Yeah but with the really good teams everyone is trying hard.
David Clifford doesn’t really work hard to chase back does he?
It is absolutely sickening to see Paul Mannion chasing around his own backline after some fella. Its a travesty and the sort of thing that has the game destroyed, utterly destroyed.
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That Ray Boyne video from the 2018 All Ireland Final against Tyrone where he makes a block on his own goal line epitomized this.
It was then when we knew the game had gone.
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Cunts like Boyne who know nothing about the game are the problem. Them and wankers who have coach in their bio on twitter. Lads who couldnt kick it out of their way but who made working hard into a skill and completely blew it up to the be all and end all. God fucking forbid we laud actual talent and treat it as such.
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@neilld one of the shrewdest observers on the forum made the point lately that every player is the kind of the same now in Association Football. Its all inverted wingers and number 8’s.
You dont see any proper strikers or number 10’s with a bit of flair about them any more.
Nobody will even shoot now from outside the box because the likes of Boyne on his laptop will give out to him because of xG or some other nonsense.
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When 4-4-2 was at its height people were probably giving out that there was no inside lefts or right halfs anymore.
Thats exactly it. A friend of mine was a goalie back in the day of the big toe kickouts. He maintains its never been easier be a goalie. Every kickout from the 21, no need to kick long for 3/4s of the kickouts and if you do you have a kicking tee that allows you swipe it at your ease, and the short ones are piss easy 20 yarders to space most of the time. No one drops a shot short anymore because they’re afraid of the stats man. Every goal is nearly palmed in. And the goalmouths are almost pristine in every GAA ground.
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That’s not true.
I’ll palm that onto him.
Indeed. Football is incredibly choreographed now. It’s getting like NFL the way movements & “plays” are scripted in advance & rolled out. It’s not just a single set piece move or something that was worked on in training (as you would have seen in the past), it’s entire phases of play. It’s as if these irksome coaches like Lego head at Arsenal & the drug cheat at Manchester City have split the pitch into quadrants - if the ball is here, you go here & you go here, at least 5 players in the adjacent quadrant; if the ball is in quadrant A, you can pass it to quadrant B or C as a first choice, D if you must but never E etc. One of the best things about Postecoglou is how he has a template, like the others, but he allows freedom within it so you’ll see the left back in the centre forward position getting on the end of a cross from the right from a centre midfielder who rotated out there. It’s why all of us neutrals are rooting for Spurs to win our domestic league this season.
I was watching United v City 2010/11 on Sky last night and it was gas, Giggs and Scholes just whipping it into the box at every opportunity and causing a bit of chaos. Big Micah heading it out and Nani/Rooney getting on the breaks and having a go.
It was brilliant stuff.
The Boss had no time for fannying about with the ball around the middle. It was very simple, get it wide and get it in the box.
One thing I will say is that I am puzzled by the actions of teams who decide to adopt the same tactics as everyone else in their game, when a bit of variation and alternative thinking may go a long way.
Where were inverted full backs five years ago and why is it a must now that everyone should do it?
Why do all counties play short kick outs, hand passing to the 45, and defensively withdrawing into the 45? Why don’t some teams vary it up?
In Gaelic Football especially for all the time spent on incisions, backdoor cuts and coming on the loop, most goals get scored by pumping a long ball into the box a la Shane Walsh on Sunday or by the goalie going AWOL and the defenders fannying about with it a la Ethan Doherty’s goal on Sunday.
With the way the square ball rule is in gaelic football now I don’t know why more teams don’t just lamp it in on top of the keeper and have a few inside to try to get a punch or win a break off it
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If you are a goalie or a full back the last thing you want to have to deal with is a well floated delivery landing at the edge of the square where the oncoming attacker has all the momentum.
It often takes until a team is chasing a game late on that they realise that Plan B is better than Plan A.
Particularly as modern full backs aren’t the same as old style full backs whose principal attributes had to be
(1) to be the best fielder on the team and
(2) to have an inclination towards savage acts of violence.
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Utd under Moysie had the record for most crosses in a game (v Fulham I think). Trouble was they didn’t score. Utd hounded Moyes out in the end.
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I’ve even had this problem myself playing soccer at a low level to stay fit over the winter. I’d be a Ji Sung Park type who’d be raring to chase and harry the opposition but as a winger the manager wants me to stay forward to be ready for counter attacks.
There’s a fine line between being deemed lazy and smart.