The gist of this article suggest that the larger pitches make it easier for attacking and harder to defend especially when pressing the opposition. Whether true or not, it surely must apply to BOTH teams. So where is the problem?
Trust in MP ~ if there is a way to play on the larger pitch, he will find it.
Only downside about Wembley will be the lower teams upping their own game more because there playing at Wembley and unlikey to play there too often so for some it be like a cup final day out.
However our training pitches should have been changed to match wembly specs and we should be used to it plus pre season games so come start of the season the pitch size shouldn't be an excuse.
The more we play on it the better we'll get and will help when we reach all the cup finals ...be like playing at home
I think one issue that contributed to our poor results at Wembley was that Pochettino & co. anticipated that the larger pitch would have the opposite effect than it actually had. They thought it would free up our attacking movement, without diminishing our defensive solidity.
What actually happened was the pressing upfield to win the ball was less effective, because the opposition in possession had more space to find an outlet, whereas our defence, especially when the fullbacks were up the pitch and the defensive midfielder was dropping back, was more vulnerable to pace along the flanks.
The main issue was defence. Most of our bad results at Wembley were directly related to conceding the kind of sloppy goal, often against the run of play, that we rarely conceded at WHL. My memory is that all or nearly all of those involved a pacy opponent getting behind or through the defensive line: wider pitch, bigger gaps.
As the season progressed, the team learned how to play more effectively against opposition that played us at our own game (pressing hard and early) and also worked out more effective defensive positioning on larger pitches. We won 5 of our last 6 away league matches by a combined score of 19-4. I don't how many of those were on larger pitches, but the majority would have been on pitches larger than the old one at WHL.
None of this addresses the other problem at Wembley, which is that it is impossible, with 80,000 supporters, to generate anything close to the level of intensity that 35,000 could produce at WHL. It all just ... evaporates. I'm more concerned about that. We can learn how to deal with the pitch (which is slow as well as being large). You can't manufacture fan noise and intensity in a venue that is not designed for it.
A reminder to those browsing without an account, it's quick and easy to Register Here. Come and join the fun!
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.