match thread (image) [FT] Rangers 1 - 0 Hamilton (Candeias 3')

[Gaffer 1,665]

I'm enjoying this thread and it reminds me of something I posted a couple of years ago when MW was in charge.  One thing he really understood was that corners and crossing can be a waste of possession, and almost never result in goals.  MW was a financier and as a result he understood the game in numbers.

 

Corners hit directly from the corner flag will very rarely result in a goal.  This statistic holds true across every league in the world, including junior and youth level.  To score from a corner, you have to have a short pass first, in order to change the angle that has proven to score more goals.  However, it is still a tiny percentage.  We'd be far better holding on to the ball and playing it into the middle.  As for crosses, we are still trying to cross the ball forward.  Again, it's been shown statistically that this will result in very few goals and is a waste of possession.  To drastically increase the chances of a goal from a cross, the ball has to be cut back.  It can be cut back on the ground or in the air, but either way it has to travel away from the goal to result in a goal (again, statistically speaking).

 

I appreciate many people doubt the value of numbers and statistics in football, but it is hugely valuable information and it frustrates me that we don't apply it.

 

There are three things we need to do.  Two of them we did brilliantly in the beginning and have slowly fallen away since then, and one we need to change.

 

1.  We need to get back to moving the ball quickly.  We have too many players who are not moving into space at the right time, or not picking out the pass before it comes to them.  This was something I thought the management team had changed when they came in because the passing and movement was so obviously drilled, and it was brilliant to watch.

 

2.  We need to have players making the inside forward runs.  Crossing from wide positions is ok, but to achieve the precision of cut back crosses, we need that forward run on the left or right edge of the 18 yard box.  I appreciate the change in formation can contribute to that, but that's more of an excuse than a reason.  In the earlier part of the season, we had Coulibaly and Kent making those runs and it carved teams open.  We don't see that now.

 

3.  As a result of the pressure we out on teams, we now get a ton of corners.  Please, please, please stop hitting them directly from the flag.  There's no point.  We need to keep the ball in these situations and maintain the pressure while we look for a cut back or through ball.

 

We do need a particular type of player to do these things consistently, but I also suspect that the loss of training time (due to Europa League games) has slowly diminished the application of many of the players.  These training drills make players do things without thinking.  We need that time back on the training pitch to remind the players what made us so potent and get us back to that asap.

 

 

[T-1000 174]

22 minutes ago, stewarty said:

It wasn't the system that messed up the final ball, or missed the number of chances we have in the last few games particularly.   It comes down to execution and taking chances.  A bit of extra composure and quality in the final third is needed, so that we can unpick the tight defensive blocks most teams put up against us.

I think it should not be underestimated how difficult it can be to create goal scoring chances when the opposition have nine/ten players behind the ball and the penalty box is congested.  It requires a good understanding between the players, a good awareness of space and for the players to have good technical ability.  Rousseau mentions Man City which is a good example but they have Aguero, DeBruyne, Sterling, Jesus and especially Silva.  We do not have comparable players and this makes it even more difficult for us to create chances against a packed defence.  We, thus resort to crossing the ball into the box from the wings with a consequent low success rate of conversion into goals.  this is not helped at times by the quality of crossing especially from the right hand side.  As an aside I think we saw in previous games that when Kent is on his game how he can create chances for himself and space for others.  I had hopes that Ejaria might fulfil the role of playmaker but unfortunately those hopes have been dashed.

[Walterbear 557]

32 minutes ago, stewarty said:

It wasn't the system that messed up the final ball, or missed the number of chances we have in the last few games particularly.   It comes down to execution and taking chances.  A bit of extra composure and quality in the final third is needed, so that we can unpick the tight defensive blocks most teams put up against us.

....and movement. Let’s not forget that we are building from nothing. The scum have good movement because they’ve been together for years. Barca players have played together since they were about 10 years old. We’ve cobbled together a team in 6 months with mixed success of loan players and they’ve performed well at times. The last month it has dried up and a lot of that is to do with chopping and changing for whatever reasons.  This is of course an argument for having a good youth set up. SG will know that. In the short term to win this league we’re going to have to scrap and fight our way over the line and use what ever tactics suit on the day whilst also try and develop a style of play. Not easy. 

[stewarty 2,027]

3 minutes ago, Walterbear said:

....and movement. Let’s not forget that we are building from nothing. The scum have good movement because they’ve been together for years. Barca players have played together since they were about 10 years old. We’ve cobbled together a team in 6 months with mixed success of loan players and they’ve performed well at times. The last month it has dried up and a lot of that is to do with chopping and changing for whatever reasons.  This is of course an argument for having a good youth set up. SG will know that. In the short term to win this league we’re going to have to scrap and fight our way over the line and use what ever tactics suit on the day whilst also try and develop a style of play. Not easy. 

