Tactics Under Maresca

[messerschmitt]

11 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Rafiu Durosinmi from Viktoria Plzen was someone I'd looked at a few months back. But he's done his ACL 😂

 

Quite like Fotis Ioannidis from Panathanakios too.

Rafiu Durosinmi could be a very decent addition if Daka was to leave. It was suggested in November that he'd only be out for another month!

Looks like Wolves, Brighton and particularly Eintracht Frankfurt are interested though.

[jammie82uk]

2 hours ago, lcfcsnow said:

FAO Enzo

Match stats

	TEAM STATS
22	Shots	2
7	Shots on target	2
46%	Possession	54%
436	Passes	520

 

I guess they didn't find the right time to attack. 

It was a rare occasion where the villa midfield consistently won the battle, McGinn, Youri & Douglas Luis were fantastic 

[Lambert09]

One thing that i’ve not quite understood, is why we don’t switch the sides of the wingers mid-match. 

 

We’ve seen fatawu and mcateer and yunus on the left, they all looked comfortable. So it’s only mavididi that we haven’t given a go on the other side. 

 

I just think that after the first 30 mins the full backs start to know what to expect, so i don’t know why we aren’t then switching it up and giving them a different type of problem to deal with. 

 

Both mavididi and fatawu are a nightmare to deal with, but both play different styles. So I feel it would be really effective to keep the defenders guessing. 

Edited 7 December 2023 by Lambert09

[StriderHiryu]

21 minutes ago, lcfcsnow said:

FAO Enzo

Match stats

	TEAM STATS
22	Shots	2
7	Shots on target	2
46%	Possession	54%
436	Passes	520

 

I guess they didn't find the right time to attack. 

This game was fascinating to see from a tactical perspective. This was the most dominant display seen against Man City in years, the score does not reflect the way the game went. Villa were superb!

 

Some notes from me:

• Since Emery came in, Villa have been incredible, with Champions League possibly even league winning from. He's turned them into a top team.
• Man City had more possession in this game, but not that much more. This is an 8% difference in possession between the two teams, whereas when one team has a 60-40 split, that's a 20% difference which is much, more meaningful. I bet after the game Pep was upset with those statistics.
• Man City had possession, but rarely in dangerous areas.
  • Villa play a really high line, so often this means that the opposition has the ball in areas of the pitch that aren't dangerous.
• Villa themselves play out of the back and have a technical style. But it's not as restrained as Man City.

 

As I've said before, personally I like teams that have a lot of the ball, but do something with it. I understand what Maresca is trying to do with his system, but think we could create more chances if made some tweaks. But hey, that's just my opinion!

[Lillehamring]

3 hours ago, filbertway said:

I agree, results keep managers in a job.

 

I don't see this being a successful way of playing if we go up. 

 

I hope his comments were a bit of naivety and he realises that he can't just cling onto one style if results start faltering. I find Enzo incredibly likeable so giving him every chance in my mind. I never really look at things as they are now, I'm always looking a year or two ahead. It's easy to have the blinkers on now if you're short-termist, "we're top of the  league", "stop worrying", "just enjoy it". 

 

I am the type of person that exclusively signs 16-20 year old on football manager and sees someone as part of the old guard when they hit 24/25

 

In all seriousness though, without an incredible transfer window next summer I struggle to see how this system doesn't see us get routinely punished by Premier League attacks. This system struggled to create good chances against weaker opposition and still gives up good opportunities that better teams will turn into shots and goals.

 

It's very much like we're having a beautiful drive in the sun by the beach and I feel like one of the few worried about this extremely steep cliff we appear to be approaching

 

 All I want to hear is "this feels like the safest approach to going up, next season we may need to tweak things when we play better teams than ourselves". He's a lovely beautiful guy, I don't want him getting that Claude Puel treatment.

