Lack of movement

[TerryPHELAN]

Is shocking really, we must be the most static team in the league, especially when transitioning from defence to attack
It was patently obvious last night against Watford.

 

[Nocountryforoldjack]

I didn't watch last night's game as it was my daughter's birthday but I said after the Leicester game that we had set the bar high and we now needed to keep that going into the rest of the games, last night's result is hugely disappointing although from the highlights a result where we was robbed of our goal and Watford had a wonder strike to win it

 

[sainthelens]

This is how its gonne be for next 5/6 months I think. Win a few, lose a few and a generally nothing kinda season.

 

[LeonWasTheDog's]

Yeah, we're still the slowest team in the league in terms of our 'direct speed', which is pretty much how quickly we move up the pitch in each phase of play.

I've posted this link before: https://theanalyst.com/eu/2023/08/championship-stats-2023-24-opta/
The Team Sequence Chart has data on speed and average number of passes to move the ball forward. We're neither particularly intricate or direct, but we are slow. Very slow. That seems about right, as sometimes we're very intricate and it's like the Martin days going nowhere with short passes, and sometimes we just launch it. Apparently Duff gets his teams playing direct, penetrative football. That's certainly not happening yet.

 

[Vetchonian]

surely we are not slower than we were the last two seasons?

 

[Skippyjack]

Transition, Movement.. it's a load of old pony, run at a player, go past him, drop a left shoulder, turn right, bottom corner.. it's no movement or transition about it, CBs are uncoordinated as f*ck, Lionel Messi has been doing this for years, do any of you watch the best and learn?

 

[J_B]

Movement is the game of football.
Pass and move to make yourself available to the ball carrier. Give the ball carrier options. Move within the constraints of your position in the game plan.
You see the ball carrier putting his arms out quite often saying "give me some options".
A lack of movement is death for football teams.

 

[SomeRandomJack]

Transition, Movement.. it's a load of old pony, run at a player, go past him, drop a left shoulder, turn right, bottom corner.. it's no movement or transition about it, CBs are uncoordinated as f*ck, Lionel Messi has been doing this for years, do any of you watch the best and learn?

our lot are more likely to copy Lionel Richie

 

[SwansInTheLake]

Transition, Movement.. it's a load of old pony, run at a player, go past him, drop a left shoulder, turn right, bottom corner.. it's no movement or transition about it, CBs are uncoordinated as f*ck, Lionel Messi has been doing this for years, do any of you watch the best and learn?

Damn! That's where we've been going wrong, someone make sure to tell Duff he needs to start showing the players clips of Messi so they can just do what he does.

Whopper.

 

[Skippyjack]

Damn! That's where we've been going wrong, someone make sure to tell Duff he needs to start showing the players clips of Messi so they can just do what he does.

Whopper.

Alright, learn from Neil Warnock.. where would that get you, oh yeah, relegated from the PL every single time.. just carry on with transition, movement, distances, channels, and hit and hope, instead of practicing craft and artistry.. shape, there's another whopper.. players win games, always remember that

 

[Skippyjack]

Ollie Cooper and Paterson have tools, they're just rigid and coached to f*ck, rawness has been beaten out of them.. Africans and Brazilians are always raw and the coaches teach them to harness that rawness throughout their development.. it's great being athletic and a willing runner, but you've got to open the door.. you can bash the door with all your might, but you need a key to open it

 

[Longlostjack]

This is a weird thread. Just saying.

 

[Mork]

Since Dan James, we haven’t had a player who, if they were so inclined, could beat a man and then actually have the pace to get away from them and break.
N’tcham would often skin a player and get about 10 yards before having to turn back.

 

[TerryPHELAN]

I agree to an extent. But even basic movements to create angles, and especially triangles is so obviously missing.
You compare this team to that of say Brendans, you can see how far off being an exciting team to watch that we are.

 

[SwansInTheLake]

Alright, learn from Neil Warnock.. where would that get you, oh yeah, relegated from the PL every single time.. just carry on with transition, movement, distances, channels, and hit and hope, instead of practicing craft and artistry.. shape, there's another whopper.. players win games, always remember that

Ah yes, the only two options in football, Messi or Warnock :lol: if you don't think the top Manager's look at the game and break it down the exact same way then your mistaken, its how they choose to approach what's in front of them that makes the difference. There's a reason the galacticos of Real didn't win the Champions League every year, or Barca didn't win it all every year.

Based on what you are saying PSG should have been completely unstoppable with the teams they've had the last 5 years. But we've all seen that isn't the case, they constantly fall short against good teams.

And if it came to it then a Warnock team would beat a team of 11 Messi's every single time. You can't just say players need to get good, they've either got it or they haven't. So you make the players you've got greater than the sum of their parts through tactics.

So don't be daft. There's very little that separates 80% of Championship players, there's some clearly better and some much worse. We, and most teams, can't afford that top 10%, because they're at the top teams and are picked up quickly. So the only way to get ahead in the Championship when your squad is set is to do the best you can tactically with shape, movement, press, marking strategies and transitions.

That's why the championship is so tight days. Most squads are very similar quality wise and the tactics are all similar, so the middle of the champ is just a cluster of teams all relying on opposition mistakes and the off moments of brilliance.