The technical capabilities of our players

[Annihilate Now!]

Alright, so away from Moyes/Doom and Gloom/Transfers etc... I would actually like to talk about football for a minute, and more specifically, how good are our players technically.

Two things have stood out to me of late - the first is the first touch of our players. Overall, I would say our side has an average first touch, and in general it takes most of our players two touches to be in a position to do something. The second thing is a continuation of this - in that we are seemingly currently incapabale of playing one-touch football.

So, If you were to ask me who in our side has an excellent first touch, I'd probably say RVP, Januzaj, maybe Carrick, Nani and apparently Kagawa... other than that, everyone else ranges from decent to poor. This, along with the fact that a lot of our players (Valencia and Welbeck spring immediately to mind) like several touches on the ball when in possession, without actually going anywhere, slows our play right down.

Coupled with this, is our sides ability to play one-touch football... which is pretty much non-existant at the moment. The number of times where a first time pass is on, but is either not taken or horribly misplaced really stood out to me in the Swansea game, and a bit in the Sunderland game... again, our players seem to either want or need time on the ball, leading to the incredibly slow football we've seen over the past few weeks. The only players who i'd trust to play comptetant one-touch football are RVP, Rooney, and again maybe Carrick and apparently Kagawa (I think Januzaj has the capabilities - but I think he tries to do a bit too much at the moment).

This might not be anything new or revelatory, but I'd be interested to see how the Caf rate our side as a technical footballing side at the moment - and how it's changed from last season, if at all.

 

[Ish]

Yeah, we're shockingly bad (technically) for such a big club in world football.

Can't string more then 2-3 passes together when really pressed by the opposition. Mind boggling.

 

[Plugsy]

I think we have some technically very good players. I don't think playing like shit is necessarily an indication of lack of ability all the time. It's just a sign of playing like shit and in teams there's a domino effect. If one tree falls, another one shits. Or that whole analogy again only with a bit more consistency.

 

[Cina]

If you compare the touch and passing of our players with, say, Arsenal, there's quite a gulf there. And according to many we actually have a better squad than them.

 

[Carl]

I don't buy that they aren't technically capable of 1 touch football at all. You don't become terrible players over the course of 1 Summer.

The biggest problem is movement for me and it has been for years. No one shows for the ball forcing the player in posession to either go backwards or hold on to it until an option presents itself. When someone gets on the ball players wither stand still or run away from the ball. Drives me nuts.

In my opinion that's the biggest contributing factor to Kagawa's failure here too (can probably include Berbatov here also).

 

[Annihilate Now!]

I think we have some technically very good players. I don't think playing like shit is necessarily an indication of lack of ability all the time. It's just a sign of playing like shit and in teams there's a domino effect. If one tree falls, another one shits. Or that whole analogy again only with a bit more consistency.

Could be... but then last year - when we were winning games/high on confidence - we didn't exactly play that much high quality football....

Who would you say are the good technical players in our side?

 

[Irwinwastheking]

I've been having this argument here for a few days that the football we want to see and the players we have don't match.

 

[Plugsy]

Could be... but then last year - when we were winning games/high on confidence - we didn't exactly play that much high quality football....

Who would you say are the good technical players in our side?

De Gea in his odd goalkeepery way. Ferdinand is technically brilliant but a bit slow now. Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Smalling, Evans, Rooney, RVP, Vidic, Januzaj. They're all subject to fluctuations in form and I know some aren't playing well now and a few haven't for a while but I'd say that was due to other issues rather than specifically a lack of technical ability. If Rio wasn't crocked and Evra hadn't suddenly lost three yards of pace they'd still be technically very good.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

I don't buy that they aren't technically capable of 1 touch football at all. You don't become terrible players over the course of 1 Summer.

The biggest problem is movement for me and it has been for years. No one shows for the ball forcing the player in posession to either go backwards or hold on to it until an option presents itself. When someone gets on the ball players wither stand still or run away from the ball. Drives me nuts.

Or point to someone else who the player in possession should pass too instead of them...

I agree our movement is terrible, as is the balls of our players to actually take possession of the ball from the defence - still not sure if, even if players were moving and demanding the ball, they wouldn't need several touches to to something with it though.

 

[gooDevil]

I knew we'd miss Paul Scholes, but I was hoping it wouldn't be this bad.

 

[Carl]

Or point to someone else who the player in possession should pass too instead of them...

