Lack of pace

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

Bruce Wayne

Bruce Wayne

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2016
Messages
15,978
Reaction score
23,664
This has been our biggest problem this season, no outlet to stretch teams and get in behind. As the season has developed and we have faded/been sussed out this would be a game changer. In the summer we need to recruit players with genuine pace up top.
 



I'm not sure it's a lack of pace, more a lack of urgency.
Maybe a drop in confidence in either themselves, or more worryingly those around them.
If I was looking to make a storming break out of defence, I probably wouldn't want to be receiving the return pass from Bash in his current form!
A bit unfair perhaps, but we used to break with pace with the same squad so if it's not tactics, which CW says it's not, then it must be a lack of desire to take a chance/expose themselves - insert ooh-err missus joke here......................
 
Shame to see Jamie Murphy score a good goal for Rangers yesterday. He was an absolute steal at £1mill. Would have provided the pace for us, proven at this level, not on mega wages, would have been cover for Brooks while he was injured and would have meant we didn’t need to spend on Holmes.
 
BrownTonge said:
Shame to see Jamie Murphy score a good goal for Rangers yesterday. He was an absolute steal at £1mill. Would have provided the pace for us, proven at this level, not on mega wages, would have been cover for Brooks while he was injured and would have meant we didn’t need to spend on Holmes.
Click to expand...
Sad twat was always homesick pining for Scotland for some bizarre reason.
 
We should have signed pace in January, it was a minimum requirement. But instead we signed James Wilson. Who I suppose qualifies as 'quick' in our team...
 
Out and out pace coupled with skill is the holy grail for everyone. We couldn't afford that in Jan.

Wilson's signing is an acknowledgement that we know it's required - shame he appears to be nowhere near ready to play
 
Bruce Wayne said:
This has been our biggest problem this season, no outlet to stretch teams and get in behind. As the season has developed and we have faded/been sussed out this would be a game changer. In the summer we need to recruit players with genuine pace up top.
Click to expand...
Our biggest problem is that we don’t move the ball quickly enough.
 
Pace wasn't an issue first 15 games of the season. I do think we have dropped that standard we were showing back then. Maybe the players just carnt keep that level up over a full championship season. We were out working teams back then. We seem to have stopped doing that. Wilder might be right. We might have maxed out!
 
I think there are 2 factors.

1: We play a high energy pressing game, this only works well when every single person gives 100% running around like a madman.
It’s difficult for every player to keep this up for a full season, maybe the energy levels are suffering?

2: Wilder has always said he doesn’t like draws and he’ll play on the front foot trying to score 1 goal, then 2 goals, then 3 goals.
This positivity has proved our downfall against Bristol City and Aston Villa where we pushed for a winner but lost.
Maybe Wilder is studied the tactics and is now more cautious.
We played well against QPR for 70 minutes, then as soon as QPR scored we sat back and almost parked the bus.
But although we ended the match really negative our defence stayed strong and we gained a vital 3 points.
 
Bruce Wayne said:
This has been our biggest problem this season, no outlet to stretch teams and get in behind. As the season has developed and we have faded/been sussed out this would be a game changer. In the summer we need to recruit players with genuine pace up top.
Click to expand...
speed hasn't dropped off. it's just that coutts released the ball very quickly
 
super_pig said:
speed hasn't dropped off. it's just that coutts released the ball very quickly
Click to expand...
This is a good point. Coutts' completion stats were so high because he was constantly knocking it to and from the defence until an opening appeared. Their strikers had to cover a lot of ground and, eventually, a gap would open up that he was good at exploiting. There were times when I wanted him to make more runs of his own but they were also more risky. Since losing him the defence still move the ball between themselves but often from one side of the pitch to the other, whereas with Coutts it stuck in the middle more, making it easier for overlaps when the ball did go forwards (ie if it's your left back that eventually sends it forwards, there is a relatively narrow angle that the ball can pass compared with being distributed from the centre).
 



Trafford said:
This is a good point. Coutts' completion stats were so high because he was constantly knocking it to and from the defence until an opening appeared. Their strikers had to cover a lot of ground and, eventually, a gap would open up that he was good at exploiting. There were times when I wanted him to make more runs of his own but they were also more risky. Since losing him the defence still move the ball between themselves but often from one side of the pitch to the other, whereas with Coutts it stuck in the middle more, making it easier for overlaps when the ball did go forwards (ie if it's your left back that eventually sends it forwards, there is a relatively narrow angle that the ball can pass compared with being distributed from the centre).
Click to expand...
plus he used to come and get the ball off the defence i.e. Jake. now i'm a big fan of Jake but i think a lot of the criticism of Stears is a little unfair because he can't drop it off now and that's why we've gone hoof.
 
SwissBlade said:
Our biggest problem is that we don’t move the ball quickly enough.
Click to expand...

