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Match Day - Coventry City v PNE - 24/04/2021 - KO:15:00 - Championship

Maguire doesn't lack confidence in my opinion, he just no longer has the physical attributes to do the job he was brought in to do. His pace was what made him a big goal threat, and since that has gone, so have the goals.

People will say he's more of a target man nowadays but a 5ft 7 striker who can't hold the ball up isn't going to be a good target man.
The lack of confidence for me is how many times has he hesitated when he’s had a chance to shoot or shot wide . That is a lack of confidence for me .
 
My comment was more to criticise modern football and was not precisely PNE related. How many times do you hear that teams didn't have a shot on target until the 60th minute or that their main striker didn't have a touch of the ball in the opposition box? I'm not advocating the long ball as specific tactic, but I just want to see more pace and entertainment to the game. Watch "The Big Match Revisited" on Saturday mornings - ITV 4 at 10.30am - just to see how the game has changed. Today we see all teams trying to play out from the back which invariably and inevitably leads to a chance being handed to the attacking team. It's almost to say that today's surfaces are so much better today than the sandy, bobbly, muddy pitches of yesteryear that teams feel inclined to aimlessly knock it around which is mind-numbingly boring. Managers today state that their team had 65% possession but didn't win; it's not hard to see why. Couple this possession factor with VAR and we can see why people are becoming a touch disillusioned with the game. May God have mercy on your soul Mr. JCFPants if you can defend the modern game

I don't disagree with you about the modern game, but, I'd rather see a team play pass and move and lose, than play hoofball and lose.

Maybe a good example of success from the more direct approach, albeit a bit more refined, was when Leicester won the Premier League. They seemed to employ a fast tempo counter-attacking approach which often culminated with a ball over the top to use Vardy’s pace. And that was generally exciting to watch.
I think you've hit the nail there Henry - refined. The direct approach is fine if it is tactically successful through, say, a long ball into the channels which is picked up by a running forward, or where it's over the top with enough space for the forward to get on it, or even, when you have someone like the beast up front where he can win it 90% of the time.

But that's not what we do. We're not refined. The balls we play up are generally aimless hoofs, met the vast majority of the time by the defender, or going through to the keeper. When they do target, say Evans, successfully, he will generally get muscled off it, and he's one of the stronger ones.
 
I don't disagree with you about the modern game, but, I'd rather see a team play pass and move and lose, than play hoofball and lose.


I think you've hit the nail there Henry - refined. The direct approach is fine if it is tactically successful through, say, a long ball into the channels which is picked up by a running forward, or where it's over the top with enough space for the forward to get on it, or even, when you have someone like the beast up front where he can win it 90% of the time.

But that's not what we do. We're not refined. The balls we play up are generally aimless hoofs, met the vast majority of the time by the defender, or going through to the keeper. When they do target, say Evans, successfully, he will generally get muscled off it, and he's one of the stronger ones.
Totally agree with all of that 👍
 
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