Beans
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Morning S24SU - longtime reader, first-time poster here.
Given the utter tedium of the international break, I thought I’d have a pop at making a quick podcast about the Blades, looking back at the win over Hull and a few things that I learned from the game.
I’ve never made a podcast before, so I would really appreciate any and all feedback.
You can download it from Apple Podcasts (search "Blades Pod", or click here): https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/bladespod/id1309198119?mt=2
And it’s also on SoundCloud here:
It’s 18 minutes long and I talk briefly about our attacking attitude, our tactics, whether we’ve been “found out” in recent weeks, and why we no longer seem to draw any games.
If you like it, I would be incredibly grateful if you subscribed, and even moreso if you share it with your friends, family, loved ones, pets...
For anyone who can’t be bothered to listen to me yammer on for that length of time, here’s a transcribed snippet (minus all the umms and aaahs):
This was fun to put together so I hope you enjoy listening to it - thanks for your time and UTB!
Given the utter tedium of the international break, I thought I’d have a pop at making a quick podcast about the Blades, looking back at the win over Hull and a few things that I learned from the game.
I’ve never made a podcast before, so I would really appreciate any and all feedback.
You can download it from Apple Podcasts (search "Blades Pod", or click here): https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/bladespod/id1309198119?mt=2
And it’s also on SoundCloud here:
It’s 18 minutes long and I talk briefly about our attacking attitude, our tactics, whether we’ve been “found out” in recent weeks, and why we no longer seem to draw any games.
If you like it, I would be incredibly grateful if you subscribed, and even moreso if you share it with your friends, family, loved ones, pets...
For anyone who can’t be bothered to listen to me yammer on for that length of time, here’s a transcribed snippet (minus all the umms and aaahs):
Our “overlapping centre-halves” tactic isn’t some new scheme that’s winning us games because nobody knows about it or has ever seen it before, but I think the crucial thing is that it’s just really hard to stop. The whole point of that tactic is that it overloads the wing - that is to say, we create a situation where we have an extra man. The opposition fullback covers the wingback - say, Basham in the case of our first goal at the weekend - which then means that the centre-half gets outside unattended.
If the defence shunts over one, so the fullback is now covering Carter-Vickers as he makes that overlapping run - now we have more space inside for Clarke and Sharp to exploit. Or better yet, an opposition midfielder moves over to mark Basham or CCV - now Duffy, Coutts and Fleck have more space to work in. Needless to say, that is an outcome that makes me very happy.
Basically this tactic is a nightmare to match up against, which of course is exactly what it’s designed to be. We already have three central midfielders who are excellent at both moving the ball, and moving without the ball, so we create a numbers problem in the centre. Pushing two men wide at the same time just causes even more problems.
Are there risks? Sure, on the break. But again, we play three central defenders - so if one has gone forward, you’ve still got two back. Plus I also feel like Fleck or Coutts drop a little deeper just in case (and it’s partly why they’ve both been suspended already).
It should also go without saying that the REASON we’re able to play this way is because so many of our team are excellent on the ball - Carter-Vickers is still learning but O’Connell is a decent footballer, as is Basham. With respect to many of our defenders of recent vintage, I’m not sure many of them would be able to slot into this system, which is partly why it’s so successful today: we have the players to execute it.
If the defence shunts over one, so the fullback is now covering Carter-Vickers as he makes that overlapping run - now we have more space inside for Clarke and Sharp to exploit. Or better yet, an opposition midfielder moves over to mark Basham or CCV - now Duffy, Coutts and Fleck have more space to work in. Needless to say, that is an outcome that makes me very happy.
Basically this tactic is a nightmare to match up against, which of course is exactly what it’s designed to be. We already have three central midfielders who are excellent at both moving the ball, and moving without the ball, so we create a numbers problem in the centre. Pushing two men wide at the same time just causes even more problems.
Are there risks? Sure, on the break. But again, we play three central defenders - so if one has gone forward, you’ve still got two back. Plus I also feel like Fleck or Coutts drop a little deeper just in case (and it’s partly why they’ve both been suspended already).
It should also go without saying that the REASON we’re able to play this way is because so many of our team are excellent on the ball - Carter-Vickers is still learning but O’Connell is a decent footballer, as is Basham. With respect to many of our defenders of recent vintage, I’m not sure many of them would be able to slot into this system, which is partly why it’s so successful today: we have the players to execute it.
This was fun to put together so I hope you enjoy listening to it - thanks for your time and UTB!
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