‘We are not a possession team’...

[Rozay]

Often said in response to posters talking about pattern of play and the like. What the feck is a ‘possession team’? A team that can pass the ball?

Ole’s biggest failing for me is he has built the midfield area of the team all wrong, and on the wrong principles. The centre of the pitch typically defines a team and their identity for me, and ours simply doesn’t make sense. We have a team that is more comfortable without a football than with it. All of our players there are expected to ‘do something amazing’, and judged on this, rather than just do something simple. Pogba is said to have had an ineffective game if he’s not producing YouTube moments, Bruno’s idea of playing well is impacting the scoreline, McTominay and Fred need to put in tackles etc. But the simplicity of passing and moving, one touch play, shoulder drops to open up space etc - non existent.

Apparently City are a ‘possession team’. They are an attacking team, that is good at passing the ball. We are miles and miles away from passing and moving at an elite level. The relationship our players have with each other, on the ball, is terrible. Perhaps it was a dead rubber, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching us against Wolves. First time I’ve seen some intricate short passing, some triangles etc in the middle of the park for ages. The issue is, this will never be used in the main team because of the undroppable pieces we have used to build it.

We just seem to have no plan in too many games.

 

[Siorac]

Yes. Our ball retention is mediocre, at best. That's not a necessity even for a team that is built for quick transitions.

 

[Rozay]

Yes. Our ball retention is mediocre, at best. That's not a necessity even for a team that is built for quick transitions.

Teams that want to win all games do not have the luxury of relying on quick transitions.

All this ‘we are a counterattack side’. What team would not prefer to attack against 3 players instead of 6? Burnley would prefer to try and score goals when all the opponents are at the other end. In reality, football doesn’t work like that, we need to be more deliberate and purposeful with the ball.

 

[Born2Lose]

To be fair to Ole, you give Pep a player like Fred and there's no way he's turning him into the new Xavi.

 

[RedStarUnited]

To be fair to Ole, you give Pep a player like Fred and there's no way he's turning him into the new Xavi.

He doesnt have to be Xavi. But he will be taught the right principles of passing and receiving the ball.

 

[Rozay]

To be fair to Ole, you give Pep a player like Fred and there's no way he's turning him into the new Xavi.

Pep literally tried to buy Fred!

And it isn’t as much about the quality of the player as it is the principles of the football. The ‘philosophy’, if you like. That’s why Zinchenko or Cancelo could play centre mid for him and pass and move. The team just has a belief that the way to play is to pass and move, one touch where possible.

 

[Paxi]

I would count someone having control of the ball, possession as just passing around mysel with ease.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

This is why I want the entire coaching staff binned.

Buying new players is just a band-aid.

 

[criticalanalysis]

Too much sense in this thread.

 

[Galactic]

We should inspire to be City. Like Moyes said.

 

[Rozay]

This is why I want the entire coaching staff binned.

Buying new players is just a band-aid.

Absolutely this.

The players we have would look so much better if they appeared to have more of a clue what they were doing more often.

 

[Tyrion]

Yes. Our ball retention is mediocre, at best. That's not a necessity even for a team that is built for quick transitions.

We frequently lose possession with stupid long balls. Bruno and Pogba both do it and it's something that will always lead to losing possession sometimes. Fred and McTominay aren't good enough at keeping the ball either.

 

[Silas]

Funniest thing I see on here are comments like "United don't play like that and never have" when someone suggests a potential improvement to the team. Firstly, it's irrelevant to the present and secondly, they're getting 'United' mixed up with Fergie.

 

[Tyrion]

This is why I want the entire coaching staff binned.

Buying new players is just a band-aid.

It's not just a band aid. I agree about the coaches but that is just one of the two things we need to do.

 

[Born2Lose]

Pep literally tried to buy Fred!

And it isn’t as much about the quality of the player as it is the principles of the football. The ‘philosophy’, if you like. That’s why Zinchenko or Cancelo could play centre mid for him and pass and move. The team just has a belief that the way to play is to pass and move, one touch where possible.

Whether he tried to buy him or not is irrelevant to how shocking some of his passing is watching him on a regular basis over the past few seasons. Pep's bought plenty of duds.

 

[Rozay]

Whether he tried to buy him or not is irrelevant to how shocking some of his passing is watching him on a regular basis over the past few seasons. Pep's bought plenty of duds.

I suspect Fred is a typically high 80s player in terms of passing percentiles. I’m sure he’d have fitted in fine at City personally.

 

[Rozay]

Funniest thing I see on here are comments like "United don't play like that and never have" when someone suggests a potential improvement to the team. Firstly, it's irrelevant to the present and secondly, they're getting 'United' mixed up with Fergie.

*Double taps*

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

That's why we need Grealish.

Sancho will not help us get control of the ball. He is another forward that excels in space.

Grealish can control the ball in zero space, side step challenges, keep the ball, then create.

Splash the cash for Jack. Throw in Lingard to lessen the blow. He is that good.

 

[Adnan]

Whether a team plays fast transitions or possession football, you still need to control phases of play to be effective with your style of play. We have too many players starting games for us who instead of helping us control games, hinder us in the build up phase. I've been saying for a long time now that our build up phase isn't of the requisite standard. There's certain players who have been indulged to such a degree that their place in the team seems guaranteed without any challenge. Some fans also can't seem to see past the G/A stats and are more than happy to ignore the defecencies in the build up phase or are oblivious to our issues in open play IMO.

 

[Rozay]

That's why we need Grealish.

Sancho will not help us get control of the ball. He is another forward that excels in space.

