⚽Match Thread v Salford 15.09.23 [EFL L2]

[legs77]

I think at times you have to go long if nobody is on also mixing it up keeps the other team guessing too.

If we stuck to just passing it to our defenders then eventually good teams will squeeze you and push up as a unit to do this and then the ball over the top becomes a weapon if Neman’s, Jones or Langstaff time their runs.

[1955pie]

'Surely' might be over-egging it. It's a compromise, and a judgement call that's being vindicated for now by the wins.

But we know his first choice is 'control the game' and possession. My feeling is that it's not just an opposition's high press...through his experience with the players I don't think he's got maximum faith in their abilities to keep it. And we didn't recruit in that key right-sided defender role.

Just giving it back to them at least a half dozen times a game must piss him off. It'll be very interesting to see if it continues or not.

What you don't see a lot of though is our keeper throwing or passing it Kasper style to the midfielders/wide players. It's more like one of the back three or nothing. Is that wrong? If so, that might be a LW principle as well (sees those balls as risky?)

I've wondered why he doesn't roll it out sometimes as well. But then again I think the wingbacks aren't looking for it. Just like no-one looking for Nemanes throws.
I'm looking forward to the day, hopefully soon, when we again hear the chant of "We've got the ball! We've got the ball!" rolling on and on and on. Maybe it was just a dream.

[the_anticlough]

I've wondered why he doesn't roll it out sometimes as well. But then again I think the wingbacks aren't looking for it. Just like no-one looking for Nemanes throws.
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Yes, only the back 3 seem to make themselves available for the keeper, and the keeper only really looks to pass to them. We haven't seen a lot of the defenders charging into the open space ahead either
With Baldwin coming back and more familiarity for Stone and his teammates I think we're going to improve even more on the high standard we've set already. Lots of room for growth, which could come just in time for us to win those games against the L2 big boys in October.

[SmiffyPie]

Seems to me the preferred option for Stone is to play the ball out (and he is very good at it). His options are to kick it long if there are no obvious advantages to playing out to feet or he needs to push the opposition back or to just throw something into the mix. As for the 1in4 not finding a player, isn't the player involved in there as well? Looking down the line on Friday, Stone was pumping the ball to where Didzy was (or where he was expected to be) and found him nearly every time.
That long ball offers unpredictability and must be a LW approved option.

[the_anticlough]

Looking down the line on Friday, Stone was pumping the ball to where Didzy was (or where he was expected to be) and found him nearly every time.
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What I've wanted to do for the last 2 games is replay in full and note down every instance of Stone punting long and what happens to the ball. If I gave up 3 hrs of my time to do this, I'm absolutely sure the log wouldn't be saying 'found him nearly every time'

[SmiffyPie]

What I've wanted to do for the last 2 games is replay in full and note down every instance of Stone punting long and what happens to the ball. If I gave up 3 hrs of my time to do this, I'm absolutely sure the log wouldn't be saying 'found him nearly every time'

Well I didn't say the last two games did I? I indictated the Salford game. But do you concede that the "long punt" is generally intended to hit an area, not a specific head!

[the_anticlough]

Well I didn't say the last two games did I? I indictated the Salford game. But do you concede that the "long punt" is generally intended to hit an area, not a specific head!

It was you that was saying 'found him nearly every time', which I think is false.

And I can't 'concede' what I'm saying in the first place The whole thing about kicking 70 yards into an area that has more of their players than ours is that it gives up possession of the ball and ends up with them having it far more often than not.

[bule1]

Read this thread and I think we are in danger of getting a reasonable debate with no name calling. This should be stopped immediately!!

P.S. Agree with Smiffy that we should keep the long ball as an option and mix as the game dictates.

[BigFatPie]

Surprised at the stats cos I rate Stone as a keeper but I thought his longer kicking was pretty poor the other night. I like us going a bit more direct every now and again even though opposition managers seem to regard it as a tactical triumph when we do.

We’ve got such good technical players we’re always going to be a threat when win possession higher up the pitch.

[optipez]

'Surely' might be over-egging it. It's a compromise, and a judgement call that's being vindicated for now by the wins.

But we know his first choice is 'control the game' and possession. My feeling is that it's not just an opposition's high press...through his experience with the players I don't think he's got maximum faith in their abilities to keep it. And we didn't recruit in that key right-sided defender role.

Just giving it back to them at least a half dozen times a game must piss him off. It'll be very interesting to see if it continues or not.

What you don't see a lot of though is our keeper throwing or passing it Kasper style to the midfielders/wide players. It's more like one of the back three or nothing. Is that wrong? If so, that might be a LW principle as well (sees those balls as risky?)

We're very good at quickly pressing the ball back when lost so I think it makes good sense to risk losing the ball up the pitch, trying to win it back and play in the middle third rather than pressuring our defence into errors which have led to some very soft goals against when we get stuck in our own third of the pitch, especially away from home.