Long Balls

Bigbluebear said:
35 long balls last night between Goldson and Lundstram.

Why so many? Lundstram is normally around 6/7 however last night was 20. Why is this being deemed an effective tactic?

Because we have no midfield?
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We've been doing it mainly for a number of months. Sometimes a bit of football breaks out and we look actually quite good at it but then we just revert to Connor Goldson and his shitey long diagonals to no one on the flanks.
 
No midfield.
Can't play quick flowing passing football on a sandpit of a pitch.

Nothing wrong with long balls, it has worked often enough, but when you have forward players that aren't really up for winning challenges or fighting for second balls that doesn't help either.
 
It's due, last night anyway, to a complete lack of movement and any width in the team.

Last night is not on Golson, Souttar and Lundstram. I've actually rarely seen us have less options to give the ball to, and less effort to get into space. It was mind numbing.
 
SDF said:
We've been doing it mainly for a number of months. Sometimes a bit of football breaks out and we look actually quite good at it but then we just revert to Connor Goldson and his shitey long diagonals to no one on the flanks.
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We really haven't to this extent. Go back and look at the stats for previous games.
 
It's a disgraceful approach with a squad for of multimillion pound footballers on thousands a week.

Genuinely junior levels of tactics.
 
How many of them ended up being over hit too? Lost count of the amount of times that Goldson put it too far in front of the attacker and it went out for a goal kick.
 
The team had zero ideas last night, it was horseshoe passing then a long punt to nowhere. Hit and hope and torture.
 
Our passing for so called professional football players is atrocious, we struggle to string 4-5 passes together unless it’s the dreaded Goldson - Lundstram - Souttar triangle
 
I'm sick to the back teeth of the football on show. It's not football. Long spells of the Gerrard era, GvB, Beale and now Clement.

We are a lazy, passive, unorganised mess. A squad of players that won't move, can't pass, do the basics and play into the oppositions hands.

Long balls up to Roofe to either hold up the ball or flick it on with the nearest player standing flat footed 20 yards away. I give up.
 
The manager is telling them to do it. You’ll not see one of those players hooked at half time or drastically change in the second half.
 
Mview83 said:
We are a route one / long ball team and have been since Clement came in
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Have been for years, hardly a tactic Clement's brought with him. Have people forgotten the first old firm game of the season under Beale? Something like 20% of our passes in the first half were long balls. This squad don't have a lot of technical ability so just launch it long under the slightest hint of pressure.
 
It's because they're scared and it's the easy ball. Same with crosses into the box from the wings rather than trying to open teams up with quick passing and movement.
 
I would rather we play lon balls into the opposition area and try to cause some issues than watch Laundstrum, Souttar, Goldson pass it between themselves
 
For some reason when the defenders have the ball we have no one in the middle of the park and 4/5 players across the forward line. It makes it impossible for us to play through teams that way.

We’ve played hoofball since clement came in but that won’t cut it long term. And there is no excuse like he doesn’t have the players in midfield to pass through teams, Dundee and Ross county just passed us off the park at times on significantly less money.

It will need to change long term if he wants to stay as manager.
 
I don't remember him being like this when he first came in but it has just turned into garbage long ball football.

The last two games Ross County and Dundee have been passing it around while we chase shadows and when we get the ball we just hoof it up the pitch.

It's pathetic tactics you would expect from a manager of a bottom of the table side.
 
Mview83 said:
We are a route one / long ball team and have been since Clement came in
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I can't figure out the way that Clement's trying to have us play. I get he doesn't have a squad of his own players but you'd think you would see something different than what we've seen for the last few years.
 
It's ok if you can win 2nd balls and play the game from the oppositions half but we do it to our isolated striker meaning the oppositions defenders or midfielders pick up the loose balls under no pressure.
 
It was awful to watch Goldson launch ball after ball out of play. No options so we resort to it. Lawrence, Cantwell, Lundstram midfield offered nothing. No creativity at all.
 
It's the easy ball out, also doesn't help when no-one further forward is trying to get into space.
Cantwell, Lawrence and Dowell are terrible for hiding when things are going wrong.
 
Not so long ago, the opposing teams would sit back and defend, for the whole game.
Now that they realise, how poor our defence is, they all attack from the kickoff. And they are getting results.
To say we need wholesale changes, would be an understatement.
 
To be fair to the players they are being told to do that by the gaffer.

We had early success playing that way but teams have pretty much figured that out now and adjusted.
 
