we don't have the Ayers to apply Poch's 'philosophy'

[Ionman34]

Fuck me drunk!

How many threads do we need to air the same tired old gripes?

Whoever said that the level of 'fan' expectation this season would be less needs to give their head a soak.

I've seen clouds of Mosquitoes that whine less.

 

[Sp3akerboxxx]

To be honest with you you don't even need to have pace to play on the counter, sure it helps but it's not the be all and end all, it comes down to speed of thought and playing the right passes otherwise we'd just sit back and play Lennon and Townsend every match in hope we'll catch teams out.

Look how Chelsea countered against City last week for their goal, bar Hazard you wouldn't say they were blessed with pace, they just played the correct passes to each other.

There is no tactical style in the known universe that justifies playing Lennon and Townsend

Never said that counter attacking football was reliant on pace, but if you want to play purely counter attacking football then you need a ball carrier with speed to mix it up. It's why we used to be superb on the break when we had Bale in the side. Having a quick forward player who can attack the space on the break like a Bale or a Hazard is a great boon to counter attacking sides.

 

[Metalhead]

Fuck me drunk!

How many threads do we need to air the same tired old gripes?

Whoever said that the level of 'fan' expectation this season would be less needs to give their head a soak.

I've seen clouds of Mosquitoes that whine less.

It was so obvious in hindsight though wasn't it. Yes, everyone gives it the big one about 'patience' and 'time' in pre-season but when we're not sitting in the top 4 after a few matches, memories become rather short.

 

[davidmatzdorf]

To be honest with you you don't even need to have pace to play on the counter, sure it helps but it's not the be all and end all, it comes down to speed of thought and playing the right passes otherwise we'd just sit back and play Lennon and Townsend every match in hope we'll catch teams out.

Look how Chelsea countered against City last week for their goal, bar Hazard you wouldn't say they were blessed with pace, they just played the correct passes to each other.

I agree, to an extent. What you need is quick wingers, combined with strikers who have a sense of space and timing - such as Kane.

A perfect example of this is the goal that beat AC Milan at the San Siro. The winger (Lennon) had pace, but the striker was, um, Crouch - who certainly isn't quick, but knew where to position himself on the counter to run onto the ball. The same applies to Pavlyuchenko's beautifully paced and hesitating run onto Bale's ball for the third goal against Inter Milan at home.