Are We a Good Passing Team?

[Latters]

I've seen it said, mainly by people on here, rather than elsewhere or by fans of other clubs, that we are a good passing team, but are we really?

I've no doubt that we try to pass the ball around and don't tend to hoof for the sake of it. However, there is a difference between being a passing team and a good passing team. A good passing team will regularly create chances through good passing and movement. We do this occasionally at best. Good passing sides cope when they are being closed down quickly by upping their own tempo and tiring the opposition out. We just buckle and lose possession too easily, as was seen yesterday. We pass the ball around a lot when we are allowed to by the opposition. This is why we see a lot of sideways and backwards passes. We are being allowed to do this. We rarely manage to cut through teams because we just don't have the ability or incisiveness to do it. This isn't just the player passing the ball, it's the other blokes who should be making space for the man on the ball to pass it in to.

I think we are a passing team, but we aren't a good one. We lack the vision and movement to be a good passing side. This is down to a combination of players and management. The main problem with this is, when teams do close us down, we don't have the skill to up the tempo, but we don't have the players to alter our style and rough it up a bit either.

We seem to have chosen our direction, wanting to play the ball around on the floor, but before we have a chance of going anywhere with it, we need to get good at it first.

 

[super_pig]

doesn't matter. this is merely a stylistic nuance. this is not ice skating .. it is goals that count

 

[Bladebri]

Only if we let the teams below us pass us

 

[Deleted member 1486]

We are a passing team. We dominate possession and create most of the chances (although aren't as productive in front of goal as we could be). We're just shit at defending and keep getting hit on the break and then our confidence seems to go and the game-plan flies out the window.

I think it's a bit jarring because we're used to seeing the other side of the coin. I'm all for the change in the style of football we play, I just wish it would be a little more fruitful! Everyone was so busy shouting about the need for a striker that we seem to have forgotten to get a commanding defender (Morgan-like; if such a thing exists!).

 

[Bladesman]

We are a passing team. We dominate possession and create most of the chances (although aren't as productive in front of goal as we could be). We're just shit at defending and keep getting hit on the break and then our confidence seems to go and the game-plan flies out the window.

I think it's a bit jarring because we're used to seeing the other side of the coin. I'm all for the change in the style of football we play, I just wish it would be a little more fruitful! Everyone was so busy shouting about the need for a striker that we seem to have forgotten to get a commanding defender (Morgan-like; if such a thing exists!).

Morgan like defenders are few and far between.

 

[Blade58]

I would say average at best

We give the ball away too cheaply

Not enough players find space and make themselves available, (unless it's across the back) limiting the ball players options, resulting in giving up possession

 

[yorkshirecoast]

A pub side could pass it sideways and backwards, with no tempo, the way we do. But when we eventually do try to make a positive pass we generally just give it a way.

 

[sitwell]

A pub side could pass it sideways and backwards, with no tempo, the way we do. But when we eventually do try to make a positive pass we generally just give it a way.

14 shots on goal would suggest differently ,that should easily be adequate to win a home game.

 

[sheffielder]

We're not a very good passing team because most of the team is too lazy to make space to receive a pass. We are probably the laziest team in the division, and I think we get caught out a lot because teams put in high energy performances against us, like we do to teams in the cup.

We don't even put pressure on teams who play out from a goal keeper, and for the most part 9 players are in our own half when the kick is taking. We don't go to the ball until they hit the half way line. If we win the ball in our half, how are we expected to pass out? Our midfield ends up playing with it's back to goal. Our wingers even come back to the ball rather than stretching their full back.

Raise the tempo and try and win the ball as high up the pitch you can. This creates spaces and allows you to pass the ball. I can see how Murphy is tired at the moment, because we try to give him as much of the ball as possible in the 2nd half and has played nearly every game. If anyone else is 'tired' that really is poor and a mentality issue.

 

[sheffielder]

14 shots on goal would suggest differently ,that should easily be adequate to win a home game.

