Possession

[blue lewj]

Last season you would be hard pressed to find a time when we came out on top of the possession stats. Obviously finishing second showed this wasn't all that important in the Championship and we were producing quite a bit when we did have the ball.

You can get away with this in the Championship but I hope that Arter and the Spanish lad to a lesser extent help us at least get close to matching teams on the possession front.

If we have the ball then the other team do not and I was encouraged by a few things yesterday but it showed how clinical teams in this league were and that playing the game in the wrong areas tells in the end. Coughing up possession time and again with sloppy passes and failing to win the battle in the middle is that much more important in this league.

Hopefully with Arter controlling the middle and bringing a bit more calmness we will see a big difference. The ball was like a hot potato at times last season with some players too quick to pass at all costs just to get rid of it at times and I feel it needs somebody who is comfortable in possession in there.

The possession stats weren't helped yesterday by Reid being up top with no let up from the ball coming back but that isn't a reflection on him, more City having to go into the game with the best of what they had at their disposal.

Will the two central midfield additions be enough for us to compete at this level? Many a fan could see last season that we were really lacking in this area and I'm gutted we didn't spend a fair chunk on a commanding box to box midfielder. I really think this will be instrumental and be a big factor on where we finish this season.

[Tuerto]

Last season you would be hard pressed to find a time when we came out on top of the possession stats. Obviously finishing second showed this wasn't all that important in the Championship and we were producing quite a bit when we did have the ball.

You can get away with this in the Championship but I hope that Arter and the Spanish lad to a lesser extent help us at least get close to matching teams on the possession front.

If we have the ball then the other team do not and I was encouraged by a few things yesterday but it showed how clinical teams in this league were and that playing the game in the wrong areas tells in the end. Coughing up possession time and again with sloppy passes and failing to win the battle in the middle is that much more important in this league.

Hopefully with Arter controlling the middle and bringing a bit more calmness we will see a big difference. The ball was like a hot potato at times last season with some players too quick to pass at all costs just to get rid of it at times and I feel it needs somebody who is comfortable in possession in there.

The possession stats weren't helped yesterday by Reid being up top with no let up from the ball coming back but that isn't a reflection on him, more City having to go into the game with the best of what they had at their disposal.

Will the two central midfield additions be enough for us to compete at this level? Many a fan could see last season that we were really lacking in this area and I'm gutted we didn't spend a fair chunk on a commanding box to box midfielder. I really think this will be instrumental and be a big factor on where we finish this season.

Good post. I don't think it matters a lot whether we have less possession than the opposition, it just means that we have to be very organised when we don't have the ball, and very economic when we do. Like you said, we will get punished at this level for giving the ball away. We didn't really have to be that composed in the middle last season, as we relied on work rate and fantastic defending to get the ball back, that wont be enough in this league, so we're going to have to become more composed when in possession. I think that Warnock knows that, that's why he's brought in Arter, Reid and the Spanish Player. We don't have to change things too much, that would be to our detriment in my opinion, we can play that quick game, but not exclusively, there will be times when we have to slow the game down or produce moments of quality in order to pick up points. A balance is needed, it's getting that balance and hoping that it works!

[surge]

Think your point is more about players comfortable on the ball rather than holding onto the ball. A team can play without the ball but cannot if it doesn't know what to do with it once they get it.

[NYCBlue]

I think we're two or three players short. We should have spent another 25M. I think that would have at least set us up to compete. We don't necessarily have to change our style, but we need to be able to create something when we do have the ball. Reid was unable to make any impact in the first half. If we had started with the team that finished the game it might have been different.

[blue lewj]

Agree with that. If we go too far from what got us here we will lose our way quickly.

Reid impressed me without being outstanding but it was a thankless task. If like to see him dropping off and chasing knock ons from Zohore or Madine.

For me Sol in the middle didn't work for me and he looked rushed and lost possession all too often. If move him back into centre half.