I think it's easy to mistake the commitment he has to his idea as a being one-dimensional stubbornness - the reality of the system is that it is not an absolute plan, but a basis for numerous alternative ways of playing - basically, if the opposition do this, we do this, if they do that we do that.

 

It is of course impossible to predict how it will work if we get promoted, but there is evidence from other teams to suggest that when it works - it really works.  I think a lot of people are basing a worry on how poorly burnley are playing, but i think we have a far superior core of a team to what they had and a better infrastructure and recruitment reach than they had - so i'd rather look at a team like brighton who are showing you don't need a team of superstars to get it to work.

 

For me, i'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt and to believe we're playing how we're playing right now because that is the best way to win games in the championship, in the PL it will certainly require a different approach and we have to believe that he is already thinking about the best way to play his system against that kind of opponent.

[Richmondfox]

2 hours ago, Lambert09 said:

One thing that i’ve not quite understood, is why we don’t switch the sides of the wingers mid-match. 

 

We’ve seen fatawu and mcateer and yunus on the left, they all looked comfortable. So it’s only mavididi that we haven’t given a go on the other side. 

 

I just think that after the first 30 mins the full backs start to know what to expect, so i don’t know why we aren’t then switching it up and giving them a different type of problem to deal with. 

 

Both mavididi and fatawu are a nightmare to deal with, but both play different styles. So I feel it would be really effective to keep the defenders guessing. 

I think because Enzo doesn’t want the wingers to be wingers. Why have one dribble when 15 passes can cover the same distance.  It’s obvious the way they have to restrain themselves from attacking.  The crowd were getting vocal when Mavadidi kept turning back on himself. 

In the second half when we were 1 up, Fatawu kept turning around and passing backwards even though he was in a great position to push for a second.  The commentator (Elliot?) was highlighting the negative play and saying Enzo was clapping when he sent it back 30 yards.

 

I would love to see them both running in space at back tracking defenders but I’m not expecting it in games anymore. 
 

The points speak for the hard work of the manager and the team but I would love to see them insert some urgency to kill games off.  The last two games have highlighted this. 

Edited 7 December 2023 by Richmondfox

[Lillehamring]

5 minutes ago, Richmondfox said:

I think because Enzo doesn’t want the wingers to be wingers. Why have one dribble when 15 passes can cover the same distance.  It’s obvious the way they have to restrain themselves from attacking.  The crowd were getting vocal when Mavadidi kept turning back on himself. 

In the second half when we were 1 up, Fatawu kept turning around and passing backwards even though he was in a great position to push for a second.  The commentator (Elliot?) was highlighting the negative play and saying Enzo was clapping when he sent it back 30 yards.

 

I would love to see them both running in space at back tracking defenders but I’m not expecting it in games anymore. 
 

The points speak for the hard work of the manager and the team but I would love to see them insert some urgency to kill games off.  The last two games have highlighted this. 

This is unfair, or at least not backed up statistically:

Of players who have played at least 200 minutes, fatawu ranks 7th on progressive carries per 90 (5th if you adjust that to players with over 300 miutes), and mavididi ranks 12th (or 9th)  - their progressive passing on the other hand is amongst the lowest in the squad, but this is the same for almost all the top progrresive ball carrriers.  Given how advanced they play, the majority of the time when they aren't able to carry the ball and have to pass, the pass will simply have to go back - there is seldom anyone ahead of them.  Yes, it would be nice to see them perhaps play sidewards, but even that becomes a risky pass given where the defenders are.

 

The whole 'enzo clapping the back pass' thing is wholly without context - there's is nothing to say that he wasn't simply approving a sensible recirculation of passing, rather than  applauding a player lacking any interest in advancing the ball.  At that stage in the game the urgency of pushing for a second was lower than the urgency of not allowing the opposition to have possession.

 

[brucey]

5 hours ago, filbertway said:

I hope his comments were a bit of naivety and he realises that he can't just cling onto one style if results start faltering. 

