I was an ok player but the older I get the more I see it was just complete instinct, I had absolutely no ****ing theoretical tactical knowledge at all. As last man back I could take a few steps forwards before the ball was played in and wave my arm around like a ****ing wally but that was about the sum of it. Those rotations from Neil and Hume are just outrageous. So seamless.
I played football until I was 38 and then 5 aside until I was 50 and never ever gave a thought to/or heard of rotations or passages of play like those identified in that video. Those videos are a brilliant source of information and make games more enjoyable to watch for me.
Those rotations and quick transitions only happen if you have players who are football intelligent and will listen, learn and adjust in every training session. Moreover, repetitive practice on the training ground from a hands on head coach, breaking up, stopping training player and making the players be in the right place. It will have took some graft for it to happen as easy as it does. It's easier when the opposition are poor though. Harder once it's worked out and counter press kicks in.
Nail on the head there. This system is like a stack of dominoes, if one fails it knocks the rest down. This is why the club has been so clever with the players they've brought in. I doubt the likes of Kieffer Moore could exist in a team like this, he'd become the big expensive lad on the bench for the last twenty minutes. This all seems like we can sell players, replace them and just carry on ... ... unlike the times when everything rested on the shoulders of Marco, SKP or the LND.
Agree. I believe there's a succession plan in place for most positions in this squad. As we've seen from Mundle replacing Clarke. I almost don't want to say it,but it's starting to remind me of the old Liverpool days under Shankly. They had a good team,but always someone ready to come in,which never altered the way they played...just fed into it. A player would go out,another would come in from the reserves,no change in fortune. Am I dreaming....do I need to go for a lie down?
I've thrown caution to the wind mate, sod it. I don't want to go through this grinding process of, only 10/20/30 games played, what happens if we get injuries/sell in the transfer window, this bogey team or that bogey team, this player is an ex-Mag/ex-Sunderland/hasn't scored for twenty games, worrying about going up in case we need to rebuild the squad, etc etc etc etc. I don't want to fret my way to the PL, hit the buffers and regret not enjoying the ride ... ... we'll hit our ceiling, at some point, so why not enjoy every game and think we're going to win.
Agree re rotations. There is also a footballing experience needed to do it. By that I mean plenty of games played, ideally with each other. Dan has to have massive trust in Trai to track into a left back position for example. Mowbray had Hume rotating into midfield a year ago. It didnt look great. In my opinion Hume wasnt ready for that then, and as a group of 3 or 4 it wasnt slick. But it was a sign of how coaches saw our players. Repetition in training is the key to success on this. There has been a subtle change in coach behaviour over the last 5 years or so. You see more stood inside the pitch coaching. It is because you feel the positional side of it more and can do as you say - stop the game and correct players. Some very good players I have coached hate that, but some relish the feedback. Mentality is critical. When more aggressive sides come up against us doing this we have to be really brave and keeo doing it. As fans we need to be patient if we get our pockets pinched. The payback in terms of playing through their aggressive press will be fantastic given the pace of Mundle and Isidor.
Completely agree Prehab, but for me, it is interesting how things have changed in football over the years, it’s no longer the simple game I played. I played right half and my positional play was simple, it was relative to my oppo at left half, whenever he went forward to support the inside forward in midfield, I dropped into the back line, when I went forward he dropped into the back line. The inside forwards did similar, one dropped into the midfield, to give you the two when the other got alongside the striker. Wingers had their job up and down the line and the full backs and centre half were the back line in what was basically a 4-4-2. It was good that he chose the Oxford game to illustrate our rotations and passages of play and in particular the job that Dan Neil is being asked to do. What he was explaining wouldn’t have been as clear if he had used the Leeds game for example or first half of the Luton game. We always used to say that you’re only as good as the other team let’s you be.
