Most visitors online was 2766 , on 14 Oct 24
Totally agree.
I think some people mistook the Derby game as a tactical error on Sheehan's part because with the ball we weren't good.
But he had John Eustace by the balls that day imo. He came down here thinking Swansea are a pitter patter tippy tappy side, get in their faces and we'll win. He didn't expect us to get in their faces twice as much they did us, we were ready for a scrap and then some. He got taken by surprise.
I think Sheehan deserves a lot of credit for that setup, it was cleverer than he was given credit for.
If it was Sheehan's cunning plan to win that game based on a single meaningful effort on goal all game (total expected goals 0.23) then we've made a big mistake appointing Sheehan. As it is we just got lucky on the day. It happens. Fortunately there have been a lot of deserved victories under Sheehan, so one flukey result is neither here nor there.Totally agree.
I think some people mistook the Derby game as a tactical error on Sheehan's part because with the ball we weren't good.
But he had John Eustace by the balls that day imo. He came down here thinking Swansea are a pitter patter tippy tappy side, get in their faces and we'll win. He didn't expect us to get in their faces twice as much they did us, we were ready for a scrap and then some. He got taken by surprise.
I think Sheehan deserves a lot of credit for that setup, it was cleverer than he was given credit for.
I think there’s a bit of a myth around the golden era.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.
Exactly this. How many times would we pass the ball to drag the opposition in and then Ash would knock it over their fullbacks wide to one of our wingers (mainly dyer)??I think there’s a bit of a myth around the golden era.
We kept the ball on the floor but also mixed it up every now and again. A long pass was not out of the question.
When the Martinez team was at its height we had around 60-65% possession. That bridge between 65-75% is key.
If you’re passing the ball simply to maintain possession that doesn’t make a lot of sense unless you’re defending a lead. To create opportunities you need to take risks and surprise the opposition.
It’s not a binary debate. Passing football should be encouraged but not for the sake of it and when the game dictates it then yes you should mix it up but only if that could create better outcomes.