[Albion] Fannying about at the back

[Baldseagull]

Don't mind a punt upfield, if you have someone up there that can win it.

 

[RandyWanger]

Don't mind a punt upfield, if you have someone up there that can win it.

GK assists are underrated

 

[jackanada]

Don't mind a punt upfield, if you have someone up there that can win it.

Well there's two ways it can help.
Firstly you can have someone who can win it and hold it up. I.e not Harry Kane, doubly so Kane on a yellow card.
Secondly you can have someone who can run fast into the space behind, I e not Harry Kane, not even youthful Harry Kane to any great extent.

Oh and it only really works if you mix it up so they don't know it's coming, so not if Pickford is playing, and even if he could mix it up more not when he has his busy old man run up to every hoof so you're sure it's coming.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Mostly agree but the Spanish press was so very effective it was more a case of surrender possession in their half, or surrender possession in our own half.

The Spanish press was on a par with the Man City press - aka very well organised, all together and very difficult to keep the ball.

 

[Baldseagull]

Mostly agree but the Spanish press was so very effective it was more a case of surrender possession in their half, or surrender possession in our own half.

The Spanish press was on a par with the Man City press - aka very well organised, all together and very difficult to keep the ball.

Have a look at the England squad and tell me there isn't a back four and midfield that can play out through an aggressive press. They were effective because England were not well organised, that is Southgates job.

 

[Flounce]

Have a look at the England squad and tell me there isn't a back four and midfield that can play out through an aggressive press. They were effective because England were not well organised, that is Southgates job.

Exactly, total bollocks to suggest these players weren’t capable of dealing with the press, they do it every week. The blame lies squarely on a defensive minded lower league manager with no in game tactics or modern football nous at all. I really don’t care how PR friendly he is, or how much the players like him. He is a SHIT (incredibly lucky) International manager underachieving to an embarrassing level given the players he has at his disposal.

Has he gone yet? Let’s stop the off field fannying about and move into the 21st century in the way England play. Bin the f***ing hoofball.

 

[Gill's White Jumper]

Last night seemed very much the tactics that worked in Primary School - pick the eleven best players (in the coach's opinion) no matter where they played and hoof the ball as far as possible into the opponent's half. Didn't seem to work last night though...

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Pickford was doing this all tournament, it has nothing to do with the quality of the press.
Boiled my piss every time he did it.

"Kicking the ball long and hoping to win the second ball is a bet" RDZ.
He's not wrong.

 

[Falmer Flutter ©]

Couldn’t agree more. Straight from the kick off yesterday, a long ball which went straight out of play handing possession to Spain who then had over 60% possession for the game.

This happened all tournament from every England kick-off. Straight back to Pickford, hoof up field, mainly to the right wing. It was maddening to see and was clearly a worked out plan. Don't think I ever saw us win possession from it. Was like watching Brighton kick-offs in 1990s Goldstone.

 

[Hiheidi]

 

[fly high]

I was screaming at the tv, "stop just hooffing the f***ing ball you dinosaur "

 

[Greavsey]

Ditto. It was just horrific. All the way through the tournament I was saying to my sons how lucky we are to watch great football at the Amex instead of that shite that unstructured shite that Everton fans have to sit through. Will never take it for granted again!

 

[raymondo]

That is so painful to watch again

 

[Brovion]

The biggest thing that struck me last night was the complete lack of fannying around at the back, with virtually every England goal kick being booted up the pitch, with no real target other than somewhere in the oppositions half. Its been a long time since Ive seen a match where that has been the only way of getting the ball back in play and it made me realise (again) that whilst a good old hoof has its place, playing out from the back is much better.

England must have given up possesion 70-80% of the time after those kicks, and on the occasions they did get first touch very little attacking threat came from it- contrast that to the goals, attacks, possion retained from when Albion play out. Whilst at times it seems very risky, there can be no doubt when done properly the risk/reward is well worth it

Oh it was shocking wasn't it? From the kick-off, we worked the ball back to Pickford .... who just simply booted it upfield. It wasn't even an accurate kick as it went out for a throw-in. At least I'm assuming it wasn't accurate, but maybe the plan was to gift possession to the Spanish. In that case it was a good ploy as we barely saw the ball again for the next ten minutes. Can't believe that was planned, discussed and practised, it was as if Southgate was demonically possessed by the spirit of Charles Hughes.

 

[raymondo]

Pickford (made a couple of decent saves and punched clearances ...,) plays as if football is all about a (very brief) territorial gain...hoofs it up field like that John Smiths (?) advert, then looks pleased with himself.
You're not playing rugby union, Jordan, it's football!!!
Actually, it has to be Southgate's fault.

 

[Commander]

Oh it was shocking wasn't it? From the kick-off, we worked the ball back to Pickford .... who just simply booted it upfield. It wasn't even an accurate kick as it went out for a throw-in. At least I'm assuming it wasn't accurate, but maybe the plan was to gift possession to the Spanish. In that case it was a good ploy as we barely saw the ball again for the next ten minutes. Can't believe that was planned, discussed and practised, it was as if Southgate was demonically possessed by the spirit of Charles Hughes.

The thing I find odd about it all is that Southgate seems to have the buy-in of the squad. But what do players like Foden and Bellingham think about being coached by someone telling the keeper to smash it long and try and hit the big man up front every time he gets the ball? It must be very different to hearing what their coaches at their clubs are saying.

 

[US Seagull]

Agree 100% with the frustration at Pickford's long ball. There was a point late in the game when we had a free kick just a few yards in our own half. Pickford came all the way out to take it so that everybody else could stream forward. I knew he was going to give it straight away and he did exactly that.

It felt like, excluding those long balls that went straight out of play, we won hardly any of Pickford's long passes.

 

[Bold Seagull]

2 of Pickford's best saves came from assists provided by himself.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

2 of Pickford's best saves came from assists provided by himself.

If he could take shots as well he'd be the world's first truly complete footballer.

 

[jackanada]

Agree 100% with the frustration at Pickford's long ball. There was a point late in the game when we had a free kick just a few yards in our own half. Pickford came all the way out to take it so that everybody else could stream forward. I knew he was going to give it straight away and he did exactly that.

It felt like, excluding those long balls that went straight out of play, we won hardly any of Pickford's long passes.

That was an odd one. You've got a minute or two left, sure putting it in the mixer may be your best option but that ball still needs to be quite accurate. Why would you get Pickford to take it? If having 10 players in the box is so important I'd rather Pickford be up there than taking the kick.