4 on target, the same as them

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

14 shots on goal would suggest differently ,that should easily be adequate to win a home game.

Statistics can also be deceiving. How many of those 14 shots were genuine goal scoring opportunities? Even if most of them were you would have to ask whether we have good enough forwards.....yes that old chestnut!

 

[Kenilworth]

14 shots on goal would suggest differently ,that should easily be adequate to win a home game.

Garbage. One shot on target
The other one that had the keeper scrambling was the one he got down to from Murphy was probably the wrong side of the post. Other than that the keepe could have sat with us on the kop.

14 shots and only one of any quality is not good enough to win an egg and spoon race. By all means support them to the hilt but don't kid yourself and others that it was anything other than woefully inadequate yesterday.

 

[Kenilworth]

We're not a very good passing team because most of the team is too lazy to make space to receive a pass. We are probably the laziest team in the division, and I think we get caught out a lot because teams put in high energy performances against us, like we do to teams in the cup.

We don't even put pressure on teams who play out from a goal keeper, and for the most part 9 players are in our own half when the kick is taking. We don't go to the ball until they hit the half way line. If we win the ball in our half, how are we expected to pass out? Our midfield ends up playing with it's back to goal. Our wingers even come back to the ball rather than stretching their full back.

Raise the tempo and try and win the ball as high up the pitch you can. This creates spaces and allows you to pass the ball. I can see how Murphy is tired at the moment, because we try to give him as much of the ball as possible in the 2nd half and has played nearly every game. If anyone else is 'tired' that really is poor and a mentality issue.

Are we lazy or playing to a paintng by numbers system?

Certainly weren't lazy vs W Ham, QPR or Spurs, bristol c away so why against he shit teams. It's the style and the way we are set up that means we fail to deliver. And that's management

 

[sitwell]

Are we lazy or playing to a paintng by numbers system?

Certainly weren't lazy vs W Ham, QPR or Spurs, bristol c away so why against he shit teams. It's the style and the way we are set up that means we fail to deliver. And that's management

Explain Scunthorpe to me then.

 

[Latters]

Explain Scunthorpe to me then.

Unfortunately there haven't been many "Scunthorpe"s though, suggesting that it was more exception than rule.

 

[Kenilworth]

Explain Scunthorpe to me then.

Flynn

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Morgan like defenders are few and far between.

Morgan was a one off - but that still doesn't mean we should play almost the entire season without recognised, accomplished centre halves.

We have been caught out bucket loads of times this season.

At every level of football, teams have round pegs in round holes with the occasional fill in by another player - Clough seems to have settled on midfield & full backs - just find it staggering - We never did it in Sunday football at Graves park - never mid a professional club.

If we were deficient enough to bring in Paddy from Palace before to "solve" a problem, we are surely deficient now. All I see yet again is stubborn belligerence from the manager. Just hope for his sake he gets the play offs right as I don't want to start again with another management team.

UTB

 

[mark hones]

Explain Scunthorpe to me then.

Ok, talk to me about Fleetwood.

 

[sitwell]

Ok, talk to me about Fleetwood.

Players not doing their job well enough ,just follow the thread.

 

[Pittsburg Blade]

It's an interesting question. You see the difference when you watch Barcelona who need just one touch to pass and not two or three controlling touches first. Mainly because the receiving player has somehow created the space. It's mind-boggling sometimes. (Edit -I now notice earlier posts have said the same thing which proves I'm not the only footballing genius on here)

 

[yorkshirecoast]

Players not doing their job well enough ,just follow the thread.

That - and also Clough's woeful tactics and team selections.

I know you won't hear a word said against Clough - but the ratings on here suggest the majority seem to think he isn't doing his job properly. A truly shocking 1.58 out of 10 after 34 votes for yesterday's match - lower than any of the players. And similar marks for many other games.

I agree the players are to blame too. Unfortunately many of them, largely Clough signings, don't seem up to it.

 

[Bladebri]

This is a post off blades mad, the Wendy's have put it on there site and taking the piss.

