- Jul 7, 2007
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Watched five minutes of Liverpool now, I made the comparison for us with Chelsea and Arsenal the other day, throw them and City in as well, but just look how quickly these teams move the ball compared to us, at one or two touch, lots of runners and people on the move, and done with clarity of thinking. Most of the passes/passages of play aren't even remarkable, but do it at enough tempo and you still cause opposition defences problems and don't let them set. There is also a base level of urgency in the play.
I think, even when we've had better seasons than some of these teams, that our pass and move and one/two touch play has been weaker in all truth than other teams (but our collective and overall play has meant it doesn't matter, we win in other ways), but right now whilst we struggle to find form the differences are showing up even more.
I said the same thing after one of our other games, the Inter game I think, when I switched to PSG and Liverpool. Made our game look like it was being played in slow motion. I thought the same when watching Napoli a bit now too.
With Liverpool for instance, there is so much more urgency on the ball, even when you look at just the body language of the players. You won't see a player like Dier (don't mean to bash but just the best example) strolling around the midfield.
I don't know what needs to change, if it's mostly personal or instructional, probably both but I do tire of seeing the slow build up and aimless passage of passing.