- Jan 12, 2005
- 2,303
- 3,645
The basic rule of the offside trap is you only play it when there is pressure on the ball.
So the high line was fine for most of the second half when we were pressing. This allowed us to compress the space in Chelsea's half making it hard for them to play through and if we did get the ball we were already up the pitch.
But once we tired there was no pressure and plenty of time for them to play the ball through.
We could have dropped back into a low block but we wouldn't have created those chances to equalise with 9 men.
Personally, I loved seeing us going down swinging.
We played with passion and swagger despite the odds which transferred itself to the fans.
And certainly, after the last 4 years of anti-football hell, I will never criticize a team or manager for that kind of swashbuckling mentalness.
So the high line was fine for most of the second half when we were pressing. This allowed us to compress the space in Chelsea's half making it hard for them to play through and if we did get the ball we were already up the pitch.
But once we tired there was no pressure and plenty of time for them to play the ball through.
We could have dropped back into a low block but we wouldn't have created those chances to equalise with 9 men.
Personally, I loved seeing us going down swinging.
We played with passion and swagger despite the odds which transferred itself to the fans.
And certainly, after the last 4 years of anti-football hell, I will never criticize a team or manager for that kind of swashbuckling mentalness.