Neil Critchley: Blackpool are a work in progress and patience is needed

JJpool

Well-known member
So that style of play, playing the ball out more and more possession to allow us to be in control and not have teams with some top talent to have more of it and chances against us.

Just need to work on turning it into meaningful balls forward like we have seen at times.

But the more we do it the better we'll be.

 
I think the fans are definitely going to need more patience - there were calls from the crowd to get it forward on Weds night after a few passes across the back four and it's that kind of thing that needs our support for it to work. It's the right thing to do and will reap rewards, the players are just waiting for that opportunity to play forward into midfield, and we saw that if we are patient, that opportunity does come eventually. That then means we're not lumping forward and relying on forwards to win headers that they're never going to win against giant defenders. I find that a lot more frustrating than passing along the defence for a few minutes.
 
I think the fans are definitely going to need more patience - there were calls from the crowd to get it forward on Weds night after a few passes across the back four and it's that kind of thing that needs our support for it to work. It's the right thing to do and will reap rewards, the players are just waiting for that opportunity to play forward into midfield, and we saw that if we are patient, that opportunity does come eventually. That then means we're not lumping forward and relying on forwards to win headers that they're never going to win against giant defenders. I find that a lot more frustrating than passing along the defence for a few minutes.
Yeah some were justified though as it can be a bit ponderous and when we do finally work a forward pass if we don't take it or hesitate the moments gone and start all over again.

Yes it requires patience, but also the team should improve and learn how to do it more.

If done right there should always be someone free, whether if you find them with a fast ball on the ground and a good touch required on the half turn or a chipped ball over the press into the attackers etc.

I'm excited to see how this develops and should mean we're not dominated in games leading to tons of chances against us and also means we should have more of our players with more opportunities to try things and I'm really excited by our attacking players now.
 
That’s where we need technically skilled players like Yates. Fast, short passes, flicks on the half turn all requires a high degree of prowess. John Jules should fit in nicely as shouldBowler, Keshi and Mitchell when fit.
 

Neil Critchley: Blackpool are a work in progress and patience is needed​

Neil Critchley insists patience will be required with Blackpool’s new style of play​


The Seasiders are looking to adopt a more possession-based approach in the Championship this season.
Pool tried to play the ball out from the back in their opener at Bristol City on Saturday and got off to a comfortable enough start, drawing 1-1 thanks to Shayne Lavery’s late heroics.

Blackpool are bedding in a new style of play and came under pressure at times against Bristol City

But they struggled slightly during the first half, when Nigel Pearson’s side got on top and stopped them at source.
Critchley concedes there’s plenty of work to be done but warned it won’t be something that changes overnight.
Pool’s head coach told The Gazette: “It takes a lot of hard work, patience and perseverance.
“That has to come from me. If I don’t believe in it, how do I expect the players to believe in it? I have to be the person that shows total faith and trust in the players and gives them unequivocal support to do that.

“I want us to be a team that can control the game and build possession, but there are many ways of playing out from the back and controlling games.
“It doesn’t mean you have to be playing silly balls in front of your own goal all the time. Sometimes, if teams come after you, you might go over a lot of their bodies and play off a ball that is slightly further forward.
“But it’s something that will take time. We showed signs of it on Saturday but we can get a lot better at doing it and I’m confident we will.”
Bristol City’s goal came after a sustained spell of pressure from the home side. Chris Martin was the man to break the deadlock on the stroke of half-time.

He headed home unmarked from a deep cross into the Blackpool box.
When asked what his players could have done differently, Critchley replied: “We could have stopped giving away silly free-kicks, that might have been a good start.
“A lot of their better chances came from the second phase of wide free-kicks. It wasn’t necessarily the first ball into the box but maybe the second ball.
“Just in those moments, we’ve got to manage those situations slightly better.

