So watching a rare Premier League game today. And it got me thinking....
.....I know the top sides now have big teams studying analytics and optimizing tactics - but every time I watch the PL, everyone is taking crazy risks at the back in the name of keeping possession. But although I have no data to back it up, it certainly feels like I see a lot more goals as a result of defenders or goalkeepers giving the ball straight to their opponents in and around their own box than I do goals from end-to-end passing moves (like the first Man City scored against us last year)!?
I'm obviously now a dinosaur when it comes to football tactics, but in the great teams I remember, the defenders always defended first and foremost and then kept it simple. Don't remember ever seeing Peter Schmeichel or David Seaman giving away two goals with needless risky passes like Alisson did today.
Strikes me that a bit more safety first play at the back would be a net positive?
(and it's obviously even worse when League One sides try to play that way. Like MK Dons earlier this season, or the way Sol had Southend set up last year).
Also, Phil Foden looks a hell of a player. We don't half have some prospects for England over the next couple of WC cycles.
.....I know the top sides now have big teams studying analytics and optimizing tactics - but every time I watch the PL, everyone is taking crazy risks at the back in the name of keeping possession. But although I have no data to back it up, it certainly feels like I see a lot more goals as a result of defenders or goalkeepers giving the ball straight to their opponents in and around their own box than I do goals from end-to-end passing moves (like the first Man City scored against us last year)!?
I'm obviously now a dinosaur when it comes to football tactics, but in the great teams I remember, the defenders always defended first and foremost and then kept it simple. Don't remember ever seeing Peter Schmeichel or David Seaman giving away two goals with needless risky passes like Alisson did today.
Strikes me that a bit more safety first play at the back would be a net positive?
(and it's obviously even worse when League One sides try to play that way. Like MK Dons earlier this season, or the way Sol had Southend set up last year).
Also, Phil Foden looks a hell of a player. We don't half have some prospects for England over the next couple of WC cycles.