An observation.
We rarely play with genuine width. Does SE have a blind spot with wingers or does he simply prefer to set up narrow?
Pringle was almost a fixture on the left but was more of a wide midfielder who whipped the ball in from deep positions. He rarely got to the dead ball line and was not blessed with pace.
On the right he has frequently preferred to play centre forwards out of position (Agard, Taylor, Bowery, Sammon now Maguire as examples) or central midfielders pushed wide (Frecklington the latest) and we have seen a series of more conventional wingers come and go without much start time (Hall, Brandy, Adams and others). Not sure we have a genuine right winger on the books.
I think Aidy White has something to offer but Newell seems to be preferred (more a Pringle type).
I would like to see us stretch the play more and play with more width and pace.
Any thoughts?
An observation. We rarely play with genuine width. Does SE have a blind spot with wingers or does he simply prefer to set up narrow? Pringle was almost a fixture on the left but was more of a wide midfielder who whipped the ball in from deep positions. He rarely got to the dead ball line and was not blessed with pace. On the right he has frequently preferred to play centre forwards out of position (Agard, Taylor, Bowery, Sammon now Maguire as examples) or central midfielders pushed wide (Frecklington the latest) and we have seen a series of more conventional wingers come and go without much start time (Hall, Brandy, Adams and others). Not sure we have a genuine right winger on the books. I think Aidy White has something to offer but Newell seems to be preferred (more a Pringle type). I would like to see us stretch the play more and play with more width and pace. Any thoughts?
I have to say we need a player who is prepared to whip more crosses in from the dead ball line.
The long punt forward with the ball from any of the back four will never be the answer to winning games.
It achieves nothing.
We need to be braver and play the ball to feet more often. Simple short passes. Keeping more possession of the ball.
At the moment we don't appear to be able to string more than four passes together.
He has tried a couple and likes the backs to do it as we have seen but it's difficult and not much in vogue.
The out n out winger is a rare breed but there's plenty of pacy wide men. Difficult to say where his natural preferences are. He has certainly been both very attacking and very defensive in his time.
He does seem to have become more conservative in the championship. I suspect he is following the norms of perceived wisdom at this level and above, which is, set up according to each opponent home and away.
Look at what man City do with their pace but they have a near perfect team.
Wingers get fans excited. We've been unlucky at Rotherham in that it's a position we've not really had a good one since Sedgy. Marcus Marshall or JCR were the best we've had to offer since.
That's pretty criminal as there's loads of them about.
Scarz was by far our best left back, he should not have let him go, surely he was cheaper than our current ****e.
Pringle, Agard, Arnason - massive losses to the squad.
Tavernier, Dicko, Hunt.... all good loan players that should have been kept.
May and a few others... players we should have signed...
All of the above means were are gradually weakening the team, and replacing all the better players with Sunday League tosh.
New manager + more money spent on players = only way to stay in this league.
Can't go with scarz David, solid as a defender but couldn't get past half way without a nose bleed even in league 2 . Started to try more when part of a very dominant side but never got up in support and past the last man.
I think Mattock, harris, lafferty, even fryers perhaps.
I do think in hindsight it would have been ideal to keep morgan et al if it really was possible.
Very sadly, I dont think we could have afforded all those lovely loan players. Lafferty, hunt, tavs, dicko, lawerence...now that's the quality needed for midtable.
We did try what's his face from crawley...down the wing before another evans-esque midnight train rolled up to take him to never land
-- Edited by ian on Tuesday 1st of September 2015 07:24:44 AM
Some very good points made on this thread. Yet again the "cannot afford" argument rears its head. I'm not impressed. Don't go to the ball Cinders and then start moaning about the cost of a ballgown. I said on another thread (to general disapproval) that clubs like RUFC should not be allowed in to the Championship. I stand by that and am as sick as all the other clubs must be hearing everyone at NYS moaning about how much other clubs spend. Get real or get out.
I agree Kid that there need be no relationship between budget and how we try and play. In my opinion (and I don't have any coaching badges) we lose possession regularly when the ball reaches the full backs. They often have no option wide of them and nobody showing in midfield for it. The forward players know what is coming and they make the usual runs ready for a launched ball and a possible flick on. It looks to me like that is how they are told to play. Have a look at our kick off (sadly we have seen a lot of them from restarts after goals). Centre circle to left back and players are off into their positions ready for the long ball to come. Been doing it for years. It sets the tone.
I agree Kid that there need be no relationship between budget and how we try and play. In my opinion (and I don't have any coaching badges) we lose possession regularly when the ball reaches the full backs. They often have no option wide of them and nobody showing in midfield for it. The forward players know what is coming and they make the usual runs ready for a launched ball and a possible flick on. It looks to me like that is how they are told to play. Have a look at our kick off (sadly we have seen a lot of them from restarts after goals). Centre circle to left back and players are off into their positions ready for the long ball to come. Been doing it for years. It sets the tone.
Smiler your first sentence should be required reading. I've seen non-league, L2 and L1 sides that recruit to their style, play to that style and are able to compete against more expensive outfits. This budget bull seems to me to be an excuse for poor performances, poor decision making by the manager and a general sense that noone at RUFC knows what the heck we're trying to achieve.