“You could say attack is the best form of defence, so if you keep hold of the ball it means you’re doing less defending.
“You can’t deny our defensive organisation was outstanding last season.
“We aim to maintain that but we also want to evolve as a team and progress other aspects of our play.
“If we can do that, then we’ll be the team that is in the ascendancy more than defending in our own half.”
 
Liverpool have been doing it for years
When I was at Uni in Nottingham 79-82 the Forest / Liverpool rivalry was a bit of thing and I went to the games and found Liverpool incredibly frustrating to watch. It was like anti football. They were allowed to pass back to the keeper obviously and they did repeatedly, and it may well have been Liverpool that brought about the rule change! That said, I went to Villa v Liverpool in about 81 and remember admiring how good they were, passing, precision and movement, so maybe it was a tactic they used a lot against Forest cos they were such a good side at that time under Clough. In fact Forest went from attack attack attack in 1979 to a much more pragmatic keepball, 1-0 win approach by 1982. The fans were as moany as fuck. And moaning in an east Midlands accent is the moaniest sound on the planet. 🤣
 
I think the fans are definitely going to need more patience - there were calls from the crowd to get it forward on Weds night after a few passes across the back four and it's that kind of thing that needs our support for it to work. It's the right thing to do and will reap rewards, the players are just waiting for that opportunity to play forward into midfield, and we saw that if we are patient, that opportunity does come eventually. That then means we're not lumping forward and relying on forwards to win headers that they're never going to win against giant defenders. I find that a lot more frustrating than passing along the defence for a few minutes.
I’m getting used to it (the Critch ball style) and if we’ve got the ball, they can’t score.
Mind you, I can hear the gasps/rising heartbeats and squirming backsides as the danger of one slip-up crosses folks minds.
And if we’ve got Jerry and Shayne up front, winning a header is a wish,
 
I’m getting used to it (the Critch ball style) and if we’ve got the ball, they can’t score.
Mind you, I can hear the gasps/rising heartbeats and squirming backsides as the danger of one slip-up crosses folks minds.
And if we’ve got Jerry and Shayne up front, winning a header is a wish,
Did people feel this way on Wednesday night? I didn't have a moment's worry, although Boro didn't do much pressing.

Would We prefer to go all Warnock?!
 
For this Tikka Takka style to work, it DEMANDS constant movement of the forward players. Those in possession at the back hoofed it forward when they came under pressure, because they were given no options to pass to players further forward. The back line wanted to play it in to feet, but the forwards were mostly static. The result was that it HAD to be hoofed eventually as the defenders were closed down.
 
We are not the tallest of teams, but we have a lot of pace in the side, keeping it on the deck suits us much better than hoofing it forward, it's also much more attractive to watch.
 
For this Tikka Takka style to work, it DEMANDS constant movement of the forward players. Those in possession at the back hoofed it forward when they came under pressure, because they were given no options to pass to players further forward. The back line wanted to play it in to feet, but the forwards were mostly static. The result was that it HAD to be hoofed eventually as the defenders were closed down.
When was that?
 
I think the fans are definitely going to need more patience - there were calls from the crowd to get it forward on Weds night after a few passes across the back four and it's that kind of thing that needs our support for it to work. It's the right thing to do and will reap rewards, the players are just waiting for that opportunity to play forward into midfield, and we saw that if we are patient, that opportunity does come eventually. That then means we're not lumping forward and relying on forwards to win headers that they're never going to win against giant defenders. I find that a lot more frustrating than passing along the defence for a few minutes.
Indeed, I heard a few calls too. Agree about patience but still need to add the proviso that we are not a PL team and our players aren't as good at retaining possession in the manner that some of those teams do. Think it's inevitable that we'll get caught out occasionally and it'll be a case of how costly that could be.
 