Definitely.   Agree with a lot of the points various folk have made.

 

But the relative time spent working with this group has to be one of the biggest factors limiting us this season, adding to the lack of quality in certain areas - for quality; read movement/decision making/ final ball / scoring

[DMAA 3,658]

A lot of common sense there @Gaffer that I think we all agree with. I think @Rousseau and I don't disagree with how we should be playing and what we should be doing as much as whether 4-4-2 can play a part in achieving it. The inside runs is one I've mentioned in connection with 4-4-2 before in that the striker on each side acts as a forward one-two partner for each winger, something that Arfield is normally tasked with because Morelos is often too far away, and sideways one-twos often don't come off.

 

We don't see nearly enough of the winger getting the ball, playing a sharp pass in to the striker's feet and following his pass. The striker should then lay it back and spin off his man, leaving the winger in a very threatening position and the centre in two minds of whether whether to attempt a tackle or stick to his man. Works best with wingers playing on the wrong wing of course because they are running in on their stronger foot.

[pete 2,499]

6 hours ago, Rousseau said:

Meh.. yellows were fair.

 

It was the only way to stop his mazy runs and through-balls...  

The first tackle on Jack should have been yellow making the second pull around a yellow and red.

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,752]

2 hours ago, Gaffer said:

I'm enjoying this thread and it reminds me of something I posted a couple of years ago when MW was in charge.  One thing he really understood was that corners and crossing can be a waste of possession, and almost never result in goals.  MW was a financier and as a result he understood the game in numbers.

 

Corners hit directly from the corner flag will very rarely result in a goal.  This statistic holds true across every league in the world, including junior and youth level.  To score from a corner, you have to have a short pass first, in order to change the angle that has proven to score more goals.  However, it is still a tiny percentage.  We'd be far better holding on to the ball and playing it into the middle.  As for crosses, we are still trying to cross the ball forward.  Again, it's been shown statistically that this will result in very few goals and is a waste of possession.  To drastically increase the chances of a goal from a cross, the ball has to be cut back.  It can be cut back on the ground or in the air, but either way it has to travel away from the goal to result in a goal (again, statistically speaking).

 

I appreciate many people doubt the value of numbers and statistics in football, but it is hugely valuable information and it frustrates me that we don't apply it.

 

There are three things we need to do.  Two of them we did brilliantly in the beginning and have slowly fallen away since then, and one we need to change.

 

1.  We need to get back to moving the ball quickly.  We have too many players who are not moving into space at the right time, or not picking out the pass before it comes to them.  This was something I thought the management team had changed when they came in because the passing and movement was so obviously drilled, and it was brilliant to watch.

 

2.  We need to have players making the inside forward runs.  Crossing from wide positions is ok, but to achieve the precision of cut back crosses, we need that forward run on the left or right edge of the 18 yard box.  I appreciate the change in formation can contribute to that, but that's more of an excuse than a reason.  In the earlier part of the season, we had Coulibaly and Kent making those runs and it carved teams open.  We don't see that now.

 

3.  As a result of the pressure we out on teams, we now get a ton of corners.  Please, please, please stop hitting them directly from the flag.  There's no point.  We need to keep the ball in these situations and maintain the pressure while we look for a cut back or through ball.

 

We do need a particular type of player to do these things consistently, but I also suspect that the loss of training time (due to Europa League games) has slowly diminished the application of many of the players.  These training drills make players do things without thinking.  We need that time back on the training pitch to remind the players what made us so potent and get us back to that asap.

 

 

Brilliant post Gaffer. With regards to your point about crossing forward and back, look at Man City. The majority of their goals are from cut backs from someone getting in behind and hitting the by line. They rarely score goals corners or speculative shooting. 

[JFK-1 1,693]

Against Man U Liverpool managed 36 shots to 6 for United but were still heading for a draw till late on. Such superiority as we discovered against Hamilton doesn't always guarantee a comfortable result. The difference might be that Liverpool have options on the bench which can change a tied/close game in the end stages.

 

Score 1-1 looking like being a draw and on comes Shaqiri in the 70th minute who then scores 3 minutes later and again 7 minutes after that to make it 3-1.

 

We don't have that level of quality sitting on the bench but then we aren't in the EPL. Hopefully the January window can bring us what's required to kill these matches off. Too dependent on Morelos and he appears to be a potential card every time he steps on to the pitch.