He did acknowledge that his style has already evolved over his short managerial career, as he looks for solutions to improve when an issue surfaces, eg. looking at the recent two late goals conceded.

 

However, he did also say that we haven't hit a rough patch yet, but when we do, that will be the time to see whether the players can stick to the plan.....

 

Edited 7 December 2023 by brucey

[sacreblueits442]

8 hours ago, StriderHiryu said:

The goal Winks scored shows the mistake in WBA's play; they committed too many players forwards and were too impatient to try and score the goal, so as soon as they lost it, they were in big trouble. Enzo's point would be that it's perfectly fine to attack with lots of players, but it's better to build the attack patiently so if something goes wrong, you aren't totally screwed. Try to make some short passes and engineer the chance, rather than just sending it into the mixer and leaving it to the footballing gods.

...that same scenario happens a lot of times in games, where a team is defending a corner or a set piece!!!

  The usual outcome is the ball is cleared by a defender and the opposition would pick up the second ball,  as they are just on the edge of your 18 yard box. In this instance the ball fell kindly for us and Nacho managed to get it under control whilst looking to transition the ball.

   KDH and Winks breaking out was intelligent play, having noticed the opportunity. 

  We need the composure when we are under the kosh to exploit that situation as a norm, we normally see that situation as anywhere will do, so long as the ball  is away from our goal. It is strange how our play becomes frantic,  when put under pressure, contrary to the coaching and the beliefs of Maresca.

Edited 7 December 2023 by sacreblueits442
Spelling error.

[Guppys Love Child]

22 minutes ago, Lillehamring said:

This is unfair, or at least not backed up statistically:

Of players who have played at least 200 minutes, fatawu ranks 7th on progressive carries per 90 (5th if you adjust that to players with over 300 miutes), and mavididi ranks 12th (or 9th)  - their progressive passing on the other hand is amongst the lowest in the squad, but this is the same for almost all the top progrresive ball carrriers.  Given how advanced they play, the majority of the time when they aren't able to carry the ball and have to pass, the pass will simply have to go back - there is seldom anyone ahead of them.  Yes, it would be nice to see them perhaps play sidewards, but even that becomes a risky pass given where the defenders are.

 

The whole 'enzo clapping the back pass' thing is wholly without context - there's is nothing to say that he wasn't simply approving a sensible recirculation of passing, rather than  applauding a player lacking any interest in advancing the ball.  At that stage in the game the urgency of pushing for a second was lower than the urgency of not allowing the opposition to have possession.

 

This is unfair (just quoting your phrase)..  it was picked up by the commentary team as happening.

 

Genuine question, could I ask, are you season ticket holder or TV watcher.  I go and get a cold bum and see it the same as Richmondfox. 

 

We are negative, we do pass back far to much, ( and sideways) as if pre -programmed when going forward to not take a chance and loose the ball in favour of possession, (yes, yes I know, I know It's... The... System...  Well,  it's boring and it stinks)  and to me our team looks like Enzoball is holding them back for the sake of control when the wingers needed to push on and well...be wingers 

 

Please don't quote stats or ball carrying figures to me, I have no interest in them, and to be honest figures can be presented to represent anything the presenter wants( I'm not implying you did this on a previous post but your internet source did ) I go and watch the game and if I see the vast majority from my seat are back and forward passes and more importantly little to no shots at goal then that's what's happened, not what an algorithm has popped into numbers trying to disprove what my eyes witnessed (and a slowly growing number of others posted have said similar to my views) 

[Lambert09]

1 hour ago, Richmondfox said:

I think because Enzo doesn’t want the wingers to be wingers. Why have one dribble when 15 passes can cover the same distance.  It’s obvious the way they have to restrain themselves from attacking.  The crowd were getting vocal when Mavadidi kept turning back on himself. 

In the second half when we were 1 up, Fatawu kept turning around and passing backwards even though he was in a great position to push for a second.  The commentator (Elliot?) was highlighting the negative play and saying Enzo was clapping when he sent it back 30 yards.

