Saints pressing game

[StratfordSaint]

Daily Echo:

 

The change from Pochettino to Koeman is not a massive one in terms of style of play, but Ward-Prowse admits there are significant differences on the training pitch.

 

“The physical work we are doing in training is not as intense under the new manager,” he said.

 

“The way he wants us to play in terms of passing the ball and pressing the ball is pretty similar.

 

Can we be as successful at this as last year? My understanding was it required a very high degree of fitness, more than most other teams.

 

We probably have more options than last year (plan b, plan c etc), but seems Plan A is the same as last year. Just wondered if people think yep, we can do it all again the same.

[Bearsy]

i think the game on sunday will be 'pressing.

[Smirking_Saint]

Daily Echo:

 

The change from Pochettino to Koeman is not a massive one in terms of style of play, but Ward-Prowse admits there are significant differences on the training pitch.

 

“The physical work we are doing in training is not as intense under the new manager,” he said.

 

“The way he wants us to play in terms of passing the ball and pressing the ball is pretty similar.

 

Can we be as successful at this as last year? My understanding was it required a very high degree of fitness, more than most other teams.

 

We probably have more options than last year (plan b, plan c etc), but seems Plan A is the same as last year. Just wondered if people think yep, we can do it all again the same.

 

It wont be the same, atleast I dont think he will play a high pressing game. Expect the front three to press and slow down a counter attack by 'pressing' the back four in order to allow the other 7 outfield players to regain shape. Pressing is likely to be done in our own half..... All of course IMO

[Killers Knee]

I think we will be the victim of a pressing game on Sunday.

[View From The Top]

I can't imagine the pressing will be as intensive but at least we may now have a Plan B.

 

I greatly admired MP's style of football but lacking the ability to change during a game used to drive me nuts at times.

[70's Mike]

concerned physical work is not as intense, one of our big advantages last season was our fitness

[Window Cleaner]

concerned physical work is not as intense' date=' one of our big advantages last season was our fitness[/quote']

 

We'll know soon enough on Sunday.

[wadesmith]

If I worked in an office and I openly admitted I was not working as hard as last year my boss would sack me. Why is it different for footballers?

[Manuel]

I didn't notice much pressing last week from Saints, more from Leverkusen.

[Toadhall Saint]

If I worked in an office and I openly admitted I was not working as hard as last year my boss would sack me. Why is it different for footballers?

 

He's working to instruction. Ergo he is doing as is expected. Just because the physical intensity is not there doesn't mean they are not working just as hard - could be more tactical effort for the fabled plan b and the unicorn that is plan c.

[angelman]

Can we be as successful at this as last year? My understanding was it required a very high degree of fitness, more than most other teams.

 

We probably have more options than last year (plan b, plan c etc), but seems Plan A is the same as last year. Just wondered if people think yep, we can do it all again the same.

 

JWP said recently that the training wasn't as intense AND that they felt fresher going into games. Felix the Cat had the reputation of having very fit sides but one that was absolutely knackered by the time it came to game day. Maybe the players are very fit, as they were under MP, but they keep also keep their energy. Time will tell, and I am sure that if things need changing, RK will do so. It is also a learning curve for him.

[St Chalet]

If we were so fit last year how come Lallana couldn't play 90 minutes?

[Roo1976]

concerned physical work is not as intense' date=' one of our big advantages last season was our fitness[/quote']

 

due partly to the fact we had no plan b............chelsea at the bridge in the 2nd half springs to mind.

[shurlock]

If we were so fit last year how come Lallana couldn't play 90 minutes?

 

He was actually playing through an injury towards the end of the season - nothing to do with fitness or the bull**** myth that AL is somehow a 60min player.

[kpturner]

due partly to the fact we had no plan b............chelsea at the bridge in the 2nd half springs to mind.

 

Ah yes - the mythical Plan B that no manager ever has.

[Roo1976]

Ah yes - the mythical Plan B that no manager ever has.

 

not really chelsea knew we pressed up and tried to squeeze the play so they completly changed thier plan and played balls over our heads made us turn and run back simple ploy we didnt cope so we had no reply to this...no plan b?