I agree our movement is terrible, as is the balls of our players to actually take possession of the ball from the defence - still not sure if, even if players were moving and demanding the ball, they wouldn't need several touches to to something with it though.

Don't agree. It's easy to say that now given how shit everyone has been but Carrick and Cleverley have both previously shown they're more than capable of playing one touch football. Infact it was one of the exciting things about Cleverley when he was breaking into the team. I miss that Cleverley...

 

[oleonenumber20]

our 1st touch and passing and moving has been rubbish for seasons. But we play best when we soak up pressure and then hit teams on the counter with pace. The trouble is when we play lesser teams we then can't do anything with the ball and as results haven't come our ability to soak up the pressure has been lost and teams are finding it easy to score against us.

 

[Ødegaard]

De Gea
Rafael - Jones - Evans - Evra​

Carrick - Rooney
Januzaj - Kagawa- Welbeck
Van Persie​

​

​

This side doesn't lack first touch or technical capabilities
Neither does Anderson (unfit), Zaha (doesn't get a shot, might not deserve it) or Nani (injuries) for that matter.​

Then there are those with at least decent basic technique that just isn't "great" in Cleverley, Fellaini, Smalling & Fletcher.
​

These players are lacking: Valencia, Chicharito & Young​

The fact that these players are lacking technique makes them extremely one-dimensional and in the end limits our play and makes it easier for the opposition.
Everyone knows that Valencia will go for a cross with his right-foot.
Everyone knows that Young will try to cut inwards and either shoot or cross with his right foot.
Everyone knows that Chicharito can't dribble and has his only strength (besides work-rate) in the box.​

​

 

[Orton]

Nani and Rvp have the best first touches from any of our players, Januzaj is close to them. Don't see great technical ability from most of our squad. They seem to get scared when a player is within 5 yards of them. Cleverley is the worst for it. Rooney loses the ball more often than not when he's being tightly marked too. Kagawa's first touch, I thought it was better but sometimes the ball just bounces off him. You look at the other teams, every one of their players bar maybe the centre backs are comfortable on the ball, play in tight spaces, good touch etc..

 

[Ødegaard]

A lot of it comes down to the way we play, we aren't set up for giving loads of easy short-pass options so the players have to use more time to pick a pass and pressing them can end up with them being a split second too late with their decision and end up fumbling.

I don't agree at all in that Kagawa doesn't have close control, neither do i agree that other teams players are so much better at their first touch or control.
Often enough we don't play with energy and high pressing and teams can pick out their passes against us. I'm guessing that you would see multiple bad touches from other "great" technicians if you'd watch every touch they make.

 

[Sky1981]

The thing that scares me is that the longer we continue playing shit football, the rustier they'll become technically

If week in week out they're playing simple passes to find Valencia to cross, I have no doubt that it'll diminishes their technical skills slowly with each passing days

 

[Ryan's Beard]

We've got a few players who are capable of playing well in a technically good side. The problem is we've not played technically good football for about 4 seasons now. This slow motion zombie passing (I love saying that) coupled with our inability or refusal to move off the ball (both attacking and defending) means any players who have the ability and would thrive in a good, fluid set up are fecked. Some players like Carrick, Rooney and Janujaz seem to have the ability and versatility to handle our shite style and impose a bit of technical ability on it in how ever small a way. Other players I think would look a lot better if we played collectively better football. I think Kagawa and even Cleverly could be used to great effect if the players around them showed for a pass once in a while. I also think Evans would look quite a bit more imperious if he had more passing options open from the back. He does seem to have an eye for a ball however the only ball on for him tends to be either Carrick about 2 yards behind him, Evra about three feet away or directly behind the marker or blasting it out to Valencia.

I do think we lack technical ability throughout the squad compared to other top sides but I don't think we're as far behind as we look like we are. With one or two additions to the midfield (all across it, including wingers) we could start to play the sort of football that would let the players we currently have shine.

 

[marjen]

I don't think the quality of our players is in question, at least not to the degree that we shouldn't be challenging the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea.

I read once that Joachim Löw, since his appointment as Germany manager, has managed to reduce the time each player takes on the ball by about one second on average. Imagine what that does to the speed of play!

We're lacking in tempo, and slower play is easier to defend against.

I think this can be rectified by focusing on it. Two things are important: Movement and technical capabilities. You don't have to be a brilliant technician to move the ball around using few touches, the likes of Southampton and Everton does with an inferior set of players.

It's all about the coaching, sadly, and in that respect we won't see any improvement over night.