Tactical Frustrations

[Knoxy]

I'm pro Rafa, but like nearly any fan there's choices he makes that confuse/frustrate me. Not talking about the more contentious issues such as signings or not building the team around Jay Spearing, but smaller things that you think would be more effective if he just shared your clear insightful view.

 

What are they and why?

 

Mind would be

 

- Giving Babel a run on the right. And encouraging him to get at the LB given he has the option of going inside or outside, as opposed to his failed one trick from the left

 

- Giving Benayoun more time centrally, behind Torres. Particularly when Gerrard's not fit, he's probably our second most creative player and our best ball carrier. Could backfire a he might not get as much time on the ball and/or space but he'd probably be more involved in the match

 

- Have a more attack minded bench. Think this is partly down to a small squad and injuries but our bench often seems defender heavy. 1 CB and 1 LB is enough, we've got versatile players. I'd like to have seen Pacheco have an almost permaneant spot on the bench this season, 7 subs is enough to "carry" a youth player

[anny road]

I'm pro Rafa, but like nearly any fan there's choices he makes that confuse/frustrate me. Not talking about the more contentious issues such as signings or not building the team around Jay Spearing, but smaller things that you think would be more effective if he just shared your clear insightful view.

 

What are they and why?

 

Mind would be

 

- Giving Babel a run on the right. And encouraging him to get at the LB given he has the option of going inside or outside, as opposed to his failed one trick from the left

 

- Giving Benayoun more time centrally, behind Torres. Particularly when Gerrard's not fit, he's probably our second most creative player and our best ball carrier. Could backfire a he might not get as much time on the ball and/or space but he'd probably be more involved in the match

 

- Have a more attack minded bench. Think this is partly down to a small squad and injuries but our bench often seems defender heavy. 1 CB and 1 LB is enough, we've got versatile players. I'd like to have seen Pacheco have an almost permaneant spot on the bench this season, 7 subs is enough to "carry" a youth player

 

 

Babel wasnt down the right, Benayoun wasnt behind torres and Pacheco wasnt on the bench when we got 86 points last season

[Rocheteau]

At this point I dont think tactics are as important as getting confidence back. That means focusing on the basics, plenty of training and trying to maintain a settled squad. Yeah, its easy to spout, the hard part is convincing the players but thats Benitez' job. For what its worth I honestly think Yossi is the key. I'm a simple dumb fan and rafa has masterminded a champions league final but his vision movement and invention puts him head and shoulder above the rest of the midfield and playing two defensive midfielders just knarks the s*** out of me

[Ramón Benítez Hernández]

Babel wasnt down the right, Benayoun wasnt behind torres and Pacheco wasnt on the bench when we got 86 points last season

 

 

Is correct. We sold Alonso who was brilliant last season. We also lost Sami who would have come in handy when we had injury problems at the back early this season.

 

We replaced Arbeloa with Johnson which was an improvement in my opinion, especially going forward.

 

Alonso was replaced with an injured player who was never going to be as good anyway and Sami was replaced by Kyrgiakos who's rubbish.

[growler]

I agree with the op. despite being a huge fan of rafa there are some little things that annoy mr.pacheco comes on, has a great cameo and we never see him again. ditto kelly.

 

buying the greek last august. why? 1.5mil, plus doss and voro could have got us turner instead.

 

not trying something different, like beni in the middle and gerrard strarting on the right

[johngibo YPC]

I agree with the op. despite being a huge fan of rafa there are some little things that annoy mr.pacheco comes on, has a great cameo and we never see him again. ditto kelly.

 

buying the greek last august. why? 1.5mil, plus doss and voro could have got us turner instead.

 

not trying something different, like beni in the middle and gerrard strarting on the right

 

Would like to see more Pacheco, but Kelly has been injured since his debut hasn't he?

We only had £1.5m to spend on a defender and got one who isn't as bad as is made out. We wanted Turner. Rafa bid for him. He would have sold Doss and Voro if he's have been given the money. And noone expected Turner to go for that low. And he hasn't been that great for Sunderland when i've seen him anyway

I think Gerrard has said he will only play centrally. But that is just gossip. What i would say is that it is beneficial to have someone who can drop into centre midfield when need be from that role. Which Gerrard obviously can. They all interchange when playing well anyway (and stand f***ing still when were not)

[Jarg Armani]

They all interchange when playing well anyway (and stand f***ing still when were not)

 

This is probably the most maddening thing about our team.

[Stevie H]

This is probably the most maddening thing about our team.

that's still lack of aerial ability for me. we're pansies in the air.

[Jarg Armani]

that's still lack of aerial ability for me. we're pansies in the air.

 

Yeah that's hugely annoying too, especially considering the way we play.

 

Wound me up in that Tomkins article when Rafa admitted it was difficult to sign big lads, as they go for more money. Well, we used to have big lads, admittedly there were reasons for selling them all but it's a bit rich to have a moan about it as soon as they've all been packed off.

[Stevie H]

Yeah that's hugely annoying too, especially considering the way we play.

 

Wound me up in that Tomkins article when Rafa admitted it was difficult to sign big lads, as they go for more money. Well, we used to have big lads, admittedly there were reasons for selling them all but it's a bit rich to have a moan about it as soon as they've all been packed off.

it isn't that bloody difficult. united found vidic for what we paid for skrtel, fulham found hangeland for a couple of mill. they just need scouting bloody properly. we probably had skrtel watched the two matches that season that zenit st petersburg played midgetz volgograd.