 

I would love to see them both running in space at back tracking defenders but I’m not expecting it in games anymore. 
 

The points speak for the hard work of the manager and the team but I would love to see them insert some urgency to kill games off.  The last two games have highlighted this. 

 

10 minutes ago, Guppys Love Child said:

This is unfair (just quoting your phrase)..  it was picked up by the commentary team as happening.

 

Genuine question, could I ask, are you season ticket holder or TV watcher.  I go and get a cold bum and see it the same as Richmondfox. 

 

We are negative, we do pass back far to much, ( and sideways) as if pre -programmed when going forward to not take a chance and loose the ball in favour of possession, (yes, yes I know, I know It's... The... System...  Well,  it's boring and it stinks)  and to me our team looks like Enzoball is holding them back for the sake of control when the wingers needed to push on and well...be wingers 

 

Please don't quote stats or ball carrying figures to me, I have no interest in them, and to be honest figures can be presented to represent anything the presenter wants( I'm not implying you did this on a previous post but your internet source did ) I go and watch the game and if I see the vast majority from my seat are back and forward passes and more importantly little to no shots at goal then that's what's happened, not what an algorithm has popped into numbers trying to disprove what my eyes witnessed (and a slowly growing number of others posted have said similar to my views) 

on the whole, i’m not sure i agree. 

 

Maybe in the last match there were moments when they’ve chosen to keep the ball but overall they’ve been given license to attack however they see fit. 

 

Maresca clearly targeted players who could take a man on and i don’t get the impression he’s unhappy when they do it. 

 

I’d say that’s even where Mcateer has improved most in his game. At first he was more focused on keeping the ball but Enzo got him confident and then we saw him going on a few runs, the first time he tried it, that  i can remember was against hull and prior to that he wouldn’t have dreamt of running at a man 

Edited 7 December 2023 by Lambert09

[Dan LCFC]

11 hours ago, filbertway said:

Gotta say, that's not great reading.

 

Its like having a sexy Gary Megson. Obsessed with not conceding and if we get a goal than thats a bonus 

 

I'm 99% sure the concensus will be Enzo out before Jan 2025 if he really isn't willing to adapt his methodology.

 

I just dont see how his vision of football can be successful when youre one of the weaker teams in a division.

Like I've said a few times we need to find other ways of scoring and creating chances. There may open more gaps against teams who will attack us but I do sort of have these same longer term concerns.

 

He's earned the benefit of the doubt as we do keep winning but you do wonder how this will work against on paper better sides. I'd not have been unhappy if we had drawn a Brentford or a West Ham in the cup this season.

[Guppys Love Child]

22 minutes ago, Lambert09 said:

 

on the whole, i’m not sure i agree. 

 

Maybe in the last match there were moments when they’ve chosen to keep the ball but overall they’ve been given license to attack however they see fit. 

 

Maresca clearly targeted players who could take a man on and i don’t get the impression he’s unhappy when they do it. 

 

I’d say that’s even where Mcateer has improved most in his game. At first he was more focused on keeping the ball but Enzo got him confident and then we saw him going on a few runs, the first time he tried it, that  i can remember was against hull and prior to that he wouldn’t have dreamt of running at a man 

Good reply post..👍

 

(1st bold) and my turn to disagree a bit, only a smidge 😁 my take on it is that the number of matches where we play pass/control football spans further back than just the last match, but as I said that's just my take, and I agree they most probably have been given free rain as we have witnessed it on occasions, so here's a question to the forum, if Enzo had targeted players 'to take the man on' why do we see such instances of this so sparingly, we are hardly creating hatfull of chances from our wing play, cutbacks into the box have hardly been in abundance, Is it the player not being capable or his playing instructions to keep control of the ball with the team, by passing instead of 'marauding' so to speak.