When was that?
wednesday. There's no doubt it happened many times. Lavery is a player who runs the channels. He's by his marker and when he thinks the long ball is coming he'll make his move. At times our forwards can be quite static waiting for the ball to be played. Middx is right.
 
wednesday. There's no doubt it happened many times. Lavery is a player who runs the channels. He's by his marker and when he thinks the long ball is coming he'll make his move. At times our forwards can be quite static waiting for the ball to be played. Middx is right.
To an extent but it seems be being over stated. IMO. We retained possession pretty well on Wednesday. For a side with several debutants and 7 changes.
 
To an extent but it seems be being over stated. IMO. We retained possession pretty well on Wednesday. For a side with several debutants and 7 changes.
Indeed we did, but more often than not I'd say it still ended up with us going long. But as you say let's not overstate it as there's plenty to be positive about..
 
I think the report is right and patience will be the key.. other teams will know we are planning this and will be pressing high, looking for mistakes. Until the system becomes second nature for the players, that may well happen and we could potentially give away some poor goals (hope not, but it obviously could happen).. but it's for the long term good, so our job as fans is to stay behind them even if there are silly mistakes and the system will develop over time. Can't wait for tomorrow.. I will have my singing head on! COYP!!
 
If we are just passing it along the back and failing to spot the moments to progress then people have a right to not be wowed by that.

We have to be patient but say what you see.

We want possession positive possession leading to advancing. Dont mind going back if we don't just hoof it and waste that passage of play.

If we work on it in training, set up for it right in formation, use the width, take the ball on the heald turn etc then it will be very effective.
 
It's the kind of football I like and we want teams to come after us and press then it makes those couple of passes easier to take out 3 or 4 of their players. What we absolutely need for it to work though is our cms to want to come and take the ball which is where we need Dougall, Stewart to stay fit and Ward to be fair as he's also good on the ball.
It was frustrating on Wed to hear some shouts of get it forward when we were keeping possession, granted we needed to be quicker on the ball sometimes but this long ball boot it forward that some seemed to want was surprising considering we had that rubbish under grayson.
Patience is absolutely the key word.
 
If we are just passing it along the back and failing to spot the moments to progress then people have a right to not be wowed by that.

We have to be patient but say what you see.

We want possession positive possession leading to advancing. Dont mind going back if we don't just hoof it and waste that passage of play.

If we work on it in training, set up for it right in formation, use the width, take the ball on the heald turn etc then it will be very effective.
It’s difficult because when it works it’s great, but when you give the ball away due to an error in the passing and they score it makes it difficult and it looks poor. It’s a brave way of playing requiring a lot of drilling and knowledge of the system and concentration which is what Coach Crticherhino is saying in a nutshell.
 
It's the kind of football I like and we want teams to come after us and press then it makes those couple of passes easier to take out 3 or 4 of their players. What we absolutely need for it to work though is our cms to want to come and take the ball which is where we need Dougall, Stewart to stay fit and Ward to be fair as he's also good on the ball.
It was frustrating on Wed to hear some shouts of get it forward when we were keeping possession, granted we needed to be quicker on the ball sometimes but this long ball boot it forward that some seemed to want was surprising considering we had that rubbish under grayson.
Patience is absolutely the key word.
That's just what James did on wednesday and he was excellent for doing it. Don't think he gave the ball away once. Certainly not in first half.
 
When Critch is at another game instead of ours you know its time well spent and might genuinely lead to a signing either now or in the future and the team is in safe hands back at HQ playing exactly as per Critchleys instructions. It all seems BFC football related business is all well managed now.
 
I said on a previous post that Wednesdays performance was the best Complete all round display for a long time. However, playing out from the back can be frustrating at times maybe because we are not used to seeing it. I noticed on Wednesday that Big Marv had a lot of the ball at the back and often was the one in possession taking it to the halfway line. It was then that he seemed to struggle to find that telling pass forward and the ball would then be played back again. It’s at that point you need one of the midfielders to pick it up and when the forwards make their move, he has the vision and better ability to make the pass. Saying all that, it worked on Wednesday but it is also crucial that when playing this style, you take the goal scoring chances when they come about because over he course of 90 minutes, at least 20 minutes of the entire game could be spent passing the ball around in your own half . It’s going to be interesting how this pans out especially over the next few games.
 
