It's our pattern of play that is costing us at the moment

[Wardy]

In hindsight, we should have held on to young Andros Townsend.

100%.

Why don't we just recall him from QPR...

 

[Chezaspur]

OP is completely right imo.

We need to play with width. When we had modric and vdv we could go through the middle but we had electric pace on either side and that really opened up space for adebayor. The main reason ade has had such a terrible season for me is because the midfield doesnt supply him with anything anymore. If Bale plays in the middle we have no width and if teams close down his space then he becomes ineffective at times. If we go back to playing wingers and trying to get behind the full backs and allowing the likes of dembele, carroll, holtby, sig to play ahead of parker I think we will get the wins we need.

Quite agree my friend...Defoe is shooting on site from outside the box, Bale is shooting on site from outside the box and Ade is getting no service whatever inside the box

 

[Syn_13]

The way I see it we're not getting in behind the opposition back line enough. The risk you take with playing a high line, pressing up the pitch and keepin possession is that you're camped in their half and have little room to go on the break. This means the movement and level of passing from your attacking players has to be shit hot. It's what Barca do so well. On the downside you're susceptible to counters but smart, quick footed defenders and a sweeper keeper deals with that.

I don't think the wings are as much a problem as our lack of movement. Our midfielders are not technical enough and our forwards have poor movement. You might get away with having one of the above but both leaves us camped outside their box, passing backwards and sideways, not having enough space for the wingers to get behind the fullbacks and relying on shots from outside the box to test the keeper as we can't build up play and work the ball into their box.

 

[shyfx2k2]

The way I see it we're not getting in behind the opposition back line enough. The risk you take with playing a high line, pressing up the pitch and keepin possession is that you're camped in their half and have little room to go on the break. This means the movement and level of passing from your attacking players has to be shit hot. It's what Barca do so well. On the downside you're susceptible to counters but smart, quick footed defenders and a sweeper keeper deals with that.

I don't think the wings are as much a problem as our lack of movement. Our midfielders are not technical enough and our forwards have poor movement. You might get away with having one of the above but both leaves us camped outside their box, passing backwards and sideways, not having enough space for the wingers to get behind the fullbacks and relying on shots from outside the box to test the keeper as we can't build up play and work the ball into their box.

Agree with all of this too. We don't take enough risks in the middle with our passing and it is costing us. Immediately after Carroll came on he was looking to thread through balls in to Ade and Defoe. He could be our hero in the final few games IMO.

 

[van_Pommel]

Bale back on the left and Sig or Holtby providing a bit more creativity in the hole and we'll be back to to our old selves. AVB screwed up vs Fulham and he's admitted it. Lets hope he learns from his mistakes.

 

[Sanj]

In my humble opinion, width is key to our game and has been for some time. however to utilise the width we need the centre of the midfield to be able to pass the ball out quickly to allow the wingers to target their defenders. recently we have not been able to release the wingers quickly enough, and this is mainly the fault of our central midfield.
Both parker and dembele are guilty of holding onto the ball far too long and teams can then get behind the ball and defend deep.
If these 2 could realease the ball earlier, they would also have more space to break, allowing the team to play with our expected fluency and speed.

 

[Wirral Spurs]

Obviously another hugely disappointing performance today and what could turn out to be a very costly 3 points dropped. For me, Fulham were not spectacular at all and while they defended solidly, we rarely gave them anything to really think about.

There is a common theme which, in my opinion, is costing us big time and is consistent in all three of the games that we have lost recently. That theme is a lack of winger. Wing play is vital to our over all game and our pattern of play has been the same for a very long time. For the vast majority of the last 6 years, we have played with an out and out winger on one side and a guy cutting in on the other side. This changed for a while when we had both Bale and Lennon operating in the wide areas but we have had at least one wide man there for the vast majority of the time, basically for as long as Lennon has been in the first team (see also Simon Davies, Andy Reid etc).

What this gives us is width. The main advantage of this width is that it forces the opposition to 'seperate' in the middle of the park, they have to commit at least 1 midfielder and a full back to deal with our winger and full back combination, meaning there are gaps in which 1 of our CM's, our strikers and our opposite winger coming in from the other side can operate in, when in and around the opposition penalty area. This concept was key to our recent success and especially our success in the Champions League, where European teams aren't used to dealing with fast players willing to beat you on the outside.

So what happens when we don't play with width? As happened today, the game became congested. In the first half, while BAE and Sig did keep their width to a certain extent, we lacked pace. It was a difficult ask for BAE to operate as a LM as it isnt his natural game and Sig was non existent on the other side, mainly due to a lack of service and poor understanding with Naughton (neither of them can be blamed for that really as this was their first performance together).

In the second half, we had serious problems with penetration. Dempsey and Sig were too narrow. What this meant is that when Naugton especially got on the ball in the final third, the opposition penalty area was absolutely rammed with bodies, leaving no space for second balls to fall into. This, coupled with over hit crosses meant that we created very few chances.