 

(2nd bold) I agree he's not unhappy when they do this. Which circles us back to 1st bold 

[Lambert09]

23 minutes ago, Guppys Love Child said:

Good reply post..👍

 

(1st bold) and my turn to disagree a bit, only a smidge 😁 my take on it is that the number of matches where we play pass/control football spans further back than just the last match, but as I said that's just my take, and I agree they most probably have been given free rain as we have witnessed it on occasions, so here's a question to the forum, if Enzo had targeted players 'to take the man on' why do we see such instances of this so sparingly, we are hardly creating hatfull of chances from our wing play, cutbacks into the box have hardly been in abundance, Is it the player not being capable or his playing instructions to keep control of the ball with the team, by passing instead of 'marauding' so to speak.

 

(2nd bold) I agree he's not unhappy when they do this. Which circles us back to 1st bold 

I guess it’s open to interpretation. Personally, I think it’s down to a lack of end product, or youthful rashness.  I think we do try to get the ball out to the wingers to create the space, they are clearly the focal point of the team rather than the striker. 

 

But you could argue that mavididi should have doubled his output… if not more. And Fatawu has been brilliant but his numbers don’t back that up yet.  
 

There will always be off days, but mostly i’d say the wingers have created enough to win games… we just haven’t been clinical enough. 

 

There will be a day when everything goes in and we get 5/6 this season, i’m sure of it.  But i’m one of those that always appreciated barnes and realised that it’s rare you get a wide player with his ability to finish. it was a near impossible replacement situation, no matter what div

[Dahnsouff]

22 minutes ago, Guppys Love Child said:

Good reply post..👍

 

(1st bold) and my turn to disagree a bit, only a smidge 😁 my take on it is that the number of matches where we play pass/control football spans further back than just the last match, but as I said that's just my take, and I agree they most probably have been given free rain as we have witnessed it on occasions, so here's a question to the forum, if Enzo had targeted players 'to take the man on' why do we see such instances of this so sparingly, we are hardly creating hatfull of chances from our wing play, cutbacks into the box have hardly been in abundance, Is it the player not being capable or his playing instructions to keep control of the ball with the team, by passing instead of 'marauding' so to speak.

 

(2nd bold) I agree he's not unhappy when they do this. Which circles us back to 1st bold 

Would suggest both can be true if, as you would expect, every player has many instructions. Beat a man. Don’t lose the ball. Two simple and likely instructions which could easily contradict and prevent the other. I had hoped (and am still hoping) that the decision making would be a core tenant of Enzo’s process and that the when to beat the man and ‘risk it’ would become more evident as time goes on.

[coolhandfox]

Interesting that people are being critical of a manager for wanting to control games, be well structured defensively and avoid games developing into basketball matches.

 

All 3 of which were massive reasons why our last 2 season in the PL were shambolic. We conceded 127 league goals during those 2 season at 1.69 goals a game.

 

In our relegation season we scored more goals then any team in the bottom 10, but went down because we couldn't defend.

 

Any manager worth his salt is going to come in and see that as a major focus when rebuilding.

 

I agree we could be a little more aggressive and be a little bolder, but give the bloke a chance.

 

 

 

 

Edited 8 December 2023 by coolhandfox

[sacreblueits442]

1 hour ago, Lambert09 said:

I’d say that’s even where Mcateer has improved most in his game. At first he was more focused on keeping the ball but Enzo got him confident and then we saw him going on a few runs, the first time he tried it, that  i can remember was against hull and prior to that he wouldn’t have dreamt of running at a man 

...he was doing that in pre-season, notably against Liverpool where he outstripped their defender, demonstrating that he had some speed!!!

 He did not have any fear regarding who he came up against, it was good to see.

[Guppys Love Child]

2 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

Interesting that people are being critical of a manager for wanting to control games, be well structured defensive and avoid games developing into basketball matches.

 

All 3 of which were massive reasons why our last 2 season in the PL were shambolic. We conceded 127 league goals during those 2 season at 1.69 goals a game.