[Jarg Armani]

f***ing skrtel man.

 

did he always have that 'technique' of winning aerial battles i wonder.

[Tonto]

f***ing skrtel man.

 

did he always have that 'technique' of winning aerial battles i wonder.

 

 

I seem to remember someone on here (Kaizer maybe?), just after Skrtel signed, saying that he was weak in the air.

[Raj]

united found vidic for what we paid for skrtel

 

we found vidic before united did. we just didnt pay the amount that his club wanted

agree with the rest of your post though

[Alonso]

I seem to remember someone on here (Kaizer maybe?), just after Skrtel signed, saying that he was weak in the air.

And said that we should have signed Hangeland as a replacement for Hyypia.

[Walrus]

Kaizer did make some valid points amongst his usual drivel to be fair. Shame he was such an idiot though.

[Leo No.8]

I'm pro Rafa, but like nearly any fan there's choices he makes that confuse/frustrate me. Not talking about the more contentious issues such as signings or not building the team around Jay Spearing, but smaller things that you think would be more effective if he just shared your clear insightful view.

 

What are they and why?

 

Mind would be

 

- Giving Babel a run on the right. And encouraging him to get at the LB given he has the option of going inside or outside, as opposed to his failed one trick from the left

 

- Giving Benayoun more time centrally, behind Torres. Particularly when Gerrard's not fit, he's probably our second most creative player and our best ball carrier. Could backfire a he might not get as much time on the ball and/or space but he'd probably be more involved in the match

 

- Have a more attack minded bench. Think this is partly down to a small squad and injuries but our bench often seems defender heavy. 1 CB and 1 LB is enough, we've got versatile players. I'd like to have seen Pacheco have an almost permaneant spot on the bench this season, 7 subs is enough to "carry" a youth player

 

Would agree with all of those points personally Knoxy.

 

Anny its fine saying none of those were the case when we got 86 points, but we are in a completely different situation now. Different season, totally different situation - polar opposite.

 

Gerrard was fully fit and really on form in the hole for most of the season so there was no requirement for Benayoun to play there, Kuyt was playing well and Riera available on the left which gave us good balance so we didn't need to try Babel on the right, and the established players were all fit and playing well so we didn't need to try any young kids like Pacheco.

 

Tying into the thing about Babel and Kuyt, one thing I would like Rafa to do more in terms of his overall ethos is play players based on their form rather than their levels of fitness. We all know Kuyt can run and run game after game, but if that running isn't leading to him contributing anything posiive he should be left out from time to time.

 

On the other side if a player is playing well give him game after game and try not to rest him, let him keep that momentum. Form and confidence go hand in hand, no matter how good his fitness levels are playing a guy week in week out when he's out of form is going to damage his confidence and be counter productive. Rafa isn't doing Kuyt any favours at the moment, or Insua.

 

Insua has been badly out of form for about a month and more now, during which time Aurelio has been mostly fit. The young lad needs a bit of a break to regain fitness and confidence - he is a good full back and still very young but he's under a lot of pressure at the moment which he needn't have to be under; general opinion has swung against him.

 

When that happens the crowd are less patient and the player can get some of that from the stands. Insua and Kuyt need to be played much less in the coming weeks.

Edited January 7, 2010 by Leo No.8

[dl2009]

The main thing for me is, I'd like him to modify his approach to games. So far this season, it's been 'let's control the opposition for 60 minutes, then use up our energy in the last 30mins to try and win it if we can'. I'd like him to send his team out to press the opposition high up the field with the defence 15 yards further forward and try to tw*t teams from the off.

 

Of course, fielding up to 8 defensive players a game (and I include Kuyt in that; he's a high altitude right back) would render the above pretty difficult.

[Raj]

The main thing for me is, I'd like him to modify his approach to games. So far this season, it's been 'let's control the opposition for 60 minutes, then use up our energy in the last 30mins to try and win it if we can'. I'd like him to send his team out to press the opposition high up the field with the defence 15 yards further forward and try to tw*t teams from the off.

 

Of course, fielding up to 8 defensive players a game (and I include Kuyt in that; he's a high altitude right back) would render the above pretty difficult.

 

I agree with that and I actually think we play better using that method.

I would also say that we tend to see the best of Dirk, when we do play that style of football. I think his attacking limitations are highlighted when he is playing further away from the penalty area.

[Flasher]

Rafa starts every game not to lose it, then looks for the win late on. I hate it when he says "we controled the game".

 

Would prefer him to go for it a bit more. Choosing a starting 11 which included Insua LB, Kuyt RM, Dossena LM, Mascherano CM and Lucas CM says to me - "let's not lose the first 60 mins".

 

Pacheco needs to be on the bench.

[Coyler]

That's balls. They start high tempo in loads of games; it's when the early goal doesn't go in that the stupid f*****s get all shy and clumsy.

[cymrococh]

This is probably the most maddening thing about our team.

Can't get past the absolute dogsh*t we serve up from corners and free-kicks around the box.

 

Hitting the first man should result in docked wages at this level.