According to some 'experts' in the media....

[INTAKE BLADE]

Did they watch the twatting game on Sunday.

 

[flyingmonkeyuk]

I stand corrected

 

[Bladesway]

We've now ditched our passing game as seen under Clough and hapless Adkins, for the more direct style as seen under Bassett and Warnock because "It's what Blades fans want to see".

What a load of tosh! I've got total respect for the fantastic job Harry did, and Neil gave us two or three outstanding seasons, but to insinuate we're playing the long ball game couldn't be further from the truth. We're passing teams to death at times and rarely hit it long.

What has changed since Adkins in particular is that we're moving and passing the ball quickly and trying to get it into dangerousness areas, not just endless passing it sideways at walking pace leaving us all bored stupid. High intensity and aggressive yes, but it's definitely free flowing passing football that's great to watch especially when we're in full flow. I sometimes wonder if these 'experts' have ever seen us play.

There are clearly a lot of people who know fuck all about football then. Barcelona adopt a pressing high up the pitch strategy. So do we. While we mix it up the pace we pass at is pleasing to see and gets results.

I saw a lot in the deck yesterday and not much lumped into aimless parts of the pitch.

That said fuck the media, they know fuck all.

 

[Finn Keane o' Balmaqueen]

The one noticeable aspect i've noticed, pressing the opposition much higher up the pitch.

We're nowhere near the same level, but if you watch how Guardiola's City team play, you'll see a similarity.
The same has been instilled at Celtic too.

With this United side (at the moment) the fear of having to score two to think about winning a point/three hasn't totally disappeared, we've got the attacking presence to score more, more clean sheets are required, but if we can score like we are doing recently, that won't matter.

 

[cahill]

What a bunch of lazy ladies' parts; tell me who wrote such claptrap and I'll pop round and torch the place.

I think my ex wife said as much, can thy hang on till I can find her address ?

 

[Lower Drop Blade]

Yeh it's just lazy journalism.

Under Clough and to a degree Adkins we did play the short passing game.
A bit like MK Dons last week the players seemed obsessed with patiently keeping possession at any cost.
It's a good basis to develope a team in the Swansea or Southampton mould.
The problem is our attacks were too slow, we always lost physical battles and our fans eventually got
Fed up of the patient/ slow continental style play with little goalmouth action at either end.

Now we have Wilder we play in a Jurgen Klop/ Liverpool high energy style.
We still play the short passing game well but it's much quicker and more direct.
Occasionally we mix it up and play the odd long ball when required but in general it's short passing.
We look for the overlapping full backs running down the wing.
The strikers are ordered to close down their defenders and put pressure on them when they have the ball.

Wilder style of play seems to be the current fashion and it's really effective and entertaining.
Spains tippy tappy football is old hat, now its the Bayern/ Borussia Dortmund/ Liverpool hi energy pressing fast direct style that's gaining success. It's a modern version of the Dave Bassett style with higher quality players playing more technical football in the same fast direct style.

Makes you wonder how significant Alan Knill is regards tactics, playing style and training because
It been a long time since we've looked so good. I don't even get nervous at matches anymore.

Oh lets not open that can of worms again and start Liverpool comparisons....

 

[Bladesway]

The one noticeable aspect i've noticed, pressing the opposition much higher up the pitch.

We're nowhere near the same level, but if you watch how Guardiola's City team play, you'll see a similarity.
The same has been instilled at Celtic too.

With this United side (at the moment) the fear of having to score two to think about winning a point/three hasn't totally disappeared, we've got the attacking presence to score more, more clean sheets are required, but if we can score like we are doing recently, that won't matter.

Copycat bastard

 

[itsinyerblood]

The Telegraph can suck my fat one.

Why concern ourselves with opinions we can do nothing about?.As we collect more and more points, well then we might find we're on the receiving end of praise from those who are meant to know something about the game. It really is a waste of time and energy to give these pundits something that's even vaguely like the time of day, far better to stay focused as we watch our team cement their position as promotion candidates UTB

 

[SandyMcBlade]

What ever it is I hope the magic keeps on working...
My biggest fear is that like the Warnock & Blackwell period some bigger club will come along with an offer one of them can't resist and splits them up....

 

[Smirth]

We are direct, but that's no bad thing, nor does it mean the quality of our football is poor. I don't think we are being criticised for it either. Guardiola, Klopp and Conte are the best three managers in the Premier League and are often praised for their direct, attaching football.

 

[sitwell]

If we were playing long ball, Fleck wouldn't be MoM most weeks and Coutts and Duffy wouldn't be shining. The nearest comparison I can think of to how we are playing is the way we played under Spackman with the 352 with Quinn and Borbokis as wing backs.

They probably play 2 long balls a game between them and they aren't hit and hope hoofball ,they are direct passes. Most of our moves start by Coutts collecting the ball deep in our half and playing short balls while moving up the pitch like a quarter back ,until either himself one of the other 2 or the wingbacks go for the killer ball. It is beautiful to watch and so simple ,it can also be altered slightly if the other team have sussed it and this is why we are very much a second half team ,as we can change on the pitch while other teams cant.