 

In our relegation season we scored more goals then any team in the bottom 10, but went down because we couldn't defend.

 

Any manager worth his salt is going to come in and see that as a major focus when rebuilding.

 

Our agree we could be a little more aggressive and be a little bolder, but give the bloke a chance.

 

 

 

 

I agree 100% here.  

 

Don't get me wrong. I'm a million miles away from being an Enzo hater. He seems a great bloke, and fully appreciate he's a new manager starting out on his career and he has my backing as our manager.

 

He's been employed to pick up the pieces left by the odious little shiny tooth leprechaun, give us some stability, win matches and get us promoted ASAP, all of which he is doing.  And I'm ecstatic of the fact he's so far succeeding in his remit.

 

I watched the masterclass video and do understand it and to me it's most certainly wasn't like dropped smarty's on a table. But I guess my 'gripe' is that whilst it's obvious too us all by our league position that it's working, the style regardless of how affective it seems to be, for me personally it just lacks in the entertainment factor, and that if truth be told is as high on my list of attending matches as coming away with 3 points. 

 

Hopefully if we can wheel and deal in January ( squad size and outgoings permitting) a better calibre of player may be what's needed to really deliver Enzo ball at its finest and by the same token the entertainment may creep back a smidge.

 

[lcfcsnow]

Quote

against Watford probably we had some moments, but I can understand people that come there and they are all different.

Probably some of them prefer one thing. But at the end, it’s normal

That one thing being entertainment? The reason we got into this sport in the first place. It seems he’s trying to kill a match before it’s even started and worry about any goals later.

 

Will put up with it whilst it’s working against poor teams, but guarantee it won’t against better sides if we go up, good luck killing those games and getting away with playing out from the back under the extreme pressure in which we do.

[coolhandfox]

15 minutes ago, Guppys Love Child said:

Hopefully if we can wheel and deal in January ( squad size and outgoings permitting) a better calibre of player may be what's needed to really deliver Enzo ball at its finest and by the same token the entertainment may creep back a smidge.

 

I agree, I also think people over estimate our creative attacking talents.

 

In the wing positions we Fatawua and Macteer young players with limited experience, a untested Akgun new to the uk who been out injured. 

 

Only Madividi is really proven at this type of level and an aged Albrighton.

 

At Ndidi a converted CDM playing a creative 8 role for the first first time in his career. 

 

KDH who never really been a massively creative player, best return of his career goal contribution wise already.

 

Praet injured for most of the season and an untested Casadei.

[Lillehamring]

2 hours ago, Guppys Love Child said:

This is unfair (just quoting your phrase)..  it was picked up by the commentary team as happening.

Not saying that it didn't happen, i'm just saying that without context it's impossible to know what enzo's motivation was - whether it is a reasonable reaction or a disconcerting one.  It happened when we were trying to kill the game against a form team who had suddenly come to life and were chasing a result - as such, i'm inclined to see the worthiness of approving of such an action.

2 hours ago, Guppys Love Child said:

 

Genuine question, could I ask, are you season ticket holder or TV watcher.  I go and get a cold bum and see it the same as Richmondfox. 

Sadly, a TV watcher, I live in Norway now.  I didn't have the english commentary for this game as it was shown on TV here.

2 hours ago, Guppys Love Child said:

 

We are negative, we do pass back far to much, ( and sideways) as if pre -programmed when going forward to not take a chance and loose the ball in favour of possession, (yes, yes I know, I know It's... The... System...  Well,  it's boring and it stinks)  and to me our team looks like Enzoball is holding them back for the sake of control when the wingers needed to push on and well...be wingers 

 

Please don't quote stats or ball carrying figures to me, I have no interest in them, and to be honest figures can be presented to represent anything the presenter wants( I'm not implying you did this on a previous post but your internet source did ) I go and watch the game and if I see the vast majority from my seat are back and forward passes and more importantly little to no shots at goal then that's what's happened, not what an algorithm has popped into numbers trying to disprove what my eyes witnessed (and a slowly growing number of others posted have said similar to my views) 

