DaSpurs
Well-Known Member
- Jan 20, 2013
- 11,816
- 13,655
Every single aspect of play on a football pitch is connected, so whether or not we're talking two different things allegedly, "distributing to forward players" and "breaking down defenses" are directly related and to such an extent in which they're entirely relevant when discussing midfield tactics. In fact, we are indeed talking about the same thing. There is no detriment to having a CDM and a ball-winning DLP to effectively establish what you believe you're only talking about, distributing to forward players. Your citation of the example in Milan precisely suggests this very point.
I think you're absolutely right that it can work ideally, but not with the players we currently have and certainly not in the system that Poch tends to play.
The question of the cause of the static midfield is a case of the age-old "chicken or the egg conundrum." To me, it much more seems to be a lack of fast, incisive, transitional play that originates from us, thereby allowing opponents to get behind the ball, thereby forcing us to play horizontally more often for more time, and as a result of more cross-sections in time including us playing horizontally in front of larger numbers of defenders it provides the illusion that the opposition is the cause. The prevalence of it occurring with our play suggests the problem is with us, and other teams easily figuring it out, not the overwhelming coincidence that so many teams have fortunately had defenders behind the play with such a fortunate frequency.
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