66% last night, but it seemed more. As the second half progressed it seemed obvious that the equaliser would come, such was their possession and the pressure they put on the Rs as a consequence. I find myself wondering what they’re teaching youngsters these days. Pass and move, high fitness, head up and little mobile triangles surely seem obvious drills on the training pitch? Yes, you need the players, but it feels more than that to me. This bunch just don’t seem to want to work like that. A bit unfair? Possibly, but just my perception.
I got quite excited then, thought this was an Off topic thread about ‘name your favourite possession and why’ *or perhaps tell an amusing lie about a possession like on that telly programme. Anyway, your concerns are noted and largely agreed with. * I’ve got a bit of shrapnel I picked up in a field near Ypres. It’s lovely.
TBH Ubes possession is so over rated......when Leicester won the Prem they averaged a little over 30% possession throughout the season, as you say it's what you do with it that counts....... We're actually more suited to less possession and counter attacking rather than trying to dominate games, we only had 30% (ish) possession when we beat Sheff Wed 3-0 and similar stats when we beat Villa......it's fine to allow opposition sides to pass between themselves in neutral parts of the pitch as long as we remain switched on defensively and we mostly did last night. I think we're just not getting the breaks at the moment, but that will change hopefully starting on Friday.....
Great OP. I can see the merit in the argument that it's more about what you do with the ball than how much of it you have, but it is intensely frustrating that we don't seem to be able to keep the ball for long enough to break up periods of domination from opponents, heaping pressure on our defenders. No point in looking to the dark arts the whole time (which I'm fine with - everyone does it and the FA have to agree to stamp that out en masse) if we can't keep the ball for 2 minutes.
It’s a modern tactic imo for away football Since we got done by Preston things are a little bit ****e but yet again so is our club at the moment Nothing we can do but hang in there I thought Oxbow would be gone by now but he is getting the odd result and sure we will kick on next few league games
How many years have we had the mantra 'we can't string three passes together'? Clearly the players we have don't have the skill-set to be comfortable in possession which makes playing out from the back our equivalent of Russian Roulette. Where is the dominant midfielder who can put his foot on the ball and dictate play? Look back to Warnock's Championship team and we had Faurlin who always had time on the ball and used it so well and with Adel ahead of him we had the double threat to carve teams open. We just have to admit that Schteeve has exceeded expectations in the first half of the season but injuries to key players have exposed the shortcomings of our squad players, they're just not good enough and we just have to hope we can crawl past the 50 point mark in the remaining games. With the limitations of FFP our scouting needs to find players in lower leagues that may fit into a more skilful way of playing, easier said than done...
Great post Uber. Possession as we have found out directly and indirectly doesnt necessarily win games. What it does do though is, tire the opposition, entertain the fans and installs confidence in ability and others around you. I was happy and still would be to pick up points in any way at the moment but entertained I am not. We predominantly try to stop teams first and foremost and rely on a counter attack. It's a very dangerous tactic and one that will come unstuck more often than not. Why oh why does it look like we time waste and try to slow the game from the 1st minute? We have players with very limited ability. We also have some with great potential, but in my opinion, these negative tactics will hinder development rather than progress it.
Tuesday's was a game of two halves really. I thought we played very well in the first half despite having minority possession, and deserved to go in one up at half-time. They had created little, whereas we made several decent chances. The difference in the second half was that we seemed to want to sit on our lead and got pushed deeper and deeper, giving City all the momentum. We needed to be more positive when in possession. Playing Smith is another factor on possession stats. He was very effective on Tuesday without ever really being in possession of the ball.
A very good discussion point. Thanks for posting. We clearly do not feel comfortable playing the ball out of defence and often put ourselves in trouble. Also, we have recently wasted quite a few goal scoring opportunities as the first touch was not good enough. It is a technical skill level issue, possibly even confidence on the ball, where our first touch is poor. When one watches the top European leagues, including the Premiership, the ball control skill and the passing accuracy is impressive and far superior to ours. We need to develop a style more akin to Leceister than Barcelona.
I think Friday’s Cup match against Watford will be a reality check of where we are. I expect Watford to have the more skillful players and to have the majority if the possession. But can we cause them problems and create goals by pressing, running, being determined and better character? Not long to wait to find out!
