Notts and ‘The High Press’

[drillerpie]

I'm a bit of an ideologue on this one, especially in terms of lower league football.

It's much easier for a non-league forward to harry and tackle (all you need is pace and strength, most of them have got that) than it is for a non-league defender to receive the ball in tight areas, turn and pick a pass.

The refs are against you (they allow way more physical contact)

The pitches are usually against you (muddy, bobbly, uneven)

If you play through the press you still have a lot to do to score a goal, if they catch you in possession they're straight through on goal (or will be with one more pass)

Before anyone starts this is not an ode to hoofball. If you hoof it every time the effect is the same - the opposition know what's coming and set up for it. You need to mix it up.

[Davy500]

It’s hard to deny that Notts struggled with teams that pressed us high up the pitch last season but having watched the last two games it is good to see that the manager has took this on board and taken steps to deal better with this system through a change in formation and through the personnel he has managed to recruit.

The high press is very effective against teams who don’t possess the midfield ingenuity to be able to expose the obvious flaws in such a system and with the midfield flat 4 of last season with Rose playing every game we lacked that touch and imagination to make the most of the space behind the high press.

Moving to a more compact diamond formation and the recruitment of players who are much more comfortable on the ball than previous players has, and will, see us be able to move the ball much faster through the pitch via neat one and two touch football....and it seems we certainly have the players to do that now.

It was scrappy at times on Saturday, especially the first half, but it was clear to me that Neal is addressing one of our biggest weaknesses from last season in a logical manner. Fingers crossed that once the players are more familiar with each other, and the new system, that we can produce some fine displays.

Luckily for Notts there will probably be only a couple of the stronger teams that play with a high press, last year it was Barrow and harragate,and Notts are unlikely to have to deal with it very often, unless of course we reach the play offs again, and these teams will do their homework on us, and play like that against Notts. Ultimately it is something Notts will have to deal with, because if we get back to League 2, many more teams there will play like this
Generally speaking, Notts will face teams that park the bus, or play for a point( mid to lower teams ) , and it will be down to us to break them down . The way forward is to get more wins against these tpyes of teams, giving us a shot at being champions

[crazyfists]

We've got to move the ball quicker this season, we didn't have good enough players to do that last season but once rodriguez and reeves start to click this hopefully will happen.

[ncfcog]

We've got to move the ball quicker this season, we didn't have good enough players to do that last season but once rodriguez and reeves start to click this hopefully will happen.

Agreed, and I think this is the reason for trying to get the players used to playing in a different shape, ie with the diamond formation. This really plays to the strengths of players you mention like Ruben and Reeves and could be the difference this season, if they can get their heads around it!

[The_Don_ORiordan]

Agreed, and I think this is the reason for trying to get the players used to playing in a different shape, ie with the diamond formation. This really plays to the strengths of players you mention like Ruben and Reeves and could be the difference this season, if they can get their heads around it!

You just know 20mins into the season if we are a goal down that someone will pipe up wanting 4-4-2....

I’m hopeful, but not confident. This is a really difficult league to get out. I think we’ve signed better players than last season, and I think the manager with football radar should take the credit for that.

My concern is that unless we start coming out to win games from the first minute this season it’s going to be playoffs at best. And the manager unfortunately still doesn’t seem capable of getting the players to do that. Fingers crossed I’m wrong. COYP

[jackal2]

It basically comes down to how you like your football.

The supporters of some clubs, including West Ham and Nottingham Forest, effectively demand that their managers and teams play the passing game. Managers of Forest who have dared to deviate significantly from this ethos haven't done so for long before hearing chants of "We're Nottingham Forest, we play on the floor!". No doubt the cultures of both clubs and their support base are ingrained by the success they enjoyed under managers like Brian Clough and John Lyall who favoured the beautiful game.

In contrast, although Jimmy Sirrel's teams could certainly play an attractive passing game, subsequent generations of Notts fans including me have witnessed the greatest success under the more direct tactics of Neil Warnock and Sam Allardyce, both of whom often get categorised as long ball merchants, but who actually didn't mind football being played ... as long as it was in the opponent's half!

Maybe this explains why the younger fans in particular get impatient with managers who seek to play from the back. It's is almost certainly easier for an incoming manager to get fast results using the more direct style, because you can play that with less gifted footballers, whereas a more complex passing game requires the careful recruitment of more skilled players.

Perhaps Neal Ardley deserves credit for not taking the easy shortcuts, but trying to build a more expansive, passing team, even though that takes longer to perfect. It's a risky business in the lower leagues where brawn sometimes outdoes brain, but he's clearly trying to sign more technically gifted players and give them the time and patience to develop a style. Some of the best teams in various leagues have been steadily developed in this way, with managers and fans showing tolerance when it doesn't quite click, but eventually gaining their reward in attractive and winning football.

Good luck to him. There are no guarantees, but surely it's a laudable aim.

[Elite_Pie]

Good luck to him. There are no guarantees, but surely it's a laudable aim.

Not really. It's only a laudable aim if it works. Our sole objective at the moment is to regain Football League status by whatever method is most effective, and I'm not sure Ardley's tippy-tappy stuff fits the bill. I can't see many Notts fans being happy to say in a few years "we may still be non-league, but at least we tried to pass the ball rather than go direct like the clubs that got promoted".

[jackal2]

Not really. It's only a laudable aim if it works. Our sole objective at the moment is to regain Football League status by whatever method is most effective, and I'm not sure Ardley's tippy-tappy stuff fits the bill. I can't see many Notts fans being happy to say in a few years "we may still be non-league, but at least we tried to pass the ball rather than go direct like the clubs that got promoted".

I'm sure you're right. But they could equally be saying in a few years' time "I'm glad we stuck with Ardley over the first 18 months because now we're in League One, challenging for promotion to the Championship and playing great football to boot!"

Time will tell, and patience of course cannot last forever, but having seen the results of ten years (nay, more) of chopping and changing managers and playing some dire football in that time, I'm willing to give this revolutionary new approach some tolerance!

[Glad2BeAPie]

Luckily for Notts there will probably be only a couple of the stronger teams that play with a high press, last year it was Barrow and harragate,and Notts are unlikely to have to deal with it very often, unless of course we reach the play offs again, and these teams will do their homework on us, and play like that against Notts. Ultimately it is something Notts will have to deal with, because if we get back to League 2, many more teams there will play like this
Generally speaking, Notts will face teams that park the bus, or play for a point( mid to lower teams ) , and it will be down to us to break them down . The way forward is to get more wins against these tpyes of teams, giving us a shot at being champions

Harragate ffs

[Elite_Pie]

Harragate ffs

Bloody spelling police out again!

Don't you just hate them.