Sideways and backwards

[Uganda Blade]

I watched the extended highlights on that there Bluetube yesterday, and one thing that struck me was Andy Giddings' comment part-way through the first half: "Chris Wilder in his black blades tracksuit windmilling his arm urging Sheffield United forward."
Does that imply that the sideways and backwards nonsense is down to the players not following instructions?
Or are the instructions they're being given unclear?

 

[Brian Deane]

I watched the extended highlights on that there Bluetube yesterday, and one thing that struck me was Andy Giddings' comment part-way through the first half: "Chris Wilder in his black blades tracksuit windmilling his arm urging Sheffield United forward."
Does that imply that the sideways and backwards nonsense is down to the players not following instructions?
Or are the instructions they're being given unclear?

Its nothing new its been going on for the the last two seasons so I can't see it being unclear instructions.

 

[CrookesBlade]

I’m not really bothered by it. It was better to see us dominate the ball and not give it up cheaply and in stupid areas like we have been. Represents progress from previous weeks.

 

[AWetFlannel]

Every team plays sideways and backwards, and good teams that win lots of games do it even more than the others.

 

[Badger Blade]

I can understand backwards and sideways if the pass forward isn't on but I hate passing for the sake of it. You only have to ask any Leicester, Rangers or Southampton fan about that.

It's if there is an option that they simply don't see, would rather not gamble on or they have to keep going sideways owing to a lack of movement that is especially frustrating.

 

[Edgar Allan Poo]

"The only form of defence is all out attack."

Excerpt from Edgar Allan Poo's 'The Art Of War.'

 

[SUFC Guy]

Every team plays sideways and backwards, and good teams that win lots of games do it even more than the others.

Boro showed us how to play front foot progressive football last season at the lane. They were very reluctant to pass back and nearly every pass into midfield was a forward pass. Players can be trained to do this as long as the formation and tactics are right.

 

[bertieblade]

We pass it sideways and backwards to retain possession which is ok if we then find a creative player or wide man in space but invariably it goes back to a centre back or Cooper who launch it in the general direction of one of our players.
Rothwell had a decent game as he came short to find space and sometimes carried the ball forwards but we do pass for the sake of it.

 

[AWetFlannel]

Boro showed us how to play front foot progressive football last season at the lane. They were very reluctant to pass back and nearly every pass into midfield was a forward pass. Players can be trained to do this as long as the formation and tactics are right.

Yeah they were absolutely incredible that day, but despite how confident and brave they were in possession, they still regularly played sideways and backwards. It's just a reality of modern football.

 

[loveWalrusDaveTheBlade]

I can understand backwards and sideways if the pass forward isn't on but I hate passing for the sake of it. You only have to ask any Leicester, Rangers or Southampton fan about that.

It's if there is an option that they simply don't see, would rather not gamble on or they have to keep going sideways owing to a lack of movement that is especially frustrating.

I think you sum up our challenge in your second paragraph. For the most part, the team are pretty static when we have the ball, leaving the man in possession with the problem. When we do move, its generally into space our goal side of the opposition midfield, making a square or backward pass even more likely.
Nobody in the team has the vision of, for example, Hamer, in slotting a killer pass forwards. Rothwell shows encouraging signs of this for me, but doesn't yet produce consistently enough, and Peck to his credit makes the effort, but his technique often lets him down. We miss the pre-injury Blaster. I would like to see us show a lot more evidence of us spending more time in training on off the ball movement. I think it would really improve us.

 

[dc_blade]

The thing we’ve lacked for two years is a willingness to pass the ball to the feet of a teammate under pressure, especially in central areas of the pitch. If you daren’t take that risk then more often than not you end up going long—and losing possession anyway, albeit in a less dangerous area of the pitch.

In the second half on Saturday we did this more and ended up playing some decent football. Because we do actually have some pretty good players, when they’re brave. More of this, please.

 

[Pintor75]

The midfield has to keep the ball moving faster for me, Peck is a willing horse ,but he seems to start looking around once he's got the ball instead of being aware of where he wants it to go as soon as he receives it, this is what Hamer was good at. As for Wilder windmilling his arms around, I think he was doing it to keep warm, as it was a bit nippy on Saturday

 

[fifty shades of blade]

Get a throw in halfway into the oppo's side of the pitch then throw it back to the defender in his own half, for the defenders to then play sideways ball should be a sackable offence

 

[CopenhagenBlade]

I don’t mind the passing sideways and backwards, if we are keeping the ball and as a unit moving forward. The passes have to be quicker though. Its better than a long ball down the channel in the hope that your striker gets there first and then keeps the ball long enough for everyone else to catch up with him.
The amount of times we turn over the ball within 2-3 passes is embarrassing sometimes.
How many passes did we make before the first goal. I remember it as quite a lot but the highlights I’ve seen only show the final 2 or 3. I think that the goal deserves more praise than it received

 

[RandomBlade]

I watched the extended highlights on that there Bluetube yesterday, and one thing that struck me was Andy Giddings' comment part-way through the first half: "Chris Wilder in his black blades tracksuit windmilling his arm urging Sheffield United forward."
Does that imply that the sideways and backwards nonsense is down to the players not following instructions?
Or are the instructions they're being given unclear?