We need to get that central pairing right though certainly.

I'd probably go 4-4-2 when all fit with Sol in for Manga. Arter and Ralls in the middle. Hoilett and Murphy right and left with Zohore up top and Reid off him.

I think that there is plenty of pace there that would pose teams plenty of problems with the ball while having enough hard working players when we haven't got the ball.

[the other bob wilson]

Agree with that. If we go too far from what got us here we will lose our way quickly.

Reid impressed me without being outstanding but it was a thankless task. If like to see him dropping off and chasing knock ons from Zohore or Madine.

For me Sol in the middle didn't work for me and he looked rushed and lost possession all too often. If move him back into centre half.

We need to get that central pairing right though certainly.

I'd probably go 4-4-2 when all fit with Sol in for Manga. Arter and Ralls in the middle. Hoilett and Murphy right and left with Zohore up top and Reid off him.

I think that there is plenty of pace there that would pose teams plenty of problems with the ball while having enough hard working players when we haven't got the ball.

Don't think we can play 4-4-2 - when we get more central midfield players available, we can get Bamba or Cunningham into a three centreback system and then we might be able to play two up front, but I'd be happy enough with someone like Reid, Hoilett or Murphy playing off a target man.
Regarding possession, one aspect of this which doesn't get mentioned much is how we go about running the clock down if and when we are leading or drawing late on - what we don't want is the sort of desperate stuff we saw when two up against Sunderland with five minutes left back in 2013.

[jamieccfc]

I felt for Ralls yesterday who had to much ground to try and cover because Paterson and Bamba have no positional sense of a midfielder which cost us with Frasier finding too much space, I hope Neil goes with Ralls Arter and Victor against the Geordies next week

[B. Oddie]

Agree with that. If we go too far from what got us here we will lose our way quickly.

Reid impressed me without being outstanding but it was a thankless task. If like to see him dropping off and chasing knock ons from Zohore or Madine.

For me Sol in the middle didn't work for me and he looked rushed and lost possession all too often. If move him back into centre half.

We need to get that central pairing right though certainly.

I'd probably go 4-4-2 when all fit with Sol in for Manga. Arter and Ralls in the middle. Hoilett and Murphy right and left with Zohore up top and Reid off him.

I think that there is plenty of pace there that would pose teams plenty of problems with the ball while having enough hard working players when we haven't got the ball.

I'm a massive fan of Bamba, but he was really disappointing wasn't he?

I also wondered whether Reid is too short to be on his own up front? The big man/little man partnership has always been successful.

[City123]

I'm a massive fan of Bamba, but he was really disappointing wasn't he?

I also wondered whether Reid is too short to be on his own up front? The big man/little man partnership has always been successful.

He needed someone closer to him, Ralls was reluctant to move forward because he wanted to protect Bamba and Paterson only seemed to want to head the ball

All our problems Saturday stemmed from Bamba. I'd have brought him off for Madine/Ward, dropped Reid back in attacking midfield and gone 4-2-3-1

[NYCBlue]

I'm a massive fan of Bamba, but he was really disappointing wasn't he?

I also wondered whether Reid is too short to be on his own up front? The big man/little man partnership has always been successful.

I thought the same. He was very easily snuffed out in the first half.

[Forgotmyoldaccount]

Hopefully we beat Derby's total

[chepstow]

Playing bamba in midfield at all is ridiculous
He is a 33yo defender. Thats old for a centre back let alone in midfield in the prem league!!

[Heisenberg]

Playing bamba in midfield at all is ridiculous
He is a 33yo defender. Thats old for a centre back let alone in midfield in the prem league!!

It's not old for a centre back at all. Also, there have been plenty of great midfielders playing at 33 and beyond in the Premier League...So, you're chatting shit there.

We all agree that Bamba shouldn't be anywhere near the midfield though. If you'd bothered to read any of the dozen or so threads in which it's already been mentioned, you'd be aware of that.