ono
Well-Known Member
This is something i've been banging on about for a good few months now. To me, it seems poor. In fact, very poor.
I'll start at the back. First of all, we look a shambles defensively. We can't deal with crosses or set pieces. We don't deal well with balls over the top, we struggle to win the second ball. We have full backs who bomb without regard to what they're leaving behind them. There is little communication, and under a little pressure, our expensively assembled backline looks a bit like a joke (Given aside).
Moving on to midfield. We have nobody who dominates the midfield. Nobody who is comfortable enough on the ball or has the character to be able to stamp their authority on the game. There's little off the ball movement, and for some unknown reason, even when we play 2 defensive minded midfielders, we still look incredibly shaky at the back.
When you move on to the forwards, it's clear as day as to what is happening. Once we move the ball forwards, we are relying on moments of brilliance to pick us up points. This has lead to us, at times, looking devoid of all ideas.
Now this, to me, is where coaching comes in. Watch Arsenal and watch how they can pretty much field a vastly inexperienced side but more often than not, still play close to the ability of the first team. They have a coaching foundation that is buried deep within the club. Once players reach a certain age, they seem ready to step up and immediately look comfortable. The off the ball movement and style of play is breathtakingly good at times. They have their own way of playing and it is very evident. Just keep the ball moving and have at least 2 options for the ball carrier to pass to.
Then watch Barcelona and watch how they play. It helps that they have Messi, Iniesta, Xavi et al, but think back to the friendly we played at the start of the season. They had Gai, Jeffren, Fontas, Pedro, Jonathan Dos Santos - all players alien to probably even the biggest FM fans out there. Yet, despite the scoreline, were able to dominate the game. They were every bit as good as the first team that night, and at times made our strong team look pretty clueless.
Now, keep an eye on how many of those players actually make it at Barca. Probably only Pedro. The rest will probably fall short, but because of the way they have been taught to play football, they are able to collectively dominate a team packed with expensive, experienced internationals.
Now i'm not saying we should instantly have the coaching infastructure of Arsenal or Barcelona. But i am saying, we are the richest club in the world, we have £250m worth of talent at our disposal, so we should have our own identity on the pitch, and it should be successful. We certainly shouldn't be launching pitch length passes to the head of a striker. We certainly shouldn't be relying on moments of individual brilliance to win us games. In an ideal world, individual brilliance should be the safety net when a certain footballing philosophy isn't working. We seem to have the individuals capable of brilliant things but i'm still not sure as to what our footballing philiosophy is.
This is where Hughes backroom staff come in. Apart from the goalkeeping coach, they've been drafted in from Blackburn/Wales. They've been part of set-ups that have had limited success albeit with players of a supposed lesser ability. They appear to have done well with instilling a work ethic, but to me that's probably as far as we can go without bringing in more help. I'm not for one minute suggesting we get rid of his backroom staff, but we are quite clearly missing something. Some form of tehnical and tactical coaching to compliment the work ethic and desire, or somebody who can organise us at the back. Somebody who can teach us to be comfortable on the ball and not hurry the ball forwards. Somebody who can give us our own footballing identity.
As a fan i can only use what we are witnessing on the pitch to figure out what's going on off the pitch, and to me there is quite clearly something missing. We aren't performing much better than Hughes' Blackburn side. The only difference is, we have the individual quality to fall back on. Hopefully in the near future our level of coaching will be up there with the very best. Until that happens, what we're seeing now, is probably about as good as it's going to get.
I'll start at the back. First of all, we look a shambles defensively. We can't deal with crosses or set pieces. We don't deal well with balls over the top, we struggle to win the second ball. We have full backs who bomb without regard to what they're leaving behind them. There is little communication, and under a little pressure, our expensively assembled backline looks a bit like a joke (Given aside).
Moving on to midfield. We have nobody who dominates the midfield. Nobody who is comfortable enough on the ball or has the character to be able to stamp their authority on the game. There's little off the ball movement, and for some unknown reason, even when we play 2 defensive minded midfielders, we still look incredibly shaky at the back.
When you move on to the forwards, it's clear as day as to what is happening. Once we move the ball forwards, we are relying on moments of brilliance to pick us up points. This has lead to us, at times, looking devoid of all ideas.
Now this, to me, is where coaching comes in. Watch Arsenal and watch how they can pretty much field a vastly inexperienced side but more often than not, still play close to the ability of the first team. They have a coaching foundation that is buried deep within the club. Once players reach a certain age, they seem ready to step up and immediately look comfortable. The off the ball movement and style of play is breathtakingly good at times. They have their own way of playing and it is very evident. Just keep the ball moving and have at least 2 options for the ball carrier to pass to.
Then watch Barcelona and watch how they play. It helps that they have Messi, Iniesta, Xavi et al, but think back to the friendly we played at the start of the season. They had Gai, Jeffren, Fontas, Pedro, Jonathan Dos Santos - all players alien to probably even the biggest FM fans out there. Yet, despite the scoreline, were able to dominate the game. They were every bit as good as the first team that night, and at times made our strong team look pretty clueless.
Now, keep an eye on how many of those players actually make it at Barca. Probably only Pedro. The rest will probably fall short, but because of the way they have been taught to play football, they are able to collectively dominate a team packed with expensive, experienced internationals.
Now i'm not saying we should instantly have the coaching infastructure of Arsenal or Barcelona. But i am saying, we are the richest club in the world, we have £250m worth of talent at our disposal, so we should have our own identity on the pitch, and it should be successful. We certainly shouldn't be launching pitch length passes to the head of a striker. We certainly shouldn't be relying on moments of individual brilliance to win us games. In an ideal world, individual brilliance should be the safety net when a certain footballing philosophy isn't working. We seem to have the individuals capable of brilliant things but i'm still not sure as to what our footballing philiosophy is.
This is where Hughes backroom staff come in. Apart from the goalkeeping coach, they've been drafted in from Blackburn/Wales. They've been part of set-ups that have had limited success albeit with players of a supposed lesser ability. They appear to have done well with instilling a work ethic, but to me that's probably as far as we can go without bringing in more help. I'm not for one minute suggesting we get rid of his backroom staff, but we are quite clearly missing something. Some form of tehnical and tactical coaching to compliment the work ethic and desire, or somebody who can organise us at the back. Somebody who can teach us to be comfortable on the ball and not hurry the ball forwards. Somebody who can give us our own footballing identity.
As a fan i can only use what we are witnessing on the pitch to figure out what's going on off the pitch, and to me there is quite clearly something missing. We aren't performing much better than Hughes' Blackburn side. The only difference is, we have the individual quality to fall back on. Hopefully in the near future our level of coaching will be up there with the very best. Until that happens, what we're seeing now, is probably about as good as it's going to get.