Have we become a Long Ball Team ?

[prittlewellshrimper]

Bearing in mind at the start of the season most of us thought our midfield 5 were a match for anyone at this level and the fact that we dont have the forwards to play this type of stuff why are we constantly lumping the ball from 10 yards outside our box to 10 yards outside the opposition box ? I dont mind losing , after following the Club for over 35 years i am used to it , but we have gone from playing some great flowing attractive football under Tilly to the current " stone age" long ball crap in the blink of an eye . Why is it ? Is it deliberate ? Will it change for the better ? Who is to blame ? Do you want to watch it ?

 

[Beefy]

I sarcastically said to a mate just what a fantastic passing side we are as another 60 yard Peter Clarke punt sailed over the head of Charlie MacDonald this afternoon.

When sides are struggling they tend to go longer and longer in their desperation to get a goal from somewhere. I think what we're seeing here is a representation of how lacking in confidence and belief the side are at the moment. Contrast our style of play today with that in the defeat to Carlise when we played some of the most attractive football I've seen in the lower leagues.

We tend to try to get the ball from the back to the front quickly and always employed the long ball quite a bit anyway but not to the extent that we were today and that was compounded by us playing two strikers who aren't physically suited for that style of play like the likes of Leon Clarke, Matt Harrold, Lee Bradbury and Shaun Goater are.

 

[Richard_Cadette]

I think possibly one of the reasons we ended up hitting so many long balls today was because we had plenty of spells of passing football, but managed to create next to nowt using that method.

We had so many 1-2's in and around the edge of the box, all of them amounting to not a lot, that I think we just decided to lump it long to see if that would work.

Lack of confidence and desperation are probably contributing to it, but I wouldn't worry too much - we are still primarily a passing team, we outpassed Gillngham by all accounts, and when the confidence returns, I think so will the attractive, flowing football we have been used to.

 

[CC51DAS]

I think the fluency of our passing game has a lot to do with how welll Gower is playing . He had another off day today

 

[Sean 2]

And i will say this again...

The midfield,having 3 defensive-minded players in it,are too far away from the forwards when we pick up the ball

THUS..

it gets hoofed or we go sideways and back 'till we lose it again. :mad:

 

[Shrimpersarmy]

I think it's more to do with our players not showing for each other more than anything else. Over the last few weeks it has become more noticable. One of the back 4 gets the ball at their feet and looks up for someone to pass to. Half the time, no one is moving into space to give them an option to pass the ball to. So the player on the ball waits for a few more seconds, hoping a few players will try and make themselves available for a pass. Still nothing. By now the player on the ball is under pressure, and is forced to lump the ball 60 yards towards our 5 foot striker.

I know the likes of Clarke and Richards get a lot of stick for hoofing the ball all the time, but i think there are times when they do look up to try and pick out a pass on the deck to a blue shirt, but are then forced to welly it up the pitch as there aren't enough options. In his defence, i think Maher is the one player in our side who is always looking for the ball to feet from our defenders. However, you need 2 or 3 people looking to recieve the ball, not just 1.

 

[shrimpled]

Bristol Rovers got us to play how they wanted us to play. They came to win the game and get in our faces. I think we are still trying to pass the ball around and find players, but recently, as WE have begun to get on the players backs, they've resorted to long balls more often. Once the results improve i'm in no doubt we will find our touch again and have a very decent end to the season.

 

[Sean 2]

Bristol Rovers got us to play how they wanted us to play. They came to win the game and get in our faces. I think we are still trying to pass the ball around and find players, but recently, as WE have begun to get on the players backs, they've resorted to long balls more often. Once the results improve i'm in no doubt we will find our touch again and have a very decent end to the season.

Sorry,i think Bristol Rovers sat off us and we sat off them!!

We had a missed opportunity today because we didn't push up and take gambles and go for it at home.
Gillingham's 3-0 beating of Forest showed what is possible at home if you force the issue against some of these defences.

 

[Kris]

And i will say this again...

The midfield,having 3 defensive-minded players in it,are too far away from the forwards when we pick up the ball

THUS..

it gets hoofed or we go sideways and back 'till we lose it again. :mad:

The main problem is that we aren't holding the ball up well enough up front. McCormack and Bailey have something like 15 goals between them already this season, so they are hardly defensive-minded, but when our forwards continually get overpowered by opposition defenders, like today and in recent games, it gives our midfielders no chance of pushing forward and supporting them.