This. The difference is that for the first 15 games or so, we moved the ball quickly through the midfield, caught teams on the back foot, and made high-quality scoring chances. Fleck and Coutts had been playing together for a while and had a great understanding--together with Duffy (plus the wing backs, plus the rampaging centre halves), they had the confidence and ability to *play through* the opposition midfield, either by neat passing movements or running with ball at feet (usually Fleck's role). They did this even when being marked tightly or closed down quickly.

We've now largely lost this confidence. When closed down or marked in midfield we result to backwards and sideways passes, eventually shuttling the ball back to one of the centre halves who has no choice but to look long if we want any forward momentum at all. This is what we lost when we lost Coutts. I think Lundstram and Evans have shown glimpses of being capable of better, but haven't gelled as a unit or lack the confidence. Not sure about Leonard yet.

We would definitely benefit from more pace up top, and Brooks coming back could be huge, but as others have said our success earlier in the season was about letting the ball do the work.
 
Ricky said:
We should have signed pace in January, it was a minimum requirement. But instead we signed James Wilson. Who I suppose qualifies as 'quick' in our team...
Click to expand...
It was Wilson or Cole.

Personally I would have been fuming if we had picked Cole over him.
I think Wilson will come good, the service to him recently was horrendous.
 
dc_blade said:
This. The difference is that for the first 15 games or so, we moved the ball quickly through the midfield, caught teams on the back foot, and made high-quality scoring chances. Fleck and Coutts had been playing together for a while and had a great understanding--together with Duffy (plus the wing backs, plus the rampaging centre halves), they had the confidence and ability to *play through* the opposition midfield, either by neat passing movements or running with ball at feet (usually Fleck's role). They did this even when being marked tightly or closed down quickly.

We've now largely lost this confidence. When closed down or marked in midfield we result to backwards and sideways passes, eventually shuttling the ball back to one of the centre halves who has no choice but to look long if we want any forward momentum at all. This is what we lost when we lost Coutts. I think Lundstram and Evans have shown glimpses of being capable of better, but haven't gelled as a unit or lack the confidence. Not sure about Leonard yet.

We would definitely benefit from more pace up top, and Brooks coming back could be huge, but as others have said our success earlier in the season was about letting the ball do the work.
Click to expand...
I agree, thats what we have stopped doing, Duffy, Coutts and Fleck together were able to give each other a rest and keep the tempo up, they were all capable of taking the game by the throat and we dictated the pace.

Remember Boro and Cardiff Away? We didn't boss the midfield there either and Brentford at home we were lucky to get the win, but we ran the midfield for longer spells.

Fleck has gone off the boil, Duffy has too, nobody takes charge in the midfield anymore and in fact we bypass at times, we try to play longer or we try to use the wingbacks, we did the same at Boro, Boro shut down the wing backs, so we need the outlet through the middle and we need the Centre Halves bombing on as well. Going long to Leon or Billy when they're double marked won't work.

Fitness is something i am starting to wonder is an issue. We know that we are a very fit side, but we've perhaps fatigued a bit too now, but i've got no data to back this up

Personally i saw in the cup game against Preston that when Ched came on, we used him well, got the ball to his feet or chest and if the ball went beyond him he physically bullied the defender, he was horrible to play against, we need to use that option. Brooks isn't ready, but what Brooks does is gives us an entirely different threat, again puts pressure on defenders but when he has the ball.

We've become predictable
 
won 2 of the last 3 being predictable and having no pace
seemed to outpace the qpr defence for the 2nd


this was a week ago , not several months
 
The other thing with Coutts was around the box.....when he didn't have a pass on he was also capable of taking on and beating a man to then take the defender out of the equation and make more space moving the defence around. We don't seem able to do that anymore with our midfield players.
 
blade too long said:
won 2 of the last 3 being predictable and having no pace
seemed to outpace the qpr defence for the 2nd


this was a week ago , not several months
Click to expand...


That's fair. With the exception of a few games (Millwall, Preston, Hull) we haven't completely lost the dash we had earlier in the season. The second goal against QPR is an example of the stuff we were doing for fun before Christmas. But both Leeds and QPR were pretty poor opposition. It's also true that in a few games (Birmingham, Bolton at home, Derby away) we've dominated possession for long periods and looked quite good without showing that cutting edge we had earlier in the season.

I'm a happy clapper by nature so I think there's every chance we'll get it back.
 
From the pig end said:
It was Wilson or Cole.

Personally I would have been fuming if we had picked Cole over him.
I think Wilson will come good, the service to him recently was horrendous.
Click to expand...

He's currently injured and there aren't too many games left now, so I can't see a huge contribution from him, hope I'm wrong.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Next Season’s expectations
2
Replies
54
Views
3K
LBA_Blade
LBA_Blade
D
10 years later...
Replies
19
Views
1K
Blade In Flame
Blade In Flame
L
Not all doom and gloom
Replies
14
Views
2K
ATL Recs
A
Slim Man
Chris Wilder the tactical genius
2 3
Replies
64
Views
4K
Bladesman
Bladesman
Maurice Maurice
Sydie's knackered!
Replies
28
Views
2K
Champagneblade
Champagneblade

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

Back
Top Bottom