Passing it around against quicker and stronger teams

[cambridgeshire canary 6,735]

This is something I have to admit has worried me for a while. Now don't get me wrong the whole Tiki-taka Barcelona style quick one two passing while trying to keep as much possession that we can has been something that our team has tried doing since Farke took over. It has in a way become somewhat of our style. It has been something that from time to time we have been fantastic at doing, has lead to some very good play and some good matches and wins..

 

However it is of course worth noting that the vast majority of our wins that have come from that kind of playstyle have come when we have been playing in the Championship which of course makes sense. Most would agree we are a top six, if not a top two, Championship side right now and teams we face know that. Which is why when in the Championship we are facing teams such as, say, Reading, Bristol, Rotherham etc those teams know we are stronger than them and so they simply sit back and let us pass it. Those kind of teams give us respect and allow us to play our fancy little short passing and quick one two's as they know that our players are better than theirs and that they can't get the ball off of us.

 

However if there is something I had thought we had learned two seasons ago was that when we rock up in the Premier League we are (and let's be honest here much as honesty hurts) one of the weaker teams in the divison. So what did we learn when we played in the Prem two seasons ago and we tried all fancy short passing around at the back and trying to play our way out of trouble with Tiki-taka? I thouht that we had learned very quickly that when you turn up against teams in the Prem who have super quick, strong players who are stronger and quicker than your players if you try to pass it around against them unlike in the Championship these teams and players will have no problems trying to close you down and get the ball off of you, ad the majority of the time their attacking players will be quicker and stronger than our players which means that while yes passing it around might still look fancy and we might just be able to get away with it from time to time.. Is that that kind of playstyle just does not work against teams quicker and stronger than you as they will be able to get the ball off of you whch will lead to them getting to attack you on the break which seemed like 9 times out of 10 would result in an easy and quick tap in goal for them.

 

It does not help things either when it becomes very clear that while yes we might be able to string together some good passes and crosses here and there against the tough teams our players clearly start to panic when they get closed down resultig in them hurrying the passes which very often results in us passing the ball out of play, passing it straight to the opposition or getting a good chance to attack but then deciding instead to simply pass the ball all the way back to Krul in goal.. Which does not help as we all know his passing is his weakest attribute which as we have seen lots of times does result in Krul just smashing the ball out of play or passing it to the opposition.

 

We saw what happened to us against Man City when we tried this. And yes, we expected nothing from that match free hit etc etc but we just did not seem to learn. We kept making the same mistakes time and time again, then went and made the exact same mistakes against Liverpool, We then heard Farke come out and be all 'We must learn from our mistakes'. So what did we see in the Leicester game? Lots of passing it around quickly and then our players getting closed down and panicking which then lead to them being able to grab the ball from us and score a tap in.. And then only took 7 minnutes. As I have said I understand this is our system that we play, it is a system our team knows and one that when it works it does look fantastic and is great fun to watch.. But it's clearly a system that just does not work when you play against teams that are quicker and stronger than you and teams that clearly have a lot more confidence than you. It is a system that does work against weaker sides and sides that sit off of course however. After all we tried the system against Bournmouths B team and we ripped them apart. It's just, so, so frustrating that after having watching us get demolished every week last time in the Prem when we just kept on trying this playstyle and now we just rock up trying the exact same thing and expecting different results.

 

Anyway rant over. How's your morning? Now excuse me I'm off to get some coffee 😂

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,432]

Not much on today Cambridge? 

[wcorkcanary 4,334]

1 minute ago, Graham Paddons Beard said:

Not much on today Cambridge? 

Underpants  at least , well,  you'd  hope so. 

[cambridgeshire canary 6,735]

9 minutes ago, Graham Paddons Beard said:

Not much on today Cambridge? 

It's 8AM on a Sunday what else should I be doing?

7 minutes ago, wcorkcanary said:

Underpants  at least , well,  you'd  hope so. 

.... I uh, no comment

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,432]

Just now, cambridgeshire canary said:

It's 8AM on a Sunday what else should I be doing?

 

It might have been when you started typing CC. 
I hope you are adding a bacon sandwich to that coffee. I know I am ! 👍

[Thirsty Lizard 3,165]

You're right Cambridge. Let's ditch the style of play which has given us two Championship titles and which the vast majority of our fans love to see.

Let's bring in Neil Warnock as manager, recall Hugill from West Brom, sign Adi Akinfenwa and just boot it up to the big man all game long. (That way we'll solve the problem of occasionally losing the ball when we play out from the back). 

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

I think you have some valid points Cambridge and worth debate rather than stupid comments.

Our style worked brilliantly in the Championship because we had players who could play that style better than any other team in that league.

Now we are in a league where there are teams who can play that better than us.

We need to find a way to equal things out.

If Anthony Joshua was going to fight me, I would need to find a lump of wood or use one of my golf clubs to even it up a bit.

Clearly we don't have the forward players to trouble top defenders one to one. So we need either an overload or a tactic they don't like.

Yesterday, second half, Rashica showed glimpses of what a wide man with speed can do. That may well negate Teemu whose strength is running off a defender.

And with width, you have the chance of pulling players out of position. And I personally think three at the back could give us the chance to exploit that. So I believe 3-5-2 could give us a chance to even things out.

[Danbury Yellow 126]

I’m not sure if this is a fair observation, but this season and our last top flight one…..when we play it around the back the pace of the pass is slower then the opposition’s.  Skipp for example would often fizz it to the flanks, and I think we need to up the pace here just to open up that much needed exit out from the back on a more regular basis.  

