Was Steve Claridge right all along?

[Shanker45]

It's a bit early and a dramatic reaction to " a bad day at the office" to say the way we play will not be effective in the Championship. Let's face it in the matches where we haven't played so well, Leicester,Leeds and last night a lot of the blame can be laid at our defending and errors in general. For the first 20 minutes last night we looked absolutely quality although it can be said that we created few chances.
I believe we will do well playing our style if we can reduce our errors,play with more urgency over a longer period of the match, have a bit more bite/fight in midfield and more of a prescence up front - Murray would have been ideal.
We will have a better idea in a few more weeks but if you look at other results the league looks wide open.

 

[Turkey]

We are 5th in the Championship.

 

[Icy Gull]

We are 5th in the Championship.

I remember Carlisle topping the 1st Division/Premier League after a few games, they got relegated. I also recall Blackpool looking good a few games into last season.

Not suggesting we will but your rather large letters make it look like that fact that we are 5th means there is no reason to be concerned about our appalling record of conceding late goals this season

 

[Simon Morgan]

The style of play is not the issue, the urgency of it is. We can be a bit languid sometimes. Whilst this is kind of appropriate in keeping with our overall game plan of keeping the ball, our lack of tempo causes problems.

 

[Dave the OAP]

It seems to work for Barcelona. Or, let me guess, they'd struggle on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke.

This is why England cant win the World Cup, because the majority of people in this country still don't understand how to play the game properly.

You miss my point. I know we can play the passing game, but last night, we did not move it quickly enough to get the ball to the midfield and then forwards. Passing it across the back is fine but just panicking as someone presses and then getting the keeper to hoof it is pointless.

 

[Acker79]

We are 5th in the Championship.

If we showed desire towin the ball back and an ability to hold onto a lead, we'd be top. Even with the loss to leicester.

 

[Leicester Seagull]

Its not the pretty passing that is the problem, but the speed of passing and the movement off the ball. We need to inject some urgency into the play without sacrificing our principles.

Totally agree. When our passing slows down and we take too many touches on the ball, it allows the opposition to organise themselves behind the ball, and win back possession. When we keep the passing fluid, and quick, we're much more effective. It doesn't mean we have to play route one, we just need to work harder. We always knew that other teams were going to be quicker and stronger in this league, perhaps we just need to get to grips with that, and maintain it for the full 90 minutes.

 

[Danny-Boy]

Claridge is a BIG Leicester fan, played with them for years.

Maybe he's cosching them on the QT...

 

[Lush]

For it to work, the most important thing is for the midfield to turn up and not be carrying a passenger/Harley.

 

[Giraffe]

Its not the pretty passing that is the problem, but the speed of passing and the movement off the ball. We need to inject some urgency into the play without sacrificing our principles.

100% this. When we do well it's because as well as passing it we have some tempo and purpose to the game. Last night at times we passed it just to keep posession and play the clock down. That's fine with five minutes to go but doesn't work across 70 minutes. We need to be quicker with the pace and much more aggressive and purposeful.

 

[Big_Unit]

Any side that's going to play this way needs to move the ball QUICKLY (as stated earlier in the thread). Otherwise disciplined opposition simply plug the gaps / get tight. Look at how often Bridcutt passes with his first touch... that's a large part of the reason he's been so good for us - he knows what he's going to do with the ball before it gets to him, and it goes first time. Ankers, unfortunately, is the opposite of this. In a short-passing side, you simply cannot do 'control, look-up, think-about-what's-on'. It's too late.

 

[Lush]

Any side that's going to play this way needs to move the ball QUICKLY (as stated earlier in the thread). Otherwise disciplined opposition simply plug the gaps / get tight. Look at how often Bridcutt passes with his first touch... that's a large part of the reason he's been so good for us - he knows what he's going to do with the ball before it gets to him, and it goes first time. Ankers, unfortunately, is the opposite of this. In a short-passing side, you simply cannot do 'control, look-up, think-about-what's-on'. It's too late.

Which is why Dicker gets caught in possession. You can almost hear the cogs turning.

 

[Mendoza]

Claridge was at The Amex last night...