[kpturner]

not really chelsea knew we pressed up and tried to squeeze the play so they completly changed thier plan and played balls over our heads made us turn and run back simple ploy we didnt cope so we had no reply to this...no plan b?

The "he has no Plan B" is just another tedious footballing cliche every fan levels at the manager of his/her team - usually after a loss or poor run of results. Most fans wouldn't spot a change in tactics if it smacked them in the face. Every manager, especially at the higher levels, is perfectly capable of switching tactics and Poch was no exception. Some managers are obviously better than others and also have better players to put it into practise - eg Mourinho and Chelsea.

[scotty]

not really chelsea knew we pressed up and tried to squeeze the play so they completly changed thier plan and played balls over our heads made us turn and run back simple ploy we didnt cope so we had no reply to this...no plan b?

 

Mourinho changed the tactics when Artur busted his hand. When Gazza came on, it was get balls into the box and shoot on sight. Simple as that, imho.

[Turkish]

Mourinho changed the tactics when Artur busted his hand. When Gazza came on, it was get balls into the box and shoot on sight. Simple as that, imho.

 

Hardly the work of a genius to shoot on sight when Gazza is in goal. If its on target there's an 80% chance it'll go in.

[Patrick Bateman]

"Pressing" is so last season, everyone will be doing it and playing with 3 at the back this year, zzzzzz

 

We're obviously heading back to 4-4-2, Pelle and Long up top, Gardos with a big clearance on him ... you know the rest.

[Turkish]

"Pressing" is so last season, everyone will be doing it and playing with 3 at the back this year, zzzzzz

 

We're obviously heading back to 4-4-2, Pelle and Long up top, Gardos with a big clearance on him ... you know the rest.

 

4-4-2 is the future. Two men to put pressure on the three centre backs, a couple of pacy widemen to get in behind the wing backs. Some tactical genius will come up with that this season just you wait and see.

[Ewell]

concerned physical work is not as intense' date=' one of our big advantages last season was our fitness[/quote']

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

I am expecting the worst on Sunday, I hope I am wrong but I have not been that impressed by the standard of opposition and our preparation, in fact as soon as we came up against decent opposition we didn't come out on top. OK granted we played OK, but there are fine lines in Premier league football and our fitness and preparation last year gave us an edge, particularly at the start of the season which is why we got off to such a great start.

[Block34]

My thoughts exactly.

 

I am expecting the worst on Sunday, I hope I am wrong but I have not been that impressed by the standard of opposition and our preparation, in fact as soon as we came up against decent opposition we didn't come out on top. OK granted we played OK, but there are fine lines in Premier league football and our fitness and preparation last year gave us an edge, particularly at the start of the season which is why we got off to such a great start.

 

I thought what gave us the edge at the beginning of last season was a style of play nobody was expecting or could readily handle.

[scotty]

Hardly the work of a genius to shoot on sight when Gazza is in goal. If its on target there's an 80% chance it'll go in.

 

Sadly true. It was while Artur was being subbed that mourinho was rushing around giving new instructions, reminded me very much of the england v Brazil world cup game when seaman f*cked his neck. The Brazilians were getting more animated with every minute he needed treatment, by the time the game restarted the forwards were salivating.

[Leicestersaint]

I think it's very pressing that I go and get a glass of wine.

[Saint-scooby]

Pressing hey. I am quite a flutter I know that x

[Redslo]

If we were so fit last year how come Lallana couldn't play 90 minutes?

 

It is not clear that he couldn't. In any case, didn't Lallana run the second highest distance in the league last year?

[Lets B Avenue]

It is not clear that he couldn't. In any case, didn't Lallana run the second highest distance in the league last year?

 

Only after he had legged it all the way to Liverpool.

[Redslo]

Only after he had legged it all the way to Liverpool.

 

I misremember it. He was fifth. Still pretty good.

