royhendo's post on level 3 football

[melia]

It's in the archive and I can't reopen it.

 

Worth revisiting and seeing where we are now that the season is over?

[R A Softlad]

I concur.

[mathewbet1]

This level 1 , 2 3 s*** is classic RAWK. Psydo- Anorak-'inteallectual' football bulls***. Picture the scene at Anfield

 

"john turns to alan ' alright mate, think we were playing some nice level 3 type football there in the second half'

 

Alan replys ' what the f*** ar you on about softlad?'. Level f***ing 3 football my a***.

[royhendo]

Cheers dudes.

 

Been an interesting season eh? Turns out the signings the post was prompted by were largely duds, but we still got better.

 

Just hope the first post-Parry summer is a clever one eh?

[melia]

The Three Development Phases

 

Back to the subject of overall progress at first team squad level under RM's teambuilding process. RM doesn't explicitly set development phases out in his book, but reading between the lines it's clear that three levels of quality exist:

 

Level 1 - Backs to the wall football

 

Level 2 - Compactness, organisation, and counter-attacking football

 

Level 3 - Domination, play-making, and circulation football

 

How do you think we stacked up against these definitions this season?

[mally]

'inteallectual'.

 

that's one of the most beautiful misspellings i've ever seen.

[_00_deathscar]

This level 1 , 2 3 s*** is classic RAWK. Psydo- Anorak-'inteallectual' football bulls***. Picture the scene at Anfield

 

"john turns to alan ' alright mate, think we were playing some nice level 3 type football there in the second half'

 

Alan replys ' what the f*** ar you on about softlad?'. Level f***ing 3 football my a***.

 

You should read the thread y'know, judging by your mad post in the summer transfers thread with your hypothetical signings.

[royhendo]

How do you think we stacked up against these definitions this season?

 

Well, I reckon we tweened between 2 and 3 for much of the season, but we toiled to fit the bill on 3 and that was our problem - that's why we never won the league for me. We showed it a few times and we swep teams away in the process - 2nd half at Stamford Bridge, the ten minute spree at Goodison when we kept bulging the onion bag, Newcastle away... but the ball wasn't pinging around like a pinball enough of the time.

 

Then we came to the crunch period near the end when we had to just go for it, and suddenly everything clicked into place didn't it? We were crushing all comers and we should have gubbed Arsenal at home too.

 

It scares me to think we'd lose Xabi Alonso though - it'd be a big risk. If we manage to keep him and add two or three truly top quality footballers who can play it one touch and who work hard off the ball, then we could be on to something even scarier than we are now.

 

We're close. s**** at set pieces at both ends though eh?

[drdooom]

It's an interesting read and I'm only half way through but it's a bit funny to read the praise for Hamberg with what we now know in hindsight

[royhendo]

It's an interesting read and I'm only half way through but it's a bit funny to read the praise for Hamberg with what we now know in hindsight

 

Yeah, that's spot on. The scouts have taken a fair bit of clog aswell, haven't they?

 

A few of the ideas in there were seriously challenged over the course of the season but that was the main one, you're right. Interesting that it was a massive part of the contract negotiations though, and now Segura's come in and McPartland's at the helm.

 

The main worry is Rafa's appetite to play passing football really - the whole Alonso thing, and the reluctance to use Agger at times... and personally I got effed off with Kuyt for a long spell - still wish he was a squad player rather than our first choice wide right, you know?

 

The defensive stuff seems to hold true, but sometimes you wonder what he's planning when we're linked with certain players.