Whitey Grandad

You’re right. I can’t think of any reason either. But that goes for the past three or four months.

Putting them in the shop window perhaps?

I forgot that we had a game.

Knowing our lot they’d miss.

Not that many. Playing with a striker or two would have had more effect.

I brought up the name of Fonte because he could have made a difference in any or all of our European games.

We don’t need the faffing around at the back in order to move forward quicker and more effectively. In fact the faffing around only works against that. It’s far too slow to have any point.

Just letting him (her) know what’s expected of them. Let’s be honest, this faffing around at the back has been going on for the past season or more and we don’t do it very well. At the pace we do it all it does is give the opposition a breather and a chance to regroup.

Fonte?

And that's where you went wrong. Football isn't a game of 'stats'

It's nothing like that so don't try and exaggerate. It doesn't have to be one extreme or the other.

Not the way that we play it. The one chasing is just that - one player. Sometimes it's a different player. And it's never "all round the pitch" is it. It's only ever in our back third.

For it to be anything more than pointless it has to involve the whole team and all areas of the pitch. This requires the forwards and midfield to be constantly on the move trying to pull the opposition out of its defensive shape. Just passing the ball between the goalkeeper and the back defenders whilst the opposition and the crowd make their own entertainment is meaningless time wasting.

What was I saying? Perhaps I did not make myself clear. On possession, we agree. The only purpose seems to be to improve some meaningless metric.

Why do you insult our paying supporters and customers by calling them idiots? It’s this style of play that is idiotic. Just shuffling the ball about without purpose or intent.

All right, if you must. ‘Attempting to play out from the back’ What happens is the players involved get closed down and end up panicking and passing the ball between themselves. Sometimes they get caught out and it leads to a goal opportunity for the other side. Whatever, they make several passes and end up no further upfield. Boring to watch and as far away from the other team’s goal as possible.

A possession game doesn’t get you goals. There has to be a risk in there somewhere. A chance of losing possession.

But it isn’t “playing out from the back”. It’s playing around at the back and getting nowhere.

It’s otherwise known as gambling.

You don’t understand. If you score a goal you give away possession so whatever you do, don’t score a goal.

I’d pay a lot not to watch that.

Playing out from the back is nothing more than time wasting with the added threat of getting caught in possession in a dangerous position.

Best give him two games this season then. We could dump him eight games into next season.

But they will be jumbo adverts! I agree. Bloody annoying.

If something is broken that means that it doesn't work.