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Swansea had the ball exactly where we wanted them to have the ball."- Neil Harris
And that's the problem with Williams - he did fck all to instruct our players to move the ball exactly there where WE needed to have the ball, and not there where Millwall wanted us to have the ball.
This sums up exactly why I think possession as a strategy is so over-rated. If the opposition is happy for you to have the ball, then who's really in control of the match?
1. I've never heard that any manager had possession alone as a strategy. Possession is just one of the many aspects of the game. Ideally it's possession + pressing + many touches in the opposition box + many shots + many shots on target + many accurate crosses and long balls + many successful dribbles + quick ball recoveries and transitions + good defending + good goalie. Possession is just the first step.
2. No team or footballer can be "happy" to watch the other team have all the possession. No team or footballer can be 'happy' chasing shadows on the pitch. It was so frustrating to play against Pep's Barcelona in the past and it is so frustrating to play against Pep's Manchester City today.
3. The team that has more possession has more control of the game, but that doesn't mean that it can't concede more shots, chances and goals during the period it doesn't have possession.
4. Neil Harris is full of shit and says he is happy for us to have the ball because he is incapable of doing anything other than the park-the-bus and quick transition strategy. It must be easy for him to be a coach.
5. It is extremely DIFFICULT to train a team of players to play a highly effective possession game because you are either FORCING opposing teams to play safe and park the bus or INVITING them to play a high risk football and press you high. Teams that play crappy possession football tend to concede more than they score. That's Swansea today. Teams that play good possession football tend to score much more than they concede.
6. Three of the top four teams in the Championship have most possession. Ipswich are 7th when it comes to possession stats but they compensate that with most shots. They are also second for shots on target. Ipswich have been lucky and they shouldn't have been promoted automatically. They have earned 13 points more than they deserved.
7. Three of the five clubs with the lowest possession stats have been relegated. The other two have been in relegation trouble for most of the season.
The three teams who have most possession have also most xPoints, xGoals and are top three for xGoals difference (difference between xGoals and xGoals against).
Possession in combination with high shot (on target) frequency is a winning strategy in the long term.
Possession with a low shot (on target) frequency is over-rated.
