Defend over Attack or Attack over Defend?
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2019 11:45 amMany people advocate that the best form of defence is attack and i have to admit that is my thinking as well.
However to have such a policy the team needs to attack in numbers, something that we simply do not do.
Too often yesterday (and in previous games ) we've had a single player doing his best to break down an opposition defence with little or no support of his team mates. Time after time we opted for the long ball out of defence or from our goalkeepers distribution hoping that our single player up top would be able to control the ball and hold it long enough for some support. Unfortunately time after time it proved fruitless. Even when we had the infrequent opportunities to break out of defence we pondered and passed backwards or sideways, eventually deciding to get the ball forward more often that not by returning to hoofball football.
However compare that tactic to the way that Boro attacked in numbers.
There was one particular case that showed for me the complete difference in the way we play.
A poor corner by Mandy was delivered directly to a Boro defender on the edge of their box. He controlled the ball and broke out of defence and at the same time up to 5 Boro players rushed forward and within the blink of an eye appeared in our box looking to capitalise on our mistake. Had that been us in a similar situation we would have taken our time and eventually got into the oppositions penalty box with possible two or even at a push 3 players. We simply do not push enough players forward and then we wonder why we don't score enough goals.
Another thing that struck me yesterday and in games past is the way that the opposition always play with at least one player playing on the shoulder of our last man, thereby putting the defender under constant pressure. I can't recall at any time when we've opted for a similar style by playing off the shoulder of the opponents last man. We persist in having a single striker playing at least 5 yards off the last man. They say that our PM refuses to change, well JB for me refuses to change blaming everybody for our failings but refusing to accept that his playing style and tactics are wrong. The only time we've opted to have a dual striking partnership was Oswell and Oliver and we played to win that game but subsequently we all know what has happened since.
It's about time that our management team looked at their tactics and changed before it's too bloody late although I'm fear full that it is already too late and the National league beckons for an eternity. Better clubs have been relegated from the EFL and are finding it difficult if not impossible to get back. ie Stockport who now operate in the league below even the National. I can see us going that way unless something is done within the next few weeks to halt our decline into obscurity.
JB is and always will be a club legend but everybody has his or her sell by date and as much as it pains me to say it, I seriously think that it's getting close to calling time on our former player, captain and current manager. For me I think he's running out of options and we need a new on field thinking rather than a reliant on the same old, same old.
People argue that their is no options but to stick with JB and Co. But season after season we live with the threat of relegation as if it has become the norm. There are options and there are managers past and present who would jump at the chance to manager our great club. That's in the very nature of the beast. So i don't go along with the thinking that there are no alternatives. There are if we seriously as a club put our EFL status above that of retaining the current manager come hell or high water.
There will be loads of fans who do not agree with me and I accept their right to think like that but for me the survival of OUR club is far more important than the survival of a club legend who has simply not delivered season after season....and that hurts...
However to have such a policy the team needs to attack in numbers, something that we simply do not do.
Too often yesterday (and in previous games ) we've had a single player doing his best to break down an opposition defence with little or no support of his team mates. Time after time we opted for the long ball out of defence or from our goalkeepers distribution hoping that our single player up top would be able to control the ball and hold it long enough for some support. Unfortunately time after time it proved fruitless. Even when we had the infrequent opportunities to break out of defence we pondered and passed backwards or sideways, eventually deciding to get the ball forward more often that not by returning to hoofball football.
However compare that tactic to the way that Boro attacked in numbers.
There was one particular case that showed for me the complete difference in the way we play.
A poor corner by Mandy was delivered directly to a Boro defender on the edge of their box. He controlled the ball and broke out of defence and at the same time up to 5 Boro players rushed forward and within the blink of an eye appeared in our box looking to capitalise on our mistake. Had that been us in a similar situation we would have taken our time and eventually got into the oppositions penalty box with possible two or even at a push 3 players. We simply do not push enough players forward and then we wonder why we don't score enough goals.
Another thing that struck me yesterday and in games past is the way that the opposition always play with at least one player playing on the shoulder of our last man, thereby putting the defender under constant pressure. I can't recall at any time when we've opted for a similar style by playing off the shoulder of the opponents last man. We persist in having a single striker playing at least 5 yards off the last man. They say that our PM refuses to change, well JB for me refuses to change blaming everybody for our failings but refusing to accept that his playing style and tactics are wrong. The only time we've opted to have a dual striking partnership was Oswell and Oliver and we played to win that game but subsequently we all know what has happened since.
It's about time that our management team looked at their tactics and changed before it's too bloody late although I'm fear full that it is already too late and the National league beckons for an eternity. Better clubs have been relegated from the EFL and are finding it difficult if not impossible to get back. ie Stockport who now operate in the league below even the National. I can see us going that way unless something is done within the next few weeks to halt our decline into obscurity.
JB is and always will be a club legend but everybody has his or her sell by date and as much as it pains me to say it, I seriously think that it's getting close to calling time on our former player, captain and current manager. For me I think he's running out of options and we need a new on field thinking rather than a reliant on the same old, same old.
People argue that their is no options but to stick with JB and Co. But season after season we live with the threat of relegation as if it has become the norm. There are options and there are managers past and present who would jump at the chance to manager our great club. That's in the very nature of the beast. So i don't go along with the thinking that there are no alternatives. There are if we seriously as a club put our EFL status above that of retaining the current manager come hell or high water.
There will be loads of fans who do not agree with me and I accept their right to think like that but for me the survival of OUR club is far more important than the survival of a club legend who has simply not delivered season after season....and that hurts...