forgot to mention yesterday, 1st goal from long punt upfield. 2nd from a set piece.
Andy made the point a few days ago that Evatt "believed" you needed a possession base or something to do well higher up the leagues you go. well, partially true. not the whole picture.
at the very top level possibly. but then how do you explain BSA's regular spokes in the wheel of Wenger.
BSA used to say Mourinho at Chelsea was virtually playing a similar brand to him. big man Drogba up front ( SKD) . Lampard doing the runs from midfield like Nolan for us..getting on the end of stuff.
plus easy when you're spending top dollar...sprinkling in bits of quality like Robben...or Jay jay for us.
Wycombe 2 seasons ago effectively did TOO WELL the season before..they got over-promoted as i'd put it. so the reason they struggle in the Championship, is not their style, per se, it's really the over-promoted aspect.
Norwich have had 2 promotions from the championship, yet have really struggled in the Prem..despite playing football rather than a Pulis/Allardyce style....2 guys who routinely kept teams up , and did it at various clubs. so it's not a one-off fluke or anything.
almost makes me laugh that those 2 get loads of stick, yet the people they kept beating year in, year out, who were playing "better football" just get totally forgotten about and get a free pass. extremely disingenous by the media . yes its a tough choice, watch less attractive football and stay up or watch better football and go down. BUT at least if you stay up, you get the money, and you can aim to build things like BSA did...introduce the sprinkling of quality like Campo, Jay jay, Djorkaeff etc.
both ironically blotted their copy books in the final jobs..both times with West Brom I think. spoiled their much treasured records of never being relegated. most good judges could see it was more a case of an age thing/ lack of motivation..not quite same fire in the belly. the modern incarnation is probably Sean Dyche.....been doing that similar job to BSA...the defensive solidity....not too flashy or pleasing on the eye, but probably had less flashy stars than Big Sam.. spoonfuls of sugar to make the medicine go down
. I think Dyche does have a PL relegation on his CV, but he clearly did a good job even that year, and bounced back pretty quick.
Moyes is another one. 4th in PL with west ham now. ranked 11th now for poss'n in PL. never been obsessed with possession, so stop all the nonsense its modern football...its' working now just as it worked for Everton, and he was over-achieving with them too, on far lower budgets than Everton have now..more than likely. i'm yet to see a whole load of teams over-achieving based on possession.
www.whoscored.com/Regions/252/Tournaments/7/Seasons/8619/Stages/19794/TeamStatistics/England-Championship-2021-2022here's the championship team profiles this year.
Swansea top of possession stats. they're managed by Russell Martin.... he's possession obsessed like Evatt.
Swansea are currently 16th, & ranked 21st for goals scored.
bottom of possession stats are Blackburn with 42.1%. they are currently 2nd in the real lge table ..in automatic spots. & ranked 2nd for goals scored.
Russell Martin was manager of MK Dons last yr in Lge 1. huge possession there too. ranked 1st. 60%+. 5% higher than anyone else.
www.whoscored.com/Regions/252/Tournaments/8/Seasons/8305/Stages/19705/TeamStatistics/England-League-One-2020-2021en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%9321_EFL_League_One#League_tableMK dons finished 13th in the Div !! ranked 9th for goals scored.
Hull top of lge 1 last season - champions. possession ranked 13th . ranked 3rd for goals.
Blackpool were 14th in poss'n last yr too. & got promoted & they're staying up in the Championship this season.
overall summary. possession can be a good thing, and useful tool in your armoury. probably better as a defensive tool, taking the sting out of games.
quietening the away crowds like classic Liverpool on European away trips of the 70's and early 80's. then you impose your attacking game.