Some tactical pointers

I think the current problem now is not that we are not scoring. It's just that we are leaking too many goals. Especially through high balls and "unforced errors".

It's ok to make technical mistakes. Cos after all we don't train and everything. But tactically we should learn from every match.

I learnt most of my tactics from soccer manga and winning eleven. It's hilarious, but true. Some manga like 少年足球梦 are damn tactical. If you're soccer mad, you'll enjoy it.

Sometimes it helps to think of scenarios and decide how you're going to deal with it if it occurs in a match. I use this visualisation a lot. Although some people may call it STONING. Haha.

I just feel that formation wise we should be more compact lah. As in the distance between players should be too big. 2 reasons for this:
1) easier to pass
2) if someone loses the ball, can immediately cover the guy's ass cos you're nearby and the opponent hasn't had time to accelerate yet

'Keeping shape' also means that wherever the ball is, the formation should shift towards the ball. Or 'lean' towards the area of play.

For example, in the match against Melwood, their goal kicks were aimed to our right flank. They piled their players on that one flank. So we should respond by putting more people there also. That means our right mid, centre midfields would all be there to generally "pack" the area. At the same time our left mid must also come towards the play. Otherwise the left mid will be isolated.

Imagine there's a chain linking every player in our team. The chain has a fixed distance. So everywhere you go, you should try to maintain that distance with the other players. Otherwise, space and holes start popping up everywhere. That's the true meaning of 'keeping shape'.

About defending. We have this habit of backing off too much. They are getting the ball way too easily. We should aim to always get to the ball before they do, or at least make it hard for them to receive the ball. Make them work for it. By staying too far back, they are getting too much space to control and decide what to do with the ball. The best moment to tackle the ball is when he is still trying to bring it down under control.

High balls are our weakness. It is very obvious. We should aim to make contact with all high balls first time. It is a GOLDEN RULE to NEVER LET THE BALL BOUNCE. I don't know where I picked that from, but it has proven to be true.

Headers. They're simple. Just keep your eye on the ball and stiffen your neck muscles. MEET the ball firmly instead of letting it hit your head. It hurts a lot less that way.

Ok I suddenly had the urge to type this so I hope it makes at least a little bit of sense. See you guys at the next game!

Mike