07-08-2020, 01:49 PM
(07-08-2020, 01:01 PM)stirred Wrote: I don’t know enough of Sabri’s background, heavily influenced by Arrigo Sacchi I gather, but it is more than possible that while the counter-attacking theme is here to stay, the balance of our play this season was influenced by the players he had available. Asking players to do things they’re not capable of just because it is the style of play you want is going to damage your results. Watson played very well, but he wouldn’t have done if you’d asked him to be all-action, covering more ground forward for example. The way he was used got the best out of him.
I don’t have a problem with a counter-attacking style. It’s actually sensible. To try to dominate teams, you generally need the better players. That’s unrealistic against the whole division, competing against several parachute payment clubs and the odd Leeds with a much greater revenue. What would be good is us being able to be more dominant against the lesser teams, which again I point to the tools at Sabri’s disposal, and I am hoping will be fixed by player recruitment in the summer.
Midfield is where the improvement needs to happen to dominate teams and create chances against the lesser teams when they sit back, and to be able to hold onto possession better when we have a lead to defend. I think part of the reason for conceding late goals was our inability to retain possession so we had to withstand a lot of opposition attacks.
In the forward line we miss the out ball. We miss a forward who can hold the ball up. I think part of Ameobi’s value is his size – we often aim our goal kicks at him. We miss real pace to scare the opponent, and get that second goal late in the game when they’re pushing for the equalizer. I am hoping we can fix those. A new forward, someone of the like of Toney, though I’ve only seen his highlights reel. Maybe Mighten can come of age to offer pace.
The partnership down the right was one of our strengths, but Cash’s overlaps were crucial to that. If they cover Lolley cutting infield, then we had Cash on the overlap. If Cash leaves and we don’t replace that, I fear Lolley on the right becomes very much blunted as a threat.
I give Sabri the benefit of the doubt re tactics. He needs these aspects of the squad adding and retained via recruitment and through bringing on the youth.
Hitting teams before they have been able to find their defensive shape in general gives you a higher probability of scoring so counter attacking definitely make sense. I read somewhere that the average time it takes a team to get back to their defensive positions are 4-8 seconds and the trend is that this window of opportunity is getting smaller as teams are getting tactically better. Pace, directness, trickery and accurate passing in high speed are essential. These are the things that we have to better at. You need very skilled players to be able to make efficient use of the 4-8 seconds when the opposition is out of balance. Look at Atlectico Madrid. They have excellent players who most definitely could have played in many different formations and with different tactics but Simeone believes that his risk averse counter attacking style will give the best results. As you probably understand I'm not one to support the belief that if you have "good" players you play possession football to dominate and if you are stuck with lesser ones you play counter attacking football with a low compact defensive block.
But Forest need to further develop a plan B for when we are not able to lure the opposition into attacking us in our low defensive block.
I believe we have two wingers in Ameobi and Lolley who are excellent in counter attacking play. If we could recruit one more with just a bit more pace then that would be great. It will also be very interesting to see what Mighten can contribute with after he has been given a few more games. Da Costa also seems to be a good player with great pace and technique but he is currently lacking a bit in understanding what is expected from him when Forest are defending.
I also believe Grabban is an excellent striker for our system although he gets too little support from our midfielders who have predominately a defensive mindset. Again a major upgrade in the center of midfield is required if we are to challenge for auto places next season.
Attacking full backs are essential in how Forest want to play and losing Cash will be a major blow. I think I would like Darikwa with his pace and stamina to come instead of Jenkinson. I'm hoping that Sabri's man management skills will turn Darikwa into a modern day full/wing back.