3
Posted 28 Mar 2015 17:07
re: Just not good enough
That's me done. I apologise for my language but I'm fuming.
I stopped going to the games many years ago after a long spell living away from Sheffield. I just got out of the habit of going but I still had to listen or watch on TV whenever I could.
Although I still turn up to an odd game now and then and up to now still post on this website nothing makes me happy about supporting this God damn awful f@cking football club...Nothing.

So I'm done with it altogether, no posting, no listening, no watching...f@ck it.

The lack of basic common decent professionalism surrounding this b@stard club is a f@cking nightmare and I'm not ruining another second of my life letting it annoy me.

Bye United, thanks for absolutely f@cking nothing in my entire 53 years on this planet, you bunch of absolute waste of f@cking spacers have even managed to turn what could end up as a promotional season into something sh@t. In spite of the absolute sh@t that you've managed to heap on every fan that ever supported you that really does take some doing.
A w@nk potential promotion, only United could manage that

 

[sitwell]

That - and also Clough's woeful tactics and team selections.

I know you won't hear a word said against Clough - but the ratings on here suggest the majority seem to think he isn't doing his job properly. A truly shocking 1.58 out of 10 after 34 votes for yesterday's match - lower than any of the players. And similar marks for many other games.

I agree the players are to blame too. Unfortunately many of them, largely Clough signings, don't seem up to it.

Not true ,I have criticised Clough a few times ,especially regarding Baxter (you must have noticed ).
Be honest would you have changed the team, formation or tactics from the Scunthorpe yesterday.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Morgan was a one off - but that still doesn't mean we should play almost the entire season without recognised, accomplished centre halves.

We have been caught out bucket loads of times this season.

At every level of football, teams have round pegs in round holes with the occasional fill in by another player - Clough seems to have settled on midfield & full backs - just find it staggering - We never did it in Sunday football at Graves park - never mid a professional club.

If we were deficient enough to bring in Paddy from Palace before to "solve" a problem, we are surely deficient now. All I see yet again is stubborn belligerence from the manager. Just hope for his sake he gets the play offs right as I don't want to start again with another management team.

UTB

And you have been one of his biggest supporters over the months, indeed until recently, so where does that leave him now. Good point about McCarthy

 

[yorkshirecoast]

Not true ,I have criticised Clough a few times ,especially regarding Baxter (you must have noticed ).
Be honest would you have changed the team, formation or tactics from the Scunthorpe yesterday.

Scunthorpe - once we scored - was really good and I was one of the first to come on here and say so. We adopted a far more positive approach, attacked in numbers and played at a higher tempo. Yesterday the team was virtually the same but the approach was completely different. We reverted back to the slow, sideways and backwards passing that we have seen in most league games this season. It bores the fans to tears and doesn't produce results.

To answer your question - on this occasion the starting team was fine (I was talking more generally about problems with selection in my last post). What wasn't acceptable was the style of play and the ludicrous substitutions (and yes I know players went off injured but 2 of the 3 subs saw us bring on more defensive players than we took off).

 

[Woodwardfan]

This is a post off blades mad, the Wendy's have put it on there site and taking the piss.

3
Posted 28 Mar 2015 17:07
re: Just not good enough
That's me done. I apologise for my language but I'm fuming.
I stopped going to the games many years ago after a long spell living away from Sheffield. I just got out of the habit of going but I still had to listen or watch on TV whenever I could.
Although I still turn up to an odd game now and then and up to now still post on this website nothing makes me happy about supporting this God damn awful f@cking football club...Nothing.

So I'm done with it altogether, no posting, no listening, no watching...f@ck it.

The lack of basic common decent professionalism surrounding this b@stard club is a f@cking nightmare and I'm not ruining another second of my life letting it annoy me.

Bye United, thanks for absolutely f@cking nothing in my entire 53 years on this planet, you bunch of absolute waste of f@cking spacers have even managed to turn what could end up as a promotional season into something sh@t. In spite of the absolute sh@t that you've managed to heap on every fan that ever supported you that really does take some doing.
A w@nk potential promotion, only United could manage that

Out of place on here. Totally irrelevant.

