[Albion] The Changing Face of Football Management

[Bozza]

"Against Spurs I was again struck by Albion’s willingness to pass their way out of tight positions anywhere on the pitch, producing some wonderful one and two touch football, keeping possession where less refined approaches would demand a swift hoof away from danger."

More >>> http://bit.ly/2HlrOO1

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

A very good find Bozza.

He has hit the nail squarely on the head and manages to compare and contrast existing vs previous philosophies.

We all know that Chris favours intelligent players over lumps (just look at how well Murray looks after a football and gets his body in exactly the right place to guard it and draw fouls)

Seeing this new approach to passing out of trouble can go badly wrong (Garcia) if you don't have an intelligence about your play but Brighton cover over their technical deficiencies by use of the ball cleverly.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Barham's tash]

A good article until I saw this and immediately rolled then narrowed my eyes.

“Eddie Howe, whose Bournemouth side are now in their third consecutive top flight season, has ably demonstrated that with relatively meagre resources principles do not have to be ditched to keep a small club afloat and a richly deserved second consecutive mid-table finish beckons.”

How do their finances keep pulling the wool over people’s eyes?!

Jokes aside think this quote hits the nail on the head for me in terms of what our perhaps unstated aim for style of play is:

“Moving the ball from back to front quickly is not ugly if the passing is with a purpose. Positive attacking football does not necessarily require endless ball possession. Indeed, the most effective teams move the ball front to back as quickly and accurately as possible”

I expect us to continue upgrading players to those with more pace and adept technical abilities over the seasons to achieve this in a more expansive manner.

Great stuff.


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[beorhthelm]

great when it works, not so great when the player makes a very wrong decision, a la Duffy backpass few weeks ago. sometimes launching it forward is the intelligent option.

 

[Wozza]

great when it works, not so great when the player makes a very wrong decision, a la Duffy backpass few weeks ago. sometimes launching it forward is the intelligent option.

That was a brainfart - against a team known to press the opposition.

 

[Bakero]

I love how CH is still thought of as a young, up-and-coming manager.

 

[Bozza]

great when it works, not so great when the player makes a very wrong decision, a la Duffy backpass few weeks ago. sometimes launching it forward is the intelligent option.

He didn't have Bruno alongside him. A rare mistake from Hughton in that game, I think. There are few better than Bruno in receiving the ball when under pressure, controlling it brilliantly first time and then finding another Albion player. It makes a massive difference to our ability to move the ball and retain possession.

 

[studio150]

A good read

 

[Bozza]

I love how CH is still thought of as a young, up-and-coming manager.

The Peter Pan of football management.

 

[Kazenga <3]

Whilst this approach is commendable, against Spurs there were a number of times where we tried to pass the ball around in triangles about the right back position and it actually led to us getting trapped too close together with no outlet and the Spurs press emerging with the ball bearing down on the middle of our goal.

The sequence went a bit like this: Duffy carries the ball out to Bruno on the touchline > Bruno then plays the ball to Knockaert who is stood about 2 yards down the line from him > 3 or 4 Spurs players converge on the position at pace > Eventual difficult out ball into the middle of the pitch is intercepted.

This happened on multiple occasions (all in the first half to be fair) and we were incredibly lucky that the turnover didn't lead to a goal, particularly from the subsequent free-kicks. Whilst a lot of credit has to be given to the Spurs press - there was a clear trigger pass upon which they all acted at very high speed - an obvious pattern was evident and I was quite surprised that we kept on repeating it as you could see the Spurs players sensing the opportunity every time.

It's definitely worth pursuing as when done right and the press is beaten you often get a clear break, however against the top teams you need a much higher quality of movement and precision of passing to pull it off else you're likely to come unstuck in a bad way. Certainly in the first half we were a little naïve and indeed the Spurs goal, albeit on the other side of the pitch, was caused by trying to play out when the sensible option was away.

Credit to Hughton as always though, as the goal aside in the second half which he was apoplectic about, I don't recall us getting caught out once in the manner we were in the first so no doubt he had noticed and rectified this.

 

[LeicesterGull]

"Against Spurs I was again struck by Albion’s willingness to pass their way out of tight positions anywhere on the pitch, producing some wonderful one and two touch football, keeping possession where less refined approaches would demand a swift hoof away from danger."

More >>> http://bit.ly/2HlrOO1

Really interesting article, thanks for sharing. I've recently completed my Level 2 FA Coaching qualifications and since last year a new England DNA is promoting coaches to coach in this way - whether it be grassroots or in the academies. Southgate has been one of the key drivers behind this and I think will make a significant difference to our future players - very positive how this will impact the national team.

 

[Surf's Up]

He didn't have Bruno alongside him. A rare mistake from Hughton in that game, I think. There are few better than Bruno in receiving the ball when under pressure, controlling it brilliantly first time and then finding another Albion player. It makes a massive difference to our ability to move the ball and retain possession.

You are such a Bruno fanboy!!

 

[Tricky Dicky]

great when it works, not so great when the player makes a very wrong decision, a la Duffy backpass few weeks ago. sometimes launching it forward is the intelligent option.

Whilst some of our passing was sublime, the number of times we passed "blind" especially at the back was really nerve wracking. Maybe one comes with the other and we live with the danger, but it doesn't do the health of the onlooker any favours.

 

[The Large One]

To be fair, the whole 'passing our way out of trouble' was brought in by Gus Poyet - after a major amount of cajoling with his players.

From there on, the club's philosophy is - with minor adjustments according to the personnel - to play the ball in this manner. The under 23s and youth teams - both men and women - maintain this philosophy too. Obviously you need technically skillful players to make it work best, but the thread runs through the entire club's teams.

Should / when the day come that Hughton needs replacing, the club will seek to find another manager with this approach to football, rather than bringing anyone in with a totally different attitude. That's what they've said, anyway...

 

[hans kraay fan club]

You are such a Bruno fanboy!!

As is right and proper.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

To be fair, the whole 'passing our way out of trouble' was brought in by Gus Poyet

I'm not sure Gus ever got beyond translating "pass it across the back, 50 yards from any opposition"