The passing game - should The Albion maintain this?

[NMH]

I have a feeling we are overplaying the passing-it-around game particularly in defense, yet not managing to own the midfield with our passes at all tonight. There's a space around the forward midfield, and West Ham are always ready for our forward tactic.
West Ham are fairly organized and play a stoic line across the back - which is paying dividends away from home where the onus is on the home sides to make the plays.
Filling in the midfield space is essential tonight or we're going to have the same in the 2nd as we did in the 1st.

 

[beorhthelm]

many will shout you down for saying so, its the way play, need to be patient. but we do overplay, passing ourselfs into trouble sometimes.

 

[Cloughie]

Yes. Otherwise what's the point of keeping Poyet? He believes that this is the best way for us to progress as a club and we should trust him. He has earnt this trust. Just think back a few years and remember the crap that was served up at the Withdean on a regular basis. We have come a long, long way if our supporters are considering abolishing the very footballing principles which have brought us here...

 

[big nuts]

Have to keep passing, it's not working now but has done for the past two years. Wedont have the players to go more direct. We need to be patient our strikers have stopped scoring, but if one or ideally two hit form we will be a real force.

 

[beorhthelm]

who said anything about abolishing it? there just needs to some variation. we are predictable, an organised side will just nick a goal then sit back as we pass it amongst ourselves. Result, 70% posession, nil points.

 

[KZNSeagull]

Dont get to see them much, but I thought we knocked around nicely but are just missing that killer final ball. It will come. Have faith

 

[alan partridge]

Yes. A thousand times yes.

 

[pork pie]

NO! We need some good old fashioned English attacking football. It is like watching a bunch of dagos!

 

[Biscuit]

Yes.

It's produced the best football in thirty years. A difficult spell against some of the better teams is to be expected, it's a long season. The reason we're even competing at the level we are is because of our passing style. A style that got us to the top half of the Championship.

If we played some of the hoof-ball some of the less football-educated on here would like then we'd probably still have lost, we'd just look really shit. Rather than good but lacking a finish.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

it's definitely the best way of playing football, however you need the players to do it and unfortunately we have several players who aren't top quality championship players, so it's not as effective

last season it worked because all of our players were good league 1 players, with a few who were far too good for that league

we're still mid-table, and i think we'll be there at the end of the season......it's a 5 year plan so as the squad improves, so will we

 

[pork pie]

Yes.

It's produced the best football in thirty years. A difficult spell against some of the better teams is to be expected, it's a long season. The reason we're even competing at the level we are is because of our passing style. A style that got us to the top half of the Championship.

If we played some of the hoof-ball some of the less football-educated on here would like then we'd probably still have lost, we'd just look really shit. Rather than good but lacking a finish.

Our best footbal, for 30 years? When will we actually win a game then? Its foreign bollox!

 

[alan partridge]

NO! We need some good old fashioned English attacking football. It is like watching a bunch of dagos!

Fishing or a moron?

 

[alan partridge]

well Gus just gave his answer to this thread in his post match interview

 

[NMH]

I'm not thinking we should head for hoofing the ball ....even though we have been to some extent once past the hw line. I just think the idea of passing deep and across the field in defense is suicidal, and while we are playing a wide game up front there's a big hole in the 20yards ahead of the centre of the field. West Ham have mugged us based on that tactic let's be frank.
Gus is letting show some poor body language of frustration in the last 10 minutes - but from my pov it's his game plan getting done by Sam's game plan, simple as that. 30 corners and a steady forward/repel/repeat all evening has gleaned a fat 0.

I'm not whinging and moaning in a groaning way at all - being pragmatic though, it was difficult to watch a match that was easy to predict the outcome of.

We have some tough matches yet to come, and we have had some of the tougher sides at ours now and won't get much change from them in the return fixtures.

Personally I'd rather see more of Buckley for us..... and if anything happened to Noone we'll be sorry too.

 

[alan partridge]

Well get better and better, and we'll sign better players too. It'll come.

 

[Spanish Seagulls]

it's definitely the best way of playing football, however you need the players to do it and unfortunately we have several players who aren't top quality championship players, so it's not as effective

last season it worked because all of our players were good league 1 players, with a few who were far too good for that league

we're still mid-table, and i think we'll be there at the end of the season......it's a 5 year plan so as the squad improves, so will we

I agree, we will come good. In fact we haven't gone bad it is just going to take a little more time for us to become the "article" & to learn that life in The Championship is that much tougher. We are still building & there will be questions asked along the way but we have to have faith & the answers will arrive. It is a long season & taking into account where we have come from we are still on course.

 

[RickofBHAFC]

Curbishley and Beagrie summed it up pretty accurately in the post-match interviews when they said that Brighton passed the ball nicely and played pretty triangles without doing anything with it plus the passing it round at the back and Bridcutt's screw-up resulted in West Ham's goal. I don't have a problem with our passing game as long as there is an end-product as happened earlier in the season but we seem to have lost our way a bit, over-complicating things and not putting in decent final balls or getting our strikers through on goal. As Allardyce put it - Almunia only had one save to make all night.

 

[Surf's Up]

Por supuesto, pero mas rapidamente

 

[DIRK STEELE]

I'm not thinking we should head for hoofing the ball ....even though we have been to some extent once past the hw line. I just think the idea of passing deep and across the field in defense is suicidal, and while we are playing a wide game up front there's a big hole in the 20yards ahead of the centre of the field. West Ham have mugged us based on that tactic let's be frank.
Gus is letting show some poor body language of frustration in the last 10 minutes - but from my pov it's his game plan getting done by Sam's game plan, simple as that. 30 corners and a steady forward/repel/repeat all evening has gleaned a fat 0.

I'm not whinging and moaning in a groaning way at all - being pragmatic though, it was difficult to watch a match that was easy to predict the outcome of.

We have some tough matches yet to come, and we have had some of the tougher sides at ours now and won't get much change from them in the return fixtures.

Personally I'd rather see more of Buckley for us..... and if anything happened to Noone we'll be sorry too.

Yeh... lets not try to play the barcelona way... just hoof it!! If it works for England it must work for us...

 

[SouthamptonGuy]

As an outsider, your tactics will lead you to win more than you lose. Although having a plan 'B' would make it a lot harder for the opposition to work out how to neutralise your strengths