 

[Bladebri]

Out of place on here. Totally irrelevant.

Point taken.

 

[Bergen Blade]

We pass the ball around a lot when we are allowed to by the opposition. This is why we see a lot of sideways and backwards passes. We are being allowed to do this. We rarely manage to cut through teams because we just don't have the ability or incisiveness to do it. This isn't just the player passing the ball, it's the other blokes who should be making space for the man on the ball to pass it in to.

It's an interesting question. You see the difference when you watch Barcelona who need just one touch to pass and not two or three controlling touches first. Mainly because the receiving player has somehow created the space. It's mind-boggling sometimes. (Edit -I now notice earlier posts have said the same thing which proves I'm not the only footballing genius on here)

It can be difficult when the opposition backs off, but it makes it even more important to exploit space when it's there. Then you need movement and you need to be determined to make use of it.

A situation I noticed from the video yesterday:

Basham breaks out of the back four on the ball and the Crewe midfielders are struggling a bit to catch up. Good! At this point we have several players moving forward and a lot of the Crewe players are facing their own goal. Freeman is running into space out wide and a simple ball to him would enable him to

1. Make an early cross
2. Run at the full back
3. Pass quickly to the forward running Holt

We have done well up to this point.



But what happens? Basham continues his run on the ball thereby ruining the space that was there for a sprinting Freeman. Basham slows down, eventually passes it backwards to Freeman, who at this point has also stopped his movement, and the same has happened to Holt and Baxter's runs:




Freeman then has to cut inside and basically start again, trying to get past all the Crewe players.

Note how all the Crewe players in the photo below are now behind the ball and no longer facing their own goal. Also note how the three United players in the photo have both stopped their movement AND have their backs to goal!



We have wasted the good opportunity that Basham's first initiative created, and made it harder for ourselves to create something. I think we do things like this too often.

 

[Pittsburg Blade]

It can be difficult when the opposition backs off, but it makes it even more important to exploit space when it's there. Then you need movement and you need to be determined to make use of it.

A situation I noticed from the video yesterday:

Basham breaks out of the back four on the ball and the Crewe midfielders are struggling a bit to catch up. Good! At this point we have several players moving forward and a lot of the Crewe players are facing their own goal. Freeman is running into space out wide and a simple ball to him would enable him to

1. Make an early cross
2. Run at the full back
3. Pass quickly to the forward running Holt

We have done well up to this point.

View attachment 11165

But what happens? Basham continues his run on the ball thereby ruining the space that was there for a sprinting Freeman. Basham slows down, eventually passes it backwards to Freeman, who at this point has also stopped his movement, and the same has happened to Holt and Baxter's runs:


View attachment 11166

Freeman then has to cut inside and basically start again, trying to get past all the Crewe players.

Note how all the Crewe players in the photo below are now behind the ball and no longer facing their own goal. Also note how the three United players in the photo have both stopped their movement AND have their backs to goal!

View attachment 11167

We have wasted the good opportunity that Basham's first initiative created, and made it harder for ourselves to create something. I think we do things like this too often.

Dunno if you watched the Holland vs Turkey game yesterday, but the Dutch had exactly the same problem. The crowd were freaking out at the number of times attacks stalled or went backwards to keep possession. The breakthrough only came when they started going long and peppering the box with crosses. Desperate stuff that paid off. Not that a draw did either team any good, but it might have just saved the Cloggy Managers' job.
Proof that hoof to the big goof works even at International level.

 

[Billytheblade]

No we aren't that's why we give away possession so often and so easily. It's not just passing its having players looking for space to receive a pass not hiding behind opponents.

Clough should have realised by now he doesn't have players to play this way. We need strength, height and PACE, lots of pace throughout.

He as to give the players some freedom to play.


ANYWAY CLOUGH OUT