The most threatening we looked all afternoon was when we moved Bale to right midfield. Finally we had some pace in the wide areas and were able to stretch Fulham a little. IMO the best move would have been to move Bale to LM and have Dempsey on the right hand side. However, it showed that when we injected some pace out wide (plus the introduction of the excellent Tom Carroll in the middle) and had someone who was willing to beat somebody on the outside. We looked threatening and forced the goalkeeper into making some saves.

In conclusion, if Lennon is injured for any more games, I think it is vital that Bale plays LW for every game that Lennon is not playing in, to give us the ability to stretch teams and open up pockets of space. Bale especially helps with this as most teams normally triple up on him in the wide areas. If Lennon is back then we can play Bale through the centre.

Without this width, we struggle and this isn't something new for us, we struggled last season when we had to play say Pienaar and Kranjcar wide, or Modric and Kranjcar wide. In hindsight, we should have held on to young Andros Townsend.

A real tough one to take today but it is vital that we get back to our shape and playing the way we know how to play. COYS

Agree and good post. The problem is having to rely on Bale in the middle because of the waste of space that is our two strikers.

 

[edson]

Why has Dembele became the holding player and Parker allowed to be the more attacking of the two Surely it should be the other way around?

 

[elDiablo]

The way I see it we're not getting in behind the opposition back line enough. The risk you take with playing a high line, pressing up the pitch and keepin possession is that you're camped in their half and have little room to go on the break. This means the movement and level of passing from your attacking players has to be shit hot. It's what Barca do so well. On the downside you're susceptible to counters but smart, quick footed defenders and a sweeper keeper deals with that.

I don't think the wings are as much a problem as our lack of movement. Our midfielders are not technical enough and our forwards have poor movement. You might get away with having one of the above but both leaves us camped outside their box, passing backwards and sideways, not having enough space for the wingers to get behind the fullbacks and relying on shots from outside the box to test the keeper as we can't build up play and work the ball into their box.

Agree with this.

Did anyone notice Defoe throwing strop because no one played him in? The chances are he was offside, but he was hanging on the shoulder of Hangerlande or Sendoros, but our mfielder in possession always played the safe side ways pass. We dont have anyone to weight a through ball to our forwards. I thought Carroll may provide the spark, but bein left footed he operates better to left side as opposed to the right, where defore was looking for the ball.

 

[senseispab]

Agree with the OP

We always look a shadow of our best whenever Lennon is out of the team (and Bale isn't sticking to the left)

 

[SteveH]

AVB has with help of a few key and more importantly some less gifted but hard working players, has made a the proverbial 'silk purse from a sours ear'.

This was never going last through our current run of games, AVB will have pleased it has done so well.

The system as the excellent OP talks about needs a better balanced squad. AVB needs time.....

 

[robbiedee]

Good OP. The last 3 or 4 games have been frustrating to watch...especially with that conjestion in the middle.

God bless him, Scott Parker was a hero last season but since his injury he's been so off his game its not funny. He constantly pivots with the ball in the middle of the park and then lays off a 2 yard pass which more often than not goes backwards, sideways or gets intercepted by the oposition. His defensive work hasn't quite been there either...Christ I miss Sandro.

The width is definately a factor too - I'd like us to go back to a Bale and Lennon blasting down the wings, Benny and Walker on the overlaps, Parker dropping back to help Vertonghan and Gallas/Dawson/Caulker, Dembele moving the ball around from the middle side to side with several outlets. I'd then have Siggs or Holtby moving around behind Ade creating space with some sexy movement.

I'm no expert but we're losing the game in the middle of the pitch. we can't seem to distribute the ball out effectively, ceratinly not forward and we're ending up with players forward but having no impact and short at the back and inviting the counter.

I'm sure AVB will use the break to perform in depth analysis on our last 2/3 games and ready the tactics and the players...just not sure I can stomach too much more slippage.

COYS...please.

 

[ohwhenthespurs]

It's almost as if this was an obvious problem in January and we had the chance to heed the warning and strengthen our squad in key areas, or take the risk that injuries to either Defoe/Adebayor, Lennon, Bale, or Sandro would screw us over big time and jeopardise everything we've spent the first half of the season building. And it's almost as if we had a similar warning a year ago and didn't heed that. Weird, innit?

 

[Liquidator]

Good OP. The last 3 or 4 games have been frustrating to watch...especially with that conjestion in the middle.

God bless him, Scott Parker was a hero last season but since his injury he's been so off his game its not funny. He constantly pivots with the ball in the middle of the park and then lays off a 2 yard pass which more often than not goes backwards, sideways or gets intercepted by the oposition. His defensive work hasn't quite been there either...Christ I miss Sandro.

The width is definately a factor too - I'd like us to go back to a Bale and Lennon blasting down the wings, Benny and Walker on the overlaps, Parker dropping back to help Vertonghan and Gallas/Dawson/Caulker, Dembele moving the ball around from the middle side to side with several outlets. I'd then have Siggs or Holtby moving around behind Ade creating space with some sexy movement.

I'm no expert but we're losing the game in the middle of the pitch. we can't seem to distribute the ball out effectively, ceratinly not forward and we're ending up with players forward but having no impact and short at the back and inviting the counter.

