bluemanc
Well-Known Member
No it's not,it's what you do with it when you've got it & if you are hoping that things will change after Xmas for the better does that mean you think we will be poor until then.Keith Moon said:
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Is Mancini adapting his Inter tactics? [Tactics talk]
- Thread starter Outrun
- Start date
Keith Moon
Well-Known Member
Well 61% possession isn’t exactly poor, Barcelona average possession time in La Liga is 70% - so if we can do that by Christmas, well done Bobby & Co.bluemanc said:No it's not,it's what you do with it when you've got it & if you are hoping that things will change after Xmas for the better does that mean you think we will be poor until then.Keith Moon said:Its all about possession, after christmas we will have a average possession time around 70%. Knock on wood..
Braggster
Well-Known Member
Now, granted it's not "all about possession" but making 621 passes away to Spurs is astonishing, and deserves more credit than it's getting on here.bluemanc said:No it's not,it's what you do with it when you've got it & if you are hoping that things will change after Xmas for the better does that mean you think we will be poor until then.Keith Moon said:Its all about possession, after christmas we will have a average possession time around 70%. Knock on wood..
Yes, you need to create chances, and yes, I want us to create more. I'm sure that in future we'll sacrifice some ball retention ability in order to pose more threat, but given the unfamiliarity of our team their ability to one-touch pass their way out of trouble was jaw.dropping at times.
We should celebrate the footballing ability of our midfielders and defence, even in a game where we didn't get the balance quite right.
That will come, but most teams won't get a sniff of the ball against us. They will find it very hard.
You're right that possession in itself is meaningless-it's a means to an end after all-but the footballing ability of our team cannot be ignored and will win us a lot of games.
It's a means that will produce a lot of end over the course of the season.
1.618034
Well-Known Member
The reason possession is important these days is partly because of the new rules on tackling... Gone are the days of defending being about crunching last gasp challenges (they'll just get you sent off). Now it's all about keeping the ball off the opposition. Hence the need for a "central" midfield 3. Of course there has to be an end product, we can't do anything with a load of 0-0 draws, but that will come. Spurs threw everything at us, and yes we rode our luck, but we took the sting out of them and got a clean sheet, which is more than most will get there this season. Tevez and Silva have had about a week to prepare with internationals and a trip to Mexico for Silva, but he played 90 minutes and that will stand him in very good stead.
I believe. (Buy Dzecko and Luiz and I'll even put money on it!)
I believe. (Buy Dzecko and Luiz and I'll even put money on it!)
1.618034 said:The reason possession is important these days is partly because of the new rules on tackling... Gone are the days of defending being about crunching last gasp challenges (they'll just get you sent off). Now it's all about keeping the ball off the opposition. Hence the need for a "central" midfield 3. Of course there has to be an end product, we can't do anything with a load of 0-0 draws, but that will come. Spurs threw everything at us, and yes we rode our luck, but we took the sting out of them and got a clean sheet, which is more than most will get there this season. Tevez and Silva have had about a week to prepare with internationals and a trip to Mexico for Silva, but he played 90 minutes and that will stand him in very good stead.
I believe. (Buy Dzecko and Luiz and I'll even put money on it!)
Good post mate - couldn't agree more!
One slight thing I'd like to point out though, it's easier to have a high percentage of possession when playing more defensively. This has already been alluded to but just wanted to make it clearer.
Knocking the ball around the back 7 players will get us great possession but we won't score any goals. Clearly there has to be some points during a game where the team and the ball has to move further upwards.
I think by playing Ade or Balotelli to partner Tevez with Silva behind these two it will be easier to get solid attacks going. I might be proven wrong but I simply don't understand how playing Tevez as a lone striker will ever win us games...
It's also vitally important that the full backs makes constructive runs forward when the situation allows it.
One more advantage of high possession % that hasn't been pointed out yet: You frustrate the opponent which might cause them to commit unneeded fouls, force errors or even abandon their tactics!
Shaelumstash
Well-Known Member
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- 30 Apr 2009
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Like a few have already said, I was absolutely stunned to see Ade not starting this game. Tevez always naturally drops deep to look for the ball so it left us with no one high up through the middle.
I think the reason Mancini played like this is I remember when we played at White Heart Lane last year and got murdered, we were playing a lot of direct balls forward and Dawson won absolutely everything. Maybe by playing Tevez in the middle and dropping deep he was trying to draw Dawson out to create space in behind for SWP and Silva to exploit. I don't think it worked very well, particularly in the first half, but you can kind of see his reasons for doing it.
I thought Yaya was largely ineffective on the right of a 3 in the first half and struggled to adjust to the pace of the game. The second half he looked to be playing a lot more centrally and was much better. He uses the ball so well, the pass for the Wright Phillips chance and one or two others makes a mockery of the press calling him a Defensive Midfielder. He has a lot more to his game than that.