 

[Pinchy]

We've now ditched our passing game as seen under Clough and hapless Adkins, for the more direct style as seen under Bassett and Warnock because "It's what Blades fans want to see".

What a load of tosh! I've got total respect for the fantastic job Harry did, and Neil gave us two or three outstanding seasons, but to insinuate we're playing the long ball game couldn't be further from the truth. We're passing teams to death at times and rarely hit it long.

What has changed since Adkins in particular is that we're moving and passing the ball quickly and trying to get it into dangerousness areas, not just endless passing it sideways at walking pace leaving us all bored stupid. High intensity and aggressive yes, but it's definitely free flowing passing football that's great to watch especially when we're in full flow. I sometimes wonder if these 'experts' have ever seen us play.

I heard that as well, shortly before I threw a brick through my 65" 4K LG OLED....

I'm afraid it's a stereotype that we've brought on ourselves by years of grotesque Hoof, but it ain't remotely true. Tuftyball is all about playing the right way. He emphasises just that on a frequent basis.

Lazy, single-celled hacks unable to think for themselves and hearing what they want to hear.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Wahey. Here she is.

 

[Pinchy]

There are clearly a lot of people who know fuck all about football then. Barcelona adopt a pressing high up the pitch strategy. So do we. While we mix it up the pace we pass at is pleasing to see and gets results.

I saw a lot in the deck yesterday and not much lumped into aimless parts of the pitch.

That said fuck the media, they know fuck all.

Yes, someone, credit to them, recently described us as third-rate Barca. That is right (well, maybe fourth-rate and improving...) and extremely welcome.

As for the nonsense about tippy-tippy Spanish football. Firstly I've consulted the real world and he says their national and club teams win trophies on a regular basis. Secondly, no team on Earth plays the high pressing game as well as Barca. They remain the benchmark for quality.

We are playing excellent football, the right way (Tufty's go-to phrase; not mine). I was going to say "Long may it continue" but that conjured up scary images so I'll go for "Moore of the same, please"...

Interesting more and more contributors now acknowledge that pass and move is by far the most effective as well as aesthetically attractive way to play the game. There's hope for S2 yet.....

️

 

[Pinchy]

Fucking hell. Some people really do hang on my every word!! My fans are the best in the business. I am truly blessed...

 

[Kevincarterversion2.0]

Utter rubbish - have a look at the football we played yesterday. Yes we hoofed for the first four games (bar Bolton first half), but havent done since.

It's tired and lazy assumptions by journos with no interest in our club.

 

[anglian blade]

I never buy a newspaper so don't get worried by what they say.

 

[alcoblade]

I heard that as well, shortly before I threw a brick through my 65" 4K LG OLED....

I'm afraid it's a stereotype that we've brought on ourselves by years of grotesque Hoof, but it ain't remotely true. Tuftyball is all about playing the right way. He emphasises just that on a frequent basis.

Lazy, single-celled hacks unable to think for themselves and hearing what they want to hear.

At last, us playing proper football is the thing that will dispel the myth.

We've had a decade of anything but hoof, and its the grotesque failure of that brand of football (whatever the fuck it was) that has allowed the hoof tag to remain. The anti hoof so many craved has been such a failure that we've simply been ignored by the football world, ensuring we remained tagged with labels from the last successful managers we've had - Basset and Warnock.

In the end Pinchy , we've had almost a decade of the football that you've been craving. "Stick with it and it would bring success", you said. Wilder's football is entirely different to what we've been served up, but it isn't hoof, and it's winning.

It proves the thing I've told you lots of times - it cannot simply be that football is simply a game of hoof versus anti hoof, as you've chosen to portray it.

UTB

 

[Deadly_D'Jaffo]

David Prutton seems to have made a good Pundit, and acknowledged on Sky yesterday that under Adkins it was patient build up, but with Wilder it is more intense and attacking. Basically saying last season we were shite and this season we've improved.

Chelsea and Liverpool are the best teams in the country at the minute. Without putting us in the same category, we are definitely playing in a similar way.

On that note; I think it's fair to say football fans on the whole are fed up with patient, chess-like, safety first shite that is modern football.

The Man City vs. Barcelona game the other week was the first game of football I hung on from start to finish. High intensity, ball on the ground, littered with minor mistakes but made for a much better game of football which could've easily gone either way.

 

[sitwell]

David Prutton seems to have made a good Pundit, and acknowledged on Sky yesterday that under Adkins it was patient build up, but with Wilder it is more intense and attacking. Basically saying last season we were shite and this season we've improved.

Chelsea and Liverpool are the best teams in the country at the minute. Without putting us in the same category, we are definitely playing in a similar way.

On that note; I think it's fair to say football fans on the whole are fed up with patient, chess-like, safety first shite that is modern football.

The Man City vs. Barcelona game the other week was the first game of football I hung on from start to finish. High intensity, ball on the ground, littered with minor mistakes but made for a much better game of football which could've easily gone either way.

