Crosses failing to beat the first man.

[MorettiBlade]

Sorry to come across all Keith Edward's here, but it was something that was again apparent to me against Brighton at the weekend.....and well, it bugs the hell out of me to be honest.

We are up against the best defenders in the world as it is....the strikers are well and truly up against it. Therefore, it is frustrating as hell to see us play nice fluid, passing play out on the flanks....only for the final cross to be a poor one, that fails to beat the first defender.

We are usually better than that, but the last couple of months I just feel the quality of delivery hasn't always been upto scratch.

I feel evil picking pieces in what is an excellent season, but I cant help it.....we do the hard bits well, we pass the ball around fantastically and we play some need little triangles, pull players out of position and make room to get the ball in the box.....but it's that final delivery at the minute.

Uncle keith, over and out!

 

[Pedro's Winger]

It's the reason why Baldock and Stevens aren't quite at the top of the game.
Both excellent footballers but both lack the composure and vision when it comes to the final ball.

 

[wizadry]

I reckon a very high percentage of our crosses hit the first man. What I would say is that Wilder wants us to do this low ball into the box a lot but he wants us to do it a bit quicker, the only problem is that the speed of thought that separates the top pros from the next level down is astronomical, let’s see how far we can go in our recruitment.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

McBurnie got handed 3 on a plate from out wide, Sharp had one that he should have buried. Are the balls in really the fault?

 

[wizadry]

McBurnie got handed 3 on a plate from out wide, Sharp had one that he should have buried. Are the balls in really the fault?

We must’ve had 30? Deliveries into the box on Saturday that didn’t beat the first man, that’s not good enough whichever way you try to look at it.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

We must’ve had 30? Deliveries into the box on Saturday that didn’t beat the first man, that’s not good enough whichever way you try to look at it.

Yet we missed 4 guilt edge chances from crosses in?

 

[MorettiBlade]

Yet we missed 4 guilt edge chances from crosses in?

You've got a point about the sitters missed against Brighton, but we don't create as many chances in the majority of games. This not being down to lack of possession or quality going forward, because we do put the ball around smartly in the opposition half. For all the huffing and puffing and hard work that we put in, the chances are few and far apart.....and I genuinely think that the quality of the balls into the box is the main culprit.

 

[wizadry]

Yet we missed 4 guilt edge chances from crosses in?

My 30 was probably on the low side but to make a point though, do you reckon 26 crosses of not beating the first man out of 30 is good enough?

Gilt edge chances is pushing it somewhat by the way.

 

[Guesty]

The amount of times we hit the first man against Bournemouth was criminal.

I can only apologise to everyone sat around me for complaining about it loudly and at length for the entire game.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

My 30 was probably on the low side but to make a point though, do you reckon 26 crosses of not beating the first man out of 30 is good enough?

Gilt edge chances is pushing it somewhat by the way.

Really? Sharp on the half volley unmarked. McBurnie missed kick twice in front of goal, the other he prodded rather than shot. I think in the PL these are the chances you have to convert, especially against 5 giants at the back.

The balls in wasn't the problem, the finishing was.

 

[wizadry]

Really? Sharp on the half volley unmarked. McBurnie missed kick twice in front of goal, the other he prodded rather than shot. I think in the PL these are the chances you have to convert, especially against 5 giants at the back.

The balls in wasn't the problem, the finishing was.

Look, I’m not saying we didn’t have chances but I do think our deliveries on the whole could be improved upon by some way, so could our finishing, it’s all a transition that if we want to evolve will either bring new additions in or be coached into very good players by our great management and coaching staff.

Sharps or one of McBurnies chances wasn’t gilt edged, chances but not gilt edged, I’m sure they both slept at night after those.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Look, I’m not saying we didn’t have chances but I do think our deliveries on the whole could be improved upon by some way, so could our finishing, it’s all a transition that if we want to evolve will either bring new additions in or be coached into very good players by our great management and coaching staff.

Sharps or one of McBurnies chances wasn’t gilt edged, chances but not gilt edged, I’m sure they both slept at night after those.

OK sign Beckham then

 

[wizadry]

OK sign Beckham then

Silly twat! He’s well past it.

 

[Houston_Blade]

50 crosses according to Beans

 

[freddyp]

A lot of the crosses hit the first man because our player takes an unnecessary extra touch, allowing the defender to position himself better and get a yard or two nearer the ball.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

Sorry to come across all Keith Edward's here, but it was something that was again apparent to me against Brighton at the weekend.....and well, it bugs the hell out of me to be honest.

We are up against the best defenders in the world as it is....the strikers are well and truly up against it. Therefore, it is frustrating as hell to see us play nice fluid, passing play out on the flanks....only for the final cross to be a poor one, that fails to beat the first defender.

We are usually better than that, but the last couple of months I just feel the quality of delivery hasn't always been upto scratch.

