Question The whole backwards and sideways thing...

[Kris]

One common theme this season has been our use of possession and our unwillingness to pass forwards, instead choosing to play back and sideways. I'm irritated by that as much as anyone else but the question is, do the players actually want to do this? Does MM want the players do this? Are there any options?

I ask because in recent games I've noticed that players do look up when they get the ball, sometimes for a couple of seconds, but choose not to play a forward pass, suggesting that maybe there isn't enough movement ahead. Kyle Taylor has looked increasingly irritated in the last couple of games, for instance and Elvis' body language on the ball suggests he's frustrated as well. And then there are throw-ins...

That said, it always annoys me at games when in that sort of scenario people around me shout 'forward!' when there are no forward options. Paul Clark and Glenn Pennyfather talk about the lack of willingness to pass the ball forwards but rarely seem to point out who is/was available for the pass.

I guess this post is partly down to curiosity and partly because I'm desperately missing my view in the South Upper where I can analyse things like movement more effectively. TV camera angles in lower league grounds, including ours, are very basic.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

We get caught offside very rarely, is this because players are clever? Or is it because we have no one running in to space AND no passes into space behind.
Chicken and egg question, do the runs need to be tried or do the passes need to be made?
Our current, as Kris describes, mode of football doesn't have either risk or creative thrust AND I think it is straight from the FA Coaches Book for U16s.

 

[GBJ]

You’ve hit the nail on the head when you mentioned forward options.

To move the ball forwards with purpose and pace, you must have forward players who can receive the ball and then either hold it up until support arrives, or create a piece of magic for themselves.

Acquah is seen as that type of player I guess, but I have my reservations about certain aspects of his game.

If we’re going to sign any players between now and our inevitable relegation, we need at least one, experienced target man.

 

[thenobster]

Biggest sideways passer is a hero of many. I give you, Kevin Maher

 

[Barry.C]

Biggest sideways passer is a hero of many. I give you, Kevin Maher

Good point but even he didnt keep running it back to Flahaven and maybe felt the creativity of Gower was enough alongside the comfort behind at various times of Adam Barratt, Spinner, Andy Edwards, Leon Cort and Bentley charging about to name a few

 

[wiggy]

Demi is the worst....constantly looking to go backwards.....use him at right back instead of the completely shot Elvis or don’t bother, he’s no midfielder!

 

[crangoner]

Demi is the worst....constantly looking to go backwards.....use him at right back instead of the completely shot Elvis or don’t bother, he’s no midfielder!

I don't even know what Demetriou brings to the team at his age, wherever you put him on the pitch, armband or no armband.

 

[Austin the Shrimper]

I don't even know what Demetriou brings to the team at his age, wherever you put him on the pitch, armband or no armband.

He would still be a good right back and probably our best penalty taker.

 

[Medway Blue]

Difficult to say what exactly is wrong. On the one hand I find it hard to believe that MM will be drilling the players to go backwards and sideways as often as they do.....on the other hand, I'm not exactly seeing him or his staff reacting badly on the touchline when the ball does go backwards and sideways.

I like and appreciate a short passing game but it needs to be done with more pace and purpose, not just in terms of the passes themselves but in terms of the off-the-ball movement too. I'm not seeing enough players coming short, or peeling off a marker, or making runs in behind the defence, or running into the channels to offer options to the man in possession. If there was more of this going on then perhaps the ball would move forward more quickly. I don't for a second believe that we don't have the players to do any of those things, so I can't figure out whether it's a confidence/mental thing or what.

It's all just too slow and ponderous at the moment, and when it's played like that then it can be one of the easiest styles of football to defend against because the opposition team has all the time in the world to reset into their defensive shape and to either wait for us to come forward or to press us high up the pitch. The success of the style relies on unsettling the opposition and getting in behind them, which won't happen unless there is more movement into space, more zip and forward momentum to out passing, and a more relentless press when possession is lost. We just make it so easy.

 

[thenobster]

Good point but even he didnt keep running it back to Flahaven and maybe felt the creativity of Gower was enough alongside the comfort behind at various times of Adam Barratt, Spinner, Andy Edwards, Leon Cort and Bentley charging about to name a few

maybe. Luck of having different players around him. Put him in todays squad and you’d view him differently maybe

 

[Westcliff Shrimper]

There isn’t enough movement up front at all. Can’t make a forward pass if none of the attacking players aren’t doing an impression of a statue.

Everyone moans about Kevin Maher but he had the same problem. Once we had the likes of Eastwood, Gray, Bramble, Hooper etc up front actually running the channels etc he looked a miles better player.

 

[jaffa1]

One common theme this season has been our use of possession and our unwillingness to pass forwards, instead choosing to play back and sideways. I'm irritated by that as much as anyone else but the question is, do the players actually want to do this? Does MM want the players do this? Are there any options?

I ask because in recent games I've noticed that players do look up when they get the ball, sometimes for a couple of seconds, but choose not to play a forward pass, suggesting that maybe there isn't enough movement ahead. Kyle Taylor has looked increasingly irritated in the last couple of games, for instance and Elvis' body language on the ball suggests he's frustrated as well. And then there are throw-ins...

That said, it always annoys me at games when in that sort of scenario people around me shout 'forward!' when there are no forward options. Paul Clark and Glenn Pennyfather talk about the lack of willingness to pass the ball forwards but rarely seem to point out who is/was available for the pass.

