on spain, i'd rather watch them than england at the moment but it can be boring. not because they aren't good at it or because i don't like possession football, but because they do it in the wrong areas for too long. it can be a tedious watch sometimes.
I don't blame Hodgson for doing what he did, the players are hopeless and he didn't have any choice. I blame the FA for appointing him in the first place and sending out the wrong message.
Its the doing it in the "wrong" areas which wears the opposition down. That's what I really admire about them, they do it regardless, they forego the immediate chance to generate something better in the long run. Its just an amazing faith in their own abilities. I'd much rather see my team with the ball passing around than the opposition.
It also shows my point about crossing, they rarely do it because its a pass into an area and a % style of football, they prefer to play 100% football where they know who the recipient is
but it doesn't wear the opposition down if they don't care! spain can happily knock the ball around in their own half under no pressure at all - that does nothing other than increase their possession stats and is mind-numbingly dull to watch. if they lead 1-0 at the time then at least it has a purpose but to do it but when goalless is dire. they are the kings of the boring 1-0 win - they've won 9 of their last 11 competitive knockout matches 1-0, and almost all the goals have been scored late on too. as someone said earlier, its easy to knock the ball around between you over short distances when under no pressure - most teams, even england could do that - but to be threatening and put pressure on opponents is far more difficult and actually, spain aren't that much better at doing that than anyone esle - in fact, i'd argue they are quite poor at doing that. italy for example are better going forward than the spanish are. they also don't cross the ball because they don't play with a natural goalscorer up front half the time! noticeable they cross it when torres plays or llorente (not at this tournament obviously) so again, not true. they simply don't have any choice but to pass pass pass and score the perfect goal
Ah well now you're making a completely different point. I agree with that- crossing is certainly a percentage style. Obviously, the better the cross, the better the chances, though. You were originally claiming crossing was easier- that is completely different. You also claimed heading (?!?!) the ball was easier. There you were wrong.
"there's more than one way to skin a cat. and it nearly worked! " That maybe true, but you would,t want to make a pair of shoes out of an English made one.
I'd say the fact they are scoring late goals would suggest they do wear teams down, it just gets too much for them when Spain crank the pressure up
Well that was never going to happen, hard work and endeavour are not enough. I firmly beleive our penalty record is down to a severe lack of technical ability and faith/ confidence in technique. Spain are mentally tough because they have an undoubtable faith that what they are is right
But my god it's tedious. By about 50 mins I'm begging someone to HOOF IT UP, BRING IT DOWN, KNOCK IT IN!!!!
actually its got more to do with the fact spain put wide players on late in games and stretch the match BY BEING MORE DIRECT. not long ball, but longer, more expansive passes and pace out wide, playing quicker and more positively. then they are great to watch
no it hasn't. they do it because they need a goal! i can't remember who it was against but it was a friendly a couple of years ago and spain really went at them from minute one, played with two wide players and scored almost at will. may have finished 6 or 7 nil. ok, the opposition weren't much cop but spain were so positive. the following game they reverted to type and they played out a nil nil. if they played more direct they would win far more comprehensively than they currently do, but its the fact they've had so much success playing how they do - they probably think, why change it?
You don't think its a ploy, given the amount of times they have done it. I do, if they get a goal then great, if not the opposition are tired and so primed for the change. Keeping the ball is also very defensive as well as tiring on the opposition. It sounds like a tactic to me
To quote yourself "they've won 9 of their last 11 competitive knockout matches 1-0" World Cup holders, European Champions. Sounds like it works to me
again, you are completely missing the point the fact they score so many late goals is more down to changing tactics than just because the opponents are 'totally knackered'. the fact they've done some chasing will naturally take its toll but these players are super-fit and by carrying on playing the same tippy-tappy football, they normally fail to break teams down - its only when they play more direct that they create many clear-cut chances. am i going mad or is it really that difficult to grasp this concept???
