| Psychology all wrong 10:22 - Sep 26 with 795 views | bosh67 |
My dad and I sat watching the match last night and for all the 'we hate Fulham' stuff etc etc Sadly Fulham were allowed to play in an expansive, energetic, quick and incisive way that... we used to play in for the first 30 minutes of a game when I was growing up.
Under Sexton, Jago Doherty, Venables, even early Ollie we played with an aggressive, expansive flair and we used to start games, particularly at home, by coming out and battering teams back into their own area and tearing into the back four with wave after wave of pressure. We played high up the pitch with 2 strikers and wingers that pressed the back four into mistakes and harried them generally throughout a game... circa Goddard, Allen, Bannister eras. The only player in this squad that has that instinct is Mackie.
The psychology of our team is all wrong. Teams don't fear an attacking reputation from us anymore. They can see we are flat footed, one paced, disjointed in midfield, slow at the back and they also know we have (or had) one good striker marooned up front.
It is unlikely that players like Ale and Ned will have as bad a game again for a while. That happens. You have a player in Mackie who isn't great but he leads the line by example. I am sure that players like Luongo, Gladwin, Phillips, Fer and Chery could all be coached to run defenders down and pressurise high up the park as well as drop back and take one for the team in midfield if needed. They are all athletes. None of them are slow and yet we play a dull, lethargic, backward, disjointed way that even the players look bemused by.
Our defence are slow and exposed by a lack of midfield pace and positioning. Remember Francis, Gregory, Masson all bullying and dominating the centre midfield.
Marooning Charlie has been criminal. He has foils in all sorts of players and no one is ever within 20 yards of him. The lack of playing a high line around him has made us look predicable and clueless. We have put Chery out left and right when he is obviously a forward who plays off a bigger player. Instead we have pressed Luongo who is a central midfielder. And what of Gladwin. Well over 6 foot, big, aggressive and a goal scorer from midfield. Not even played. Even the excellent Doughty will be wasted.
I don't think we have a bad squad. I think it is actually quite a good squad. The problem is that the psychology here is to sit back, plod about, mark some weird zone rather than a player and get caught flat front, middle and at the back. It is simply poor coaching.
You can't 'coach out individual errors' if the psychology is to not press high and have a reputation of aggressive attack play. |  |
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| Psychology all wrong on 10:28 - Sep 26 with 759 views | BrianMcCarthy |
For various reasons, last night was the first game I've seen this season, so I can't comment on whether your points are valid for all games. But you have last night's game nailed perfectly. Couldn't agree more. |  |
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| Psychology all wrong on 11:19 - Sep 26 with 663 views | londonscottish |
"Teams don't fear an attacking reputation from us anymore. They can see we are flat footed, one paced, disjointed in midfield, slow at the back and they also know we have (or had) one good striker marooned up front"
Yup.
Can't wait to take the kids to the Bolton game..... There's going to be a great atmosphere if Rangers are all over the place 20 mins in. Again. |  |
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