Stop trying to keep possession

[sonnyjim]

The amount of mistakes our defence makes trying to play the ball back to the goalie and play out from the back is getting ridiculous. Go long sometimes, smash the ball down the pitch sometimes. It's like we must keep possession and play the ball around like we're Barcelona or something. We do not have the players to do that, so why not change it up sometimes?

Whenever we do get the ball into attacking areas, the other team has their whole team back defending. We're too slow, we never get any clear cut chances or 1 on 1's. What does possession matter when you lose every game? Pointless.

[Bassey the warrior]

The amount of mistakes our defence makes trying to play the ball back to the goalie and play out from the back is getting ridiculous. Go long sometimes, smash the ball down the pitch sometimes. It's like we must keep possession and play the ball around like we're Barcelona or something. We do not have the players to do that, so why not change it up sometimes?

Whenever we do get the ball into attacking areas, the other team has their whole team back defending. We're too slow, we never get any clear cut chances or 1 on 1's. What does possession matter when you lose every game? Pointless.

We couldn't go long in the first half as we had no outlet.

[filham]

The theory is that while you have possession the opponents can't hurt you, not true in our case as at any moment we are likely to give a golden chance to an alert attacker ready to ponce.

[perry geyton]

One of the reasons I miss Michael Hector, he wasn't afraid to boot it long occasionally

That's exactly what Tony Gale said during  commentary of the game yesterday

Sometimes you just have to clear it and sometimes in can lead to something regarding an attack

[Southcoastffc]

The first goal was brought about by Adarabioyo doing precisely what you advocate - a 40 yard pass.

[Jules]

Totally agree, we need to mix it up a bit as our possession play at the back is predictable and at risk of being intercepted by opposition high press. We do also need a second striker to hit if Mitro isn't playing

[sonnyjim]

The first goal was brought about by Adarabioyo doing precisely what you advocate - a 40 yard pass.

No, the first goal was brought about by us playing the ball around the defence. There's three or four Everton players and Adarabioyo chose to play the ball to Aina instead of booting the ball forwards. Aina then passed it to Bobby Reid, who tried passing it backwards and gave the ball away.

Side to side and backwards, that's all we do. I'm not talking about booting the ball to other defenders, I'm talking about getting it out of the defence, get the ball up the pitch.

[sonnyjim]

The theory is that while you have possession the opponents can't hurt you, not true in our case as at any moment we are likely to give a golden chance to an alert attacker ready to ponce.

Yeah, it's a good theory if we have the ball in the opponents half of the pitch and not in our own defensive area in front of the goalkeeper.

Struggling to see why we choose to stick to this plan in every game. Every team in the league will beat us by just pushing players up the pitch and putting pressure on us.

[jarv]

Everton consistently played long diagonal balls to their front 3, all quick tough players. With overlapping full backs they were able to get players in our box, too easily.

I think very similar to Fulham in the days of Boa and Steed.

[70sPimlico]

The theory is that while you have possession the opponents can't hurt you, not true in our case as at any moment we are likely to give a golden chance to an alert attacker ready to ponce.

If you believe that's what we are trying to do, then I understand why it would frustrate you.

[bill taylors apprentice]

Nothing wrong with trying to keep possession as long as possession is part of achieving a positive end result

Problems occur when players make the wrong choice.

[Slaphead in Qatar]

The first goal was brought about by Adarabioyo doing precisely what you advocate - a 40 yard pass.

Yes but it was a 40 yard pass across the back four - only he knows what he was trying to do, but probably that's what he's been told to do