Grealish can control the ball in zero space, side step challenges, keep the ball, then create.

Splash the cash for Jack. Throw in Lingard to lessen the blow. He is that good.

To be fair, it’s possible that you may not have seen Sancho play. He has excellent close control, and would be perfect in a pass and move team. And isn’t even that fast. That said, I agree with Jack.

 

[Blood Mage]

This is basically another "we are an awfully coached team" thread, which is fair because we fecking are and it needs shouting from the rooftops.

 

[Adnan]

That's why we need Grealish.

Sancho will not help us get control of the ball. He is another forward that excels in space.

Grealish can control the ball in zero space, side step challenges, keep the ball, then create.

Splash the cash for Jack. Throw in Lingard to lessen the blow. He is that good.

Sancho is a creative player, similar to Grealish. Both players would in theory enhance our build up play.

 

[FatTails]

Still on page 1, and this thread has already descended to “these are the players we need to buy”.

Some just never learn.

 

[Hammondo]

This is basically another "we are an awfully coached team" thread, which is fair because we fecking are and it needs shouting from the rooftops.

Our players are technically not good enough. Coaching only gets you so far.

 

[Silas]

Our players are technically not good enough. Coaching only gets you so far.

It's the other way around. We literally experienced a first hand example some hours ago. Or do Villarreal have better players than us?

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

Our players are technically not good enough. Coaching only gets you so far.

Our players can conjure up individual brilliance, but they're not technically good enough?

Do Villareal now better players than us too?

The excuses people are making for tonight's result is astonishing.

 

[FatTails]

Our players are technically not good enough. Coaching only gets you so far.

Should we buy Capoue, Albiol, Bacca, Parejo, and Foyth, then?

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Often said in response to posters talking about pattern of play and the like. What the feck is a ‘possession team’? A team that can pass the ball?.

We are basically poor at possession play I.e opening teams up through passing interchanges down the middle or combination play, and of course controlling football matches. Ole has never really seemed to care for it in my time watching his United team. He seems happy enough with us focusing on physicality and effort alone and winning games based on little pockets of individual quality rather than a consistently reliable possession play by the collective.

It's hard to actually put in words really. But everyone who watches us knows it's the case where we score 0 goals or 3 goals in a game. And it's hard to see it changing drastically unless there's a focused effort by the management in this regard. Two limited players in the pivot and a near second striker in Fernandes does not promote control over football matches.

 

[tjb]

Irony for me is that I feel our midfield, which should be with players who are best at holding the ball, have the worst players at holding the ball in the team. Look how skilled AWB and Shaw are at one on one situations. It's the reason they carry their respective flanks, barely getting dispossessed despite having to cover an entire side. Then you have fred, VDB, Mctominay and even Pogba at times...moving the ball slowly, scared to provide the defence a passing option against the press, constantly being muscled out of possession in one on one situations. If United employed possession football, with the current midfield options we have now, we would be playing zombie football like we did under Van Gaal. It's the players that dictate whether we are good at possession football, not the manager.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

'we should be...'

 

[Sky1981]

To be fair to Ole, you give Pep a player like Fred and there's no way he's turning him into the new Xavi.

Give xavi to ole he'll be another fred.

 

[kouroux]

All good points @Rozay

 

[bucky]

That's why we need Grealish.

Sancho will not help us get control of the ball. He is another forward that excels in space.

Grealish can control the ball in zero space, side step challenges, keep the ball, then create.

Splash the cash for Jack. Throw in Lingard to lessen the blow. He is that good.

Utter nonsense. One of Sancho's best traits is his passing. Similar to Grealish he is excellent in tight areas and while being pressed. Almost like you haven't watched Sancho.

 

[norm87cro]

I can agree with you but lets say we had Modrić instead of Pogba (or McTominay aldo he did well yesterday) how would you feel then? Our midfield tends to hide and Bruno is definetly a more of an AMF

 

[Siorac]

Teams that want to win all games do not have the luxury of relying on quick transitions.

All this ‘we are a counterattack side’. What team would not prefer to attack against 3 players instead of 6? Burnley would prefer to try and score goals when all the opponents are at the other end. In reality, football doesn’t work like that, we need to be more deliberate and purposeful with the ball.

Yes, I absolutely agree. Controlling games with sustained possession, being able to keep the ball under pressure, carving teams open with combination play - these are things that all top teams must be good at, otherwise they have a ceiling, a limit.

Incidentally, this is why I despair when people rail against playing the ball out from the back. It's another essential part of the modern game, without which there will always be a limit to a team's potential.

 

[passing-wind]

This team will never experience controlling games under Solskjaer's management. I came to this conclusion many months ago. Unless Ole can suddenly reinvent himself next season, I think the team tactically is close to it's peak.

 

[Hammondo]

Should we buy Capoue, Albiol, Bacca, Parejo, and Foyth, then?

Are you trying to suggest they are? Did you watch the game?

 

[Hammondo]

Our players can conjure up individual brilliance, but they're not technically good enough?

Do Villareal now better players than us too?

The excuses people are making for tonight's result is astonishing.

Lots of teams have players that do individual brilliance, doesn't mean they can play possession football. You need a certain type of player who's technically gifted to play it.

 

[Hammondo]

It's the other way around. We literally experienced a first hand example some hours ago. Or do Villarreal have better players than us?

We struggled with possession when we had it, today is a perfect example of us not being good enough to play that style.
Possession football is not just about having the ball but being able to use it.

 

[Judas]

I'm still no closer to knowing what sort of team we are. We buy better players to improve, but at the core of our side, I'm not sure what we're truly doing.