Assuming we don't sign another forward between now and Saturday, we need to bring Matt Harrold back because he is capable of holding the ball up and allowing our midfielders time to support, and he also creates space for runners, as has been evident on several occasions this season.

 

[shrimpled]

I agree there was a complete lack of urgency and movement, and we at times looked like we couldn't give a flying ****,but credit to Brizzle. They came with a gameplan, they defended very well as a unit and forced the issue at vital times in the game.

 

[Blue Streak]

And i will say this again...

The midfield,having 3 defensive-minded players in it,are too far away from the forwards when we pick up the ball

THUS..

it gets hoofed or we go sideways and back 'till we lose it again. :mad:

Spot on !!

I also think its too congested. I think we played more flowing football when Maher was out. The other two had more space to operate.
Thought our midfield was far too deep today when we was in pocession and hoofing was our only desperate option.

 

[shrimpled]

Assuming we don't sign another forward between now and Saturday, we need to bring Matt Harrold back because he is capable of holding the ball up and allowing our midfielders time to support, and he also creates space for runners, as has been evident on several occasions this season.

Agreed. Todays game was crying out for Harrold.

 

[Blueshrimper]

Agreed. Todays game was crying out for Harrold.

The problem is with Harrold he has a bad touch of the ball and most of the crowd are on hes back and that destroys hes confidence. I really wouldn't be suprised if we didn't see him again...

 

[OldBlueLady]

Agreed. Todays game was crying out for Harrold.

No, no, no, no, no!

Today's game was crying out for someone with a bit of flair to do something individually fantastic, as there was no chance of any move involving accurate passing coming off! And individual flair is not a characteristic of Matt Harrold's play.

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

Yes we are long ball because we have no flair in the midfield, no pace in the wide positions, we barely stretch teams. None of our strikers run the channels or pick up the ball deep. Also our distribution from the back is frankly appalling.

Those who are calling for Harrold are laughable. Would just be pumping balls up to him hoping he can get a flick on to midget Macdonald.

Tilly needs to be brave and drop Maher again, he slows the play down too much.

 

[ShrimplyTheBest]

To often the long ball is used when Clarke or particularly Richards are at the back. When both play together you know your in for a "long" afternoon. Theres no doubting both are very good at defending but they only seem to know one way of getting rid of it. I would have hoped they would have learnt by now that we like to play passing football!

 

[prittlewellshrimper]

Its of little use blaming individual players doing the wrong thing once they are on the pitch , the coaching staff ie T and B must take resposibility as they issue the instructions and shape and style of play dont they ? If this is not the case then either 1. Are we suggesting that the team talk consists of " well like I said lads go out and try your best ! " or 2 . T and B issue instructions and the players cant or wont abide by them !

 

[Firestorm]

Both Oldham and Brizzle have done their homework. I can see the report.."Southend like to play the ball on the deck. It will either go down the flanks from defensive positions or into the forwards feet from the halfway line forward.
Just close them down when they have got the ball don't give them time and they will either pass the ball backwards or knock it long to the forwards who are not the best in the air, back to goal"

 

[SUFC_Al]

Both Oldham and Brizzle have done their homework. I can see the report.."Southend like to play the ball on the deck. It will either go down the flanks from defensive positions or into the forwards feet from the halfway line forward.
Just close them down when they have got the ball don't give them time and they will either pass the ball backwards or knock it long to the forwards who are not the best in the air, back to goal"

nail on head.

 

[BoyWonder2]

To be honest, yesterdays game, along with the likes of Tranmere, Oldham et all a home where typical of the games we played in League Two and League One in our promotion seasons.

We have become a bit of a scalp for some teams because we were in the Championship last season, so the majority of the teams are playing to a game plan of playing for a point, hoping to knick a goal on the break and sit back. They allow us to have the majority of the ball and tell us to break them down.

Back in League Two/League One, we had Eastwood who could pick the ball up from 30 yards, beat 3 men and stick it in the top corner, none of the current crop of players have that ability so we are having to pass through them. Once that doesn't work, we tend to hit the longer ball.