Backpass statistics

Cannot find any stats on this but we must pass back to the goalie at least double any other team in the league. I would have thought just by a law of averages we would be better getting the ball forward.

Same applies to goalkicks get it up front rather than passing it short across the back and eventually kicking it out of play halfway in our half.
Hate it
 
It's irritating. We had a free kick on halfway, instead of sending it into the mix, it went back through three defenders then back to Maxwell. Why are we so negative.
That’s top coaching for you. I seem to remember when SS took over he said his aim was promotion in 2/3 years with exciting, entertaining football. The first, if at all, will be 3 years not 2 and the second criteria is nowhere in sight. Just as under Grayson we are going backwards.
 
Cannot find any stats on this but we must pass back to the goalie at least double any other team in the league. I would have thought just by a law of averages we would be better getting the ball forward.

Same applies to goalkicks get it up front rather than passing it short across the back and eventually kicking it out of play halfway in our half.
The thing is going long often gifts possession so rather than do that you can guarantee building from the back, which is great if you stick to that game, improve on it, work ways to pass out and commit to it. Drill the players, when they are pressed and spread wide there should always be a pass on, like a simple chip on to midfield to beat the press or a forward comes deep to collect on the half turn. When done right it can lead to massive success and great to watch.

Things you learn by watching peps teams.

If we actually committed to passing it'd be great and we could learn and keep getting better at it and bring in more players to fit it.

Instead we almost gave up and went long a lot which is often a waste. Now if we do pass it often we look like a side who is trying to pass it but isn't set up to do so or committed to it or has that know how of being drilled to do so. They often don't know where ro go from defence to midfield and hoof or go back. The setup has to come from coaching.

You could see today Brighton were set up to pass that way. It starts with the system, the philosophy.

Yes higher up have better players but you can still do it at your level if you commit to it.

One of the reasons I wanted Evatt at the time to bring this to us. Critch mentioned he wanted us to dominate the ball and attack but that hasn't really materialised as a style and the style modified when it wasn't working.

Its a bit of a disappointment of the season for me, I'd take our league position more happily if we were on that path with a clear philosophy, but still learning and you could see the passing and attacking style. At times we have seen some glimpses, but at others look a little clueless of how to do what should be drilled in.
 
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I think it’s a sign of a lack of confidence. l was hopeful that as the season progressed someone would be starting to show signs of leadership but it doesn’t seem to be happening. Maybe it’s down to the constant team changes which isn’t being helped by COVID and games being cancelled. I appreciate other teams are also suffering but few if any other teams have started with such a new squad as we have.
The momentum has been lost just as we were starting to gel and as a result we’re becoming more negative
 
I think it’s a sign of a lack of confidence. l was hopeful that as the season progressed someone would be starting to show signs of leadership but it doesn’t seem to be happening. Maybe it’s down to the constant team changes which isn’t being helped by COVID and games being cancelled. I appreciate other teams are also suffering but few if any other teams have started with such a new squad as we have.
The momentum has been lost just as we were starting to gel and as a result we’re becoming more negative
Yeah possibly however even before the interruptions to some players we havent seen the type of style coming together i think we would have hoped in summer.
 
Players interchanging positions, runs into space, balls over the top, first time passes, diagonal cross field balls. None of that.

No wonder we have the 2nd lowest goals scored total in the league. We don’t get the ball forward quick enough or get in dangerous positions in & around the penalty area often enough. We don’t shoot on sight. What we do is a version of time wasting. It’s like negative possession, because it achieves nothing but to run the clock down and bores us all senseless.
We mess around with it at the back too much and sometimes pay the price. The outcome would undoubtedly be worse against better quality opposition (eg Championship teams). You can get away with it to an extent in LG1.
We don’t even seem to be able to revert to a Plan B when chasing a game. The urgency isn’t there.
 
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Too few of our players are prepared to run forward with the ball or attempt to beat a player. That has become more apparent with the absence of CJ. Moving or laying off the ball quickly is ok when you do something positive with it. Passing sideways or backwards all the time allows the opposition time to press or re-group. It doesn't help when NC signs even more defensive midfielders rather than at least one creative attack minded passer
 
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It's incredibly boring for around 95% of the game. I still like it to old style Italian football where one goal wins. Fascinating at times but not edge of the seat excitement.
 
It's incredibly boring for around 95% of the game. I still like it to old style Italian football where one goal wins. Fascinating at times but not edge of the seat excitement.
One goal wins?
That would be OK if we managed to score about double of what we have scored. 🙄
 
It's Calderwood's choice. 😉
It’s a good point - when are people on here going to start pointing the finger at Calderwood?

