Quote Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman View Post
I think there's been a distinct tendency at various Championship clubs in recent years to over-complicate things. Modern coaches seem to want players to play in way that many at this level are simply incapable of doing. The standard of football in the Championship seems to have steadily deteriorated during the last decade or so, and this season it's atrocious, but I wonder if coaches over-complicating the game is a significant factor in bringing about that situation?

A good example is playing out from the back. The best teams at the highest levels can generally do that comfortably, but the further down the ladder you go, the less comfortable the players become. Week after week we are seeing goals at Championship level resulting from goalkeepers and defenders messing about with the ball in and around their own penalty areas when the sensible and obvious thing to do would be to simply clear it.

The best teams at this level (and any other level for that matter) manage to find a balance between a possession-based game and doing the basics when necessary, but it seems that some coaches these days are so hell-bent on their players retaining possession that the basics get neglected. Not only does that mean their teams tend to look worse than they probably are, but the football they produce is often sterile as a result of the coach's 'philosophy'.
Yes, this all day. This is what i was alluding to. The other point i was trying to make is that are these coaches just a bit thick? They look the part, love clip boards and white daps, have invented a new 'Football' language that they seem to think makes them sound articulate and thoughtful, calm and collected, when the reality is that it's straight out of the David Brent school of management.