Match Report: "WE GAVE EVERYTHING". It's Reading. No we didn't.

[Mr Popodopolous]

Bielsa is renowned for his teams having a fantastic intensity in pressing and being excellent passing- fact Leeds are that way should come as no surprise at all.

[Harry]

1 hour ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Bielsa is renowned for his teams having a fantastic intensity in pressing and being excellent passing- fact Leeds are that way should come as no surprise at all.

But surely it should be a given that a pro footballer sprints back to recover his position once the ball is lost. This shouldn’t be a ‘Bielsa’ thing, I’d expect it as a standard of all of my players if I was a manager. 

I hate seeing players amble back when the ball is lost. Effing get back there you git! 

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 minute ago, Harry said:

But surely it should be a given that a pro footballer sprints back to recover his position once the ball is lost. This shouldn’t be a ‘Bielsa’ thing, I’d expect it as a standard of all of my players if I was a manager. 

I hate seeing players amble back when the ball is lost. Effing get back there you git! 

Some managers are bigger on it than others- the pressing intensely thing. Bielsa is one such manager.

It's noticeable that Arsenal are pressing more this year under Emery than Wenger's last few years- agree though, amount they get paid etc they should put the hard yards in as a bare minimum, all players at a decent standard.

[swampy]

so you give absolutely everything and lose to a bottom three club ... 

[Harry]

4 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Some managers are bigger on it than others- the pressing intensely thing. Bielsa is one such manager.

It's noticeable that Arsenal are pressing more this year under Emery than Wenger's last few years- agree though, amount they get paid etc they should put the hard yards in as a bare minimum, all players at a decent standard.

Re the pressing game. For sure, different managers, different philosophies. 

But the simple fact of running back as quick as you can to protect your own goal is something that should be a standard required by all managers. 

[Davefevs]

7 hours ago, Harry said:

Wow. That is impressive. 

This has been a huge bug-bear of mine with many City players in recent times - the desire to sprint back. We’ve had loads of joggers trotters & amblers, you need sprinters. 

 

6 hours ago, Harry said:

But surely it should be a given that a pro footballer sprints back to recover his position once the ball is lost. This shouldn’t be a ‘Bielsa’ thing, I’d expect it as a standard of all of my players if I was a manager. 

I hate seeing players amble back when the ball is lost. Effing get back there you git! 

I don’t think many of our team go full-tilt in either direction.

[RedCheese]

On 04/11/2018 at 16:10, Mr Popodopolous said:

Exactly- not so sure I agree about Paterson, but that extra protection you get in a 3 will help Pack. That in turn should help the team, as well as providing extra passing lanes for Kalas and Webster.

What's the point after all in having a possession based ethos, and having signed not one but two ball playing centre backs when we often have played the way especially of late, as described by @Olé ?

It's incoherent and makes little sense IMO!

@RedCheese

Actually, seems that when we generally have had LESS possession, we've done better this season- 60% possession each week? Don't make me laugh- that'd put us above Leeds in that respect this year and definitely we are not, we have not been! I assume you're using some poetic license to illustrate your point though?

Yes that is my point. We dominate teams in our own half, knocking the ball backwards and forwards. End up with decent possession stats but they are only telling half the story. Indeed the wrong story. We are not dominating teams in the part of the pitch that matters. We flatter to deceive. 

[Mr Popodopolous]

3 hours ago, RedCheese said:

Yes that is my point. We dominate teams in our own half, knocking the ball backwards and forwards. End up with decent possession stats but they are only telling half the story. Indeed the wrong story. We are not dominating teams in the part of the pitch that matters. We flatter to deceive. 

Yeah, would be good to get a breakdown of possession/pass completion per third of the pitch e.g.

However to say we average 60% verbatim is just plain wrong- maybe in our own half or our own third, as opposed to the middle or final thirds, if that is what you meant.