by stmichael » Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:32 pm
I've actually been thinking about this for a while and the last week has really brought it home to me.
At times I just think we're too easy to play against. In quite a few of the games we've lost this season, the opposition, whoever it may be, have followed a similar blueprint. It's been a noticeable feature this season that quite a few sides who have played against us have used two solid, rigid backs of four in defence and in midfield (although an fifth midfielder sometimes plays at the expense of a striker), let us have the ball in midfield and defend deep against us. Again, the thing I've noticed with this is that if you keep things tight and the back and don't do anything stupid or make a mistake, chances are, you'll get at least a point.
The game where this stands out for me was the home game against Portsmouth earlier this season. Portsmouth were very disciplined that night, keeping the defence and midfield solid as their respective units and got the point they deserved. The most worrying thing for me that night was that we hardly created any chances all night thanks to Portsmouth's compact game. Looking back at that game, the only two chances I can remember us having where a Xabi Alonso free-kick and a Steven Gerrard diving header in the last few minutes that just went wide of goal. You have to say that creating one clear-cut chance from open play in 90 minutes, especially when David James had so little work that his kit was just as immaculate at full-time as when he was given it before the game by the kit man.
The following game against Man City on the Saturday followed a similar pattern as they employed the same tactics as Portsmouth. However, the only thing that stopped them from claiming a point was a misplaced Joey Barton pass that Gerrard blasted in from about 20 yards out. Before that though, Weaver in the City goal hadn't had a save to make and I don't think he had too many to make after it as well.
The 4-0 win against Fulham was similar as well because again, they played the same tactics as the two previous sides I've mentioned and we were duly frustrated. The mistake they made came from a handball in their box and Gerrard scored from the resulting penalty at the second attempt. Fulham, after this, decided to attack to try and get something from the game so pushed up, allowing us plenty of space to play in and of course scored another 3. That differed from the City game as instead of attacking us for an equaliser, City still seemed content to sit-back as they knew that barring a mistake, we wouldn't score again and they seemed content to wait for a set-piece to try and nick an equaliser.
On Saturday, Arsenal played in a similar way but of course, have a bit more pace and guile than the above teams mentioned so were able to take a couple of chances on the counter-attack despite us having a fair amount of possession in the first half and camping in their half in the second. Despite this, we failed to create that many chances and again, we scored as a result of an Arsenal mistake when Clichy failed to pick up Kuyt from the corner.
To be honest, I think this is one of the reasons why we have this reputation as a "second half-team" in that it is obviously easier to be disciplined against us for 45 minutes as opposed to the full 90 when playing this way and for me, this highlights one are of concern in the squad- the lack of genuine match-winners, the type of players who can create something out of nothing. By my reckoning, we only really have Gerrard and Garcia (on his day) who can do this. Alonso can pick out a 30 yard pass out of nothing but it's harder to do this when there is no space for forward players to get in behind the back four and for all their qualities as strikers, Kuyt, Bellamy and Crouch can't really turn a game on it's head as each rather rely on hard graft when playing and in Bellamy's case, tenacity. Gonzalez could yet come good as whenever I've seen him this season, even when he hasn't been playing to his best, he's still produced at least one moment of brilliance that hints at a deeper ability than he is currently showing once he acclimitises to English football.
Look at the two sides above us, Chelsea and United, each blessed with players who have that bit extra, the ability to create something from nothing. Chelsea have this in abundance with Robben, Cole (when fit) and this season, Drogba while United rely on the trickery of Rooney and Ronaldo to unlock stubborn defences with moments of brilliance. The signing of Henrik Larsson, in my opinion, is a brilliant one for United as despite his age, he still has the ability of the two petulant youngsters I've mentioned and a genuine footballing brain to know just how to create space not just for himself, but his team-mates.
Effectively, the point I'm trying to argue is that are we easy to play against as a result of a lack of genuine creative talent in the squad.
away a lot of £ but credit has to go for him for signing players that have a backbone to us for the past few years like Riise and Hyypia and to an extent when he played well Henchoz but all managers make mistakes. 