Regardless of your feeling towards stats, when someone posts that our wingers are being told not to dribble or that they are being restrained from attacking, it's impossible not to quote some basic statistics that shows that the opposite is in fact the case.  If Richmond feels that this is the case, fair enough, that's his reading of the game, but sometimes what we feel is happening isn't necessarily the reality.  The stats i quoted were not intangible things like xG, they were figures that show how many times they make progressive carries per game compared to other players, and both mavididi and fatawu were in the top percentile for this.

[Lillehamring]

1 hour ago, Guppys Love Child said:

Good reply post..👍

 

(1st bold) and my turn to disagree a bit, only a smidge 😁 my take on it is that the number of matches where we play pass/control football spans further back than just the last match, but as I said that's just my take, and I agree they most probably have been given free rain as we have witnessed it on occasions, so here's a question to the forum, if Enzo had targeted players 'to take the man on' why do we see such instances of this so sparingly, we are hardly creating hatfull of chances from our wing play, cutbacks into the box have hardly been in abundance, Is it the player not being capable or his playing instructions to keep control of the ball with the team, by passing instead of 'marauding' so to speak.

 

(2nd bold) I agree he's not unhappy when they do this. Which circles us back to 1st bold 

I would suggest that it's a combination of things, starting and dominated by the fact that teams are predominantly sitting deep, having enough men back to make the final third very congested, even to be able to double up on our wingers.  Beyond that we have to remember that not only is this a new way of playing for most of them, they're also still getting used to the way their teammates are playing. Finally, i think there seems to be a safety first policy when we are leading - enzo seems to feel that with a 1 goal lead you're more likely to preserve that by not letting your opponent have the ball, and more likely to surrender it if you take a risk and lose possession in an advanced position.

[CosbehFox]

2 hours ago, coolhandfox said:

Interesting that people are being critical of a manager for wanting to control games, be well structured defensive and avoid games developing into basketball matches.

 

I think that’s a clear reason for that whether you agree or disagree with its merits. It was very similar language to what Rodgers said on a couple of occasions

[Nod.E]

6 hours ago, Guppys Love Child said:

This is unfair (just quoting your phrase)..  it was picked up by the commentary team as happening.

 

Genuine question, could I ask, are you season ticket holder or TV watcher.  I go and get a cold bum and see it the same as Richmondfox. 

 

We are negative, we do pass back far to much, ( and sideways) as if pre -programmed when going forward to not take a chance and loose the ball in favour of possession, (yes, yes I know, I know It's... The... System...  Well,  it's boring and it stinks)  and to me our team looks like Enzoball is holding them back for the sake of control when the wingers needed to push on and well...be wingers 

 

Please don't quote stats or ball carrying figures to me, I have no interest in them, and to be honest figures can be presented to represent anything the presenter wants( I'm not implying you did this on a previous post but your internet source did ) I go and watch the game and if I see the vast majority from my seat are back and forward passes and more importantly little to no shots at goal then that's what's happened, not what an algorithm has popped into numbers trying to disprove what my eyes witnessed (and a slowly growing number of others posted have said similar to my views) 

So let me get this straight, do tell me if I'm getting this wrong.

 

You go to the games, so what you see is right and all the stats are wrong? And everyone else, many of whom also go to games, is wrong?

 

Righto.

 

It's as though some people see the word 'statistic', have some sort of PTSD response upon recollection of Maths in school and dismiss it as hocus pocus. Start small, mate. Shots on target can be classed as a statistic, y'know? Get comfortable with that and then perhaps rejoin the conversation later. Okay? Good.

Edited 8 December 2023 by Nod.E

[Jobyfox]

I’m just glad that we’re still top. 
 

If we slip to 2nd or, god forbid, 3rd those currently queuing up with sharpened pencils are going to have a field day laying into Maresca