Possession football overhyped?

[Swansea93]

Tottenham 1-2 Nottingham Forest: How Nuno Espirito Santo's side are bucking possession trend

Nottingham Forest could become the first side in Premier League history to finish in the top four with less than 40% average possession.

www.bbc.co.uk

Good read

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

There is nothing wrong with possession football. Most successful teams at the top of the game, winning things, tend to have most of the ball.

For a short while, about 10-15 years ago, teams like us cottoned on to that and made it work for us. But football has changed since. Teams have cottoned on how to counteract that style. But we've been stuck in a bit of a time warp, trying unsuccessfully to replicate that era.

These days it's about having individual matchday game plans for how you can best hurt this week's opposition. Which may or may not involve having loads of the ball.

 

[bakajack]

There is nothing wrong with possession football. Most successful teams at the top of the game, winning things, tend to have most of the ball.

For a short while, about 10-15 years ago, teams like us cottoned on to that and made it work for us. But football has changed since. Teams have cottoned on how to counteract that style. But we've been stuck in a bit of a time warp, trying unsuccessfully to replicate that era.

These days it's about having individual matchday game plans for how you can best hurt this week's opposition. Which may or may not involve having loads of the ball.

I agree totally, we were ahead of the curve when it came to embracing possession and passing football and during our rise very few teams outside of the Premier League had experience of facing it or how to combat it.

Ever since then we treaded water and failed to adapt with the changing of the times, we hired well when we first came down with Potter and Cooper (despite his unpopular football he DID get results) but then fell for the trap of confusing the Swansea Way with total possession football, hiring knockoff Pep clones one after the other who confused absolute possession with actually... winning games.

The truth is that total possession football has now had so much exposure over the last decade that teams have had plenty of exposure to it and opportunities to learn to adapt to it and combat it. The rise of the gegenpress is because it is as close to a natural predator of the tikitaka style of football and requires far less of a glass ceiling in terms of requirements of composure under pressure and skill.