- Aug 25, 2010
- 55,370
- 100,862
@Blake Griffin
Why do continually try to boil everything down to a debate about possession.
This isn't a debate about possession v non possession. That's a pointless debate, taken to it's simplest form - winning - non possession gets fucking mullered by possession almost everywhere, in almost any competition worth a wank for decades.
But taken on an individual, game by game, tactical flexibility basis, there is no right or wrong. I have never said there is. I have a general preference, based on what I believe to be proven to be the most successful way to sustain winning, but I accept and very much enjoy tactical variation. The manager I probably respect the most is Mourinho, a man who's has no beautiful possession philosophy, just the ability to adapt and win.
The team I enjoy watching as much as anyone over the last few years is Klopp's Dortmund. Another team who frequently yield possession for a robust press and quick transition game.
Dortmund had 44% of the possession against Arsenal last week, but absolutely caned them. Suffocated them and tore them to shreds.
What I want to see in any approach we take is some cohesion, some intelligence.
What disappointed me enormously yesterday was not that we tried to take a more pragmatic approach. I said before the game, whilst not expecting us to emulate Dortmund, that should be a blue print. In the match thread I said what will matter most will be what we do without the ball. Hardly a possession based concern. I thought the press was what Poch was all about. Look what Liverpool did to them last year. What disappointed me was how poorly we operated this so called "pragmatism".
Our pressing was non existent, certainly until about our own 30 yard line. There was no cohesion to any of our defending, just a lot of backs to the wall desperation. And as for our counter attacking, it was laughable.
The only reason we squeaked a point out of what 2 real chances ? is that Arsenal were so fucking abysmally inept creatively themselves. Not because we were so tactically, or even defensively good.
I think many of you take no account of how tactically poor Wenger can be, and was yesterday. He is failing to get the best out of players like Oezil (played in a position he has repeatedly looked poor in), Wilshere, Sanchez (preferring to play Oxlade Chamberlain who is just Lennon with bollocks) is evidence of that.
I don't mind tactical pragmatism at all, but that is not what I saw yesterday. What I saw yesterday was more tactical vacuumism.
And I am pretty sure 80% of those claiming it, would have been slaughtering it if Lloris doesn't make an incredible save late on. They'd have been the first on here calling it tactical bendoverism and giving everyone 0's, 1's, 2's.
BC, it wasn't just two chances though was it. We posed a threat on the counter. We might of fucked up the actual move a few times but they were there to be beaten had we constructed the moves better and we should of done. Anybody watching that game objectively would conclude that we had the better attacking situations. Our tactics resulted in them huffing and puffing with their possession. Nobody is calling it a tactical master class, its been done by plenty of sides visiting the Emirates, in fact its an obvious way to frustrate and expose them.
We defended deep in a shape, that saw us sit and congest that central area that they love to play through - which saw several counter attacking situations develop.
And had we scored three, which wouldn't of flattered us given the chances we created, I supposed you would of declared that a fluke.