Hoooooooof

[I should coco]

Don't forget Bolton at the Lane last season were a multi faceted side with TWO tactical ploys.

As well as the retro-hoof, they also deployed the Barcelona-esqe 'Fall down a lot just outside our box to win a free kick' stratagem. This clever and highly complex play cannot be done justice with mere words. It has to beheld in the flesh to properly appreciate the beauty and artistry of their game.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

Exactly, you wouldn't go up to Kevin De Bruyne and go "Ere Kev, you're a hoofing bastard aren't you".

If we could score reliably from goal kicks to Leon I wouldn't complain.

A good long ball is a thing of beauty, and who gives a shit as long as we get 3 points at the end of the match.

True.

Tony Currie was the best long-ball merchant I ever saw.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Exactly, you wouldn't go up to Kevin De Bruyne and go "Ere Kev, you're a hoofing bastard aren't you".

If we could score reliably from goal kicks to Leon I wouldn't complain.

A good long ball is a thing of beauty, and who gives a shit as long as we get 3 points at the end of the match.

Probably the most sensible post on the thread.

"Attractive football" is the ball flying into the net, and that's that.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

Bolton are the new Wimbledon, all about set pieces and percentage football , yep it’s about utilising what you’ve got and we’ve been down that route I’m the past , but fucking awful to watch , The bit I don’t get with Parkinson is they’ve got Vela who is decent midfield player and someone who I wouldn’t mind seeing at our place , Yeh you do have to vary your style of football as if you play too short sides will sit deep as we know , the difference is Bolton that Lundstrams ball to Donaldson on Sat was a lovely pass not just a aimless ball into the channels to turn the full backs & work a position for a long throw ,

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

Against these fuckers though, at the Lane, we need yo outplay them our way. You could see the passing and triangles reemerging against villa in particular so we need to persevere with that.

 

[LenTednTony]

Bolton are the new Wimbledon, all about set pieces and percentage football , yep it’s about utilising what you’ve got and we’ve been down that route I’m the past , but fucking awful to watch , The bit I don’t get with Parkinson is they’ve got Vela who is decent midfield player and someone who I wouldn’t mind seeing at our place , Yeh you do have to vary your style of football as if you play too short sides will sit deep as we know , the difference is Bolton that Lundstrams ball to Donaldson on Sat was a lovely pass not just a aimless ball into the channels to turn the full backs & work a position for a long throw ,

Exactly this. Take a look at Ferguson’s Manure of the past. Masterly exponents of a long pass. Brian Cloughs Forest and Derby and, of course, our very own Tony Currie times. A long pass, on the ground, in the air, into the channels or cross field, is a joy to behold.

 

[steve26272]

is this not like been on the pull on a Friday nite?
5th minute/10pm - stay calm no rush, we want a thing of beauty, intricate and intelligent, a joy to watch.
89th minute/230am - fuckin hoof it, couldn't give a shite what it looks like, a goals a goal.

 

[boo radley]

It is funny how some ignore certain things. For example, before the Coutts injury, he was the one who played more long balls out of play than anyone.
Chris Wilder also regularly states in his interviews that he likes his players to run around a lot. He has said it loads of times. This dispels the myth that a cone is better adding to our team.
99.9% of Blades fans love the variations of play that his team are able to produce. Lundstram is producing all the variations of this at the moment. There is no example better of playmaker football than his control, look up then long pass to Donaldson against Villa. It was a beautiful goal in its entirety including the way Donaldson brought it down then finished.
The current configuration of this team does not allow us to play the way the way we were earlier in the season. Yet for our first yesterday there was the speed of play that we saw earlier in the season and it was finished off by our current controlling midfielder getting in to the position that many of us have called for.
One thing is for certain is that if all players are fit at the same time, CW will have some nice headaches.

 

[shorehamview]

A pass is a pass, be it long or short. If it doesn’t find the player it was intended for then it’s either lucky if it finds a teammate, or a waste if it finds an opponent or goes out of play.
It doesn’t matter how long the pass is. How effective it is is what matters, and a game of football will have passes of different lengths. As long as they reach the intended target then it’s a good pass. Otherwise they may as well belt the ball into the crowd.

 

[west_yorks_blade]

A pass is a pass, be it long or short. If it doesn’t find the player it was intended for then it’s either lucky if it finds a teammate, or a waste if it finds an opponent or goes out of play.
It doesn’t matter how long the pass is. How effective it is is what matters, and a game of football will have passes of different lengths. As long as they reach the intended target then it’s a good pass. Otherwise they may as well belt the ball into the crowd.

Situation described in a nutshell.

Can we move on now?

 

[PittsburghBlade]

There's good times to play a long ball and bad times. In my experience as a center half or left back playing for both complete football gaffers and more direct style managers in Non-League and Academy/Reserve football there is a time and a place for the long ball. To play complete football as its now known you need to have excellent players all over the pitch, everyone has to be trusted on the ball and in 1 on 1 situations. Too many teams try and do this without players good enough to do so and managers won't change their rigid ways therefore end up out of work.