Quite sure its not someting they practice in training. However, I did hear Wilder in a recent interview mention posession and not turning the ball over. Is this the players answer?

 

[jt64]

We pass it sideways and backwards to retain possession which is ok if we then find a creative player or wide man in space

We have none of these

 

[nopigfansintown]

The hardest thing in football is scoring a goal, the second is the vertical pass. Quality players break lines with forward passes or by carrying the ball or taking on opponents. The more incisive the pass, the more difficult it is to do. That's one of the reasons Arblaster was so highly thought of before his injury. As of now we have few players with the quality to break lines so I expect to see it less.

 

[Blade In Flame]

The midfield has to keep the ball moving faster for me, Peck is a willing horse ,but he seems to start looking around once he's got the ball instead of being aware of where he wants it to go as soon as he receives it, this is what Hamer was good at.

Kalvin Phillips is also good at that too. All the best midfielders know what they're going to do next and who and where they're going to pass to before they get the ball.

 

[Keen Blade]

The hardest thing in football is scoring a goal, the second is the vertical pass. Quality players break lines with forward passes or by carrying the ball or taking on opponents. The more incisive the pass, the more difficult it is to do. That's one of the reasons Arblaster was so highly thought of before his injury. As of now we have few players with the quality to break lines so I expect to see it less.

A simple way to break lines is eg: when the man in possession is intending to pass to a winger is
NOT - as we always do - pass to the winger "In front of the defender" , leaving the winger with the forlorn hope of beating the defender from a standing start ,
BUT - as we frustratingly never do - a pass which bisects and goes beyond the pair of them , leaving the defender with the disadvantage of having to turn , when the winger has the advantage of being able to set off before him and run onto the ball.
And a dinked chip over the top for the winger is just as effective.
And it's even better if you put in the practice on the training pitch and develop a telepathy so the recipient knows what the man in possession is going to do the moment he's got the ball.
And that's just one scene from the film that runs in my head of Currie & Woodward.
I basically fall asleep watching us passing from side to side in front of the opposition defence across the width of their half , like water polo.

 

[nopigfansintown]

A simple way to break lines is eg: when the man in possession is intending to pass to a winger is
NOT - as we always do - pass to the winger "In front of the defender" , leaving the winger with the forlorn hope of beating the defender from a standing start ,
BUT - as we frustratingly never do - a pass which bisects and goes beyond the pair of them , leaving the defender with the disadvantage of having to turn , when the winger has the advantage of being able to set off before him and run onto the ball.
And a dinked chip over the top for the winger is just as effective.
And it's even better if you put in the practice on the training pitch and develop a telepathy so the recipient knows what the man in possession is going to do the moment he's got the ball.
And that's just one scene from the film that runs in my head of Currie & Woodward.
I basically fall asleep watching us passing from side to side in front of the opposition defence across the width of their half , like water polo.

We mostly wack it into the channel and play from there due to the lack of ability on the ball. I don't have a huge issue with it (for the most part), providing that we actually find the channel. McCallum's assist was remarkable as on almost every other occasion he smashed the ball in the general direction of the forwards -rather than at least hooking it in the channel turning them - so we edge yards when they either kicked it out or lost it.

I think my earlier post (and yours) will be largely redundant with this team. I see Burrows and Seriki becoming our way of progressing the ball forward in the longer run. Until January at least. Peck will do a bit and Phillips if he's fit. O'Hare wasn't a particularly great forward passer but he was good at winning it high and taking players out of the game that way. Gus could beat a man, deliver an early ball or play a forward pass. Brooks could beat a man with pace or skill. Maybe Arblaster will come good (I'm not holding my breath.).

 

[Champagneblade]

I’d like to see more established patterns of play.

We can’t just have “battle it out” as our plan and we’ve become far too reliant in recent times on give it to Gus or give it to Iliman.

I want to see more nice moves like the goals on Saturday with quick interchange of passes.