I'm sure AVB will use the break to perform in depth analysis on our last 2/3 games and ready the tactics and the players...just not sure I can stomach too much more slippage.

COYS...please.

I like this. and Bale on the wing takes a lot of pressure off BAE, who can then get forward and realise his attacking potential. Dembele has to play in the middel if we are to be at our best.

None of this would be a problem if we had a striker who could hold the ball, then lay it off as the midfield thunder up in support.
I couldn't watch the Fulham game (doesn't sound like I missed much) but too many players out of position is compromising our ability to dictate games.

Thus we end up chasing...

 

[SteveH]

No ones to blame for what I'm about to say. But Modric leaving has been a body blow to our midfield.
Clint, Gylfi and Holtby just dont make up for Luka's movement not to even mentioning his passing.

Dembele has not 'consistently' got close to Luka's passing game, but Dembele has more to come.

I wish I felt the same about Clint and Gylfi who for me are at the root of the resent struggle, just not good enough, often enough. I feel sorry for AVB it must be like being in a fist fight with one hand tide behind your back.

Holtby is young so I will pass.

Our big problem is our recent signings and it give me no pleasure in saying it, are woeful.

 

[WalkerboyUK]

Couldn't agree more with the original post.
I said same to my wife during the Liverpool game and again on Thursday, and had to repeat once again yesterday.

At the moment, while Lennon is injured and Bale stays central we have no wide pace and no-one crossing the ball into the box.
The result of that is that Ade tends to drift wide and then there's no-one at all in the box (which is comparable to Ade being in the box at the moment).
We end up constricted into the middle of the park and teams just smother us.
There were a couple of occassions yesterday where the ball was switched from one flank to the other, but every time it ended up going backwards to Dawson, Parker or Dembele.
If Lennon is out then Bale HAS to play wide, with Holtby in the middle.
We hit the same problems this time last season when Lennon got tired.

Media would have us believe we are a one-man team that's reliant on Bale...... I'd argue that we actually need Lennon just as much, if not more.
What doesn't help is that our better players are either losing form dramatically or getting injured at the wrong end of the season.
This then just highlights the lack of depth that we have.
Again we seem to have an abundance of central midfielders but no cover for the flanks.

 

[onthetwo]

for me the strangest thing was our setup on the left which was basically Benny in front of Jan and Ade in front of Benny whilst attacking. It just looked wrong to me. And I cant work it out with Ade but for a striker he doesnt attack the goal much...would love to see any stats from the last few game but my impression is that he rarely shoots. For all his faults, at least Defoe will instinctively shoot when presented with a view of the goal so it was no surprise to me that we only looked likely to score when he came on. Anyway, if AVB doesnt sort it out soon i think we can all see that we're in trouble to keep 4th.

 

[onthetwo]

No ones to blame for what I'm about to say. But Modric leaving has been a body blow to our midfield.
Clint, Gylfi and Holtby just dont make up for Luka's movement not to even mentioning his passing.

Dembele has not 'consistently' got close to Luka's passing game, but Dembele has more to come.

I wish I felt the same about Clint and Gylfi who for me are at the root of the resent struggle, just not good enough, often enough. I feel sorry for AVB it must be like being in a fist fight with one hand tide behind your back.

Holtby is young so I will pass.

Our big problem is our recent signings and it give me no pleasure in saying it, are woeful.

agree, and i think the closest we have to a replacement at the moment is Tom Carroll though i have reservations as to whether he could perform at the necessary level on a consistent basis at the moment. But at the moment id rather he played in front of Moussa in a CM pair than Scott, if Moussa is the holding player in a two.

 

[Syn_13]

The way I see it we're not getting in behind the opposition back line enough. The risk you take with playing a high line, pressing up the pitch and keepin possession is that you're camped in their half and have little room to go on the break. This means the movement and level of passing from your attacking players has to be shit hot. It's what Barca do so well. On the downside you're susceptible to counters but smart, quick footed defenders and a sweeper keeper deals with that.

I don't think the wings are as much a problem as our lack of movement. Our midfielders are not technical enough and our forwards have poor movement. You might get away with having one of the above but both leaves us camped outside their box, passing backwards and sideways, not having enough space for the wingers to get behind the fullbacks and relying on shots from outside the box to test the keeper as we can't build up play and work the ball into their box.

To follow up on this post I made earlier, and to take into account people's suggestion that we need to use the wingers more.

With the team we have, in its current set up, we're only half way there. Defensively we're looking more assured but offensively we're too stale. Our attacking players are far more suited to counter attacking football where we sit deeper, soak up pressure and score on the break. It'll take a while for AVB to instill a possession mentality into this team and quite frankly some of them just can't do it which is where having a Modric/Moutinho type player would've gone a long way to helping up transition into that style of play.

I personally think that with our strikers being so out of form right now and us having no ability to unlock defences that sit tight we should revert to a counter attacking style until we get our mojo back. Last season we did this but paid the price as Redknapp's defensive work was poor in comparison to his attacking; we were imbalanced. This season we've shown that we can keep discipline at the back when under the cosh so why not look to go on the counter?

Edit: when playing the counter we will naturally utilise the wingers a lot more.