Houston, we have a problem

CroJack

Key Player
Plymouth Argyle v Swansea City

Although I didn't expect much from an early friendly match during pre-season I still expected some improvements on our style of play from last season.

I must say I was disappoined after the match.

1. Defensively we were as poor as last season.

We allowed many crosses, especially from the left flank, and conceded many shots. We'll be in a big trouble in the Championship if we continue to allow so many crosses and concede so many shots.

Why is this happening?

A) Well, the 'style' of football Martin is trying to implement is doomed to failure without full-backs, centre-backs and defensive midfielders who have lot of pace. When you play high back line you have to have pace to counter opposition pacey wingers and strikers.

Last season Martin played Naughton as a centre-back pivot in front of Fisher with two slow centre-backs pushed high and wide. There was an open highway on the both flanks for opposition to attack and put crosses in. A simple lob-pass over or a pass behind Bennett and Cabango, and we were in trouble. Against Plymouth we saw the samme pattern. A lob-pass over or a pass behind Latibeaudiere, and we were in trouble again and again. Latibeaudiere was simply too slow for Plymouth's number 14 Mickel Miller.

B) Crosses lead to shots, but in our case many shots against us are result of sloppy passing in our own third when we are under pressure. We try to pass us out of trouble and when opposition is stubborn enough in their pressing our sloppy passes are inevitable in and around our box. Opposition doesn't need creative players when we create huge chances for them. I saw a slight improvement against Plymouth, we didn't always try to pass us out of pressing, which is good.

2. We don't create many chances, we should be playing a more direct football, we don't shoot enough, and our crossing is poor

Our only big chance against Plymouth came after a couple of direct forward passes through the middle to Obafemi who completely missed the target when he was one-on-one with the Plymouth keeper.

Obi-1.jpg
Obi-2.jpg
Obi-3.jpg

We could have created many more chances like the one above had we been more direct in our passing. The trouble is the vast majority of our passes are still sideways and backwards passes. Why is this happening? We shouldn't be asking WHY, but WHO?
 
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CroJack

Key Player
Ok, let's see who were the players who had a chance to pass the ball directly forward but instead chose to pass it either backwards or sideways.

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Here is Ntcham

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ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Very informative and interesting, CJ. Our football is too safe and we lack the courage to risk losing possession in order to get more directly and more quickly in on goal when we have the chance. And, of course, some of our players just don't have the vision to see what's on in front of them and opt for the safe pass backwards or sideways.
 

CroJack

Key Player
And Martin has to stop experimenting. Lati can't play as a full-back, and Naughton is not a centre-back.

I liked the formation from the first half, but Lati and Ntcham were really poor.










Formation-1.jpg
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Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Cabango is training well.

Manning was disruptive when he came on. He provided more impetus going forward, but at the expense of going chaotic at the back. A LB/LWB he is not; like Lati, limited positional savvy couples with a lack of speed

Naughton has to play on the right side. We need Garrick or somebody like him to start playing on the wing and being an attacking force there.

All of the minimal risk passing play is the Martin Model. What do they do in practice that is enforcing this
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
We don't have another match for over a week - Charlton. No keeper other than Fisher has been tested in a real game yet.

Martin has a whole week to coach some punch into his offense. How can a team with Piroe and Obafemi be so anaemic against Plymouth. @CroJack excellent analysis explains what is happening ... but Martin really needs to get to grips with this because we have talent on the field that's being underutilized.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Don't we have a BCD game against Bristol Rovers before then?
I guess so ... but what does this translate to ... lower level opposition that's not going to test / stretch anyone. We're going to "look good" with a "good reaction". Everybody will get a faux pat on the back.

We need to go up against a side that's going to physically, mentally and technically challenge us and if we're not up to it bang several goals up our back side .... in fact show the inherent weakness of our keeper and the collection of misfits in front of him. Misfits in the sense of weak full backs and players in roles that they don't fit.

Nobody learns anything from success (if you can call Argyle a success). The only thing you know from that is that you were not challenged enough by the competition.

Reminds me of when I used to warm up a keeper before a game. Tip, tap, pit, pat ... everything was nice neat and tidy and easy to handle. Then the whistle would blow to call an end to the warm up and I'd drill one between the keeper's legs just under his balls to make sure he was awake and ready.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Agree with you but weren't Rovers promoted last gasp at the end of the season? I guess they'll be up for the game to see how they rate against higher opposition. And you can bet that Joey Barton, their manager, will be wanting to see some aggression and fight from his team. Don't like the guy one iota but you can't fault his attitude. A balance between Barton and Martin would be ideal for us I thnk.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Rovers are a L1 side. As are Plymouth and Charlton.

Our first encounter against a peer or better is going to be Rotherham away .... great planning that. Rotherham is going to be the wake up call.
 

KVetch

Key Player
These are great graphics, frustrating to see the missed chances. I will give them the benefit of the doubt up until Rotherham. We could do with a consistent fullback.
 

lliwt yr lavac

Key Player
Well done CroJack for showing clearly what’s wrong. I know it’s only a friendly but it’s the same pattern of play as last season, always the safe and easy pass, sideways and back, and flanks exposed as wing backs go high up field. The opposition just need to sit and wait for the mistakes. Is it Martin instructing them to do this or are we lacking players with enough skill to open up defences? Will it all suddenly come right at Rotherham, unlikely from what we’ve seen so far.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Martin keeps touting how brave his players are. Whereas, as @lliwt yr lavac has just stated and @CroJack has illustrated, it’s the exact opposite. They are not brave, but risk averse. Bravery would demand that the players pass as @CroJack has outlined, seeing and seeking players that are moving and attacking space, then hitting them with passes that they could progress forward with or putting in crosses to stress defenders that forwards could attack or take advantage of weakness and fumbles … the Piroe goal

we are being fed a line of bs on a constant basis.
 

CroJack

Key Player
Is it Martin instructing them to do this or are we lacking players with enough skill to open up defences?
Martin has been with us for almost a year, so I'd say he's been instructing them to play like they do. It's a pattern. You don't need much skill to open up defences. It's more about the mindset and a weak manager who doesn't tell the players what they are supposed to do.
  • Pass the ball back only if you don't have any other options, and if there aren't any options then something's wrong - one or more players don't move to recieve the ball in advanced postitions. If they don't move then it's Martin's duty to remind them what they are supposed to do. If they repeatedly don't move, then get rid of them and find players who are able to play pass'n'move football. We can see in the examples above that our attackers move to recieve the ball but our midfielders (Ntcham) 'can't see' them to pass the ball to them. So, either Ntcham has to change or get rid of him. We can't afford midfielders who 'can't see' our attackers.
  • If you are not skillful enough to take on opposition defenders then put a cross in, and do it immediately when you enter opposition third. If you don't do that, then it's manager's duty to remind you what you are supposed to do, and if you refuse to listen, then bye, bye...
Though, it can be worse, which means Martin is unaware of what is going on, or he is aware but doesn't know how to fix it.

Martin has all modern tools he can use to fix the problems. He has a video analyst, performance analyst, you name it...

I think he's told the players to pass the ball around, hypnotise opposition, find an opening, and then strike. The problem with this approach is:

1. It's too risky. Your back line is (too) high, and you are vulnerable to counter-attacks. If you slowly pass the ball it's easy to intercept or stole it.

2. You don't create high quality chances.

3. You create only a few chances per match.
 
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