Toby signs new contract

[whitelightwhiteheat]

The "near-escapes" are moments that worried the fans. They did not constitute reasons to change the strategy. The only ones that counted against that were the goals conceded there weren't enough of them to reckon with.

I prefer the more varied approach we are taking now, but passing it about in defence and then distributing it progressively through midfield is a key part of modern football tactics.

I think the players actually hated playing that way too. You could see the look on Lloris' face sometimes when he'd been forced into doing something stupid - like "Why the fuck am I doing this?!" - And that was the same with the defenders at times too, you can also see the release in tension on the back 4 slowly occuring - Toby is starting to ping those passes again. When was the last time the Toby to Dele dynamic worked prior to Mourinho taking over? It was such a valuable tactic at one point but for some reason we got lost in this obsession with always playing stupidly from the back.

If anyone cannot see how dumb constantly playing that way was I don't really have the words. There's just so many reasons why it just didn't work. Aside from the above, it made us ridiculously predictable to play against. It meant teams could press us very high when the goalkeeper had the ball, or when we had goal kicks, etc, because they knew what we were going to do.

The ideal thing in football is to mix things up so the opposition don't always know what you're going to do. Playing out from the back is fine when the timing is appropriate - But sometimes a long ping from Toby will put us on the offensive and catch the opposition in transition with defenders/midfielders out of position. If anyone is expecting us to play a Barcelona-esque tiki take "perfect football" then they are going to be disappointed. I'

I've got to a point where I'd rather see us winning than playing good football. Arguably we were the best football team in the league during the season that Leicester won the league, and the season that followed that. We were phenomenal at times. And we know what that got us at the end, because everyone on social media and the media in general won't shut up about it. "Wot av u wun tho?" as the idiots will say. We need to put that to bed, and I'll take us doing it in almost any fashion at this poiint.

 

[slartibartfast]

I think the players actually hated playing that way too. You could see the look on Lloris' face sometimes when he'd been forced into doing something stupid - like "Why the fuck am I doing this?!" - And that was the same with the defenders at times too, you can also see the release in tension on the back 4 slowly occuring - Toby is starting to ping those passes again. When was the last time the Toby to Dele dynamic worked prior to Mourinho taking over? It was such a valuable tactic at one point but for some reason we got lost in this obsession with always playing stupidly from the back.

If anyone cannot see how dumb constantly playing that way was I don't really have the words. There's just so many reasons why it just didn't work. Aside from the above, it made us ridiculously predictable to play against. It meant teams could press us very high when the goalkeeper had the ball, or when we had goal kicks, etc, because they knew what we were going to do.

The ideal thing in football is to mix things up so the opposition don't always know what you're going to do. Playing out from the back is fine when the timing is appropriate - But sometimes a long ping from Toby will put us on the offensive and catch the opposition in transition with defenders/midfielders out of position. If anyone is expecting us to play a Barcelona-esque tiki take "perfect football" then they are going to be disappointed. I'

I've got to a point where I'd rather see us winning than playing good football. Arguably we were the best football team in the league during the season that Leicester won the league, and the season that followed that. We were phenomenal at times. And we know what that got us at the end, because everyone on social media and the media in general won't shut up about it. "Wot av u wun tho?" as the idiots will say. We need to put that to bed, and I'll take us doing it in almost any fashion at this poiint.

Great post. Agree with every word.
I never liked Pochs attitude towards domestic cups so while I'm not a big JM fan (he's been great so far but still early days and I'm just waiting for the arse hat to appear) it is refreshing to know we are actually gonna go out and try and win some silverware which is the whole reason for following football isnt it, the dream of winning something.

 

[yid-down-under]

Cue levy selling him now for £45m

 

[cider spurs]

Fanfeckintastic news. Excellent player, and I truly believed we would've lost him last summer.

He's been an excellent player for us and certainly represented good value for the fee paid.

Good stuff.

 

[Locotoro]

I think the players actually hated playing that way too. You could see the look on Lloris' face sometimes when he'd been forced into doing something stupid - like "Why the fuck am I doing this?!" - And that was the same with the defenders at times too, you can also see the release in tension on the back 4 slowly occuring - Toby is starting to ping those passes again. When was the last time the Toby to Dele dynamic worked prior to Mourinho taking over? It was such a valuable tactic at one point but for some reason we got lost in this obsession with always playing stupidly from the back.

If anyone cannot see how dumb constantly playing that way was I don't really have the words. There's just so many reasons why it just didn't work. Aside from the above, it made us ridiculously predictable to play against. It meant teams could press us very high when the goalkeeper had the ball, or when we had goal kicks, etc, because they knew what we were going to do.

The ideal thing in football is to mix things up so the opposition don't always know what you're going to do. Playing out from the back is fine when the timing is appropriate - But sometimes a long ping from Toby will put us on the offensive and catch the opposition in transition with defenders/midfielders out of position. If anyone is expecting us to play a Barcelona-esque tiki take "perfect football" then they are going to be disappointed. I'

I've got to a point where I'd rather see us winning than playing good football. Arguably we were the best football team in the league during the season that Leicester won the league, and the season that followed that. We were phenomenal at times. And we know what that got us at the end, because everyone on social media and the media in general won't shut up about it. "Wot av u wun tho?" as the idiots will say. We need to put that to bed, and I'll take us doing it in almost any fashion at this poiint.

I agree with everything you have said.

But I need to say this, this idea of Barcelona always playing short passing is a fallacy. How many time did we see them play a high ball to the onrushing fullback into the box. In fact that was part of the strategy, overload with short passes and the vary the play with a direct pass to the fullback making a penetrated run into the box to score or assist. It's a variation of Man City's cut back strategy. Except Man City use wingers to get into the box and cut back/shoot