In a team who plays "complete football" in my experience I always found it beneficial to drop a few over their full backs heads in the first 10-15 minutes, wide of the box and between the sideline. This only works depending on a few factors - their full backs are pushed up, your striker is willing to run in behind and you don't play the ball through to their keeper. In doing so early in the game you don't allow their defence or midfield to really get tight to players, stop them playing and execute a successful game plan on a team that plays complete football, as in doing so would leave them extremely vulnerable to the ball over the top. Trust me a center half wants everything in front of him all game, it's not often they're the most pacey players on the pitch and its often their strikers are. In showing that you can do both you allow the space for the midfielders and strikers to come and get involved in the game, and fluidity early in the game is incredibly important in any team that looks to play short passing good football.

In a team that plays the "long ball" (note the difference between long and hoof) you have to have the right players in the right places. If you have a striker that can play with his back to goal and bring people in to play it is extremely effective if executed in the correct manner. The big man little man scenario is what i'd look for in this situation as two rigid big strikers don't allow for the ensuing pressure from flicks nor will they effectively run in behind, the idea of playing percentage football and gaining territory high up the pitch is only effective if you have pressure and energy shutting their defenders down and winning the ball off a flick. The balls have to be in the right areas and your striker has to isolate their marker as allowing numbers around the striker will eliminate the advantage you are looking to gain. The most important thing when playing long is the connectivity between the strikers and the midfield, as the striker will need immediate support even with the ball traveling 40-50 yards in the air, the fast transition has to happen to eliminate the gaps between the defence-midfield-attack. They must bring the wingers in to play and an old fashioned 4-4-2 would be my preferred formation in this methodology as if the strikers can bring the wingers in to play it can mean fast and effective gains up the pitch. There is a time and a place for long ball and if you watch Chelsea play when they had Drogba or Man Utd with Van Nistelrooy you will see an incredibly direct style of play executed with very good players around them. There isn't really teams that just mindlessly hoof it, not at our level or the top 5/6 leagues, even Bolton look for Madine and get bodies around the play, it can be extremely effective if you've got the right players, and who's to say what's right and wrong if you're winning games.

As for United under Wilder i've never seen us play so effectively and strategically (maybe a little less so since the Coutts injury) in both the complete football style of play and the longer calculated ball. We have players in Clarke and Donaldson who're incredibly effective at both, and that cannot be underestimated. You have to be able to do both as being rigid and uncompromising in one set style of play will see you get worked out and teams can apply a game plan so easily. I think in the past 2/3 games United have adapted their style of play a little and that's credit to both the players and the management for not being stuck in their ways and thats the epitome of Chris Wilder and I couldnt think of a better compliment.

 

[Pinchy]

A pass is a pass, be it long or short. If it doesn’t find the player it was intended for then it’s either lucky if it finds a teammate, or a waste if it finds an opponent or goes out of play.
It doesn’t matter how long the pass is. How effective it is is what matters, and a game of football will have passes of different lengths. As long as they reach the intended target then it’s a good pass. Otherwise they may as well belt the ball into the crowd.

Long ball hoof (as opposed to sublime long passes) has such a wide and nebulous ‘intended target area’ - half the pitch and most of the sky - as to be meaningless.

There is a right way to play football - the whole of professional football accepts that. Only the prehistoric element (who I’m told don’t exist but seem to be as alive and hoofing as ever) in S2 beg, in their simple-minded, tunnel vision ‘thinking’, to differ.

Hoof is grotesque, redundant shite. It’s not an active debate. Hoof lost a long time ago, mourned by no-one...

...except in S2.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Hoof is grotesque, redundant shite. It’s not an active debate. Hoof lost a long time ago, mourned by no-one...

...except in S2.

Got a draw on Saturday, Hyacinth.

But you weren't to know that, you were probably admiring your cravat collection at the time

Now, speaking of old and redundant.......

 

[Ajmblade]

There's no such fucking thing as "hoof". Sometimes it works to play long, sometimes to play short.

Probably the cuntiest term ever invented.

Aye mate I agree however it’s the dreaded term to some, on the wind up if I’m being honest I reckon we will stuff em with our usual hybrid of tactics

 

[Ajmblade]

Tyler Durden is a fine man with a highly tuned bullshit detector. In this instance, though, I fear his judgement is clouded by the identity of his main antagonist.

For hoof, like evil, doth indeed exist in the world !

It cometh often in a track suit !

Its sport is unwatchable !

Its face is shrouded in the blackest of darkness !

View attachment 34734

View attachment 34735

Much more the response I had in mind, merry hoofmas

 

[HighfieldBlade]

There's no hoof with Bolton. Trotter, maybe...

 

[ShockingBadBuy]

Much more the response I had in mind, merry hoofmas

And a hoofy new year ...

 

[HillmortonBlade]

There's no such fucking thing as "hoof". Sometimes it works to play long, sometimes to play short.

Probably the cuntiest term ever invented.

There is.. And you shall see it played Saturday.

Not by the Blades, obviously.

 

[blade too long]

we won at their place without lowering our standards

see no reason to change our style at home for them

 

[tomtheblade]

I see no reason to change the way we attack vs Bolton, only that we may have to defend slightly differently, that's all.

So really it's not about hoof and whether we play that type of game, but how we counter their direct play.

 

[sufcboy95]

Prepare the Hanson......

Reckon the way they attack plays straight into our defenders hands, the way to get at us is pace. They are worlds apart