Is our pitch too small?

[Dan Yeats]

It's not the pitch being too small. It's that our players are too big.

We used to have a team full of midgets, and they were just the right size for the pitch. But we've been stupidly signing folks like Sandro and Paulinho, Vertonghen and others - big strapping lads. We need to re-home those players in a more suitable habitat, and replace them with miniature versions about JD's size. Apart from anything else, it's just cruel to keep them cooped up in somewhere too small for their needs, and lays us open to attacks from the Footballer Liberation Front.

 

[legend2]

Even with smaller more nimble and intelligent players such as Modric and Vaart we struggled to break teams down at home. Our style of play and the lack of intelligent movement from our players is a factor in this but so is the pitch size, to ascribe just one cause to our problems is silly, if the players say that the pitch is a part of the problem then it is.

Also the Henry argument is stupid, he was one of the PL greats playing in teams that now (however unfortunately) are a part of legend.

 

[chrissivad]

The way we play we are making the pitch small.
Most of our play goes through the centre and we dont use the wide areas enough and dont get the ball into the box enough.

The high pressing doesn't help as your attacking from about the half way line while they still have most of their players infront of us so we lack the space to exploit.

At times when Hull did attack we say players like Townsend fly up the other end with the ball and did find some space, just lacked the final ball...

We just done use enough of the pitch, and thats why players are finding it small

 

[CowInAComa]

The way we play we are making the pitch small.
Most of our play goes through the centre and we dont use the wide areas enough and dont get the ball into the box enough.

View attachment 8396

The high pressing doesn't help as your attacking from about the half way line while they still have most of their players infront of us so we lack the space to exploit.

At times when Hull did attack we say players like Townsend fly up the other end with the ball and did find some space, just lacked the final ball...

View attachment 8397

We just done use enough of the pitch, and thats why players are finding it small

Thats an interesting little diagram> would be good to see how our 'heatmap' compare to say Arsenal or Liverpool

 

[dagraham]

Am I reading that diagram wrong, or was the play twice as much in and around our own penalty box as the opposition's?

 

[chrissivad]

Am I reading that diagram wrong, or was the play twice as much in and around our own penalty box as the opposition's?

mos was up just out side their box, but a bigger % in our box than their box.
With the other teams like Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and City the biggest % is between their own box to just over the half way line where we play much higher.

% in the box and out wide isnt that much more than what we have though, but i would guess more productive than we are.

 

[chrissivad]

Thats an interesting little diagram> would be good to see how our 'heatmap' compare to say Arsenal or Liverpool

got the right ones this time... i hope (the action are % is only for the likes or Arsenal, City Chelsea and Liverpool. Not the other team)
Went for the last games bar the Chelsea City game for each team

Surprised that the % isnt higher down the wings for some of them as well as in the box.

But for each one of them they have a larger % of action closer to their own goals than we do.
This will give them much more space infront of them to work the ball and makes the pitch bigger

It would also be difficult to beat our poor crosses/passes from wide are where we have hardly caused any danger.

 

[chrissivad]

Heat map of our game against Hull:

This pattern does show up in most of out home games, just not as strong as against Hull.
Its almost trying to break them down from a standing start

 

[tototoner]

I am sure when we move to the new stadium in 2125 the pitch will be bigger

 

[KitKat]

Been saying its to small for ages!

 

[Blake Griffin]

i don't know but we make it smaller by playing a high line and have multiple forward players wanting to take up the same space/position.

 

[PT]

Cliff Jones, Peter Taylor, Neil McNab, Alfie Conn, David Ginola, Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale didn't complain.

 

[weststandvoice]

My pitch is enormous, but if she knew I'd told you lot, she'd go mental.

 

[weststandvoice]

Cliff Jones, Peter Taylor, Neil McNab, Alfie Conn, David Ginola, Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale didn't complain.

Well said.

For all the modern game has changed, the bloody ball is the same shape.

 

[Gringospur]

Workman/ Tools.

Bang on.

Never been that impressed with him and he seems a bit of a moaner.

Finds it difficult to gee himself up for the 'lesser' games and now the pitch is too small.

Awwww. Poor thing.

 

[weststandvoice]

I am officially an antique - 55% say the pitch is too small.



What about f*cking Wagon Wheels?
What about f*ckingViscount Biscuits?

Where's that poll then, eh?!

 

[Misfit]

Yes. I'm not a fan of the mahoosive Wembley type swathes of green land. Like playing in an ocean. A happy compromise would be most welcome though. It's like a thalidomide pitch at the mo.

Not the reason we struggle to break teams down though. We've struggled in exactly the same manner to create openings at plenty of away grounds with big pitches down the yrs.

 

[ItsBoris]

We need smaller players. Simple.

Shrink Ray.

Let's make everyone half sized. Then we have more space on the pitch and the capacity goes to 70,000 = no need for new stadium.

 

[ItsBoris]

Bale/Lennon and Ekotto/Walker never had a problem galloping up and down the wing when he used to to play a 4-4-2. It's only since we ditched playing 2 natural wingers or having 2 full backs capable of overlapping the winger/attacking midfielder that we've all of a sudden started having problems.

Lennon/Lamela and Townsend, supported by Rose and Walker = a higher tempo, stretching teams and creating space.

Sig and Townsend, supported by Naughton and Walker = no pace/width or creativity on the left, leaving us completely lopsided and if the opposition shutdown their left hand side, we've got to go through the middle, which gives the impression that the pitch is small (due to overcrowding) ... resulting in our current problems.

Yes, "all of a sudden" we are having trouble breaking teams down. Never been a problem before, keep telling yourself that.

 

[mano-obe]

Cliff Jones, Peter Taylor, Neil McNab, Alfie Conn, David Ginola, Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale didn't complain.

Paolo Tramezanni did though