Blog written by Bluetaff
Published: 8th October 2012 9:13
1...2...3...4...5...counting, for the vast majority comes without much thought, almost second nature, but to the kids in La Masia de Can Planes this is the mantra to which a large proportion of their football progression is built. Unfortunately not something that Ipswich Town seem to be aware of.
This blog has been spinning around my head for some time now but watching (from afar I admit) the Cardiff match has prompted me to pick up the computer and formulate thoughts into words.
We don't have a Messi, an Iniesta or a Xavi - a player whose talent transcends levels providing a key to unlock even the most stubborn of defences, but that is not what I am referring to. In my opinion what makes these teams great is not what they do in the final third but what they are doing and thinking when the opposition is in possession.
Hence the counting. It is drilled into the youngsters at Barca that they have five seconds to recover the ball once they have lost it, if they fail then they are to re-group and start again when the opposition miscontrol the ball in possession - and for Barcelona this could be as straightforward as an opposition player looking down at his feet!
By strangling the opposition, they are then allowed to control the pace of the game, the attacking flair of the team is allowed then to flourish with devastating effect but this defensive structure isn't the sole remit of the back four, it is expected of every player on the field as the opposition player with the ball is not the only player to be closed down, each opposition player in space is placed under pressure. Watch them, at times it is incredibly impressive.
So what does this have to do with Ipswich Town? I picked a point during the Cardiff match a random and counted slowly whilst Cardiff were in possession to see how long it took for our boys in blue to win the ball back. During this 49-second spell (I counted slowly), Cardiff had two shots on goal (Loach parried the ball away) before a deflection took the ball out for a throw.
During this period not one challenge went in, space was not closed down and Cardiff players were open from one side of the pitch to the other to receive a pass. Okay, in comparison I gave Ipswich an opportunity to redeem themselves. Only 11 seconds later, Cardiff had the ball back after two challenges - I didn't repeat the exercise as my head was in my hands and it's difficult to watch our defensive display when looking at the floor.
This is obvious and I am sure that you have all noticed the same, as a team we are not defending well at all but why? Players are criticised at FPR and sent packing yet reappear in different corners of planet football and seem to be comfortable and in some cases flourish.
We have settled the contracts of a record number of players who don't appear to fit into our system, but what is our system? We seem happy to bring in (and I forget the number) numerous loanees in the days and hours before a match where they take their place alongside colleagues they have known for, quite literally, only a few hours. Where on earth does coaching come into our set-up?
Only when we have won the battle to impose our style of play can we possibly dominate teams, we let the opposition dominate and hope to pinch the odd goal (but where from? I believe that might be the subject of another blog for another time).
With the exception of Lee Martin I did not see one player make an effort to chase anything.
Individual mistakes were made during this and many other matches this season, but they are highlighted because of the lack of direction and coaching from the management. I know that this is some statement but the facts are clear. With not one but two pre-seasons behind us and 18 months of development we are still surviving (barely) on last-minute loan deals.
Where is our system, what are we doing? Although a nice thought, we don't need Messi, Iniesta or Xavi to do the basics well - we need stability, structure and motivation brought about by good, solid man management that is desperately lacking with Mr Jewell and his coaching staff.
We have the players Mr Jewell, 1...2..3...4...5 I'm counting.