[Albion] Our Passing

[Official Old Man]

In one game Bong can pass a ball from the left touch line to Bruno on the right touch line and get it to his feet a dozen times. We stand in admiration.
Stephens slots the ball 10 feet to put March on a run.
March finds someone in the box with a pin point cross.
Knocky gets corners to land right on the penalty spot.
Jose takes on five players, beats them all, and gets a shot on target.

And then the next game every pass goes astray. WHY! Are the pitches different, the grass cut longer, wind direction wrong, boots unlaced, mind somewhere else, counting money or just not up for it?
We all have 'off' days at work where we are somewhere else, but how can an entire team have off days? We know this squad is good enough up against a third of the PL so just what is going wrong?

 

[daveinprague]

Noticed a lot of headers against WBA that went nowhere. Seemed a lot more than usual.

 

[Insel affe]

In one game Bong can pass a ball from the left touch line to Bruno on the right touch line and get it to his feet a dozen times. We stand in admiration.
Stephens slots the ball 10 feet to put March on a run.
March finds someone in the box with a pin point cross.
Knocky gets corners to land right on the penalty spot.
Jose takes on five players, beats them all, and gets a shot on target.

And then the next game every pass goes astray. WHY! Are the pitches different, the grass cut longer, wind direction wrong, boots unlaced, mind somewhere else, counting money or just not up for it?
We all have 'off' days at work where we are somewhere else, but how can an entire team have off days? We know this squad is good enough up against a third of the PL so just what is going wrong?

Football in'it

 

[Jack Straw]

I know they're professionals and perhaps it shouldn't happen but if you play regularly yourself, it's amazing how one game you make no mistakes and the next you have a stinker. Not Andy Naylor will vouch for this regarding my performances!

 

[Arthritic Toe]

In one game Bong can pass a ball from the left touch line to Bruno on the right touch line and get it to his feet a dozen times. We stand in admiration.
Stephens slots the ball 10 feet to put March on a run.
March finds someone in the box with a pin point cross.
Knocky gets corners to land right on the penalty spot.
Jose takes on five players, beats them all, and gets a shot on target.

And then the next game every pass goes astray. WHY! Are the pitches different, the grass cut longer, wind direction wrong, boots unlaced, mind somewhere else, counting money or just not up for it?
We all have 'off' days at work where we are somewhere else, but how can an entire team have off days? We know this squad is good enough up against a third of the PL so just what is going wrong?

Its the altitude. West Brom is the highest PL ground. The low air pressure at altitude affected the flight of the ball causing passes to go astray.

 

[Mellotron]

Collective momentum - or lack of
Collective confidence - or lack of

No doubt our players are now acutely aware that we are very vulnerable at set pieces, and regularly conceding goals in such a cheap way is putting a lot more pressure on the rest of the side.

 

[Nixonator]

Noticed a lot of headers against WBA that went nowhere. Seemed a lot more than usual.

We won a header against WBA?

 

[Wrong-Direction]

We're just not consistent and that's it

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

 

[Machiavelli]

Collective momentum - or lack of
Collective confidence - or lack of

No doubt our players are now acutely aware that we are very vulnerable at set pieces, and regularly conceding goals in such a cheap way is putting a lot more pressure on the rest of the side.

It does raise the question of why we seem so keen to concede corners. You'd have thought that, if we're tosh at defending them which we are, the best way of addressing this is not to concede so many.

 

[Baldseagull]

Clackers.

 

[studio150]

In one game Bong can pass a ball from the left touch line to Bruno on the right touch line and get it to his feet a dozen times. We stand in admiration.
Stephens slots the ball 10 feet to put March on a run.
March finds someone in the box with a pin point cross.
Knocky gets corners to land right on the penalty spot.
Jose takes on five players, beats them all, and gets a shot on target.

And then the next game every pass goes astray. WHY! Are the pitches different, the grass cut longer, wind direction wrong, boots unlaced, mind somewhere else, counting money or just not up for it?
We all have 'off' days at work where we are somewhere else, but how can an entire team have off days? We know this squad is good enough up against a third of the PL so just what is going wrong?

Passing Accuracy
Man City 62%
Leicester 79%
Watford 75%
WBA 82%
Bournemouth 89%
Newcastle 78%
Arsenal 88%
Everton 74%
West Ham 84%
Southampton 81%
Swansea 82%
Stoke 79%
Utd 85%
Palace 75%
Liverpool 81%
Huddersfield 75%
Spurs 88%
Burnley 80%
Watford 78%
Chelsea 89%
Newcastle 72%
Bournemouth 77%
WBA 70%

Everypass going astray is obviously an over statement, but last time out was below our usual average which is around 77%. A number of the lower performances will be down to strong pressing but West Brom was clearly a poor (bad) day.

The only suggestion is maybe the week off with many not playing in the cup game, or alternatively being behind early on and looking to be more assertive going forward

 

[trueblue]

In one game Bong can pass a ball from the left touch line to Bruno on the right touch line and get it to his feet a dozen times. We stand in admiration.
Stephens slots the ball 10 feet to put March on a run.
March finds someone in the box with a pin point cross.
Knocky gets corners to land right on the penalty spot.
Jose takes on five players, beats them all, and gets a shot on target.

And then the next game every pass goes astray. WHY! Are the pitches different, the grass cut longer, wind direction wrong, boots unlaced, mind somewhere else, counting money or just not up for it?
We all have 'off' days at work where we are somewhere else, but how can an entire team have off days? We know this squad is good enough up against a third of the PL so just what is going wrong?

Confidence. Technique. Composure. Decision-making. Athletic power and pace. The very top players have all of them. The rest only some, and are inconsistent. Just the way it is when they need to compete using all 100% of their ability week in, week out.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

It does raise the question of why we seem so keen to concede corners. You'd have thought that, if we're tosh at defending them which we are, the best way of addressing this is not to concede so many.

In my opinion part of it is down to the style of Dunk and Duffy. They seem to block and throw themselves in the way more than other defenders do. When you do this there’s more chance of the ball pinging off for corners than if you played in a more “controlled” manner I guess.

 

[timbha]

In my opinion part of it is down to the style of Dunk and Duffy. They seem to block and throw themselves in the way more than other defenders do. When you do this there’s more chance of the ball pinging off for corners than if you played in a more “controlled” manner I guess.

agreed, and because we defend so deeply there are plenty of opportunities for the opposition to shoot with Dunk/Duffy being too far away to get a block in