Agreed. Passing and creativity have been a problem for too long, Cooper should have sorted that out by now. Coventry should not have been dominating possession like they did. Gone are the days of Swansea possession football. I'd like to see someone other than Grimes take free kicks.Because I've championed Cullen on here I looked carefully at his contribution and I didn't see so much as one chance created for him - not even a fucking semblance of a chance. Our midfield is PISS POOR and they haven't got a creative bone in their collective bodies. Hell, some of them can't even do the basics properly and they have the nerve to call themselves professional footballers!
Well I don't see much that's professional about them at all. Under/over hit passes are the norm; accuracy is disgraceful; intelligent movement a thing of mystery to them; dead ball kicks a complete and utter waste of time; fitness levels VERY questionable and urgency/intensity is something they don't do.
We nearly lost that game at the end and couldn't have complained had we done so. We certainly didn't deserve to win it and I shudder to think what even a lowly Premier League side would do to them. Best stay where we are if that's going to be a typical performance.
Steve Cooper had better read most of them the riot act because right now they look a total apology of a side and that's putting it mildly!
They didn't. It was 51% in our favour.Coventry should not have been dominating possession like they did.
It's not allocated. It's same with one touch clearances, tackles won where you don't regain possession, and bad ball control. All these actions are called touches. Every pass is a touch, but not every touch is a pass.A question about possession when they were playing head tennis, which seemed to be half the time, how is possession allocated?
51% is too low imo, the end of the match I was afraid we were about to give it away. Should uave pressed higher yes.They didn't. It was 51% in our favour.
The problem is something else. We simply can't cope with teams who press us high. We couldn't cope last season, and we obviously can't this season. Credit to the Coventry manager, who has watched our games from last season, and to his players, who executed perfectly his orders.
What do we do when teams press us high? We panic. We receive the ball with our backs facing oposition goal, and (too often) lose it, because (too) many of our players can't hold and control the ball when under pressure. Ayew is the only one who can. What's next we do? We try to pass the ball back to our defenders, who then hoof it, or we pass the ball blindly forward to nowhere. In both cases we lose possession. And then we repeat the process.
Here is how to beat teams who press you high:
1. Use the same high pressing against them.
2. Move. Run into the spaces to receive the ball from the players under pressure, run forward with the ball, and run into channels to receive the ball. We used to call this pass & move Svanselona style. We used to tire opposition teams by making them chase shadows. Rodgers used to say "We passed them to death".
We did neither of that against Coventry. We didn't press them properly, and we were too static. Static is another word for being lazy.
It's also possible to combine 1. and 2. but we are not Leeds, and our manager is not Bielsa.
It's coaching. It takes a couple of meetings with the players to explain everything and a bit of ruthlessness from the manager to bench (or even get rid of) the players who refuse to move and run into empty spaces. Passing the ball is easy if you have options.Finding space is primo in football but when we do, we all too often waste it. Poor play yet we see it in almost every game. I wonder why?
Ayew is a pro, not sure about the rest.These guys are pros ... they shouldn't need this level of education.
Judging from the farce against Coventry, who are tipped to go down, our recruitment is way off.At this level and at this point in their careers they all better be pros or our recruitment is way off