What a strange thing to say.
Do you have any solutions by the way?
Employ a system other than pump as many balls in the to the box as possible. That's basically how we play these days and if it doesn't work we're fucked.
For all the possession we have in a match passing it
across the lines, we don't create as many
clear-cut chances as we used to. How often do we have a player one on one with the goalkeeper? Usually it's just pinged in to box and someone has a split second to lash a foot at it and hope it goes in. We don't create the quality, gilt-edged chances that we used to.
I read an article a few weeks ago that reasoned that most of our signings were made with the idea that they could put the ball in the box. Adam, Henderson, Downing... all are supposedly good at putting it in there and the statistics from the previous season backed it up. There was a magic number of approximately 20 crosses in a game would mean that you would more than likely win the match. Id' say this is why Kenny justified shunting Henderson was out on the right for so long this season - so he can whip it in.
How many of the top sides throw it in the box like we do? It's an outdated tactic which most top teams have moved on from.
When Kenny was appointed manager, my biggest worry was that his idea of how to play football would be outdated and not compatible with the modern game. The concept of "big man up top, little man running off him and wingers whipping the ball in" is how football was played in the 90s and it has moved on. We looked promising last year when Kenny came in and played with the pass and move philosophy that was reminiscent of the Rafa era. Now Kenny has had the time to stamp his own ideologies on the team I'm not sure that I agree with how he sets us up. We're one dimensional.
