Sat back or keeping it in the corner?

[blade too long]

Quite and I think if their effort that was blocked on the line at 94 mins. had gone in, we might be having a different discussion.

devils advocate , we kept attacking gave the ball away they break away and score , hundreds in here saying why werent we professional and kill the game

they are damned if they do damned if they dont

 

[raul]

Is anybody else concerned about the lack of anything in the first 45 rather than the last 4?

 

[Bergen Blade]

I remember talking to a Liverpool fan (who is now in his 70's) about 30 years ago. He was recalling going to away matches with Liverpool in the 1960s and said that he remembered being annoyed with the Blades players at Bramall Lane in one match because we were winning and "wasting time" kicking the ball towards the cricket pavillion and the ball boys would be "slow" in retrieving the ball! In the next day I told my dad about what the Liverpool fan told me, my dad replied "the other teams would do the same if they were winning at our ground!"

My hospital side played a kindergarten team a couple of years ago and they had a player who tried to keep the ball in the corner. As he was closed down a bit tougher he then kicked the ball as far away as he could. As it was a flat area with many pitches it took us ages to go and get back the only ball we had. They got the draw they wanted, so it was effective.

I've also seen kids shielding the ball in the corner to waste time. Only to be expected I suppose.

 

[blade too long]

I refer to previous promotions , to my knowledge you can pick any year we were promoted and tell me when we were totally outstanding from minute 1 to minute 90 in every game. I remember the best one when we won at Leicester 5-2 which was outstanding but before that seeIng some really abject displays ,
We beat Oxford 2-1 with a late late Deane goal after being absolute dog shit for the previous 89 minutes . Theres going to be a lot of edited highlights in the end of season video , if we go up the first 45 minutes yesterday will be on the editing floor

 

[Bladesman]

If no one is in the box always keep the ball.

Even Keith is usually saying that on RS.

 

[grafikhaus]

Is anybody else concerned about the lack of anything in the first 45 rather than the last 4?

Oh yes. Apart from the free kick right on half-time, their goalie may as well been in the dressing room. And that's a trend that's been going on for too long - we as the home side simply not 'working' the opposition goalie in the first half. (Under Wilson, I was thinking of getting a Half Season Ticket. Just go down for the second half as you'd know fuck all would happen in the first 45.)

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

A blog piece on this from MIke Ticher:



Nobody should be putting football in the corner
Timewasting tactic needs outlawing

19 February ~Of all football's dismal afflictions, is there anything worse than watching a player break free in the dying moments of a tight game, only to veer off towards the corner flag to waste time in a bout of ungainly wrestling while opponents take their frustration out on his ankles? Actually, yes. Many other things are much worse, including widespread match-fixing, giving the World Cup to Qatar and Stephen Ireland's house. But none of these has an easy and obvious solution, whereas the blight of corner-flag timewasting does.

That resolution does not need a change in the laws on timewasting (dealt with under the provision "delaying the restart of play") but instead simply to include the blatant refusal to keep the ball in open play under the definition of "unsporting conduct", which is already punishable by a free-kick and yellow card.

I can't see why anyone wouldn't want to eliminate the ugly pantomime that infuriates crowds and often causes tempers to fray on the field. I can see two objections to a new interpretation of the rules. First, it's too hard to define the offence because sometimes play becomes stuck in the corner in the normal course of events. Second, it's a bad idea to make rules that require the referee to judge the intention of the player – what is going on in their mind rather than what they do.

I don't think either is sustainable. We already have many laws that demand an interpretation of intent (though none that involve tackling, despite so many commentators' protestations). Whether a player has deliberately passed back to the goalkeeper, whether he or she has dived to win a free-kick, or stopped in their run-up to gain an unfair advantage while taking a penalty – all require a ruling on intent.

The same is true in other sports. In Australian rules, a code I've previously argued would repay study by football's lawmakers, players are not allowed to deliberately put the ball out of play. Naturally this leads to a certain amount of dispute at times over what constitutes "deliberate". But as with preventing the corner-flag farrago, the point of the law is not to eliminate all grey areas. It's to plant the seed of doubt into the mind of a player who wants to blatantly slow down the game.

This is where the first objection also falls down. Yes, there are times when a team defending a lead is happy to see the ball trapped at the other end of the field. But it's not hard to tell the difference between that and the times when a player has a clear opportunity to keep an attack going, yet chooses to run the ball to the corner.

Football's lawmakers have done a pretty good job of curbing the worst physical assaults in the past 20 years or so. Now it's time to get serious about the less dangerous but intensely irritating practices that interrupt the free flow of the game. Just don't get me started on kicking the ball out of play when someone goes down injured.

Fuck Yes! Diving, or simulation as it's called to sanitise it somewhat from what it really is, cheating! Or how about all the pulling, holding and shirt tugging that is now seen as perfectly acceptable for corners and free kicks into the box. These are clear breaches of the laws of the game, taking the ball into the corner is not! Deciding not to attack and to try and score IS NOT against the laws of the game. If it was Serie A in Italy has been operating illegally for about 40 years!

Never mind all this bollocks, deal with the stuff that is clearly illegal, and that is easy to deal with. Use video evidence for retrospective punishment for both the diving and the holding. Hell get a few wrong whilst you're doing it, to put that 'seed of doubt' in players mind about doing a Tom Daley or swapping shirts after 10 minutes of a game.

When I played did I ever take the ball into the corner to try and win a corner or throw-in rather than shoot? Bet your ass I did...and why? To keep the ball, possession is the 100% guarantee the opposition can't score. A shot can miss and a goal kick gives the opposition the ball.

 

[Selly]

Is anybody else concerned about the lack of anything in the first 45 rather than the last 4?

Spot on.

Your tactics in the last 15 are pretty much going to be dictated by what has happened in the first 75.

Clearly the first 75 are more important. But at the 76th minute they are somewhat irrelevant. And if they work in the last 15 I don't particularly care if it looks like dog shit.

 

[wizadry]

Spot on.

Your tactics in the last 15 are pretty much going to be dictated by what has happened in the first 75.

Clearly the first 75 are more important. But at the 76th minute they are somewhat irrelevant. And if they work in the last 15 I don't particularly care if it looks like dog shit.

After reading all this thread,you've brought me onto my point perfectly.

Crawley had a full 85 minutes to score a goal,before we started to do the WISE thing and take the ball to the corner.Its not down to us to gift them a goal in the dying minutes,they have to earn it,and they had plenty of time to do so previous to the last 8 or whatever minutes it was.

Entertainement is what some are calling it.What i would say is would we,as Sheffield United,entertained 1-1? No.