I like Danny Higginbotham ,so glad we didn't get that utter dick Gary Birtles who is the worst pundit on TV these days.

 

[finlaytheblade]

Yeh it's just lazy journalism.

Under Clough and to a degree Adkins we did play the short passing game.
A bit like MK Dons last week the players seemed obsessed with patiently keeping possession at any cost.
It's a good basis to develope a team in the Swansea or Southampton mould.
The problem is our attacks were too slow, we always lost physical battles and our fans eventually got
Fed up of the patient/ slow continental style play with little goalmouth action at either end.

Now we have Wilder we play in a Jurgen Klop/ Liverpool high energy style.
We still play the short passing game well but it's much quicker and more direct.
Occasionally we mix it up and play the odd long ball when required but in general it's short passing.
We look for the overlapping full backs running down the wing.
The strikers are ordered to close down their defenders and put pressure on them when they have the ball.

Wilder style of play seems to be the current fashion and it's really effective and entertaining.
Spains tippy tappy football is old hat, now its the Bayern/ Borussia Dortmund/ Liverpool hi energy pressing fast direct style that's gaining success. It's a modern version of the Dave Bassett style with higher quality players playing more technical football in the same fast direct style.

Makes you wonder how significant Alan Knill is regards tactics, playing style and training because
It been a long time since we've looked so good. I don't even get nervous at matches anymore.

 

[finlaytheblade]

Yes, someone, credit to them, recently described us as third-rate Barca. That is right (well, maybe fourth-rate and improving...) and extremely welcome.

As for the nonsense about tippy-tippy Spanish football. Firstly I've consulted the real world and he says their national and club teams win trophies on a regular basis. Secondly, no team on Earth plays the high pressing game as well as Barca. They remain the benchmark for quality.

We are playing excellent football, the right way (Tufty's go-to phrase; not mine). I was going to say "Long may it continue" but that conjured up scary images so I'll go for "Moore of the same, please"...

Interesting more and more contributors now acknowledge that pass and move is by far the most effective as well as aesthetically attractive way to play the game. There's hope for S2 yet.....

️

Pass &move has always been the way to play,just that coaches find different ways to counter it, it gets more sophisticated as the game developers with pace & skill

 

[Paulus]

I like Danny Higginbotham ,so glad we didn't get that utter dick Gary Birtles who is the worst pundit on TV these days.

That's a big call when you've got tossers like Jamie Redknapp, Glen Hoddle, Robbie Savage and Dean Saunders vying for top spot. 2 classics from Gorgeous Glen during the Jock match - Talking about Scotland's zonal marking - "They're standing around like sitting ducks" towards the end trying to sum up what went wrong for Scotland "They should have played 3 at the back in a 4-5-1."

 

[sitwell]

That's a big call when you've got tossers like Jamie Redknapp, Glen Hoddle, Robbie Savage and Dean Saunders vying for top spot. 2 classics from Gorgeous Glen during the Jock match - Talking about Scotland's zonal marking - "They're standing around like sitting ducks" towards the end trying to sum up what went wrong for Scotland "They should have played 3 at the back in a 4-5-1."

I don't really go for the big matches ,saw the game but only in the haze of The Graduate and The Globe with no sound on. Goodman, Provan and Birtles are bloody awful on the Sky live matches though ,Higginbotham is much better. I do like Beagrie too ,couldn't get on with Holloway either.

 

[davidblade]

I see our style more like a league one version Liverpool game, high tempo and defence pressing style.
They don't level that at them , as people have said, lazy journalism.

 

[Paulus]

Agree about Beagrie Higginbotham and Holloway, thankfully we should see less of him now he's back at QPR

 

[Weasel]

I like Danny Higginbotham ,so glad we didn't get that utter dick Gary Birtles who is the worst pundit on TV these days.

Agree. Gary Birtles is a total dickweed of a pundit who has me wanting to smash my own television in every time i watch a match on the box with him trying to co-commentate on. The man is a complete buffoon and makes more observational errors than any other 'expert' pundit that ive heard. He was screaming about how one team should have had a nailed on penalty the other day and that the tackle qualified as nearly being GBH. He was still rattling on like a grandma at christmas after 3 sherries, even after having watched 3 slow motion replays which clearly showed that there had been fuk all contact and it was a blatant dive. Not only did he get the original call badly wrong, he still didnt have the guts to admit he had called it wrong even after the benefit of 3 replays. I get the impression that in his head (in Birtle World) he is a football expert amd is always right...cos he played for Cloughie. Blimey he would have made a shit ref.

 

[bornablade]

Pass &move has always been the way to play,just that coaches find different ways to counter it, it gets more sophisticated as the game developers with pace & skill

Listening to Bob Jackson on FH last night - 'footballers today are fitter, the pitches are better and the ball is lighter.'

All seemingly obvious but then he added 'unfortunately the pitches are the same size'

Maybe the time is right for the authorities to increase the minimum width of pitches in order for more space to be created and improve the opportunities of more open football.