Fast tempo football.

Now I am not a football manager and will never be one, but as fans we are all arm chair managers to a degree. Just a simple observation but when we play with a fast tempo from the start and go for it we often get a positive result, witness last saturday against Rochdale, they did,nt know what was happening to them for the first 20mins or so. Fletcher is aiming to play a passing style of game, and there is no doubt results have improved; coupled with a faster style of play at this level I think we could win quite a few more games.
Anybody in agreement - when we play faster we get results, when we dither we invairably lose.

I thin k the big revelation has been playing Gurrieri as the link man between midfield and the forwards. Against Rochdale he was popping up all over the place, and the goal he scored was a direct result of the Rochdale defenders not picking him up. For two centre halves of the size of Rochdale's pair to allow a bloke of Gurrieri's (lack of) height to score with a free header - almost Argyle-like in its lack of solid defending.

And certainly, although the playing style is very much a work in progress, it seems to be coming together, and the difference now from some of the shambolic performances earlier in the season is huge.

There's definitely the prospect of being "entertained" by the football now. HP will respond to the type of football on display against the Dale and we can be a proper crowd again.

Thought we were heading in the right direction, even in the defeats I've seen. Not going to pretend I didn't waver in my support for Fletch, it wasn't getting results. But it seems the link between good midfield passing and the forwards has been established and yes, it would seem Andres has been the key ingredient.

Fair play to Fletch for staying true to his principles, many weaker men would've caved in to hoofball.

Regardless of results which we can pretty much all agree 15th in the league isn't good enough, the style of football is comfortably the best we've seen since Holloway in my opinion. The start of our League One season when Reid tried to play some decent stuff perhaps was the closest thing but I don't think it was as good as this. And yes results aren't coming, but I think the style is very easy on the eye. It is for me anyway.

I have to say the football is looking so much better. After seeing how we played against aldershot first game it was so bad i was dreading the season. Against Barnet we were all over them and was very impressive. The next few games will really going to show how good we are or if we will just collapse under the pressure and revert back to the long ball.

Rochdale was some of the best football I've seen for some time. If the team can keep up with this swift passing, fast running game then not only will the crowds increase but it ought to reap dividends.

As I have said about Mr Brent's tenure, the real test will come when we go through a difficult patch. I hope last night's defeat at Cheltenham is a one off but if it isn't we shall see the real strength if they battle back.

Andy_Symons wrote:

I thin k the big revelation has been playing Gurrieri as the link man between midfield and the forwards.

This.

Gurrieri has been excellent in our last two games. He nearly scored a peach of a goal last night, just denied by a finger tip save after a mazy run and shot.

We've stumbled into a formation that really works rather well, and players very capable of executing it.

The weakness right now is defending set pieces. While our new Griffiths is a better option for attacking play than Williams, I think we miss Williams' strength in the air when defending. He makes an awful lot of clearances at set pieces and when covering inside for crosses from the right.

Tim

Agree totally with the last post.

We've beaten two awful teams recently in Aldershot & Barnet, which doesn't give much of a benchmark. We then beat a decent Rochdale side, and put up a fair performance against Cheltenham, which does provide a bit of a benchmark.

Thing is though, it's only just over two weeks ago that we were getting beaten by a truly awful Wimbledon side, and giving a shocking performance.

I won't be getting the jester hat out just yet.

Czarcasm wrote:

We've beaten two awful teams recently in Aldershot & Barnet, which doesn't give much of a benchmark. We then beat a decent Rochdale side, and put up a fair performance against Cheltenham, which does provide a bit of a benchmark.

Thing is though, it's only just over two weeks ago that we were getting beaten by a truly awful Wimbledon side, and giving a shocking performance.

I won't be getting the jester hat out just yet.

True, but we haven't looked this good, and capable of scoring, for quite a while. And playing possession football rather than hoofball. Some of the play is a joy to watch. And the heart of the midfield is just 19 and 21.

The reason the new style works better is that Madjo is good with the ball to chest/feet when he gets it there, and can lay it off. It's not long ago our centre forward was always getting the ball lumped to or over his head.

It's also noticeable we've been passing the ball faster recently. That extra bit of tempo makes all the difference at this level.

Tim

The new Griffiths has only played three (?) games for us. The defence need to work as a unit and that will only come with playing together.

I noticed Purse 'having a word' with him a number of times against Rochdale. He does seem good and hopefully will get even better when he fits in better.

Can we get our money back on sponsoring Williams?

I agree with Tim, and often a successful team is stumbled upon after trying many different formations... and so many players at all levels just don't get the chance to experiment in different roles. Brian Clough was a master in getting the most out of his players and trying new roles for them, with Kenny Burns reverting to centre half being the biggest success.

There are too many fans spotting a bit of an Argyle footballing revival for it to not have some legs. But, the 4 season old problem at the back remains. In Sturrock's first tennancy, rarely were goals conceded by error. That sort of consistency is just down to the players being good enough.

knecht wrote:

The new Griffiths has only played three (?) games for us. The defence need to work as a unit and that will only come with playing together.

True. And Griffiths is much better at closing down, blocking crosses, and poses a much bigger threat on the wing/overlapping.

But we do currently miss Robbie's strength in the air. And Wotton's of course, but our new midfield trio is, sad to say it, better without him on current form.

Of course if Pulis were here we'd have eleven players 6'2" or more - ugly but effective!

Tim

Tim Chown wrote:

knecht wrote:

The new Griffiths has only played three (?) games for us. The defence need to work as a unit and that will only come with playing together.

True. And Griffiths is much better at closing down, blocking crosses, and poses a much bigger threat on the wing/overlapping.

But we do currently miss Robbie's strength in the air. And Wotton's of course, but our new midfield trio is, sad to say it, better without him on current form.

Of course if Pulis were here we'd have eleven players 6'2" or more - ugly but effective!

Tim

Sounds like ATD.

So ATD is Stoke City?

Nah, ATD is Barcelona.

Nah, Barca isn't as good as ATD. They're only effective not ugly as well.

You'll need a plan B...

It's what we were doing for the 1st 9 or so games.... since then we've been found out!! oppo teams will (if they've done their homework on ya, and they will) get into your face, disrupt your passing game, score a goal & sit back & defend that lead, then score a 2nd... & 3rd on the break!! So you'll need a plan B, 'back to hoofball'... Tisdale's teams don't do hoofball, so we ain't got a plan B (at the moment there ain't even a plan A), hence our slide back towards the Blue Square Premier again, as I 'perdicted' before a ball was kicked!!