[Mr. Raumdeuter III 77]

2 hours ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

This is something I have to admit has worried me for a while. Now don't get me wrong the whole Tiki-taka Barcelona style quick one two passing while trying to keep as much possession that we can has been something that our team has tried doing since Farke took over. It has in a way become somewhat of our style. It has been something that from time to time we have been fantastic at doing, has lead to some very good play and some good matches and wins..

 

However it is of course worth noting that the vast majority of our wins that have come from that kind of playstyle have come when we have been playing in the Championship which of course makes sense. Most would agree we are a top six, if not a top two, Championship side right now and teams we face know that. Which is why when in the Championship we are facing teams such as, say, Reading, Bristol, Rotherham etc those teams know we are stronger than them and so they simply sit back and let us pass it. Those kind of teams give us respect and allow us to play our fancy little short passing and quick one two's as they know that our players are better than theirs and that they can't get the ball off of us.

 

However if there is something I had thought we had learned two seasons ago was that when we rock up in the Premier League we are (and let's be honest here much as honesty hurts) one of the weaker teams in the divison. So what did we learn when we played in the Prem two seasons ago and we tried all fancy short passing around at the back and trying to play our way out of trouble with Tiki-taka? I thouht that we had learned very quickly that when you turn up against teams in the Prem who have super quick, strong players who are stronger and quicker than your players if you try to pass it around against them unlike in the Championship these teams and players will have no problems trying to close you down and get the ball off of you, ad the majority of the time their attacking players will be quicker and stronger than our players which means that while yes passing it around might still look fancy and we might just be able to get away with it from time to time.. Is that that kind of playstyle just does not work against teams quicker and stronger than you as they will be able to get the ball off of you whch will lead to them getting to attack you on the break which seemed like 9 times out of 10 would result in an easy and quick tap in goal for them.

 

It does not help things either when it becomes very clear that while yes we might be able to string together some good passes and crosses here and there against the tough teams our players clearly start to panic when they get closed down resultig in them hurrying the passes which very often results in us passing the ball out of play, passing it straight to the opposition or getting a good chance to attack but then deciding instead to simply pass the ball all the way back to Krul in goal.. Which does not help as we all know his passing is his weakest attribute which as we have seen lots of times does result in Krul just smashing the ball out of play or passing it to the opposition.

 

We saw what happened to us against Man City when we tried this. And yes, we expected nothing from that match free hit etc etc but we just did not seem to learn. We kept making the same mistakes time and time again, then went and made the exact same mistakes against Liverpool, We then heard Farke come out and be all 'We must learn from our mistakes'. So what did we see in the Leicester game? Lots of passing it around quickly and then our players getting closed down and panicking which then lead to them being able to grab the ball from us and score a tap in.. And then only took 7 minnutes. As I have said I understand this is our system that we play, it is a system our team knows and one that when it works it does look fantastic and is great fun to watch.. But it's clearly a system that just does not work when you play against teams that are quicker and stronger than you and teams that clearly have a lot more confidence than you. It is a system that does work against weaker sides and sides that sit off of course however. After all we tried the system against Bournmouths B team and we ripped them apart. It's just, so, so frustrating that after having watching us get demolished every week last time in the Prem when we just kept on trying this playstyle and now we just rock up trying the exact same thing and expecting different results.

 

Anyway rant over. How's your morning? Now excuse me I'm off to get some coffee 😂

It’s an important distinction to make comparing how the championship sides differ from prem teams, and how that makes us play with a different game plan. I won’t explain all of last years tactics as it’s very familiar to most, but to condense — most of the time we had possession of ball, looking to drag players out of position with positional and passing interchanges to break a mid-to-low block, to find a killer pass in the penalty area for a shot or cross. 
 

It may feel similar to 19/20 but there’s a different ethos in our build up play this premier league assault. 
My observation of the new 4-3-3 is that Hanley, Gibson, and the deep-lying playmaker, Gilmour, are to keep and recycle the ball, using Krul if needed, and actively invite the opposition press. So what looks like passing around at the back without intention or purpose, is waiting for a moment to spring a trap. a quick triangular interchange, to then send a longer pass to one of our forwards. 
We now have an extra man in midfield as an out ball, and with Gilmour dropping deep, in theory, the fullbacks can push on. With and Rasica and Cantwell can come into the inside channel or hug the line for width. 
Yesterday, it seemed like we courted the press for a longer diagonal pass, that we looked to win on the second ball, with for e.g. Winger, CM, and fullback all pushed to press and block lanes. 
When we to bypass the oppositions midfield we look to attack the goal directly, and a lot quicker than in the championship. 

It’s not counter attacking exactly because that involves sitting deep, we’re still wanting to have the ball over the opposition, it’s more, setting traps, and passing the ball quickly through the lines. 
To make this work we have to quick, crisp passes, transition the ball quickly to the wingers to put pressure on the opposition back line so they don’t have time to settle. More ball carrying and dribbles than before. 
 

We’ll need to be at it, switched on, and play with little margin of error. We have to win the second ball, and so many times yesterday we couldn’t. That’s a given, I know, yet the individual roles seems far more personalised and condensed responsibility, and requires each player to do their job for the team otherwise we exposed and overloaded. We get undone, like yesterday. This is far more stricter game plan 19/20 which was all about Farkeball 101. 

 So, I’ve explained what I see tactically, do I like it? 😂 It’s making me nervous but I hope that it can click. Yeah, it’ll be fun to watch when it works and frustrating when it doesn’t.
Right now, I honestly don’t have a clue where we’ll finish this season. There’s hypertension in this strategy. Will it get stronger or buckle? Confidence will be key and that means results!