Just read this statement from ten Hag after last night's game:
“It is about reading the game and when you are leading, keeping the ball. We want [to score] too many goals … we are taking too many risks, losing the ball and encouraging opponents. We have to learn. It is quite naive when you are open and you are leading a game. You should not all run forward but just stay calm, keep the ball and make sure your organisation and defending is always good."
It reminded me of Xavi's recent complaining about his players' wayward passing.
I think both managers were basically making the same complaint:
As hard as they try to drill in some pretty basic principles, they're faced with footballers who lack the footballing brain to distinguish between situations in which it's ok to attempt an adventurous pass and those where misplacing the pass leaves you open to your opponents.
Academies reportedly pay a lot more attention nowadays to giving players a football education. Tactical, spatial and positional awareness are supposedly three of the key requirements of the modern footballer.
So why is this happening? In Barcelona's case, I get that they're promoting a very young players who might still need to acquire the experience needed at the top, but perhaps their recent signings don't have the required profiles either.
What about United? Why is it that the players can't seem to take these were simple notions on board? Is it that the player's footballing brain is just an afterthoughtinsteadof a key attribute when looking at potential signings?
Football brains
posted on 2/2/24
comment by Kobra (U19849)
posted 38 minutes ago
We talk about player confidence but don't touch on Manager confidence.
This isn't an ETH in/is the future.
Simply with the start we have every decision of his will get magnified.
Imagine he did a Jose. Go 2 goals up after 22 minutes and made subs shutting the game down.
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He would be very foolish and stupid to do this knowing the keeper we have in goal that he purchased. This keeper will make Maldini and Beresi appear nervous. We are not doing no Mourinho with this side
posted on 2/2/24
comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 42 minutes ago
comment by Ali - (U1192)
posted 21 minutes ago
You can't get to this level without knowing the basics of the game.
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A football match involves making many decisions over 90+ minutes. If nobody made mistakes, every game would finish 0-0. A manager can't be expected to shout instructions for every single dynamic situation taking place on the pitch.
That said, there are, have always been, and always will be players who do plenty physically but don't exactly stand out for their decision making and are more prone to lapses in ci concentration.
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Not necessarily true. Sometimes as a defender you just have to hold your hands up and say the opposition is better than me/us.
Messi has embarrassed dozens of centre backs over the years. They didn't exactly make mistakes, Messi was just too good and they couldn't get near him.
The amount of actual mistakes our defence make though is hilarious. It does make you wonder how they play in the premier league.
posted on 2/2/24
What about United?
OP, the simple answer is they are not good enough. Being intelligent is also a part of what makes a great footballer and we do not have one great footballer. I would go as far as say the most intelligent footballer we have now in this squad is 18 with regards to doing the basics of pass, move, keeping calm.
It is laughable to see Kobe doing the above and then looking at our captain just losing the ball for fun. Wingers that won't cross. No shaw and Rasmus is not scoring that goal yesterday because Rashford and Garnacho are allergic to crossing the ball.
posted on 2/2/24
comment by scholayScholes (U13961)
posted 2 minutes ago
What about United?
OP, the simple answer is they are not good enough. Being intelligent is also a part of what makes a great footballer and we do not have one great footballer. I would go as far as say the most intelligent footballer we have now in this squad is 18 with regards to doing the basics of pass, move, keeping calm.
It is laughable to see Kobe doing the above and then looking at our captain just losing the ball for fun. Wingers that won't cross. No shaw and Rasmus is not scoring that goal yesterday because Rashford and Garnacho are allergic to crossing the ball.
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That do cross, but they tend to do it at the wrong times/delay. Rasmus should have had a second last night and the keeper made a decent save. But Garnacho should have pulled the ball back to Rasmus sooner. By the time he made the pass the defender had got back to put pressure on Rasmus and he was a bit too close to the keeper.
posted on 2/2/24
You can tell there is still a lack of confidence and nervousness about this team. That leads to bad decision making. No proper leaders - Varane and Martinez are technically good, but are they actual organisers of the defence? And let's not start on Onana.
