They're playing, it seems, on half a pitch with 11 on 11 or something ... I don't think it's 'that' easy.
That's fairly typical of modern day training mate. Small, confined areas, with plenty of players. It does a couple of things - gives players less space and time, ensures everyone's moving as opposed to a full-pitch game when cunts can dander round for a few minutes at a time, gets everyone involved, and there theoretically should be plenty of shots.
Here's what that video should tell you:
1 - That's the sort of pressing game Rodgers wants to deploy. If you hadn't seen it before, get used to everyone - including the attackers pressing high up the pitch and in numbers to put the opposition under immense pressure. There should be no area of the ground that you're not prepared to put team pressure on. It's sort-of the anti-Hodgson if you will.
2 - We were pretty terrible at it. Here's the key to a pressing 4-3-3 tactic (I'll be reminding you of it again and again peoples); a good 4-3-3 is only as strong as it's weakest link. One player can break the chain. One player can fuck it up. If everyone isn't on the same page and pressing in the same fashion at the same time, a good size can play out of it. (It's another one of the reasons why I think he wants rid of Carroll but anyway). You don't run around like a madman chasing opponents, you press as an entire team. If the opposition left back has the ball, your striker should be cutting off the ball back to his centre half, the right winger should be denying him the ball up the line, and your midfielders should be up the fucking arse (literally if they like) of the opposition midfielders coming to receive it from the left back. There should be no option for the left back apart from trying to beat players or lumping it long. If he's doing either of those, you're laughing. If though any of of your players is out of position or not pressing, it's an easy out for the left back.
Anyway, that video right there is an example of individual pressing. It was disjointed, not team-orientated, and poorly executed. Rodgers has a lot of work to do. The few teams it was done well, the other side coughed up the ball, but for the most part it was one-on-one pressure, rather than team orientated. You can blame the heat, pre-season, lack of our better players around, slow pitch, all sorts. But in reality, we're a long way off. So that's that.
Individually, you could see already who fits and who doesn't:
- The keepers are awful. Fucking terrible.
- The players who don't fit into this system are the ones who have to run completely out of position and pick it up from the goalkeeper just to get a touch; Charlie Adam. He's a mile off from this sort of stuff.
- Danny Wilson's another. STOP KICKING IT LONG YOU CLOWN.
- Pacheco, Sterling and Suso - as I mentioned yesterday, you need unbvelievable quality in the wide 2 of your front 3 - they looked decent those lads. There's promise there. Sterling needs to work on some end product and stop looking at the reflection in his boots mind you. Ecclestone needs to be fucked off.
- Players that can control the ball with one touch off either foot, keep it, and never give the fucking thing away work in this system. I thought Joe Cole looked alright and Spearing too.
- Aquilani. Same old. All the ability in the world, yet he's a walking highlights reel - 3 nice things, the rest of the time he does fuck all. You can see why he moves from club to club to club, zero interest in applying himself.
- Shelvey is Aquilani with a tiny touch more interest. Not much mind you. No manager wants a showboat that's not scoring you any goals. Any cunt can saunter round picking out a pass, world football is fucking full of them. It's whether you can do stuff to genuinely influence games consistently that managers care about.
Anyway, individual shit isn't important. There's work to do with that lot.
