I think we lack width against these teams too, we try to do everything centrally which they love because it means they can pack as many defenders into the middle of the pitch as possible.
We sometimes do a good job of getting Dom/Trent/Salah to take turns making overlapping runs but in other games none of them seem to want to do it and just end up on each others toes.
I think it's something that goes hand in hand with the lack of speed in our passing. If you allow a team to get back into shape by passing it slowly then you negate the use in playing the ball into wide areas as you have so little space to cross into and the crosses become extremely low percentage. Playing the ball into the box when they have 10 back leaves the attackers with such a small chance of winning the ball and even less chance of getting off a good quality shot, it also removes any chance of control and a shot as there's less space to bring the ball down and even if you manage it, a player hurling themselves at you leaves no space to finish. Even the cutback on the floor makes it easy for the opposition to defend as there's plenty to get it clear and again the space is heavily reduced.
I'd liken it to a team trying to play counter attacking football against us but playing 6 passes before getting it into the midfield. We set up with a high line to compress the space on the pitch, a quick outball can completely bypass our midfield and leave space to run in behind but it requires quick play, you try that slow and we'll just regain possession and press you into a turnover.
Absolutely spot on. Too languid by far against a lot of sides - we allow them time to re-group and smother. It's always been the case that when we play a faster tempo, we take every side apart, but it seems like we only do this against the so-called "top 6 sides" that apparently "play football" against us and not the "lesser teams". We need to do it to all teams.
Force them - Low-block sides can still be pressed. It places the emphasis on breaking down their counter-attacks and nullifying the players they push forward but transition immediately and we're in business. Scoring first against such sides is utterly imperative as invariably, it means their game plan is totally shot. It also stops these sorts of sides from staying in the game and potentially allowing a single mistake/refereeing decision to change the game.
Absolutely mate. I think one other thing that stifles us sometimes is the huge lack of an early goal.
Grabbing one forces them to either step out more, or sit back almost accepting the inevitablility of a loss OR leaves them with the huge task of executing a near perfect counter at some point. The longer we go without a goal the more you can see the frustration in our players and we start to get desperate, it spreads that nervous energy and our players end up getting desperate and when that huge chance comes we seem to snatch at it knowing how much we need a goal.
It would do us well to start quickly from the first whistle, smother them and push for the early goal. You either score or you set the tone and the more you're moving the ball quickly the faster they get tired and start to make those silly mistakes. Facing a side who moves the ball quickly is exhausting. How many times have we seen dumb mistakes against the likes of City because players are dead on their feet?
