Uefa  Nations League semi final:

 

Netherlands 3 England 1 aet    6 June 2019

 

 

The quote is from Jim Courier in relation to tennis players.   But this simple phrase equally applies to any sport.

 

 

In the post match analysis:

 

Jamie Carragher was supportive of John Stones who, as the last man, was dispossessed of the ball that led to Holland’s vital second goal in extra time.   His stance being that he would rather be playing out from the back than hitting the ball long.

 

Jamie Redknapp commented that all teams are playing out from the back now so England have to do it.

 

Gary Neville thought that coaches in this country, and he included himself in this regard, are not good at coaching “rotation” in midfield.   By this he meant, midfield players making themselves available to receive the ball from the backline player.

 

 

Ideally, the favoured approach for any team ought to be one of possession.   This means short passes as opposed to long ones.   The long pass, particularly when playing out from the back, is often a desperation measure played by the goalkeeper who acts as a safety valve in the possession-style football.

 

The only attraction of the long ball out from the back is that it represents safety.   Get the ball away from your own goal and avoid the risk of losing possession in front of one’s own goal.

 

The nature of the risk was plain for all to see when John Stones lost possession and the ball was duly despatched into the goal.   The third goal was also as a result of trying to play out from the back.

 

 

There is another factor at play here.   It is the unbridled, firmness of intention to play football in this way.   This sends a clear message to the opposition and enables them to exert even more pressure on the team playing out from the back.   Put simply, the style of football is predictable.   The Dutch duly responded by pressing England high up the pitch early on.

 

In order for teams to exert more pressure they have to commit more players forward.   Thus, potentially, there is more space to exploit for the team playing out from the back in behind the pressing players.

 

Rather than playing copycat football when the threshold for success is set so high and a relatively simple mistake can have such dire consequences in the outcome of the match, there is a case for a more proportional approach.

 

 

Chris Sutton, the ex-professional footballer and pundit is of the view that John Stones’ error was nothing to do with playing out from the back.   It was all to with decision-making.

 

Uh ha.   Everything a sports person does is to do with decision-making.   He had choices; he could have kicked the ball off but that wouldn’t have really been acceptable.   The most obvious pass was to play the way he was facing and pass back to the goalkeeper.  But he had clearly not selected this option.   What was he thinking?

 

 

An alternative plan

 

Leicester City under Brendan Rodgers seemed to strike a good balance between trying to play out from the back and not take any undue risks.   In the Monday night football game away to Manchester City, 6 May 2019, that City won 1-0 after a Vincent Kompany wonder strike, they had a clear plan.

 

Kasper Schmeichel was used frequently as a safety outlet but instead of him hitting the ball long down the middle, there were options provided by wide players on either side of the pitch for the goalkeeper to pass the ball to.

 

If the wide player is able to control the pass from the goalkeeper the possession-style football can continue to work its way forward.   But, if the player on the touchline loses possession, it is not in an area of the pitch that presents an immediate threat.    There is a chance for the team to re-group.

 

Better still, losing possession could be immediately countered with a rapid press of one’s own.  The ability to turnover the ball quickly after losing it – a tactic long used by Jurgen Klopp may provide the option to continue the attack.