 

http://www.lfcdaytrippers.com/2014/07/10/the-curious-case-of-adam-lallana/

 

http://www.caughtoffside.com/2014/04/11/top-ten-distances-covered-in-the-premier-league-this-season-number-9-will-surprise-you/6/

[wild-saint]

The "he has no Plan B" is just another tedious footballing cliche every fan levels at the manager of his/her team - usually after a loss or poor run of results. Most fans wouldn't spot a change in tactics if it smacked them in the face. Every manager, especially at the higher levels, is perfectly capable of switching tactics and Poch was no exception. Some managers are obviously better than others and also have better players to put it into practise - eg Mourinho and Chelsea.

 

very much this.

[70's Mike]

I thought what gave us the edge at the beginning of last season was a style of play nobody was expecting or could readily handle.

 

A style of play that relied on all 16 players being very fit

[Patrick Bateman]

I also disagree that Pochettino didn't have a "plan b" all the time. It may not have been obvious to us and sometimes he may honestly have run out of ideas and just said "keep going as you are", but one glaring example of a "plan b" was Fulham away last season.

 

Switch of positions and a sub at half time equalled a storming second half - was very visible to see. (As was an unfit Wanyama puffing away like a smoker after 10 minutes of the first half)

[shurlock]

I also disagree that Pochettino didn't have a "plan b" all the time. It may not have been obvious to us and sometimes he may honestly have run out of ideas and just said "keep going as you are", but one glaring example of a "plan b" was Fulham away last season.

 

Switch of positions and a sub at half time equalled a storming second half - was very visible to see. (As was an unfit Wanyama puffing away like a smoker after 10 minutes of the first half)

 

It helped that he could bring some quality off the bench -in this case cork for wanyama. In many other games, he didn't have that luxury, especially when needing to get a goal. Again this has nothing to do with the hipster criticism that we lacked a plan B.

[Batman]

A style of play that relied on all 16 players being very fit

 

isnt that what most teams do?

[shurlock]

The science behind and commitment to the pressing game will be scaled back -signs of which were clearly evident during preseason.

 

What people miss is that it is an approach that demands not only fitness but also plenty of practice -the reality is that many of the new players will not be attuned to its ins and outs. It's a shame because our pressing really put the fear into the bigger teams (with the exception of Chelsea) and gave us a clear identity.

[Smirking_Saint]

The "he has no Plan B" is just another tedious footballing cliche every fan levels at the manager of his/her team - usually after a loss or poor run of results. Most fans wouldn't spot a change in tactics if it smacked them in the face. Every manager, especially at the higher levels, is perfectly capable of switching tactics and Poch was no exception. Some managers are obviously better than others and also have better players to put it into practise - eg Mourinho and Chelsea.

 

Exactly this, its laughable how good players and managers turn poor as soon as they leave. Im firmly a fan of Poch, as much as the bloke left us in the lurch. He was an excellent manager who got the players playing in a brilliant style and trained to such a high level. If he is given time at Spurs I have little doubt he'll get them there or there abouts for the top four.

 

Regardless of history, looking at the here and now, I think that Poch is a better tactician then Koeman. Thats not to say, Im not a fan of Koeman before anyone picks me up on that. I think he'll be a great manager for us.

[Whitey Grandad]

The science behind and commitment to the pressing game will be scaled back -signs of which were clearly evident during preseason.

 

What people miss is that it is an approach that demands not only fitness but also plenty of practice -the reality is that many of the new players will not be attuned to its ins and outs. It's a shame because our pressing really put the fear into the bigger teams (with the exception of Chelsea) and gave us a clear identity.

 

A lot of the smaller teams wised up to us pretty quickly. We were hit on the break quite a few times and found it very hard to recover from going a goal down.

[shurlock]

A lot of the smaller teams wised up to us pretty quickly. We were hit on the break quite a few times and found it very hard to recover from going a goal down.

 

Like who - Cardiff? I put that down to Jrod's injury? Villa? again, I put that down to personnel rather than tactics. Can't think of many others - no more than other teams have encountered. Whether it's Chelsea and it's run-ins with Wham, Palace, Sunderland, Norwich and Villa or us, all teams have problems when the opposition comes to park the bus. No team has a divine right to break another down.

[Heisenberg]

The science behind and commitment to the pressing game will be scaled back -signs of which were clearly evident during preseason.