I think the reason Mancini played like this is I remember when we played at White Heart Lane last year and got murdered, we were playing a lot of direct balls forward and Dawson won absolutely everything. Maybe by playing Tevez in the middle and dropping deep he was trying to draw Dawson out to create space in behind for SWP and Silva to exploit. I don't think it worked very well, particularly in the first half, but you can kind of see his reasons for doing it.
I thought Yaya was largely ineffective on the right of a 3 in the first half and struggled to adjust to the pace of the game. The second half he looked to be playing a lot more centrally and was much better. He uses the ball so well, the pass for the Wright Phillips chance and one or two others makes a mockery of the press calling him a Defensive Midfielder. He has a lot more to his game than that.
ono
Well-Known Member
I'm sure he'll play Silva - Tevez - Balotelli, as our attacking 3.
If we keep the ball aswell as we did in the 2nd half, we'll create plenty of chances even away from home. We just need to get a grip on the game a little bit sooner.
If we keep the ball aswell as we did in the 2nd half, we'll create plenty of chances even away from home. We just need to get a grip on the game a little bit sooner.
Shaelumstash said:I thought Yaya was largely ineffective on the right of a 3 in the first half and struggled to adjust to the pace of the game. The second half he looked to be playing a lot more centrally and was much better. He uses the ball so well, the pass for the Wright Phillips chance and one or two others makes a mockery of the press calling him a Defensive Midfielder. He has a lot more to his game than that.
I agree, and watching Villa play this weekend, I think that a central midfield 3 of Milner, Yaya, and NDJ is far from negative. I also thought that in second half, Yaya was really effective making forward runs from a central position. It would have been even more effective had Silva and Tevez not spent so much time occupying the same space in the hole, something I think will remedy with familiarity. Keep in mind, Silva, Yaya, and Tevez are all smart, savvy players who have thrived in the past on making the key pass or run that unlocks a closed defense and setting up goals from the run of play.
That Zonalmarking article is a peach, they are very often posting really good articles there.
Now that Kolarov is out for some time, anyone wanna have a guess who he plays?
Options:
Barry
Lescott
Bridge (injured for now)
Zabaleta
Boateng
Cunningham
The most obvious would probably be to move Boateng there and Richards as RB. But then suddenly we have two players who aren't 100% comfortable on their position. I'd rather have Boateng on the right and someone else on the left.
Barry is for my liking too slow to work as a running full back. I'm not sure if Lescott suit Mancini's role as left back either, not sure if he's fast enough and has a good cross. Good defensively, not so good offensively, from what I remember. We haven't really seen much of him offensively anyway.
I guess it wouldn't be that bad to play Zab on the left and Boateng on the right. I liked what I saw from Zab last match, seems like he's a bit cooler, the experience has done him good.
Yaya completed 68 out of 70 passes, and many were forward. Awesome job. Saw the match again yesterday and his chipping skills are fantastic, hit the right spot everytime.
Now that Kolarov is out for some time, anyone wanna have a guess who he plays?
Options:
Barry
Lescott
Bridge (injured for now)
Zabaleta
Boateng
Cunningham
The most obvious would probably be to move Boateng there and Richards as RB. But then suddenly we have two players who aren't 100% comfortable on their position. I'd rather have Boateng on the right and someone else on the left.
Barry is for my liking too slow to work as a running full back. I'm not sure if Lescott suit Mancini's role as left back either, not sure if he's fast enough and has a good cross. Good defensively, not so good offensively, from what I remember. We haven't really seen much of him offensively anyway.
I guess it wouldn't be that bad to play Zab on the left and Boateng on the right. I liked what I saw from Zab last match, seems like he's a bit cooler, the experience has done him good.
DetCity said:Shaelumstash said:I thought Yaya was largely ineffective on the right of a 3 in the first half and struggled to adjust to the pace of the game. The second half he looked to be playing a lot more centrally and was much better. He uses the ball so well, the pass for the Wright Phillips chance and one or two others makes a mockery of the press calling him a Defensive Midfielder. He has a lot more to his game than that.
I agree, and watching Villa play this weekend, I think that a central midfield 3 of Milner, Yaya, and NDJ is far from negative. I also thought that in second half, Yaya was really effective making forward runs from a central position. It would have been even more effective had Silva and Tevez not spent so much time occupying the same space in the hole, something I think will remedy with familiarity. Keep in mind, Silva, Yaya, and Tevez are all smart, savvy players who have thrived in the past on making the key pass or run that unlocks a closed defense and setting up goals from the run of play.
Yaya completed 68 out of 70 passes, and many were forward. Awesome job. Saw the match again yesterday and his chipping skills are fantastic, hit the right spot everytime.