1) supply, simple. we don't cross the ball enough into the box either from byline, from deep or anywhere near the penalty area. we are playing a lot of long balls and through balls through the middle, which is easily defendable.
2) if wingers move out wide more, they will pull out defenders with them, creating space for more movement and through balls. the reason why we're losing posession easily is that the middle of the park is often packed with maxi/kuyt/babel/cole coming inside a lot during games.
3) absolutely. when we played an attacking game with riera and kuyt playing wide with torres being supported by gerrard during the 08/09 season, we were playing great stuff.
4) all good wingers move in or track back to help out defensively. i would hope that wingers stay wide and attack when we have posession and defend when we don't.
i'm not attacking your opinions mate, i take your points and some of them make sense. i just prefer a traditional 4-4-2 with wide players providing options. at the moment, we look like a stale, dull, defensive side who give the ball away easily and do not provide enough chances for torres.
1) Although you didn't answer the question, you did provide me with enough insight as to your reasoning. Agreed, we need to attack more from the flanks, but I still firmly believe our best players are central and as such the majority of our attack should be focused on coming from the middle. For anyone who's interested, crossing from the byline works better for players whose strength is movement/positioning/agility (eg. Torres for us), crossing from deep is better for static/stronger/heading players (eg. Crouch for Spurs). Agree 100% that we shouldn't try nearly as many through and long balls as we currently do because we simply don't have the type of players who can pick them out and execute them successfully.
2) The same is also true of wingbacks who move out wide more. We're not losing possession easily because the middle of the park is packed, we're losing possession because we aren't being encouraged to hold onto it. That's not what our team's philosophy is based on anymore. We had most of those same players last year and still managed to hold the ball much better than we currently do.
3) I admire your optimism in thinking that Woy will adapt a more offensive game. I am however confused that Kuyt managed to play wide in 08/09 and as you say to great effect, but is now partially responsible for drifting infield too much. Makes for some interesting discussion.
4) Many on here are convinced that GJ stays wide, ergo he would be a great choice for a winger. Can you see him moving more centrally to defend against teams that attack through the middle? If it's as simple as that, why couldn't we just ask him to stay back a little more.
To me it's clear that players have been allowed far too much freedom to do as they please instead of clear and concise instructions.
Again I'm not attacking yours, I'm just encouraging people to think about WHY they want Johnson on the wing, so these are exactly the type of posts I'm asking for to support the decision making process behind them. It makes for far better reading than "he's better at attacking than defending".
As far as the stale, dull, defensive side who give the ball away easily and provide no chances for Torres, get used to it - Hodgson's teams have always played this style of football.
Anyway, I'm not sure if people's desire for GJ to be played on the wing is intended to:
a) create more crosses;
b) use the wider areas of the pitch better;
c) shift our play to a more wider focus instead of centrally;
d) try something new because currently things aren't working;
e) improve our defensive game;
f) all of the above somehow;
9 clean sheets in a row without Johnson in the side.
Just sharing a stat. Not picking at Johnson.
post hoc ergo propter hoc
Not defending Johnson, just sharing a common logical fallacy used in discussions.