Bigbluebear said:
35 long balls last night between Goldson and Lundstram.

Why so many? Lundstram is normally around 6/7 however last night was 20. Why is this being deemed an effective tactic?

Because we have no midfield?
Click to expand...
I was ready to start crying in the second half watching those balls from Goldson. Dundee fans all laughing in the stands as well!
 
An system is the problem. That is partly due to personnel but not wholly. We just can't pass through teams and create high quality chances.
 
Bigbluebear said:
35 long balls last night between Goldson and Lundstram.

Why so many? Lundstram is normally around 6/7 however last night was 20. Why is this being deemed an effective tactic?

Because we have no midfield?
Click to expand...
Because when Lundstram is on form/can be arsed/isn’t shiting it (take your pick) he picks the ball up deep, then drops a shoulder and eases past the press, then with a bit more space he can drive forward and find a much shorter, more effective pass forward. When the three above don't apply, he can't get rid of it quickly enough.
 
When the going gets tough it what we do. Same players, same result. Done it under Gerrard, Gio, Beale and now Clement.

They have zero confidence so no one wants the ball. Midfield hide behind players and the next best thing is either sideways passing to be safe or fuk a meaningless ball over the top to no one.

Clement will get sacked by Xmas if he doesn’t clear the old guard. Way way way too much influence in that dressing room.
 
As has been pointed out, we used it well as part of a varied approach when Clement took over, we have reverted to it being out primary tactic now.

The issue is that when Goldson or Souttar have the ball - the fullbacks have pushed that far up they are effectively marked and we have Lundstram drop that deep that there is almost no option in front of the defenders.

You can almost get away with it if you have someone who plays like Alfie used to and drops in to open the space but none of our forwards are remotely capable of that, so we try to play long diagonals and invariably turn over possession with our fullbacks massively out of position.
 
we could possibly make a case for it ,if we were seeing benefits from it regularly, but for the vast majority of the time, it just comes straight back at us or if we manage to win the high ball our midfield is so deep ,by the time they get up the park the striker has lost the ball, our passing in general is a disgrace though, sloppy ,slack passes knee high, flicks to shoulder level, underhit passes, overhit passes, passing behind players on the run, I could go on but its clear to all ,this is not being addressed on the training ground as it on repeat every week
 
It doesn't help when you have a striker who is incapable of making runs to give them options & to bring others into play.

For all Dessers finishing ratio is poor, Roofe isn't capable of leading the line.

That's just a part of it though to be fair.
 
CALE1972 said:
Said this to my mate last night. think I'll have a breakdown the next time I see a long diagonal to nowhere and expecting wingers to be cushioning every sky fall ball like Brian Laudrup.
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Me too. I actually burst out laughing at the one that went out for a goal kick.
 
In Goldson's case it's usually longer than long balls balls.

I've never seen a player hoof it out the park so many times in my entire 60 years of watching the game.

You'd think he'd learn to take a wee bit off them by now.
 
Football is meant to be played on the ground These clowns who play these long balls Tavenier Goldson Lundstrum maybe get one in 5 in play totally unacceptable.
The great Brian Clough said if they wanted to play football in the sky there would be grass up there instead of clouds,he started to sub and fine his players for it.
Nobody's going to tell us they don't practice fast 1 and 2 touch routines in training but can't do it on the park, Nobody running at defences take them on have a go at least then they might get a lucky break and create a chance,back and square balls don't work.
Time for change.
WATP
 
Sterling8 said:
When the going gets tough it what we do. Same players, same result. Done it under Gerrard, Gio, Beale and now Clement.

They have zero confidence so no one wants the ball. Midfield hide behind players and the next best thing is either sideways passing to be safe or fuk a meaningless ball over the top to no one.

Clement will get sacked by Xmas if he doesn’t clear the old guard. Way way way too much influence in that dressing room.
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the most infuriating thing is when players go by an opposition player looks like they are going to start an attack then play it back. Players taking the easy option out rather than being brave
 
In the 55 season we made incredible use of long, accurate diagonals to a forward in space that was running onto it.

This was just one element of our play, amongst other recognizable patterns and within an overall organized formation.

I pine for those days.
 
Playing out from the back and beating an aggressive press only to then hoof the ball up into a heavily marked forward is certainly an interesting approach.
 
Our style of football is shambolic, not sure why Clement thinks its a good tactic. All that money wasted on players to play this style. Manager needs to have a long hard look in the mirror
 
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