Possession, a short passing game and all that....

[colinwhite]

The selection of Marcus Bettinelli in yesterday's starting line up was not just a question of making a change from one keeper to another ,it was a conscious decision by our head coach to tweak the way we were  going to play tactically for this game.
After the debacle at Derby in midweek and the mistakes this entailed Slavisa s inclusion of Marcus meant we went more direct and consciously changed some of the teams tactical mindset at the same time.
The high risk strategy of using your keeper as an extra player in the first phase of playing out from the back is nothing new, and not a question of Buttons dwelling too long on the ball or being indecisive, he has been encouraged to entice forwards into him to free up space and create space for other players. Guardiolla sent Hart to Turin because he did not believe the English keeper to be good enough with his feet to for the short passing game he wanted all of his players to employ. The advantages of the short passing game are many as oppositions teams get forced into playing the physically demanding task of trying to win the ball back . At its best Barcelona not only had the best passing game I've ever seen but also ,as Manutd found to their cost in a champions league final at wembley,
the spaniards were also the most difficult team in the world to keep possession against. Their press was the quickest in winning the ball back, at shutting down space and at transitioning into attack from defense, characteristics of play normally associated with more defensively minded tactics. With the length of passes played in this style generally being no longer than 10 meters and often only using one touch , players would moved to many spaces near the ball enabling them to immediately pressurize opponents when the odd pass did go astray ,as their players were already in close proximity of the ball.
Ok we ain't Barcelona but our tactics of passing short has also meant that we have also been able to quickly regain possession once lost.
In my opinion Bettinelli is not as comfortable as B uttons with the ball at his feet ,but is better att quickly finding fellow players with longer kick outs. I haven't seen any stats but I would guess that we had more longer kick outs from our keeper against Ipswich than in a very long time.
Martins eagerness to win headers and get to first balls indicates I think a conscious shift by Jokanovic to play a bit more direct and longer than usual. In part can his casual movements and strolling can be matched to the mindset of a player who rarely receives passes that by- pass our midfield . Yesterday he knew he was going to receive many first balls and was clearly up for the task.
In yesterday's game we employed a subtle tactical shift  in approach ; keep possession but hit Martin with first ball when we can and get the right sort of supporting runs from the players around him . Madls inclusion meant that we went more direct in our approach play and the substitution to ream late on was all about keeping a higher rate of possession.
These were impressive changes made by the coaching team and players which gave the result we all wanted and took Ipswich a bit by surprise. The 58 pc possession would seem to support my theory as would our greater willingness to shoot from distance( which also made us less liable to be hit on the counter).
  I don't expect or want us to change our style any time soon ( although gifting goals to opponents is very frustrating), but I think that yesterday's performance made it clear that jokanovic is a very shrewd coach and that  he is able to adapt from his chosen style when the need arises.

[Southcoastffc]

Largely agree but it was noticeable also that many of Bett's goal kicks were aimed at Fredericks (reasonably successfully).  One of the most acute kicks was after a first half Ipswich attack when Johansen immediately ran into a very forward position, called for the ball and Betts put in a very quick and accurate kick, causing panic in their defence.

[filham]

Yes, I think that after the previous four games Jocanovic would have been inviting defeat if he had not made changes to his tactics.

[RaySmith]

The selection of Marcus Bettinelli in yesterday's starting line up was not just a question of making a change from one keeper to another ,it was a conscious decision by our head coach to tweak the way we were  going to play tactically for this game.
After the debacle at Derby in midweek and the mistakes this entailed Slavisa s inclusion of Marcus meant we went more direct and consciously changed some of the teams tactical mindset at the same time.
The high risk strategy of using your keeper as an extra player in the first phase of playing out from the back is nothing new, and not a question of Buttons dwelling too long on the ball or being indecisive, he has been encouraged to entice forwards into him to free up space and create space for other players. Guardiolla sent Hart to Turin because he did not believe the English keeper to be good enough with his feet to for the short passing game he wanted all of his players to employ. The advantages of the short passing game are many as oppositions teams get forced into playing the physically demanding task of trying to win the ball back . At its best Barcelona not only had the best passing game I've ever seen but also ,as Manutd found to their cost in a champions league final at wembley,
the spaniards were also the most difficult team in the world to keep possession against. Their press was the quickest in winning the ball back, at shutting down space and at transitioning into attack from defense, characteristics of play normally associated with more defensively minded tactics. With the length of passes played in this style generally being no longer than 10 meters and often only using one touch , players would moved to many spaces near the ball enabling them to immediately pressurize opponents when the odd pass did go astray ,as their players were already in close proximity of the ball.
Ok we ain't Barcelona but our tactics of passing short has also meant that we have also been able to quickly regain possession once lost.
In my opinion Bettinelli is not as comfortable as B uttons with the ball at his feet ,but is better att quickly finding fellow players with longer kick outs. I haven't seen any stats but I would guess that we had more longer kick outs from our keeper against Ipswich than in a very long time.
Martins eagerness to win headers and get to first balls indicates I think a conscious shift by Jokanovic to play a bit more direct and longer than usual. In part can his casual movements and strolling can be matched to the mindset of a player who rarely receives passes that by- pass our midfield . Yesterday he knew he was going to receive many first balls and was clearly up for the task.
In yesterday's game we employed a subtle tactical shift  in approach ; keep possession but hit Martin with first ball when we can and get the right sort of supporting runs from the players around him . Madls inclusion meant that we went more direct in our approach play and the substitution to ream late on was all about keeping a higher rate of possession.
These were impressive changes made by the coaching team and players which gave the result we all wanted and took Ipswich a bit by surprise. The 58 pc possession would seem to support my theory as would our greater willingness to shoot from distance( which also made us less liable to be hit on the counter).
  I don't expect or want us to change our style any time soon ( although gifting goals to opponents is very frustrating), but I think that yesterday's performance made it clear that jokanovic is a very shrewd coach and that  he is able to adapt from his chosen style when the need arises.

Good post Colin.

[colinwhite]

The  longer diagonal ball out to our full-backs is something we have been doing for a while with mixed success, but the straight ball to martin over our midfield was a definite new feature of our game on saturday.