I feel evil picking pieces in what is an excellent season, but I cant help it.....we do the hard bits well, we pass the ball around fantastically and we play some need little triangles, pull players out of position and make room to get the ball in the box.....but it's that final delivery at the minute.

Uncle keith, over and out!

I think the final ball into the box has been an issue for us for some time tbh. The football is great all the way up to the final third usually, then it's a bit of a game of cat and mouse, looking for the ideal opening to thread it through - and when it works it's absolutely delightful - but the main problem is, it allows the other team to get back in number and defend with 10 men. So, it's pretty hard to have a good "final ball" when you are crossing it into a zone where you are significantly outnumbered. This is why I think pace and dribbling skills are so important, because they allow us to change that dynamic.

I still think the team is very one-sided in attack as well. Most of our good stuff comes down the left, where Stevens, O'Connell and Fleck combine really well with their little runs and overlaps, to get in behind players. We don't have anywhere near as much effect down the right. For whatever reasons, it just doesn't seem to be as effective on that side. There's nothing wrong with the players on that side, but, they just don't combine as well as those 3 on the left.

I think if you're totally honest though, you probably wouldn't have posted this if the team had won on saturday? There's nothing quite like a disappointment to bring our shortcomings front of mind. I agree with the points you are making btw - we should always be looking to improve.

 

[SteveBlade]

We work it into some very good positions out wide, but you're right, the final ball is lacking quite a bit.

However, a lot of our goals do come from balls in from these areas, which does make you wonder if we had wing backs who could consistently put a good ball in, would we be top of the league?

Probably.

 

[Tarqs]

I think the ball in we tend to try to either twat it across, or put it between the last line of defence and the keeper. That extra touch means the latter is almost always going to hit the first man...and generally twatting it across is likely to hit opponent before any of our players.

 

[OnmiEdson]

Listening to Trent Alexander talk after the Liverpool game yesterday was interesting
Of course Trent has an impressive list of assists
I don’t have the figures to hand but probably
Trent and KDB are pretty much up there
Question asked, when you cross do you look for a specific man or do you cross into zones
Trent started off saying a bit of both but it seemed to me being drilled into crossing the ball into
certain zones was the key thing
As has been referred up above what turns that cross into an assist is the quality/expectations of the strikers
So Aguerrio Salah etc
In my opinion Billy In his younger days would have buried a lot more
Ollie McBurnie is catching up quick to what is required
George and Enda Are getting there with the crosses
Goldie can do it
Jack does pretty well to be honest
On the right in an ideal world Sander would develop more of Norwoods crossing ability
or Ollie himself gets more mobile
Overall I think we are getting there
Fine margins and all that

 

[tincan]

Listening to Trent Alexander talk after the Liverpool game yesterday was interesting
Of course Trent has an impressive list of assists
I don’t have the figures to hand but probably
Trent and KDB are pretty much up there
Question asked, when you cross do you look for a specific man or do you cross into zones
Trent started off saying a bit of both but it seemed to me being drilled into crossing the ball into
certain zones was the key thing
As has been referred up above what turns that cross into an assist is the quality/expectations of the strikers
So Aguerrio Salah etc
In my opinion Billy In his younger days would have buried a lot more
Ollie McBurnie is catching up quick to what is required
George and Enda Are getting there with the crosses
Goldie can do it
Jack does pretty well to be honest
On the right in an ideal world Sander would develop more of Norwoods crossing ability
or Ollie himself gets more mobile
Overall I think we are getting there
Fine margins and all that

The overloads tend to involve Billy or Oli out wide , when the chance to cross comes, the strikers are not in position and so the crosser has to adjust to meet their run or hit the edge of the box for the next runner. If those runners are defenders they don't have the same timing, box awareness or technique as the strikers and so the cross doesn't reach them.i think its a product of our style which we have to get used to as the PL defences will be wise to it.

 

[RedandWhite]

For me, if you can't beat the first man from a corner, should be an instant yellow card.

 

[jt64]

It's almost as if someone has used analytics to find that the best place to put a cross in is just over the first defender, and that even accounting for the number of times it hits the first defender it results in more goals than deeper/higher crosses which are easy for the second defender, the keeper, get twatted straight into touch or behind, result in a lower quality chance for the striker, etc etc

 

[Trafford]

George gets into some great positions but almost always hesitates a fraction of a second too long before getting the ball in. Earlier balls equals more goals, it's that simple, and the coaches should be working with him on it (but there's little evidence yet that they are, based on Saturday's performance).

 

[petcharlie]

George gets into some great positions but almost always hesitates a fraction of a second too long before getting the ball in. Earlier balls equals more goals, it's that simple, and the coaches should be working with him on it (but there's little evidence yet that they are, based on Saturday's performance).

I agree they always seem to have one touch to many.whipping the ball in without that extra touch seems to be more lethal and courses more panik in a defence but against Brighton we were up against some big defenders who feed on crosses.Maybe a ball on the deck could have been a better ploy .Having said that we are lacking a goal scorer.Pity Billy is not 10 years younger.