I guess this post is partly down to curiosity and partly because I'm desperately missing my view in the South Upper where I can analyse things like movement more effectively. TV camera angles in lower league grounds, including ours, are very basic.

One of the best goals ever scored at the World Cup was by Argentina in 2006. It was a 26-pass move and at least 18 of them went sideways or backwards. If they had been playing at the Hall they would have immediately been instructed by the crowd to 'lump it forward!!!'.

 

[damien]

Lack of movement up front AND unwillingness to try the pass. Even if the end result is you turn the defenders round and gain 30 or 40 yards up the touchline. Acquah doesn't give that option on the shoulder nor is that goodships game. Maybe akinola can be a missing link and explode us out of trouble.

Up the blues

 

[Barling Magna]

It's strange that a team bottom of the EFL would seek to play "beautiful football" in order to get out of trouble. By and large League Two teams aren't capable of doing this properly. Crewe Alexandra manage it but their team usually consists of a majority of their own academy players who have this style of football drilled into them from the moment they join. And Crewe also usually have two tall hard tackling centre backs. So why try to play a style that Southend's players aren't capable of without years of training? Kevin Bond tried it and the result was derisive.

I can remember Wimbledon's "Crazy Gang" being almost universally derided for their Route One football which prospered in the First Division, beating all the "cultured" teams like Manchester United and Tottenham. I never joined in that derision because I thought Wimbledon's direct style was exciting to watch and highly effective. Don't get me wrong, I would prefer us to play a "better" style of football if we were capable of so doing but we're not.

Acquah is good at holding up and shielding the ball, but he isn't going to score many goals. If we are going to use him then he has to play alongside a striker in a 442 formation. That striker has to be able to surge forward and shoot regularly. Only Goodship appears capable of this but he usually plays too deep. Annoyingly we do have two pacey wingers in Egbri and ANG but both are young and inexperienced and aren't used to their best.

So my basic view is that I would give the following instructions to our forwards:

Egbri and ANG: when you get the ball run wide and always put a cross into the penalty area.

Acquah: Keep your eyes on Egbri and ANG and get into the area. Bully the defenders, outjump them and get the ball to Goodship.

Goodship: stick quite close to Acquah. When he wins the ball and lays it off to you SHOOT.

Everybody else: Don't pass backwards unless there really is no alternative. Always look to pass forwards. When close enough look to pass to Acquah.

I know it sounds a bit kick and rush but remember that Southampton survived for years in the top division by all their players following a simple instruction: "When you get the ball pass it to Le Tissier".

 

[Blueeyedboy]

I think the sideways backwards passing was made worse with the changes to the formation. We seemed to play it around the back more because the gap between defence and midfield is too big, so we pass it around waiting for a midfielder to drop back and pick it up. When we switch to 442 briefly on Tuesday we looked so much better. Defence, midfield and forwards were closer together which meant we were zipping it forward more. We had the likes of Taylor is he’s correct position where he can play it simple and move us up the pitch. Also the wingers seem to know their roles better and were actually running at players, which gave us a out ball.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Be interesting to see whether MM reverts to 4-4-2 as it seemed to serve us well earlier on. I’m not sure why he switched it, I’m sure he has his reasons. But with all the passing about, we’re playing right into the opposition’s hands and we aren’t hurting them. They simply have to wait for an error or a misplaced pass.

 

[Blueeyedboy]

Be interesting to see whether MM reverts to 4-4-2 as it seemed to serve us well earlier on. I’m not sure why he switched it, I’m sure he has his reasons. But with all the passing about, we’re playing right into the opposition’s hands and we aren’t hurting them. They simply have to wait for an error or a misplaced pass.

I think he needs to go back to 442, he can’t kept changing it around and not get anything out of games. Go back to what was working!

 

[blues exile]

Having watched the replay of the whole game on the club's website and all this season's previous games live, it seems obvious that the real problems, regardless of the style of football being attempted, are the lack of movement and lack of awareness. This was exemplified by Oldham's second goal, where we once again, managed to turn a promising attacking move into an embarrassing giveaway. Neither Demetriou nor Egbri seemed to be aware of the presence of Oldham players around them and both were caught flatfooted. There have been numerous other examples where we lose the ball like this, usually to our cost. Until these basic flaws are rectified, we will go on losing to teams as poor as Oldham and Tranmere who at least seem to play with some intensity and movement.

 

[camden shrimper]

It's just the way football is played now, across all levels and divisions, even my Sunday team are instructed to, it's just more noticeable to it's lack of an end result when, well, there isn't an end result. People collectively need to get better than the other team at a particular style of play, long balls we will get picked off there as we have no bullish target man, playing pressing football won't work as we will get dispossessed too easily and caught on the counter. The logic, rightly or wrongly, is we are in less danger whilst in possession, the problem is that we don't have the confidence or movement off the ball yet. Whatever style of play we decide works it's not like flicking a switch, we have to learn it cohesively and collectively.

 

[C'mon you Shrimpers]

One of the best goals ever scored at the World Cup was by Argentina in 2006. It was a 26-pass move and at least 18 of them went sideways or backwards. If they had been playing at the Hall they would have immediately been instructed by the crowd to 'lump it forward!!!'.

Well presumably at one point they did move it forward which is the difference. No throw in IMHO should go sideways or backwards. It immediately hands the initiative to the opposition. Up the line every time. Not rocket science.