From the Bramall Lane Upper

[Pinchy]

Absolutely not. Typical 'play the man and not the ball on S24SU bollocks'.

In the second half their central midfield shut down any midfield advantage and we could not get forward enough to feed Brooks (who many times was ready to run onto in space for that very through ball. Instead the man in possession dillied and passed sideways or backwards. Where have we seen that before? Patterson? Doyle?

We did not make that extra man count last night and that responsibility lies with the midfield because that is where the 'hole' is opened up.

The 'dicking about' is epitomised by somewhere around the 70th minute where we did get it forward and it ended up back behind the centre circle in a joust off between three of our players and somehow ended up with Boro on the attack bearing down on our 18 yard line.

Unless you have another explanation about our lack of penetration and incapability to get a shot on target in the second half last night?

pommpey

Boro ‘went for broke’ having nothing to lose after a footballing lesson from us in the first half, with all three midfielders prominent. They got an entirely preventable goal early doors and that changed the face of the game. The combined work-rate, effort and commitment of their ten outweighed that of their eleven. It’s one of countless football fans’ myths that it’s easy to play against ten men.

However, we were more unsettled than we should have been and never really asserted ourselves for long periods in the second half.

In the real football world you rarely cut teams apart at will. Most passing moves don’t produce a goal or even a goal attempt. That’s even more true for most corners, long-throws and free-kicks and especially aimless punts.

Losing the ball by mistake whilst trying to pass the ball is forgivable. Giving it away deliberately to create a succession of fifty-fifty challenges is grotesque. There are times, when playing the game the right way, that you have to go sideways or backwards for no other reason than to keep possession of the ball. Constant slick forward passing resulting in repeatedly slicing through
packed defences is fantasy stuff limited to Brazil ‘70, Barca and Junior Computer Manager:

You have possession. You might score; they can’t. Keep the ball even if you’re going nowhere fast because you’ll sure as hell go nowhere without it. Regroup, re-cycle and go again.

You give it away (quite deliberately in the case of Hoofball) and it’s a hostage to fortune.

The dicking about wasn’t a tactical ploy. It was individual and collective errors by good players trying to play the right way but finding themselves quite unexpectedly under pressure.

None of this even begins to build a case for gerrituptfield.

I wasn’t aware I was ‘playing the man’ and don’t think I have.

Desso.

 

[1889]

I thought second half, we were just content to keep possession. Boro clearly weren't interested in closing us down til we got to the halfway line and consequently sat back and let us have it, in order to nullify the man advantage. This naturally, only encouraged us to knock it back and forth across the back.

Only occasionally did they come forward and chase us down, but generally when they won possession, it was in their own half and from which they broke quickly, which caused a few problems.

But for the early goal, from a non free kick, engineered by Assombalonga pulling Wright over, I thought we looked fairly comfortable and restricted them to shots from distance.

Always difficult against ten men, but at least no one went into the corners to try and run the clock down, this time

 

[pommpey]

Boro ‘went for broke’ having nothing to lose after a footballing lesson from us in the first half, with all three midfielders prominent. They got an entirely preventable goal early doors and that changed the face of the game. The combined work-rate, effort and commitment of their ten outweighed that of their eleven. It’s one of countless football fans’ myths that it’s easy to play against ten men.

However, we were more unsettled than we should have been and never really asserted ourselves for long periods in the second half.

In the real football world you rarely cut teams apart at will. Most passing moves don’t produce a goal or even a goal attempt. That’s even more true for most corners, long-throws and free-kicks and especially aimless punts.

Losing the ball by mistake whilst trying to pass the ball is forgivable. Giving it away deliberately to create a succession of fifty-fifty challenges is grotesque. There are times, when playing the game the right way, that you have to go sideways or backwards for no other reason than to keep possession of the ball. Constant slick forward passing resulting in repeatedly slicing through
packed defences is fantasy stuff limited to Brazil ‘70, Barca and Junior Computer Manager:

You have possession. You might score; they can’t. Keep the ball even if you’re going nowhere fast because you’ll sure as hell go nowhere without it. Regroup, re-cycle and go again.

You give it away (quite deliberately in the case of Hoofball) and it’s a hostage to fortune.

The dicking about wasn’t a tactical ploy. It was individual and collective errors by good players trying to play the right way but finding themselves quite unexpectedly under pressure.

None of this even begins to build a case for gerrituptfield.

I wasn’t aware I was ‘playing the man’ and don’t think I have.

Desso.

And none of what I say suggests banginitlongt'tfruntman. No idea where you think I say any of this, save for your predisposed prejudices going on in your melon.

Reading your fantastic footballing thesis on tactics though, it seems you agree with me in many ways - overpassing it leads you into trouble. Well done. You even had a decent go at why we seemed outnumbered in midfield at times and why some of their players just brushed past our central three before we switched to 4-4-2 (and even thereafter)

pommpey

 

[Pinchy]

And none of what I say suggests banginitlongt'tfruntman. No idea where you think I say any of this, save for your predisposed prejudices going on in your melon.

Reading your fantastic footballing thesis on tactics though, it seems you agree with me in many ways - overpassing it leads you into trouble. Well done. You even had a decent go at why we seemed outnumbered in midfield at times and why some of their players just brushed past our central three before we switched to 4-4-2 (and even thereafter)

pommpey

I was merely answering the question you posed of me.

I don’t know what ‘overpassing’ is. Whatever it is, it suggests we still have possession. That has to be better than surrendering it to the opposition. I know that’s football heresy in S2.

 

[pommpey]

I was merely answering the question you posed of me.

I don’t know what ‘overpassing’ is. Whatever it is, it suggests we still have possession. That has to be better than surrendering it to the opposition. I know that’s football heresy in S2.

Well, you didn't answer why we failed to penetrate and have a significant effort on target in the second half. Boro did, and they scored from one and almost equalised from another close effort. Both of those came from us not containing their determined efforts to snuff out overpassing. Time and time again we shoved it to one player, to another, to another without shifting up the pitch. The only answer was in fact Lundstram picking out Baldock on the touchline but from my vantage point in the BLUT there were three or for opportunities to move out from midfield to Brooks's feet where he had a yard on his marker. They shat themselves when he was in possession and much of the time he did the right thing - get inside their 18yd box. He was moving that way when he was clattered in the first half.

United aren't clever enough for long spells of 'Chase it' possession Pinchy. There were two problems on Tuesday night - one was lack of movement (which we had loads of in the fist half) and the other was lack of vision.

Millall (I feel) won't be quite so forgiving.

pommpey

 

[Bert]

It wasn't dicking about, it was all part of the Ray Wilkins tribute.