Tactics - what would you do differently?

[Jampie]

I don't, for two seconds, think I've got a better idea about tactics than anyone here, let alone compared to a professional manager.

But I am quite curious what you guys think we should be doing differently.

So to get the ball rolling, I'll post my idiotic, pig-ignorant thoughts below and you can make fun of them. Hopefully discussion will be constructive amidst the traditional personal insults and bizarre accusations as to my identity.

• We have, statistically, the strongest defence in the league. That tells me basically leave defence alone and focus on our attacking, which has been less than stellar.
• On the attacking front, I'm surprised by some of the stats. The midfield seem to be largely defensive, rarely getting assists or what I want to call second assists (second last guy to kick the ball before a goal), leaving just the strikers and wingers to actually win the matches. Now, when you're protecting a lead and playing defensively to keep the ball away from the opposition, that makes sense. But it doesn't, to me, when you're trying to score goals. Normally with our kind of setups, your CMs are your more creative passers. You'd expect them to be getting a little bit forward and try the occasional creative pass into space to create chances. But the stats say that just isn't happening, basically at all.

Actually, given that I'm not a fan of changing lots of stuff at once, and think it's likely our tactics are 80-90% where they need to be, since our performance is somewhere around there overall... I might only make these some small changes, and that's to do the following:

1. Make sure we always have one creative, attacking-capable CM on the field. If you've got someone more defensive (?) like Michael Doyle out there, try to always pair him up with someone with a bit more pace and creativity. Or maybe I'm reading him wrong, and HE's the guy that should be kicking the creative passes. Either way.
2. The attacking-focused CM should have the instructions to get a bit forward and try a few more creative passes when we're not leading the match. By all means, when we're ahead by even one goal, revert to a completely defensive midfield, if it's working. But if we're not on track for three points, that player should be firmly on the offensive.

You can absolutely win the league if you can only fight the top six teams to a draw... if you can consistently beat lower teams, and I'd suggest that's where we're falling down at the moment.

What are people's thoughts on countering the high press? I thought the traditional wisdom was that a high pressing team can be vulnerable to fast counterattacking, but we don't seem to try that in response. I'm sure I'm missing something... a lot of things, probably.

Warmest Regards,
John F. Kennedy

[Elite_Pie]

I don't, for two seconds, think I've got a better idea about tactics than anyone here, let alone compared to a professional manager.

But I am quite curious what you guys think we should be doing differently.

So to get the ball rolling, I'll post my idiotic, pig-ignorant thoughts below and you can make fun of them. Hopefully discussion will be constructive amidst the traditional personal insults and bizarre accusations as to my identity.

• We have, statistically, the strongest defence in the league. That tells me basically leave defence alone and focus on our attacking, which has been less than stellar.
• On the attacking front, I'm surprised by some of the stats. The midfield seem to be largely defensive, rarely getting assists or what I want to call second assists (second last guy to kick the ball before a goal), leaving just the strikers and wingers to actually win the matches. Now, when you're protecting a lead and playing defensively to keep the ball away from the opposition, that makes sense. But it doesn't, to me, when you're trying to score goals. Normally with our kind of setups, your CMs are your more creative passers. You'd expect them to be getting a little bit forward and try the occasional creative pass into space to create chances. But the stats say that just isn't happening, basically at all.

Actually, given that I'm not a fan of changing lots of stuff at once, and think it's likely our tactics are 80-90% where they need to be, since our performance is somewhere around there overall... I might only make these some small changes, and that's to do the following:

1. Make sure we always have one creative, attacking-capable CM on the field. If you've got someone more defensive (?) like Michael Doyle out there, try to always pair him up with someone with a bit more pace and creativity. Or maybe I'm reading him wrong, and HE's the guy that should be kicking the creative passes. Either way.
2. The attacking-focused CM should have the instructions to get a bit forward and try a few more creative passes when we're not leading the match. By all means, when we're ahead by even one goal, revert to a completely defensive midfield, if it's working. But if we're not on track for three points, that player should be firmly on the offensive.

You can absolutely win the league if you can only fight the top six teams to a draw... if you can consistently beat lower teams, and I'd suggest that's where we're falling down at the moment.

What are people's thoughts on countering the high press? I thought the traditional wisdom was that a high pressing team can be vulnerable to fast counterattacking, but we don't seem to try that in response. I'm sure I'm missing something... a lot of things, probably.

Warmest Regards,
John F. Kennedy

Interesting stuff JFK, but there were very similar questions to yours asked on a thread a few days ago.

You will probably get a lot of your answers here:

https://boards.footymad.net/showthre...8273098&page=6

[queenslandpie]

I don't, for two seconds, think I've got a better idea about tactics than anyone here, let alone compared to a professional manager.

But I am quite curious what you guys think we should be doing differently.

So to get the ball rolling, I'll post my idiotic, pig-ignorant thoughts below and you can make fun of them. Hopefully discussion will be constructive amidst the traditional personal insults and bizarre accusations as to my identity.

• We have, statistically, the strongest defence in the league. That tells me basically leave defence alone and focus on our attacking, which has been less than stellar.
• On the attacking front, I'm surprised by some of the stats. The midfield seem to be largely defensive, rarely getting assists or what I want to call second assists (second last guy to kick the ball before a goal), leaving just the strikers and wingers to actually win the matches. Now, when you're protecting a lead and playing defensively to keep the ball away from the opposition, that makes sense. But it doesn't, to me, when you're trying to score goals. Normally with our kind of setups, your CMs are your more creative passers. You'd expect them to be getting a little bit forward and try the occasional creative pass into space to create chances. But the stats say that just isn't happening, basically at all.

Actually, given that I'm not a fan of changing lots of stuff at once, and think it's likely our tactics are 80-90% where they need to be, since our performance is somewhere around there overall... I might only make these some small changes, and that's to do the following:

1. Make sure we always have one creative, attacking-capable CM on the field. If you've got someone more defensive (?) like Michael Doyle out there, try to always pair him up with someone with a bit more pace and creativity. Or maybe I'm reading him wrong, and HE's the guy that should be kicking the creative passes. Either way.
2. The attacking-focused CM should have the instructions to get a bit forward and try a few more creative passes when we're not leading the match. By all means, when we're ahead by even one goal, revert to a completely defensive midfield, if it's working. But if we're not on track for three points, that player should be firmly on the offensive.

You can absolutely win the league if you can only fight the top six teams to a draw... if you can consistently beat lower teams, and I'd suggest that's where we're falling down at the moment.

What are people's thoughts on countering the high press? I thought the traditional wisdom was that a high pressing team can be vulnerable to fast counterattacking, but we don't seem to try that in response. I'm sure I'm missing something... a lot of things, probably.

Warmest Regards,
John F. Kennedy

I thought you were dead.