northstandmark
UTC Legend
The way to beat this is by mixing it up. Periods of short passing, then periods of more direct balls to the forwards. Wide men switching between playing wide and then playing narrow. We've always done these things when at our best, and they disrupt the opposition pressing shape creating gaps. It needs confidence though, players lacking in confidence don't try these things. We did this a bit last night, but we can do it better.We’ve won 6 games this season. This was our possession in each:-
Villa (A) 1-2 37%
Everton (H) 40%
Southampton (A) 35%
Man Utd (H) 43%
Chelsea (A) 33%
Brighton (H) 34%
Now before we leap to the conclusion that we should avoid possession at all costs, we need to bear in mind we’ve had a similar lack of the ball in some of our defeats. We also need to realise that there’s a difference between conceding possession through tactical choice or from not being good enough to keep it.
The thing is, this isn’t new. We know we are a better team when teams leave space in behind and we can break quickly. The challenge is how to approach games against sides who will let us have the ball via their tactical choice.
Fortunately for us, the only fixture where a team will likely do that is Newcastle at home. We also have Burnley coming up soon but I suspect they will play on the front foot at Turf Moor.
There is definitely a template there where we can pick up something in all but 2 of our remaining fixtures. To do this we need to tighten up defensively but also press selectively and aggressively when the ball is there to be won like last night.
For all their traits, Lerma and Billing as a central midfield aren't going to be racking up 100s of passes over a game. They have a job: to tackle, to cover ground, to make life hard for the opposition. That's great. But if we want a ball playing midfield we want a Cook or Surman in there. All depends on what Eddie prioritises. Right now he wants a big engine room.
We're also unlikely to dominate possession with a 2 man midfield up against 3 man midfields. To manage it. you need to have the opposition totally pinned back, which we did for short periods in both halves last night.
A confident front man / men make a huge difference. If they can make the ball stick with them, then it drags our whole team up the pitch and brings more passing options into the game. As we know Callum and Solanke have struggled this season, and that's a big reason why our possession stats are low. If they can grow and build from last night, then our possession will increase.
All areas we can hopefully use this base to improve on.