Indeed, I heard a few calls too. Agree about patience but still need to add the proviso that we are not a PL team and our players aren't as good at retaining possession in the manner that some of those teams do. Think it's inevitable that we'll get caught out occasionally and it'll be a case of how costly that could be.
Yes agree, there's a balance. I want us to play this way predominantly, but last season I thought MK Dons really overdid it and it cost them against us. There will definitely be occasions when the player in possession will have no choice but to play it long, just like on Wed. I think it's important that we get movement from the two holding midfielders to give options for the defence to play into and through the middle, and James in particular did this really well on Weds.
 
Can anybody argue with C? after Wednesday. Either Middleboro were crap or we played the best brand of football I,ve seen since early 2011.
What a bonus to see Lavery and Carey start their journey to the top.
Ok it,s early days and I,ll be happy if we beat the Nobbers and B/burn and stay in this division but bloody hell I can’t stop dreaming!!!
 
I'll be totally honest, I'm not struggling with the way we play at all. There wasn't a single occasion when I felt frustrated or anxious on Wednesday night. Am I the only one?

I actually find a bit confusing that, after all the buzz about how well we played the other night, we now get a thread along these lines. What was there not to like? Maybe this partly explains my Madine isolation...? 🤔
 
I'll be totally honest, I'm not struggling with the way we play at all. There wasn't a single occasion when I felt frustrated or anxious on Wednesday night. Am I the only one?

I actually find a bit confusing that, after all the buzz about how well we played the other night, we now get a thread along these lines. What was there not to like? Maybe this partly explains my Madine isolation...? 🤔
It depends on who's playing at the back. Ekpiteta and Casey are comfortable in possession - Keogh less so. I'm not convinced with Gretarsson's distribution either tbh.

If we play like this we have to reconcile losing a couple of goals a season and not get weird about it. If it's more than that then Critchley has to adapt somewhat.
 
I'll be totally honest, I'm not struggling with the way we play at all. There wasn't a single occasion when I felt frustrated or anxious on Wednesday night. Am I the only one?

I actually find a bit confusing that, after all the buzz about how well we played the other night, we now get a thread along these lines. What was there not to like? Maybe this partly explains my Madine isolation...? 🤔
There was a spell before we scored the 2nd and 3rd when they had a couple of hopeful chances where I was getting a bit frustrated, completely irrationally, but Lavery and Keshi soon put paid to that 😉
 
It depends on who's playing at the back. Ekpiteta and Casey are comfortable in possession - Keogh less so. I'm not convinced with Gretarsson's distribution either tbh.

If we play like this we have to reconcile losing a couple of goals a season and not get weird about it. If it's more than that then Critchley has to adapt somewhat.
Tell you what: Marv and Casey didn’t put a foot wrong on Wed.
Critch has a lovely problem there.
Only seen Keogh once -Brizzle. Husband earned his spurs last season. And, Gretarson will make a challenge (literally).
 
Aspiring to be playing total football and working towards that goal, it’s all I ever wished for our beloved historic club. Good people working for BFC from top to bottom. Patience really is a virtue, the future is bright.
 
I think the fans are definitely going to need more patience - there were calls from the crowd to get it forward on Weds night after a few passes across the back four and it's that kind of thing that needs our support for it to work. It's the right thing to do and will reap rewards, the players are just waiting for that opportunity to play forward into midfield, and we saw that if we are patient, that opportunity does come eventually. That then means we're not lumping forward and relying on forwards to win headers that they're never going to win against giant defenders. I find that a lot more frustrating than passing along the defence for a few minutes.
I think I was sat near you …. I was listening to the same.
No idea about the modern game.
Didn’t know who most of the players were.
Very Irritating…
 
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