 

What people miss is that it is an approach that demands not only fitness but also plenty of practice -the reality is that many of the new players will not be attuned to its ins and outs. It's a shame because our pressing really put the fear into the bigger teams (with the exception of Chelsea) and gave us a clear identity.

 

Our players / squad put the fear into bigger teams, not the pressing game (imho) Our best squad possibly ever is what scared teams. We would have finished 8th playing pretty much any style or formation (again imho) as we had the 8th best squad last year by a country mile.

 

The pressing game doesnt take much practice, it just needs fitness. Demonstrated by the fact we adopted it within a few days of Mopos arrival ((Everton home))

 

With our squad last season we would have finished 8th or better regardless, what we will never know is if the pressing game cost us more (cup run)

 

It was naive (imho) to play the pressing game constantly with our small squad. But i think its simply the only way mopo knows how to play. He will/ should be more effective at Spurs due to the size and abilty of the squad, however i think Spurs will be predictable as we were at times last season.

[Alejam]

If I worked in an office and I openly admitted I was not working as hard as last year my boss would sack me. Why is it different for footballers?

 

Don't work harder, work smarter. Is that the saying?

[Turkish]

Another mongboard myth that we got found out by smaller teams, we only lost 4 times against teams in the bottom ten, as has been said villa was more down to personal and bad luck, lots of injuries, 70% possession and they had 3 shots and scored 3 times. Our results in the main against teams below was excellent, it was against teams above us where wee struggled at times. Still, don't let facts get in the way of a myth.

[Heisenberg]

Don't work harder, work smarter. Is that the saying?

 

Let the ball do the work

[Whitey Grandad]

Another mongboard myth that we got found out by smaller teams, we only lost 4 times against teams in the bottom ten, as has been said villa was more down to personal and bad luck, lots of injuries, 70% possession and they had 3 shots and scored 3 times. Our results in the main against teams below was excellent, it was against teams above us where wee struggled at times. Still, don't let facts get in the way of a myth.

 

I remember what I saw. Perhaps my memories are counted by the fact that I only went to home games.

 

Don't forget we couldn't beat Sunderland over four games.

[Whitey Grandad]

Don't work harder, work smarter. Is that the saying?

 

Never confuse activity with action.

[Turkish]

I remember what I saw. Perhaps my memories are counted by the fact that I only went to home games.

 

Don't forget we couldn't beat Sunderland over four games.

 

We won 12 and drew 4 in the 20 games against bottom half teams. We lost at home to cardiff and Vila. Villa we had 70% possession and they scored 3 goals from 3 shots on target. That's hardly a team who had been worked out by the lesser lights of the divison. What you think you saw isn't bore out by facts.

Edited 16 August, 2014 by Turkish

[Whitey Grandad]

We won 12 and drew 4 in the 20 games against bottom half teams. We lost at home to cardiff and Vila. Villa we had 70% possession and they scored 3 goals from 3 shots on target. That's hardly a team who had been worked out by the lesser lights of the divison. What you think you saw isn't bore out by facts.

 

The fact remains that we let in three goals and were caught in the break. I'm not too bothered about this top-half/bottom-half of the table stuff. Tottenham ended above us because they beat us twice.

[Iowsaintsfan]

I think the biggest difference will be set pieces, we've brought in some big lads

[Turkish]

The fact remains that we let in three goals and were caught in the break. I'm not too bothered about this top-half/bottom-half of the table stuff. Tottenham ended above us because they beat us twice.

 

It was you who said the smaller teams worked us out! The facts are that they didn't, we won 12 in 20 against the bottom ten, we won 3 in 18 against the top 10. It's pretty clear where the vast majority of our points came from last season.

 

And our defeat against villa was due to individuals errors and the calamity keeper than our tactics being found out.

[Wes Tender]

It's a shame because our pressing really put the fear into the bigger teams (with the exception of Chelsea) and gave us a clear identity.

 

No sh*t Shurlock :lol:

[Turkish]

No sh*t Shurlock :lol:

 

That's funny Les. Earlier you said teams worked it out quickly, it was easy to play against and our only tactic. Koeman is far superior tactically etc. Make your mind up squire.