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HampsteadCanary

Scoring goals and playing to our strengths...

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I have been thinking about the last five or six goals we have scored in competitive fixtures, and its good to see that we are moving away from last years set-piece dominance.

I seem to remember we scored maybe one or two goals from outside the area last season, which is not a lot compared to other teams in the premier league. Yet three or four of the last six we have scored have been such, either directly or as a result of a distance shot being spilt. Nathan Redmond won the match for us on Saturday by having a pop from the edge of the box. Its great to have players like him that can turn a match with a moment of brilliance, something we were distinctly lacking last season. Its great that we''re adding a new dimension to our play, but it should be exactly that, ADDING to it, rather than completely replacing something that is quite effective.

It concerns me a little that we have moved away from one of our strengths, which has been our crossing, but also that we are not making the most of our new options up front. RvW has had about three chances, but our players seem hell bent on shooting from the edge of the box when they wouldn''t do it for toffee last season! Yes it has been effective to a certain degree, but I would love to see us playing our strikers in on goal more.

It just interested me to see the balance shift from crosses and headers (mainly from set pieces) to distance shooting, when we now have the firepower to make the most of all types of service. RvW and Elmander are both fantastic headers of the ball, why have we neglected this side of our game? And also we have often chosen to go for glory when we now have excellent movement up front, and the forwards are being ignored in the final third. Maybe its to do with team gelling and the midfield not being used to having that movement in front of them and therefore not picking them out. I guess all I''m saying is I wish they would feed the Wolf and shoot from the edge of the area when it genuinely opens up for them!

I know its early in the season and we''re still finding our feet a bit!

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If we can do what the title says, it''s gonna be a great year! Last year we played to our new strength of tight defense and it was so boring. Throw In a few more goals for and CR will be rockin''.

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The signs are very clearly there that we will indeed play to our strengths and to the individual strengths of the players, BUT...its an evolution and it is very early days with this new squad.....step by step we will ultimately see what CH and his team are aiming for, he clearly made do last season and achieved the objective, now we all need to be a little patient for the next phase of what will be a clearly defined plan. I am actually very impressed by the professionalism CH has been showing, just unfortunate some dont get it.

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I get it, DM. I appreciate he kept us in the Prem and is very professional about it, but last season was boring, sometimes needlessly so. Now he''s got his players in, It''s time to take it up a notch. The Soton game hopefully is how we''re gonna play this season.

I know several whined we got too defensive after the goal but from my POV, we kept up the attack without being reckless which made for a full 90 minutes of real excitement instead of scoring one and sitting in anguish hoping to keep the opposition out.

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To get crosses into the box we need Pilks on the left (with an overlapping Olsson) and Redmond on the right (with an overlapping Whittaker). Having Snoddy and Redmond having to cut in because of their stronger foot is good for them to have a shot at goal but not for crossing into the box.

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Dubai Mark: step by step we will ultimately see what CH and his team are aiming for, he clearly made do last season and achieved the objective, now we all need to be a little patient for the next phase of what will be a clearly defined plan

Three games in it is still difficult to see if much has changed from last season. Certainly away at Hull we played a yellow-belly formation. I still fail to understand our negative formations away from home given our appalling record playing such tactics. Of course there has never been any doubt in the quality of signings entering the club under Hughton''s management.

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Haven''t seen enough of Redmond to form an opinion about his strengths and crossing ability. However I have of Snodgrass and from what I''ve seen he can be equally effective on the right either going outside and crossing or cutting inside and shooting. To show his effectiveness from outside the defender a game that readily springs to mind is QPR away last season.

 

http://www.soccerhighlightstoday.com/2013/02/qpr-0-0-norwich-city-barclays-premier.html

 

 

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Redmond has been key to our change in style. That pace and dynamism were badly missed last season hence us relying on work rate and set plays. Teams now have to back off us a bit and that in turn stops us being so overrun around the pitch. Whittaker has been a breath of fresh air down the right too.

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When you play with inverted wingers the onus is on cutting in and shooting, rather than crossing. Or if it is a cross its generally an inswinger with little pace which is harder to dispatch. The plus side is someone like Redmond does what he did last week. Sadly, Snodgrass is never going to be that player - he just doesnt have the power in his shot. The ideal scenario is to have a player like Pilkington who can do both cut in and shoot and crossing, as he doesnt have a stronger foot, and certainly has the power in his shot to be effective. Think you either play inverted wingers and focus on a direct threat, or a traditional winger and supply a target man. Unless you have two Pilks'', you''re unlikely to be able to do both effectively.

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I think we''d be daft to completely shelve our plans of set pieces given that we were one of the most threatening teams in the league last year with them. It may be a ''boring'' way to score, but it was effective.

It''s nice that we seem to have more than one route to goal now though.

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That''s kind of what I''m getting at Jimmy. It seems the quality and quantity of crosses going in from the wide areas, dead ball or not, are not up to last seasons standards. Mixing great crossing ability (which we have!) with pace, close control and shooting from distance (which we NOW have) and better movement and clinical finishing up front, we should make the most of it all. I feel RvW has been let down in the game so far, feeding on scraps. But it will take the players behind him a little time to get used to his positioning and how good it is

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As has been said, I think to make the most out of RVW we need a playmaker. We dont have one really do we? We''ve relied on Wes to fulfil this role, but really we need someone to do this from a bit deeper, which Hoolahan unfortunately doesnt have the physical presence to do. Fer''s passing against Southampton was excellent, but surely ''The Bouncer'' should be seen as our upgrade on Tettey and Johnson - a player who can do what they do, but can also do all the rest. i dont think you would have to limit Fer to doing just this job in the way you have to limit BJ and Tettey because thats all they can do well. Fer should be our muscle, but not necessarily our playmaker. Howson seems to anonymous to be that guy in central midfield. I feel Fer needs a top quality partner, someone in a playmaker mould but with enough physical presence. We probably have some money to spend in January, it seems to be the gaping hole in the side for me.

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I think Elmander will provide a decent outlet for Ricky to feed off. We just need the ball to stick in the final third a bit more and Elmander will help this. Early signs looked good against Southampton.

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