AuthorJeffEyesRimmer While watching the highlights of the Manchester City versus Everton match last week I was struck by the level of possession that City had yet could not break down the Everton defence. There seemed to be a “pass up the field at all costs” approach from City that seemed all too simple for Everton to defend against. In the end we all know the result, but I thought surely a long ball now and again up the field to chase might have been better than trying to pass it out of defence all the time. Losing the ball in the opposition’s box is slightly better than losing it in your own penalty box. There seems to be this rigid adherence to ‘playing football the right way’ and shunning the long ball method of attack nowadays. The stubborn approach of Pep during that game to stick to his philosophy whatever the game was throwing at him, borders on the negligent. Would lumping it up for Sterling to chase been worse than allowing John ‘I can’t defend’ Stones from constantly attempting to play out from the back? I don’t think so.
He isn’t alone in this. Jurgen Klopp derided his counterpart Jose Mourinho after the Manchester Utd and Liverpool game recently. Klopp indicated that Utd played a long ball game, when in fact Liverpool had completed over 60 more long ball passes than Utd this season so far! However, regardless of that fact I don’t understand why it would be a problem if Utd had used that tactic. It worked as Utd came away with a draw (the argument for whether or not Man Utd should be happy with a draw against their long derided underachieving neighbours is probably best left for another article!). One of the nicest goals I have seen this season came from Utd against Middlesbrough where Pogba played a long ball to Zlatan before the big Swede knocked it down perfectly into the path of the on rushing Martial who promptly stuck in the back of the net. It was great, it was a precision long ball, and it was direct and got them back in the game. Utd went on to win that game too. The previous season Van Gaal ludicrously brought printed out sheets to a media conference after a game to show that his team was not a long ball team. But why was this defensive approach required at all? Why is long ball so hated? Put simply if a long ball won you the game then I say applaud it. Football is about winning games after all. I think it is down to this view that managers, players, chairmen, fans, pundits and TV have that the game must be played in a certain way. Typically it’s this ‘tikki takka’ approach of intricate passing and short sharp interplays where every goal is an intricate and technical thing of beauty. How often do we hear that a manager has been brought into a club to play ‘pretty, attacking football’ or “football the right way”? However, the main and glaring problem about the above mentioned points is that not all players can play like Messi or Xavi! Not all players can play this intricate passing football and in sticking to this approach when you don’t have those players to implement that style of football shows the short comings and delusion of the coach. Stoke were so often derided for employing the long throw in but it yielded results. I am unsure as to why it was frowned upon. It seems very much like an elitist looking down on working class methods to win games. Maybe it’s because the long ball method is also a method used throughout the lower leagues and down the football pyramid where technical attributes of players decreases. It’s seen as a simple technique for simpler folk. However, here at Outcast HQ this is something we don’t agree with. Yes, as a fan I would like to see nice passing and great movement from players to score goals as it is entertaining. But if that method is not working or does not play to your strengths I see no reason why long ball is not a useful and valid technique to use to change things up during the course of a game? I would quite happily win every game with long ball than lose every game playing tikki takka passing. Arsenal are often accused of trying to walk the ball into the net but have recently found a simple plan B tactic of lumping the ball up to Giroud to score with his head quite effective. Maybe this technique works after all and I am surprised it took so long for them to implement it. Jose and Van Gaal have used Fellaini in the role of ‘battering ram’ towards the end of games and I don’t see why it needs to be defended. If you need a goal badly, going “route one” is not a bad idea. If you need more convincing then look no further than last season’s EPL champions Leicester City who completed the most long ball passes last season. An average of 6.9% of passes being of the long ball variety, they had one of the lowest accuracies of this but as I indicated previously, losing the ball up the field was less dangerous than on the edge of the penalty area. The Foxes direct and powerful game won them the league as not many teams could deal with the fast and direct nature of the Foxes speed with which they attacked blew teams away. The ‘tiki takka’ of Barcelona it was not but it wasn’t any less entertaining. They played direct and played long passes from Drinkwater to Vardy to chase and harass and it worked. Stick to what you are good at as the old phrase goes. Overall, there are different ways to play the game, that’s what makes it entertaining and utterly addictive. Football tactics evolve over time, there was once a time when only 2 defenders were used remember. So give the long ball tactic a chance, don’t look down upon it and a lower form of football, it could win games. |
AuthorsJust Some Fans Writing About Football. Archives
June 2018
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