 

[S64 Blade]

Kalvin Phillips is also good at that too. All the best midfielders know what they're going to do next and who and where they're going to pass to before they get the ball.

Spacial awareness is a massive thing. A lot of our players are never actively looking around when they don’t have the ball.

If you watch clips back of someone like Paul Scholes or Xavi they were always looking around to see what was happening before they even had the ball.

 

[ATL Recs]

A simple way to break lines is eg: when the man in possession is intending to pass to a winger is
NOT - as we always do - pass to the winger "In front of the defender" , leaving the winger with the forlorn hope of beating the defender from a standing start ,
BUT - as we frustratingly never do - a pass which bisects and goes beyond the pair of them , leaving the defender with the disadvantage of having to turn , when the winger has the advantage of being able to set off before him and run onto the ball.
And a dinked chip over the top for the winger is just as effective.
And it's even better if you put in the practice on the training pitch and develop a telepathy so the recipient knows what the man in possession is going to do the moment he's got the ball.
And that's just one scene from the film that runs in my head of Currie & Woodward.
I basically fall asleep watching us passing from side to side in front of the opposition defence across the width of their half , like water polo.

We did this for 4years under Mark 1
You’d have your right wing back making diagonal runs to the left channel Coutts Norwood Fleck and Duffy instinctively knew one dropped into the right wing back space allowing our CH to also push up either Bash or JOC depending which way we did it
The movement of the ball at pace was synchronised at times

 

[Blademan89]

Problem with passing side ways and backwards until an option opens up, only works when A) you have players moving into space and wanting to turn on the ball and progress it & B) an opposition team that plays a high press. If they play a low block and dont break the half way line it becomes stale pointless passing.

We dont seem to have the players capable of passing and moving at the same time, nor the speed of thought to pick an early pass. As mentioned above courts for example or duffy, would pass the ball and immediately move into space to recive it back or be available as an option, usually moving up the pitch not dropping backwards into space on the defenders toes.

Prime example saturday.. we was in opposition final third they cleared it snd we had Peck & Rothwell as our deepest players both side by side like a centreback pairing... we only had the 2 in midfield. How on earth are they going to progress the ball there woth out sideways or long ball?... who was going to receive it in the middle.

 

[dexter101]

side ways and backwards is a combination of us tactically wanting to keep the ball.

Low confidence where players when they have the opportunity to play a forward ball don't back themselves to do so.

 

[joe casey]

side ways and backwards is a combination of us tactically wanting to keep the ball.

Low confidence where players when they have the opportunity to play a forward ball don't back themselves to do so.

Lack of confidence is huge in our team imo. Rothwell showed on Saturday he has the ability to play forward, drive on and make something happen - far too often in the past he has not done this. Many of our players choose to simply recycle the ball rather than look for a killer pass. Hamer used to lose the ball a lot - but he also used to make most of our goals because he was always looking to find a breakthrough ball and had the confidence to keep trying. Arblaster and Peck are capable of it but whenever they do try and it doesn't come off our fans moan and groan and imo it inhibits what they try on the pitch. I'd rather us lose it in decent positions trying to make something happen than get into a decent position and then somehow end up back at the goal keeper 5 passes later to inevitably lose it on a long ball upfield anyway

 

[Carlton Blade]

Sideways and backwards asa way to open up opportunities to attack is fine. Doing it because you either can't or won't take a risk in possession and try a pass like the one Kitching played to start the move for the first goal is not. It just ends up with a full back punting it down the line.

More risks please

 

[dexter101]

Lack of confidence is huge in our team imo. Rothwell showed on Saturday he has the ability to play forward, drive on and make something happen - far too often in the past he has not done this. Many of our players choose to simply recycle the ball rather than look for a killer pass. Hamer used to lose the ball a lot - but he also used to make most of our goals because he was always looking to find a breakthrough ball and had the confidence to keep trying. Arblaster and Peck are capable of it but whenever they do try and it doesn't come off our fans moan and groan and imo it inhibits what they try on the pitch. I'd rather us lose it in decent positions trying to make something happen than get into a decent position and then somehow end up back at the goal keeper 5 passes later to inevitably lose it on a long ball upfield anyway

seemed ironic that the one player who seemed to have the confidence to play was Donovan who then hasn't been starting.

 

[Houston_Blade]

It’s not bad as a ball retention tactic when the opposing team has 11 men behind the ball.

When it annoys me, and we did it a few times on Saturday, is when we start to break and have a numerical advantage but then lack the instinct to carry on forwards and take advantage. Instead, we slow it down and then see how quickly we can have the ball at Cooper’s feet.