There's a fine line between going for that next goal and making sure we don't lose one, but we don't want to be too defensive. And regardless, 2 goals up against an average team, a group of players should be able tomanager that, regardless of what ETH does (and I'm not convinced by ETH)
Let's also face the fact that we haven't scored many goals - how many matches have we actually been 2 goals up in? I guess we are thankful for the win, learn from it and move on.
posted on 2/2/24
comment by Elvis (U7425)
posted 16 minutes ago
comment by scholayScholes (U13961)
posted 2 minutes ago
What about United?
OP, the simple answer is they are not good enough. Being intelligent is also a part of what makes a great footballer and we do not have one great footballer. I would go as far as say the most intelligent footballer we have now in this squad is 18 with regards to doing the basics of pass, move, keeping calm.
It is laughable to see Kobe doing the above and then looking at our captain just losing the ball for fun. Wingers that won't cross. No shaw and Rasmus is not scoring that goal yesterday because Rashford and Garnacho are allergic to crossing the ball.
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That do cross, but they tend to do it at the wrong times/delay. Rasmus should have had a second last night and the keeper made a decent save. But Garnacho should have pulled the ball back to Rasmus sooner. By the time he made the pass the defender had got back to put pressure on Rasmus and he was a bit too close to the keeper.
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I just don't see it. Last game Rasmus was giving Garnacho a royal bollocking because he had no interest in crossing the ball
posted on 2/2/24
I'm sorry, but that Is the nanagers job. He made the subs, and should setting the instruction. We've been easy to play through, and susceptible to counters all season. He should be doing something about it in trying and team meetings. Can't blame the players, they do it right with their national teams, and at previous clubs.
posted on 2/2/24
Can't blame the players,
...............
Oh yes you can. Varane, Evans and Maguire are all experienced players who should know better how to manage game situations.
posted on 2/2/24
comment by scholayScholes (U13961)
posted 1 hour, 11 minutes ago
comment by Elvis (U7425)
posted 16 minutes ago
comment by scholayScholes (U13961)
posted 2 minutes ago
What about United?
OP, the simple answer is they are not good enough. Being intelligent is also a part of what makes a great footballer and we do not have one great footballer. I would go as far as say the most intelligent footballer we have now in this squad is 18 with regards to doing the basics of pass, move, keeping calm.
It is laughable to see Kobe doing the above and then looking at our captain just losing the ball for fun. Wingers that won't cross. No shaw and Rasmus is not scoring that goal yesterday because Rashford and Garnacho are allergic to crossing the ball.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
That do cross, but they tend to do it at the wrong times/delay. Rasmus should have had a second last night and the keeper made a decent save. But Garnacho should have pulled the ball back to Rasmus sooner. By the time he made the pass the defender had got back to put pressure on Rasmus and he was a bit too close to the keeper.
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I just don't see it. Last game Rasmus was giving Garnacho a royal bollocking because he had no interest in crossing the ball
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Yeh I saw that myself and was happy to see it too. They do however cross at times. It just seems to me that they don't do it enough/at the right time. At times when I think they should run at the defender they cross and vice versa. I think our wide players take too long on the ball rather than getting the early cross in, which Hojlund often makes the run for.
For me there is only Shaw that really consistently puts decent crosses in. Especially in terms of cross in the air.
posted on 2/2/24
comment by Ali - (U1192)
posted 3 hours, 9 minutes ago
Not necessarily true. Sometimes as a defender you just have to hold your hands up and say the opposition is better than me/us.
Messi has embarrassed dozens of centre backs over the years. They didn't exactly make mistakes, Messi was just too good and they couldn't get near him.
The amount of actual mistakes our defence make though is hilarious. It does make you wonder how they play in the premier league.
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Fair enough, though that only accounts for a small minority of goals scored.
You yourself earlier in the thread praised Mainoo's ability to read the game, which is an implicit recognition of the obvious differences in football intelligence between players.
The manager will obviously have to shoulder part of the blame, but as has been the case with Xavi also at Barcelona, these managers have both achieved markedly better results with virtually identical squads when they've played deeper and instructed their charges to keep things more simple.
I don't think it's fully explained by the manager's inability to coach more proactive systems, because EtH achieved some excellent results at Ajax with a side that played on the front foot far more.
That's what leads me to believe that there's got to be an element of the players failing to read situations in a game that call for reducing the risks they take.