He was credited with coming in, the change to 4-4-2 and making us harder to beat. So because we’re now much more defensive and struggle to score, is that not also down to him?
 
If you find our style of play boring you must have been tearing your hair out yesterday watching Brighton. Apparently there was 24% of play in their final third of which 23% must have been square balls between their defenders.

Looking at the game yesterday, it's pretty obvious that playing long doesn't really pay dividends in modern football and can only progress a team so far. Critchley's methods have the potential to take us a lot further than Evan's Gillingham or Cotterill's Shrewsbury but whether we currently have the personnel to do that is open to question.

The rest of this season is really a test for the players to see if the can move the ball forward through the lines and get good possession in the opposing half better than we do now. We did that at Crewe and a couple of other places but less so recently. It looks like we may have traded the current goal return from Madine for making the original system work. That's a problem for Critchely to sort out.
 
Cannot find any stats on this but we must pass back to the goalie at least double any other team in the league. I would have thought just by a law of averages we would be better getting the ball forward.

Same applies to goalkicks get it up front rather than passing it short across the back and eventually kicking it out of play halfway in our half.
I couldn't believe the contrast watching Cheltenham and how quickly they got the ball forward they actually went toe to toe with City for long periods of the game it was a breath of fresh air. For me its all down to the mindset of the manager its as simple as that.
 
I think it’s a sign of a lack of confidence. l was hopeful that as the season progressed someone would be starting to show signs of leadership but it doesn’t seem to be happening. Maybe it’s down to the constant team changes which isn’t being helped by COVID and games being cancelled. I appreciate other teams are also suffering but few if any other teams have started with such a new squad as we have.
The momentum has been lost just as we were starting to gel and as a result we’re becoming more negative
Lincoln signed 11 new players in the close season, I don’t see them going backwards.
 
Cannot find any stats on this but we must pass back to the goalie at least double any other team in the league. I would have thought just by a law of averages we would be better getting the ball forward.

Same applies to goalkicks get it up front rather than passing it short across the back and eventually kicking it out of play halfway in our half.
For what it's worth, Brighton's centre halves passed it between themselves and their keeper more than we did
 
I don’t imagine many people would want to see us go long all the time. Sure, it helps to mix things up occasionally, but not all the time.
What I’d like to see is more a positive approach whereby we do short, quick accurate (forward) passes. Sprint running into spaces. All with the intent to get forward at pace and get as many shots on goal as possible. Attack in waves. That’s what excites me as a supporter.
The way we set up and play is ponderous and predictable. Teams can easily set up to defend and press our pointless over-passing.
 
There is recycling the ball with purpose. And then there is recycling the ball without any plan. Like others have said, multiple times a game we can be deep in opposition areas and rather than cross or attempt a through ball inexplicably end up passing it all the way to Maxwell who then just lumps it. It's very frustrating.
 
To be honest there isn't an exciting player in the side who gets you off the edge of your seat. The nearest when he's fit is CJ but even he often runs into blind alleys. We haven't got a match winner who will run at defenders and give us that bit of spark. I keep hoping that piece of the jigsaw will come. We're assembling a decent side, solid and capable of keeping the ball, we may only be one or two players off a top of the table outfit but without those two at times we look a million miles away.
 
For what it's worth, Brighton's centre halves passed it between themselves and their keeper more than we did
Yes but thats only to tire the opposition down, create space by moving the opposition around and then when that space comes its forward and on the attack.

When we go across the back its because the defenders can't see a pass on forward and as a team sometimes we don't seem to have the confidence or know how to pass through, so its along the back, back to keeper and hoof, which ends up conceding possession more often than not.

I can't remember the entire game but I dont recall Brighton getting it into midfield in promising forward positions then pointlessly going back to their keeper because all avenues were closed off.

We do that at times.

Once forward you should often try something positive.

Nothing wrong with at times keeping possession and try to find the opening but if you do pass to a defender then they to the keeper its almost pointless unless your inviting them to press like Barcelona used to and once you trick them upfield you pass through them with ease.

Surely when you have earned your way up there you try a 1-2, cross it shoot etc.

Otherwise if you go back all the work is wasted and you start over.

This is exactly what I meant by trying to be a passing side without fully committing from players and management with the setup and coaching.

If we fully commit to it it can go wrong at times but you accept that, I'd love to see it. At least we would know our style and the more we do it the better we will be.

It works on the obvious principle that more possession and if done correctly more shots and them less shots and less possession means more chance of winning a game.

I know football doesn't always work like this but over a season, with the right players... dominating possession and shots should mean more goals and wins.

If done right of course.
 
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