Hesceth

[quote user="lake district canary"]In my eyes, Hughton is still working on the team to get the best out of them. That the defence was a priority, no reasonable fan can deny - and on the whole he has addressed it and improved it, apart from the odd result. Although it may appear - to some - that we are just defensive - the stats don''t support this. But, the quality is not there yet to make Hughton''s overall strategy apparent. Hughton has a brief - to take on what he inherited and develop it. He has not yet had time to fulfil all the criteria. But he has made us difficult to beat (most weeks). Success for us fans and for Hughton this season is staying in the premiership. Success for Hughton next season will be taking us on to a higher level of achievement - that is - building on the good defensive base that we now have and developing the team in midfield and attack. Those that cry out for Hughton''s head this season and shout about his approach are just impatient and lack the understanding of the reality of what is happening. Rome was not built in a day and we are changing from a team that conceded lots of goals to a team that doesn''t concede alot of goals - the attacking strategy will improve as we upgrade players. But for this season success is staying up. It will be no mean feat. [/quote] The problem with this theory is that an undoubtedly improved squad is playing less competitively this season than last. Heavily defensive football always puts a team under great pressure as one misplaced tackle or pass so close to goal can be fatal. The current system also relies heavily one our 11 best players being available for ever game.(look what happens when injuries or suspensions have occurred ). We need to play further up field,defend high putting more bodies closer to our lone striker giving him more options and relieving our penalty area. Ask yourself," How many off sides have we won this season?". "How often are our solitary forward players offside?." This is a symptom of deep disjointed play where our attack is left high and dry .

I think the problem with our play at the moment is that we, as a team,sit far too deep and do not move back and forth together. We leave glaring gaps between defence and attack. We hold in our own half and defend desperately ,because losing the ball so close to our own goal would be fatal. Because we are all back,clearing the ball rarely relieves the pressure. Lambert s success was built on moving the entire team further up field and holding a high line.